Comments on: Tuesday Morning Buzz – Week 14

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:54:51 +0000

Yeah but Shanahan didn’t coach in Washington in 2008. I think that was his last year in Denver and I’m not positive but that might have been when Joe Gibbs was in his 2nd stint as head coach of the Redskins. If I had Helu, I’d start him this week. My point was it’ll be a long time before I draft or pick up another Redskins RB as long as Shanny’s the coach. All things being equal, you’d be better off going with another player whose workload will be a lot more predictable week in and week out instead depending on Shanny’s capricious nature with regard to RB’s.

By: Joe in Cincy

Joe in Cincy — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:18:05 +0000

You don’t need to go back to 2004. Portis had a fantastic first half of the season in 2008 before becoming basically useless due to injury. Granted, that’s three years ago, but what have they had since then? Much of that is Shanahan’s fault because of his fondness for collecting a bunch of old and/or marginal backs on the roster. But when was the last time that he he had a guy with as much talent as Helu? The original point was that you shouldn’t consider him at all. That’s absurd. I’ll start him this week with complete confidence. If Helu fall flat on his face this week, I’d think about whether to start him the following week. That’s next week…

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:06:29 +0000

Regarding the Shanny RB thread and Brian’s question about when he’s had a RB that had 3 good games in a row, I’d say you’d have to go back to 2004 when Reuben Droughns put up over 1200 yards for the Broncos. Prior to that point he had a pretty good record of primarily using one workhorse back (Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis) but from the 2005 season forward he started his RBBC-on-steroids ways. That year Mike Anderson finished with just over 1,000 yards and Tatum Bell had 900+ yards. That situation has deteriorated since then where it’s nearly impossible to predict which back will have touches on a week to week basis. I’ve had Hightower, Torain and Helu this year and can tell you, my days of dealing with the headaches that come from owning Shanny coached RB’s is over. Never again!

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:00:16 +0000

Come on Joe. Shanahan is a nightmare if you own his running backs. I’ll never, ever draft or pick one up again. Burned 2-3 times in the past couple of years. I’d challenge you to find more than one time that one running back of Shanahan’s has had 3 good games in a row. I bet it’s hard to find because he almost never keeps the same hot hand that long! He’s gotten worse since he moved to Washington for sure.

By: Joe in Cincy

Joe in Cincy — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:40:23 +0000

Regarding Helu. I believe that Shanahan’s track record in no way suggests that after a string of three very strong to outstanding games, he would move to another RB to carry the load. Yes he did it earlier this year after ONE such game. I challenge you to produce a single example of such a move in Shanahan’s “well documented” history. The guy can be maddening, but you’re just inventing situations here (you’re far from alone in that).

By: Rio

Rio — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:53:28 +0000

Thank You Kim…No one can hate on Brees, but seriously MVP over Rodgers!!! Get off the ledge. Give Rodgers 80 more attempts and Brees’ 243 yards advantage would be +300 yards in the other direction.

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:07:41 +0000

Wow… Kim, you nailed it once again.

But to nit-pick just a LITTLE bit more… The TD-INT RATIO for Rodgers (6.5:1) is actually more than DOUBLE Brees’ 3:1. The numbers for Rodgers would actually be more impressive if Matt Flynn wouldn’t make appearances in blowouts. Missed one whole half of football in the last 3 games in blowouts. Rodgers would no doubt be ahead of Brees in competition for the single season passing record if he had as many attempts as Brees, because of Rodgers 1.42 ypa better than Brees.

Also, If you want to throw a 1% completion percentage argument in there… Rodgers throws a TD pass on 8.9% of his throws, whereas Brees only has 5.9%. That means, if Rodgers had as many attempts as Brees, Rodgers would actually have 48 TDs at this point in the season!! Argument made. Rodgers is having one hell of a season, only rivaled by Brady’s 50 TD, 4 INT campaign. Oddly, that team had a pretty nice winning streak also.

Done with the nit-picking and would like to say you do a great job with this post.

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:05:41 +0000

Alright Aaron – here we go again. You want to nit-pick, you got it. One of the points you use prominently to assert that Brees should be the MVP over Rodgers is actually wrong. Rodgers may have had 3 fumbles this year but he hasn’t lost a one. You can verfiy that on nfl.com. Only fumbles lost are actually turnovers so that puts an end to saying Rodgers has 9 turnovers this year compared to Brees’ 11 INT’s. Rodgers has still only turned the ball over 6 times. In addition, you make a big deal out of 1% better completion percentage. That stat has only swung in Brees’ favor over the past 3 games when the Packers receivers have had a severe case of the dropsies. At the same time, you seem to minimize the other statistical areas where Rodgers leads as not what you deem “overwhelming”. 7 more TD’s and 5 fewer INT’s are not inconsequential, neither are 3 wins for that matter. Actually nearly a yard and a half better on yds/attempt and more than 5 pts on ESPN’s new QBR are both pretty big differences. Moreover, you didn’t even bring up the rushing. Rodgers has over 200 yards and 2 TD’s while Brees has made all of 1 rushing attempt for 8 yards all year albeit for a TD. That is an aspect of the game that Brees will never hold a candle to Rodgers. Even with Rodgers quick release and much better mobility, he has taken 9 more sacks than Brees and the fact that the Packers have had to start 3 starters on their O-line miss a total of 12 games so far this year obviously plays a role in that. All that being said, I’d say Brees has got a firm hold on 2nd over Brady, Tebow or any other player. Still, I think it’s ridiculous to argue that anyone other than Rodgers is the 2011 NFL MVP. The stats bear that out and so does the naked eye test. As for the whole stats vs. Super Bowl rings comment, they don’t wait until after the Super Bowl to award the NFL MVP otherwise Rodgers would already have one from last year. Oh yeah, and by the way as for records – let’s not talk about the passer rating record or the consecutive games with 2-TD’s record that Rodgers will break next week (not to mention a few others he’s got a chance to break too). Lastly (but not least), thanks for the entertaining post each week. I always look forward to reading it and appreciate the opportunity to post feedback (even if I disagree) and know that it’s being heard. Keep it up!