NFL sees quarterbacks going wild
By JEFF LEGWOLD, Scripps Howard News Service professional football
Cover your eyes, hide the kids, it's Quarterbacks Gone Wild.
The videos are giving defensive coordinators around the league the shivers, or so people have said just two weeks into this NFL season.
After all, the Denver Broncos have dropped 80 combined points on their first two opponents.
The Green Bay Packers scored 48 this past weekend, the New York Giants 41, the Dallas Cowboys 41.
There were even two games Sunday in which both teams scored at least 37 points -- Broncos 39, San Diego Chargers 38, and Cowboys 41, Philadelphia Eagles 37. Now that is a touchdown club.
So, already this season, the bells are tolling for defenses around the league, some folks are asking what happened, whether defenses can dominate ever again in the current festival of points.
There's just one thing . . .
The offenses are right on schedule, the schedule set over much of the past decade.
Right now, AFC teams are averaging 18.5 points a game overall -- the Broncos' contributions notwithstanding -- while NFC teams are averaging 24.1. That means overall, teams around the league are averaging 21.4 points a game in the early going.
Which, at the moment, after the math is done and the numbers are crunched, doesn't quite reach last season's totals.
Teams finished last season at 21.7 points a game; 2006 at 20.6; '05 at 20.5; '04 at 21.5; '03 at 20.8; '02 at 21.7; '01 at 20.2; and 2000 at 20.7.
So, you get the idea.
What might be tilting at least some of the opinions, however, is the play of quarterbacks in the early going. There are 10 quarterbacks after two weeks who have passer ratings of at least 100, a total that includes Jay Cutler, Kurt Warner, Tony Romo and Ben Roethlisberger.
A total that also includes Aaron Rodgers, who, as Brett Favre's replacement, may have played with more pressure in the opening weeks than the rest of the group combined, Trent Edwards in Buffalo and Matt Cassel in New England.
And Cassel's job was to replace a guy named Tom Brady, who happened to be the league's MVP last season.
"Quarterbacks are getting better," Cutler said. "Brady's the bar from last year, him and Peyton (Manning) have kind of been fighting it out, so you've got to get better if you want to keep playing (into the postseason)."
So, patience and gray skies will again tell the tale, for the outdoor teams will face the not-so-great outdoors at some point.
The snow will fall, the rains will come and many offensive coordinators will remember they'll always have September.
One more time:
Yes, referee Ed Hochuli blew his whistle Sunday when he shouldn't have. Yes, what was a Cutler fumble was ruled an incomplete pass because of it.
And, yes, San Diego recovered that ball and likely would have won the game if the play had stood, if there had been no whistle.
But all of this coast-to-coast chest pounding about how Hochuli should be suspended, disbarred, dismissed or just sent to an island to live with a volleyball with a face painted on it is a little misplaced.
For years, the league has structured its rules book around, and ingrained into their officials, the idea that quarterbacks should always be protected. That no matter what else happens on the field, as many QBs need to finish the season upright, healthy and throwing as possible.
One of the ways that happens is a quick whistle on incomplete passes to keep them from taking unnecessary hits, especially on passes thrown in and around the backfield. Officials have the quick lips when quarterbacks are in the pocket, when quarterbacks are "in the grasp," and because they are constantly reminded to do it.
Yes, it was a technical mistake and, yes, in some ways, it was "unacceptable" as Chargers coach Norv Turner called it.
But when the league's rules-makers treat the quarterback as a separate entity on the field, this kind of thing is going to happen from time to time. And there is always a chance somebody loses because of it.
Can you say tuck rule?
Surprise, surprise:
Darren McFadden has a longer resume. Chris Johnson has more speed. And Jonathan Stewart runs in a system tailored to fit him in Carolina.
All three rookie running backs were first-round picks in April.
But it is Matt Forte, a second-round pick by the Chicago Bears in April, who leads all the first-year players in rushing after two weeks, with 215 yards.
It shouldn't be a stunner despite Forte having done most of his work in training camp out of the limelight since he had four 300-yard rushing games last season as a senior at Tulane.
He also had at least 20 receptions in all four of his seasons with the Green Wave, and ran a 4.46 40-yard dash on the electronic clock at the scouting combine as he was coming off a 2,127-yard season as a senior.
