QUOTE: “I suppose my formula might be: dream, diversify and never miss an angle, and I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse.” -- Walt Disney
Kurt Warner might say goodbye…Matt Leinart might say hello
There’s a press conference scheduled Friday in Phoenix for Kurt Warner to make an announcement of some sort. Now, the only reason to hold a press conference would be to announce his retirement because if he was going to continue playing, there would be no need to address the media.
Whatever he says Friday, I know this: Warner is going into the Hall of Fame of the first ballot. The yards passing and touchdown passes will serve as evidence supporting his election, but more than his numbers, his ability to help his teams win is the defining measure. Warner has thrown 84 touchdown passes the past three years and has never looked better as a player. Even at 38 years old, he’s playing at a high level. Some may say he has tremendous skill players around him who make him successful — well, so does Matt Leinart and I wonder if he can achieve the same numbers.
With Warner announcing “something,” all eyes will soon focus on Leinart. The Cardinals have the kind of team that should be able to compete for the Super Bowl if they can maintain the level of play from their quarterback, but can Leinart handle the job? I have my doubts. They stem from his inability to control the football, which often sails on him, and from overthrowing too many inside routes that result in interceptions.
In the past, Leinart’s work habits have never been strong, and he’s relied on his natural ability to be successful. He must speed up his game, speed up his thought process and become quicker in every phase. Being quick-minded is as important as being quick with his delivery. Leinart must work on both. He has to seize this opportunity and prove he can handle the job -- because I strongly doubt that Cards coach Ken Whisenhunt will just give him the job. He’ll make the situation competitive.
Can Hue Jackson turn around JaMarcus Russell?
Hue Jackson, the Raiders’ new offensive coordinator, will have his work cut out for him trying to make JaMarcus Russell a player, but his first challenge will be to recruit Russell to make him want to be a player. Russell has talent, but he lacks ambition, lacks pride and lacks the willingness to want to be a player. The greatest obstacle awaiting Jackson will be dealing with Russell’s indifference.
Jackson is a wonderful recruiter and has been successful making players want to play for him. But before he puts in one new play and changes the scheme, changes the approach, he will have to change Russell. That will be the hardest part of his new job.
Gregg Williams is talking like Rex Ryan
I heard a radio interview Wednesday with Gregg Williams, the defensive coordinator of the Saints, who went over his basic plan for attacking the Colts offense. Williams believes he has to be able to hit the quarterback and plans on attacking Manning in that fashion.
My question is: What tape can I watch that will show me this works? It didn’t work last Sunday for Rex Ryan and the Jets, and it didn’t work for Williams against Brett Favre. So why will it work against Manning? Answer: It won’t.
Diversity in the game plan is critical, and the opposing coordinator must be disciplined enough to save his good stuff for the final drive of the game. Getting to Manning in the first quarter might allow a team to gain a possession, but it won’t help you win the game. The Saints would be better off adopting the Ravens’ game plan – be willing to bend but don’t break, and play lights out in the red zone.
The best scenario for the Saints would be to have the ball last in the fourth quarter trying to gain the lead. The best defense for Manning is to not have him on the field at the end of the game. If the Colts have the ball, Williams must have a key pressure, a blitz he has never used before that the Saints can execute at the right time. Facing Manning, a coordinator must be tactical and patient. Williams might want to reconsider all the blitzing.
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Is the end of dominance near for Patriots QB Tom Brady? Check out this article from Bleacher Report to find out.
The other problem with the bend-but-don't break philosophy against Manning is that letting Manning run so many plays really, really wears down defensive backs by the end of the game and exhausts the number of different coverages and looks you can throw at him. If you have an offense that you can think can keep up with the Colts if they score, it might make a lot of sense to take a lot of chances against Manning if just a few of them pan out with turnovers or shutdowns on third down -- particularly if i think my secondary can prevent long after-catch runs from turning into touchdowns.
Man, has anybody come further faster than Kurt Warner?
Think back to week 16 last year (NE 47 Arz 7, Warner 6/18 for 30 yds). And that was not a unique case. They got blown out in 5 or 6 games last year and he didn't play well in any of them.
Then he gets hot for 4 playoff games last year and has a pretty good 2009 season (12th in passing yardage, 10th in passer rating) and suddenly he's a first-ballot HOF selection?
Aisle 7 for a sanity check please.
