Brian Brohm for JP Losman

[Geno Smith's Arm]

How about a poll asking if we should stop these ridiculous polls?

 

I have done my part. Hopefullythe mods will ban ALL polls. Just take that feature right off. It's dangerous.

(How could anyone have taken this poll seriously?)

[WellDressed]

your movado for my patek philippe??

[Orton's Arm]

At the risk of infringing upon the work of "Captain Obvious"- I offer a list in response to the "QUARTERBACKS DO NOT WIN FOOTBALL GAMES" position.

 

Yes, football is a team game, and yes it is possible to win championships on the backs of legendary NFL defenses (e.g. Dilfer, McMahon), but history shows you've got a wee bit of a better chance with a solid QB. I wouldn't be so quick to assume the noted example that the Lions would still be the Lions if Joe Montana (in his prime) was starting. (List of Super Bowl winning quarterbacks snipped.)

There are two possible positions here: 1) a good-to-elite quarterback is a necessary condition to winning the Super Bowl. 2) A good quarterback is a sufficient condition for having a good football team.

 

There is considerable truth to #1, although there can be exceptions if everything else on your team goes perfectly (see the Ravens of 2000). Position #2, however, is false: a good quarterback, alone, won't give you a good football team. He'll be driven into the ground behind his nonexistent offensive line. Passes which should have been caught will be dropped by his inadequate receiving corps. Running plays will constitute wasted downs, and will do nothing to prevent the defense from going all-out against the pass. The defense will allow a ton of points; thereby forcing the offense to try, generally unsuccessfully, to keep up. Even the special teams will contribute its share to the overall debacle.

 

The above paragraph is why quarterbacks should not be evaluated on their teams' win/loss records. (Which is what my earlier post had been in response to.) There's just so much that goes into a win or a loss besides just the quarterback's personal contribution. I will, however, agree with the proposition that unless you have a good to elite quarterback, your team's odds of winning the Super Bowl are very slim indeed.

 

Any time you have an elite quarterback, you'd want to give him the best possible tools with which to work. You'd want to do this for the same reason that if you'd just hired Leonardo da Vinci, you'd want to give him more than just a box of crayons and some construction paper. An elite quarterback belongs behind a good offensive line, and deserves to have a good, reliable receiving corps noted for not dropping catches.