And he is certainly in the early race for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Cover your eyes, hide the kids, it's Quarterbacks Gone Wild.
The videos are giving defensive coordinators around the league the shivers, or so people have said just two weeks into this NFL season.
After all, the Denver Broncos have dropped 80 combined points on their first two opponents.
The Green Bay Packers scored 48 this past weekend, the New York Giants 41, the Dallas Cowboys 41.
There were even two games Sunday in which both teams scored at least 37 points -- Broncos 39, San Diego Chargers 38, and Cowboys 41, Philadelphia Eagles 37. Now that is a touchdown club.
So, already this season, the bells are tolling for defenses around the league, some folks are asking what happened, whether defenses can dominate ever again in the current festival of points.
There's just one thing . . .
The offenses are right on schedule, the schedule set over much of the past decade.
Right now, AFC teams are averaging 18.5 points a game overall -- the Broncos' contributions notwithstanding -- while NFC teams are averaging 24.1. That means overall, teams around the league are averaging 21.4 points a game in the early going.
Which, at the moment, after the math is done and the numbers are crunched, doesn't quite reach last season's totals.
Teams finished last season at 21.7 points a game; 2006 at 20.6; '05 at 20.5; '04 at 21.5; '03 at 20.8; '02 at 21.7; '01 at 20.2; and 2000 at 20.7.
So, you get the idea.
What might be tilting at least some of the opinions, however, is the play of quarterbacks in the early going. There are 10 quarterbacks after two weeks who have passer ratings of at least 100, a total that includes Jay Cutler, Kurt Warner, Tony Romo and Ben Roethlisberger.
A total that also includes Aaron Rodgers, who, as Brett Favre's replacement, may have played with more pressure in the opening weeks than the rest of the group combined, Trent Edwards in Buffalo and Matt Cassel in New England.
And Cassel's job was to replace a guy named Tom Brady, who happened to be the league's MVP last season.
"Quarterbacks are getting better," Cutler said. "Brady's the bar from last year, him and Peyton (Manning) have kind of been fighting it out, so you've got to get better if you want to keep playing (into the postseason)."
So, patience and gray skies will again tell the tale, for the outdoor teams will face the not-so-great outdoors at some point.
The snow will fall, the rains will come and many offensive coordinators will remember they'll always have September.
One more time:
Yes, referee Ed Hochuli blew his whistle Sunday when he shouldn't have. Yes, what was a Cutler fumble was ruled an incomplete pass because of it.
And, yes, San Diego recovered that ball and likely would have won the game if the play had stood, if there had been no whistle.
But all of this coast-to-coast chest pounding about how Hochuli should be suspended, disbarred, dismissed or just sent to an island to live with a volleyball with a face painted on it is a little misplaced.
For years, the league has structured its rules book around, and ingrained into their officials, the idea that quarterbacks should always be protected. That no matter what else happens on the field, as many QBs need to finish the season upright, healthy and throwing as possible.
One of the ways that happens is a quick whistle on incomplete passes to keep them from taking unnecessary hits, especially on passes thrown in and around the backfield. Officials have the quick lips when quarterbacks are in the pocket, when quarterbacks are "in the grasp," and because they are constantly reminded to do it.
Yes, it was a technical mistake and, yes, in some ways, it was "unacceptable" as Chargers coach Norv Turner called it.
But when the league's rules-makers treat the quarterback as a separate entity on the field, this kind of thing is going to happen from time to time. And there is always a chance somebody loses because of it.
Can you say tuck rule?
Surprise, surprise:
Darren McFadden has a longer resume. Chris Johnson has more speed. And Jonathan Stewart runs in a system tailored to fit him in Carolina.
All three rookie running backs were first-round picks in April.
But it is Matt Forte, a second-round pick by the Chicago Bears in April, who leads all the first-year players in rushing after two weeks, with 215 yards.
It shouldn't be a stunner despite Forte having done most of his work in training camp out of the limelight since he had four 300-yard rushing games last season as a senior at Tulane.
He also had at least 20 receptions in all four of his seasons with the Green Wave, and ran a 4.46 40-yard dash on the electronic clock at the scouting combine as he was coming off a 2,127-yard season as a senior.
And he is certainly in the early race for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:07 PM
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