I find it comical that everybody out there is *now* on-board with Manning being the "Greatest Ever".
He was already that 5 years ago.
The only difference between then and now is the aftermath of their 2008 playoff loss to the Chargers. It was only this season that he started taking the primary responsibility for making the line protection calls. He always was somewhat involved, but this year he took the job totally from Mudd and Saturday.
The Colt's line coach Howard Mudd is good coaching no-names into serviceable players; but his protection schemes are ancient and easily thwarted.
Now that Manning has taken over the job of getting his blockers EXACTLY where they need to be on both runs and passes; you see Manning getting rushed by unblocked defenders ALOT less.
If you look at every one of their playoff losses where Manning supposedly "choked", you will see that teams had schemed their way into quick pressure on Manning.
This is the reason for the past issues with 3-4 defenses - the OL was having trouble figuring out who was rushing.
I've never heard this mentioned in the media; because it is too boring for them to think about.
I find it comical that everybody out there is *now* on-board with Manning being the "Greatest Ever".
He was already that 5 years ago.
The only difference between then and now is the aftermath of their 2008 playoff loss to the Chargers. It was only this season that he started taking the primary responsibility for making the line protection calls. He always was somewhat involved, but this year he took the job totally from Mudd and Saturday.
The Colt's line coach Howard Mudd is good coaching no-names into serviceable players; but his protection schemes are ancient and easily thwarted.
Now that Manning has taken over the job of getting his blockers EXACTLY where they need to be on both runs and passes; you see Manning getting rushed by unblocked defenders ALOT less.
If you look at every one of their playoff losses where Manning supposedly "choked", you will see that teams had schemed their way into quick pressure on Manning.
This is the reason for the past issues with 3-4 defenses - the OL was having trouble figuring out who was rushing.
I've never heard this mentioned in the media; because it is too boring for them to think about.
Unlike the Jets, Saints actually have the ability to pressure QB's via their linemen even though losing Grant hurt. So they can mix up their calls better by default. Rex Ryan's alternative for sending 5-7 rushers was to hope for a coverage sack, and that's obviously not going to happen vs the Colts.
@ Scott Bolander, for the record, I have long thought Peyton is the G.O.A.T. He does so many things well and is unstoppable. It's just as Lombardi has said, the best way to beat Manning is to outgun him. Now, the Saints are one of the few teams that has the firepower to compete with the Colts offensively but as great as Drew Brees is, Peyton is better. This will be an awesome game. As for JaMarcus Russell, he has his moments, as my Broncos sordidly learned, but until he puts in the work consistently, he will always fail. The Broncos and the rest of the AFC West do not have a problem with this.
@Scott Bolander
Are you kidding? We've been hearing about Manning being the best ever since 2003 or so. the difference is that now he actually belongs in the conversation because he's been consistent over a significant amount of time. He's also grown far more mature and mentally tough than he was in the first 4 or 5 years of his career.
Still, if he doesn't manage to deliver another Superbowl this year (personally, I do think the Colts will win), he could end up lumped in a category with Favre as one of those guys who had incredible talent, but only won a single superbowl in a year when his supporting cast was more significant in the playoffs than the QB.
*Full Disclosure* I am a Cardinals fan.
Leinart's agent has to be talking to Pete Carrol up in Seatown. Leinart has lost his swagger, and would clearly benefit from having a coach who believed in him and he was comfortable with. Maybe Warner's retirement will help him regain his confidence in AZ.
Carrol would be more inclined to give Leinart a shot with a year or two remaining on his contract, rather than giving him a job in free agency.
Thus, on some level, doesn't a trade that involves Hasselback and Leinart seem to make sense? Unless AZ wants to give him a season to see what he can do (and in the NFC West, that is an option and doesn't foreclose the playoffs!), which they may.
The thought of Hasselback being AZ's starter is frightening b/c of his injury risk. However, couldn't a veteran like Hasselback be more than serviceable with the AZ receiving core and continual development of the running game?
*Full Disclosure* I am a Cardinals fan.
Leinart's agent has to be talking to Pete Carrol up in Seatown. Leinart has lost his swagger, and would clearly benefit from having a coach who believed in him and he was comfortable with. Maybe Warner's retirement will help him regain his confidence in AZ.
Carrol would be more inclined to give Leinart a shot with a year or two remaining on his contract, rather than giving him a job in free agency.
