- in reference to Ponder. I knew he was going to be good. Seriously though, his throws all the way to the end were very tight beautiful spirals. WHAT THE FUCK WAS LESLIE (I'll be referring to him by his girly name from now on) THINKING? Pretty sure Aaron Rodgers goes into the "DO NOT GIVE THIS GUY THE FUCKING BALL BACK IN THE 4TH QUARTER UNLESS THE WORLD IS ENDING" category with Brady and Manning. Does he know who Aaron Rodgers is? And yes, I know they lost on runs with Starks, good shit, but still. Rodger's alone was the reason they should have went for it. Hi Cam Newton. Fuck, Tebow is here too.
This year has seen kind of a flourishing of young QBs. I'm happy about it, makes the game fun to watch. The new concussion rules probably help.
I was very pleased with his performance today. In addition to the nice spirals most of his throws were accurate and where they needed to be. He made some bad decisions that led to his picks but it's to be expected as a rookie. As far as the rest of the Vikings are concerned, yuck. The biggest things that need fixing are the safeties, receivers, and o-line in that order.
I don't understand why everyone is so busy blowing Tebow. He had a game winning drive, fair enough. But it was one drive, and from all appearances the rest of his performance sucked. How does a 3rd-string qb come off the bench and have "a legacy"? Then this guy is also a rookie and gets no love, despite finally winning a damned game: <a class="postlink" href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/13994/cam-newton" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/13994/cam-newton</a> Is it the Jesus thing? Seriously, this kid should win a Favre award for the most undeserved attention going to a qb. I'm being converted into more of a Tebow-hater than I was when he was playing for Florida.
He had a 15 point, four minute comeback in his fourth start ever. In 3 of his 4 starts he's had a comeback or near comeback. He's exciting. Yeah, he sucked for 57 minutes and he has a lot to work on, but he pulled it out. Don't even complain about Newton not getting any attention, because he has gotten it and will continue to get it. As for the attention Tebow is getting, it's really easy. Money. The dude sold more jerseys than any other player in the league. If you don't think the league the league noticed that then you're naive. He's a cash cow and, frankly, so is Newton. It wouldn't surprise me if the league wanted them both to succeed. The young, humble QB against the young cocky QB that backed him up in college? Both have a penchant for scrambling and big plays. A superbowl between a polished version of each would be huge. Say what you want about him, but the image Tebow presents is appealing to a lot of people. tl;dr: BY THE POWER OF JESUS.
Hmm, where have I seen this movie before...? Oh yeah, I remember now. Moral of the story: one game-winning drive does not a great quarterback make. Not to take anything away from either QB's performance (Fitzpatrick's was, by every metric, far superior), but it's only one game. As we've seen with Fitz, it won't necessarily translate into being a great quarterback (or, at least, not right away). As for Cam Newton, I noticed this morning that Carolina is 2-0 when he doesn't throw an interception, but 0-5 when he throws at least one. That may seem trivial, but consider this: their first four losses were by margins of 7, 7, 5, and 3. Last week's game against Atlanta, in which he threw 3, was lost by a relatively small 14. They could very well be 4-3. Hell, Tampa Bay is 4-3, and their differential is -38; Carolina's is only -17. Not that I blame Newton; their pass defense (ranked 29th) leaves much to be desired.
So what you're getting at is that teams have a better chance at winning when they limit turnovers? Cutting edge stuff, Rob.
Like I said, this is going to go full-on Twilight in the next couple of years. Most of TiB seems to be on Team Cam at the moment, as am I. Look at some of these fucking plays: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d8236c381/GameDay-Redskins-vs-Panthers-highlights" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-high ... highlights</a> That throw at 1:40... goddamn.
Haha, yeah, it was truly some ground-breaking stuff. John Madden would be proud. My point was that Carolina is not nearly as bad as their record indicates, in spite of how much their defense is holding them back. I pointed out the margins to illustrate how much of a difference even one INT has meant for them in their games this year. The margin for error is a lot slimmer than for someone like, say, Joe Flacco. Giving up the ball isn't as big of a deal for someone like Flacco, because he has the best defense in the NFL to watch his back. On the other hand, the only pass defenses worse than Carolina's, in terms of opposing QB rating, are Miami, Denver, and Indianapolis.
I was always thought people undersold his passing ability. I think the biggest thing with Newton is he seems to really be willing to learn and get better and it showed with his improvement in the offseason. His accuracy is still spotty, but much improved. Add his freakish athleticism and build and he could be far more dangerous than the bust people assumed. That said, I still think he is a smug douche and I will root against him. His TD celebrations make me wish Ray Lewis would cheap shot the hell out of him while he is smiling that shit eating grin.
Right now, I agree. He's not an NFL QB, but (and this is where we disagree) I think he has the potential to be a great QB, you don't. We'll have to agree to disagree and time will tell. Friends?
This is the third week I've watched Jacksonville play this season, and the third week I've felt the urge to turn off the television and go read a book. Christ.
Did you guys see the Browns v Seahawks? I almost said "Fuck it" and started to look up Australian Rules football games on YouTube. 1. I am on the Cam Cock. He's now my third love in the NFL behind Brady and Wes Welker (Sorry Hillis.) 2. What the fuck is up with the Ravens? Second letdown after a big game. Is Joe Flacco that retarded? 3. God I hate the Bears offense.