dave mcbride

Well, Hurts finished in MVP voting for the 2022 season, and Tua, whatever we might think of him, is statistically an above average thrower (he actually led the league in QB+ rating in 2022). He's 33-20 as a starter. So I'd say two are at least decent to good. But I challenge you to find other schools that have put out two good QBs in that same timeframe. The only reason people focus on Bama is because their guys at least MAKE the NFL. The guys from Texas A & M, Florida, Washington, etc. largely aren't. One or two might, but not five like Bama.

Playing with a zillion five-star recruits was only a problem in the sense that it masked his deficiencies when playing against teams comprised of 3-star recruits, a couple of fours, and maybe 1-2 fives. Stetson Bennett looked amazing in college, as did Ken Dorsey for that matter. They just weren't that talented physically. A guy who was and who played in an elite program was Stafford, and he's had a very good NFL career. Because he's really talented.

You can say that about any school, but Alabama is actually one of the best historically (Bart Starr, Ken Stabler, Joe Namath, and I guess Jalen Hurts, although he did transfer away). I'd go as far as to argue that the only other schools that have produced three very good NFL QBs are Stanford (Elway, Luck, Plunkett), Purdue (Griese, Len Dawson, Brees), and Cal (Rogers, Brodie, Goff). Beyond that, no one has produced more than two as far as I can tell. Michigan was famous for never putting out good QBs until they did (the GOAT), and now one can say the same for Ohio State, who appear to have finally produced an elite qb. Most elite schools top out with two. Miami put out Kelly and Kosar, and I guess you could say Vinny T but I wouldn't include him. LSU had Bert Jones and Joe Burrow but no one beyond that. Tennessee has Payton Manning, Ole Miss Payton and Eli, Texas just Bobby Layne. USC just Carson Palmer (although the jury is out on Darnold given that he's young). UCLA has just Troy Aikman. And on and on. Anyway, judging a qb's future path by where he went to school doesn't really work.

It's funny how the 2018 QB draft is now looking given that Darnold and Mayfield are in good situations and playing well.

My understanding is that the best predictor is points off of turnover differential, not TO differential. The Chiefs got 7 and Cincy 10, so it was closer than a 3-1 ratio. That said, the Bengals did do better on that stat. The other thing that doesn't get factored into passing stats is DPIs, and the Bengals had a lot more penalties than KC -- and the killer long (29 yards) DPI that ended the game.

Totally DPI. Not debatable. He has been saddled with really bad teams. He is not a bad player.

Both. The throw was sensational

Say what you will about Aaron Rogers, but he might be the best pure thrower in NFL history. So accurate, and such a quick release along with elite velocity.

Um, isn’t this because they led the league in 3rd-down conversion percentage in 2022 and 2023, finished 2nd in 2021, and 4th in 2020? The math seems pretty simple here. https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/third-down-conversion-pct?date=2021-02-08

They do it for a very good and very simple reason: opposing teams target wounded players. The NFL is a rough business.

Yeah, I was thinking of the first five years of his career when he didn't do much. If a player isnn't doing much in the first five years, I don't think the future bodes well for them, production wise, going forward. He was a gadget player who was a good quick-twitch return guy, but he was never more than a slot receiver and was hardly a great route runner (which you need to be at the position). Not a terrible player, but also a player who was a just a guy in the end.

I don't think Parrish ever actually suffered anything even approaching a season ending injury. He was a mediocre player without much in the way of size or long speed but did possess good short area quickness. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/ParrRo00.htm

Jake Moody is my fantasy kicker. Just sayin’.

And the FG was the right move there.

I saw that live and said, wtf?!? No flag???

Drops happen to all receivers. He’s an excellent player.

I thought second down was more egregious. That was perfect for play action and the Cardinals had been shutting down the run all second half. Cook had 26 yards on his final 13 carries.

I do actually get it in the sense when it came to third and fourth and short plays, it's always Josh's ball. They can't hand the ball off and expect success like some other teams in those situations. Either he runs it or throws it. Goff and Purdy, in contrast, can just hand it off. And when they get near the goal line, the default now is to have Josh punch it in. It's not necessarily a bad thing, though, given how successful he is.

According to this, Miller finished in the top for opening day games with 5 pressures. More than Rousseau, actually:

He played every snap on defense last night plus seven snaps on ST. I don't know how well he played outside of that one busted coverage. Goff had only an 85 rating and a QBR of 38.4. Outside of that one big play, not much happened in the passing game. So I'd be hesitant to jump to conclusions based on one play. The Rams did hold an explosive offense to only 20 points, which is the most you can ask for given that they were also playing in Detroit.

Don't get me wrong - I hate the rule. But it usually does get called.

The Taylor Rapp play where he plowed into the receiver on a back shoulder throw (3rd quarter, near midfield) was clearly PI that wasn't called.

I think you might be confusing runs with very short swing passes in the first half, where receivers got to the edge and did damage. The run game was basically a no-show for AZ early on.

On the Cardinals' first two possessions, the RBs had 8 carries for 15 yards (1.8 ypc). On their third possession - their final one of the first half -- the RBs had 4 carries for 14 yards. In total in the first half, the RBs had 12 carries for 29 yards (2.45 ypc). They had a couple of gash running plays in the second half but all told, the RBs had 20 carries for 67 yards (3.35 ypc).

But literally neither of those play outcomes can be attributed to coaching. Coaches can't kick short of the end zone or miss tackles. There was nothing wrong with the schemes on those plays.