Thus, on some level, doesn't a trade that involves Hasselback and Leinart seem to make sense? Unless AZ wants to give him a season to see what he can do (and in the NFC West, that is an option and doesn't foreclose the playoffs!), which they may.
The thought of Hasselback being AZ's starter is frightening b/c of his injury risk. However, couldn't a veteran like Hasselback be more than serviceable with the AZ receiving core and continual development of the running game?
FIRST:
"Man, has anybody come further faster than Kurt Warner? "
His HOF campaign is not based on a handful of recent games. Circa the turn of the decade, Warner was the best QB in the game--a two-time MVP and a Super Bowl winner. And you can throw out as many rankings as you want; his 2009 was far from average--I'd rank him 4th or 5th best QB currently playing, and I don't think many people would have a problem with that.
SECOND:
"I find it comical that everybody out there is *now* on-board with Manning being the "Greatest Ever". "
That is because he did not deserve it until now. Through most of the decade Brady (to name one) was clearly the better QB, consistently having more success in big games. Manning does seem to have solved his "big game" problems at last--in fact, he's playing some of the greatest football I have ever seen from anyone, so call me a believer--but it was not always like this.
Manning, best ever? Are you guys all under 25 or something? Manning couldn't carry Joe Montana's jock.
As for Leinart - the Cards have to give him a year to find out if he's the guy. His salary is a bargain in 2010 ($2.5m) and he's had plenty of time to learn from Warner. History tells us that many great QBs started their careers this way. Trade him to Seattle for Hasselbeck? Is it April 1 already??
Manning, best in today's game and one of the best ever. In case you forgot, both Montana and Steve Young had this all-world receiver named Jerry Rice. Wayne is good, but he's not Rice.
No one, past or present, has shown the ability to pick apart a defense like Peyton. (Though I have to disqualify myself on Otto Graham and Sammy Baugh, never having actually seen them play.)
"IS LEINART'S TIME NEAR"? YEAH Hopefully to move on to a role he is made for......a backup role. He started enough games to prove he just DOESN'T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES to lead the Cards. After waching Warner I think the front office of the Cards realize this fact especially with the core of backup talent this team has.
"TALENT IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE.......ESPECIALLY UNDER CONTRACT!"
Got a chance to see again the Niners/Cowboys "The Catch" game, Joe Montana's coming out party. Anyone who thinks Rice carried Joe should look at that game. Well, obviously Rice didn't play in it.
But the thing that hit me was the incredible accuracy, the athleticism and the decision making. My god, I saw him complete a pass while jumping over a blitzer. I sort of forgot just how good Joe was.
I don't believe in a single GOAT in any sport. How can that be? I believe in a plateau of great players, an in the team photo so to speak. Certainly Montana and Manning are in that photo. Along with quite a few others. The team photo could also be described as the HOF.
Warner is and will be a HOFer too.
As far as Pete Carroll wanting to hook up with Leinart again, are you kidding me? Leinart was elite on one level, but those USC teams were loaded, especially on D. He's just a guy in the NFL, and guys were never what Pete recruited. He wanted studs.
Hey Yojimbo--I seem to remember some guy named Marvin Harrison playing with Manning.
Marvin Harrison? The greatest player to NEVER show up in the playoffs.
Think Leinert needs some things in place to help his game more, maybe Gruden could give him a visit. Get those shoulders up on each step, put bounce in them, so your read defenders keep thinking you are getting into a throw and they settle routes, it serves to accelerate your reads.
Mike, the Saints can't totally hope for what the Ravens did bc they don't have a defense than defends the run well in the red zone. The Ravens have Ngata and crew, so they could hope for a condensced field in the red zone to help stop Manning and not worry about the run.
Also, the Saints have blitzed the whole year, and it has helped them defend the pass well when they faced Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Matt Ryan, etc. Favre had success, but his completion percentage wasn't ridiculously high, and he also was going up against an 8 man box for most of the game due to Peterson. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the Saints have a certain personality on defense that has worked pretty well for them to this point. It could be argued whether or not they have the necessary personnel to try to play otherwise.
Yojimbo....Have you ever seen Johnny Unitas play? Manning is like a mirror image of Johnny U.
jgc:
From your post I cannot tell that you actually read all of mine. I explained the earlier problems. The Colts have a crappy pass blocking scheme and only a average line. Manning now *manually* assigns the blocking; normally this is not dealt with by the QB at all.
If the Colts had not been running plays and schemes directly out of Tom Moore's 1982 Pittsburgh Steeler's playbook; Manning never would have HAD to start changing plays in the first place.
Checks are not nearly as necessary in modern offenses as the receivers have dynamic routes that change AFTER the snap of the ball based on the coverage.
The Colt's offense implodes without Manning because they do not normally run from their playbook at all. Sorgi or Painter come in and they are using a prehistoric playbook.
I don't care what anybody says; Tom Moore is "just a guy". He runs rather conventional schemes and his offenses require good players to work. He has had some good years before he was with the Colts when he had really good players. But if you made a list of the game's best offensive minds in 1997; he would not have made the list.
Have the saints not watched film on Manning before? The only person to truly confuse and stop Manning was Bill the Cheater.. The pats threw a million and a half looks at him faked blitzed, kinda blitzed and did it at weird times from weird angles. If you just bring the heat from moment one, Manning will figure it out eventually and will toast you from there on...
"From your post I cannot tell that you actually read all of mine. I explained the earlier problems."
Yes, I read your whole post, and I read all 5,000 words of your follow-up. I understand your point. But whatever you feel he had to overcome, he apparently could overcome it only during the regular season, not in the playoffs. If you don't see a difference between Manning five years ago and Manning now, I don't know what to tell you.
"Bill the Cheater"
Isn't this getting a little old? You're saying Pats went to four Super Bowls because their coach taped a lousy Jets team's defensive signals? That was the secret of their success?
How long is this swift-boating of the Pats going to go on? They were a great team. Deal with it.
Last I knew the Colts still didn't have a running game.
If it was me,I'd jam the recievers as often as possible,
and keep giving Manning different looks to decipher.
Keep the Colts offense on the sidelenes,that's the safest bet.
I will absolutely agree that nobody can light it up like Kurt Warner when everything is working but (and it's a but the size of Flozell Adams) few can stink it up like Warner when things aren't working.
Every QB depends on protection and receivers to succeed and no QB looks good when he's getting hit or when his receivers aren't catching the ball but no other 'elite' QB has a drop off the way Warner does.
Think it's a coincidence that his only good seasons occur in stadiums that are indoors when the weather turns bad? I don't.
Warner had 2-3 seasons in StL that were as good as anybody who ever played the game and a couple of reasonably good seasons in Arizona. Other than that, nada. That makes him a first ballot HOF??? Don't think so.
Winning: Johnny U was slightly before my time, too; he retired maybe a year before I became truly aware of pro football. I could also make the argument that defenses 30 to 40 years ago were nowhere near as sophisticated as they are today, but that's quibbling.
BTC: Was that you seriously comparing Marvin to Jerry Rice?
Stan: Manning will destroy them if they blitz heavily, unless they're able to hide it effectively, so I don't see that the Saints have much choice but to try to change personalities.
Yojimbo:
It's true that today's defenses are more sophisticated but virtually all of the rule changes in the last four decades have been to improve offense, particularly passing. There's a reason why all of the passing records have been set in the last ten years and it's not because today's QBs are better than Starr, Unitas, Tittle, Jurgensen, etc.
I'm not saying that Manning's not an all-time great QB (you do mean Eli, right?), it's more that you can't compare eras as easily as statistics would suggest.
Gregg didn't necessarily say he was going to blitz. He is obviously gonna mix it up, just like he has all year. As a Saints fan, I hope it works, but I'm not gonna sit here and be negative about all this, I trust they can do the job :]
All I'm gonna say about Kurt's HOF candidacy: the numbers don't like broseph.
Gregg didn't necessarily say he was going to blitz. He is obviously gonna mix it up, just like he has all year. As a Saints fan, I hope it works, but I'm not gonna sit here and be negative about all this, I trust they can do the job :]
All I'm gonna say about Kurt's HOF candidacy: the numbers don't lie broseph.
"Think back to week 16 last year (NE 47 Arz 7, Warner 6/18 for 30 yds). And that was not a unique case. They got blown out in 5 or 6 games last year and he didn't play well in any of them. "
Aside from the fact that the last sentence is factually inaccurate (the Cards lost by 10 or more points 4 times in '08), it highlight that Warner is an interesting case because he has long stretches of performing at a unbelievably high level (not just really good, but the rarely seen kind of good) and also dropping some games that only Brady Quinn/2009 Derek Anderson/Jamarcus Russell would be proud of.
I think one issue here is selective memory on some people to which he is compared. For instance, clear HOF QB Tombrady, certainly in the top 10 of all time, has authored plenty of clunkers (14-28 for 123 yds with 0 TD and 4 INT in a 0-31 carefree afternoon in Buffalo; 24-44 for 183 yds 1 TD and 3 INT in a glorious loss to GB; in his 12-1 team's game against 2-11 Mia, he was 18-29 for 171 yds, 3 TD, and 4 INT). The same is true of any QB in the HOF.
QB lows do not obviate the highs. In 2008, Brady frosted his HOF cake with a pheonmenal regular season display. However, Warner in 1999 and 2001 was as good as Brady in 2008. Brady 2008 stats are better when compared without context, but if you adjust for the average QB performance in the NFL of those years, Warner was just as good. Oh, and he did it twice.
As far as throughout his career, Warner has thrown for 300+ yds in in something like 45% of his career games. Dan Fouts is second in NFL history with 25%. Warner has the 3 highest passing yard totals in the Super Bowl. So clunkers? Yes, absolutely! But he also performed at a high level in a high percentage of his games.
Another issue is the insistence that QBs are completely responsible for a team winning of losing. While they obviously have more bearing than players at any other position, they do not play defense (we can accept the adage that defense wins championships alongside the notion that QBs should be solely judged by W-L). Because of Warner's stretch of mediocre team success 2002-2007, he is viewed as not being in the same class as Brady or Manning. I believe that if you dropped either of those gentlemen on the Giants or Cards teams that Warner played for, their individual numbers and team success would have been essentially equivalent to the Warner eras.
Last, we hold Brady in such high esteem because "he" won 3 Super Bowls, with his final drive putting his team ahead in all three. Well, in Warner's final drive of each of his Super Bowls, he lead his team to TDs to either tie the game or put his team ahead. Unfortunately, his teams did not have the final possession in any of those games, losing 2. Brady is 1-1 in similar circumstances.
Even though I loathe Tombrady, let me be clear that I know he 1) should be in the HOF and 2) has had a clearly better career than Warner. However, it is just as clear that War
Everyone needs to go to www.investigatethenfl.com and sign the electronic petition to have Congress investigate the NFL for fraud and game fixing.
Asking Hue Jackson to resurect the "career" of JaMarcus Russell is like asking the Warden at San Quentin to resuect the music "career" of Charlie Manson. First of all neither had a "career" to resurect..secondly, neither has the talent to even think about a "career". Ald Davis should cut Russell and move on. Reminds me of Wilson, Marinovich and Walter..where are they now?
I Couldn't agree more on your assessment of the Saints defense. It is hard to say whether or not the hits Favor took made him decide not to run for a few yards on that last play as opposed to the brain dead decision he made, but the fact is that the Saints defense couldn't stop the Vikings passing offense
I think have the saints not watched film on Manning before? This only person to truly confuse and stop Manning was Bill the Cheater.. This pats threw a million and a half looks at him faked blitzed, kinda blitzed and did it at weird times from weird angles. If you just bring the heat from moment one, Manning will figure it out eventually and will toast you from there on...
In the past, Leinart’s work habits have never been strong, and he’s relied on his natural ability to be successful. He must speed up his game, speed up his thought process and become quicker in every phase. Being quick-minded is as important as being quick with his delivery.
They stem from his inability to control the football, which often sails on him, and from overthrowing too many inside routes that result in interceptions.
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I find it comical that everybody out there is *now* on-board with Manning being the "Greatest Ever".
haha
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C'mon, that was clearly goodnight. Stop trying to make a fuss over nothing.
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Jan 28, 2010
10:55 AM
Couldn't agree more on your assesment of the Saints defense. It is hard to say whether or not the hits Favre took made him decide not to run for a few yards on that last play as opposed to the braindead decsion he made, but the fact is that the Saints defense couldn't stop the Vikings passing offense. A writer on another site has a favorite phrase; "stop me before I blitz again". It didn't take Manning long to decipher the Jets blitz packages and cut them up in the 2nd half; I daresay he will do the same thing to the Saints if they think pressure is way to defeat the Colts.