ChewbaccaD said:
Anyway, whether it's Seattle or Green Bay, I don't think either wants to face our defense.
True, but I think most teams would be happy to face Carolina’s offense. Anyway, I’m glad Dallas beat Detroit, because I want to see what the Panthers can do vs. Seattle. I think they have a better chance of winning that game than beating GB, though of course if they do get past Seattle, they might well have to face the Packers. I wouldn’t bet on them, but I wouldn’t be stunned if they won, either. And to think they don’t have Hardy, who had been one of their best defensive players.
The 78 yards AZ gained was the worst in playoff history, and even if you don’t count that 19 yard loss at the end, it was really pathetic. A lot of people are trying to argue that it wasn’t the Panther defense, it was just that AZ had high school level players on the field. I don’t buy that, this is the NFL, even the worst team in the NFL, which AZ was not, even with all the injuries, is not that bad. A defense has to be really good to hold any team to less than 100 yards. Less than 200 yards is fairly rare in the NFL.
And the second half was almost beyond belief, 13 yards in just 18 plays. Even if you don’t count that 19 yard loss, what really stands out to me is the 18 plays. How can you play an entire half and not have more than 18 plays? To put that in a little perspective, going to the opposite end of the spectrum, Oregon had a TD drive vs. FSU that was 19 plays, and they did it in just 4:45.
Alpe d'Huez said:
An even temperament. No sense of entitlement. All the issues that made RG3 seem a head case, no one has seen from Mariota.
Now RGIII seems like a head case. But I never heard anyone suggest that when he was drafted. Correct me if I missed something, but did anyone ever suggest RGIII had any kind of attitude problem? There were some rumblings about Newton, in his first year in the pros, but RGIII? He did expect to start as a rookie, but so did Luck, and in fact if you sell the farm to draft someone, it’s understood he won’t stay on the bench very long. And if RGIII didn’t raise any flags at the time, how can we say we know Mariota well enough to be sure he’s so different? He seems exemplary to me, but you know the old saying, we don't really know anything about these star athletes.
Also, if RGIII does have an attitude problem, it might affect how hard he works, but I don’t think that goes very far in explaining his failures. He didn’t develop in a college system that prepared him for the pros, and the same is true for Mariota. Scouts who compare him to, say, Winston, point out he’s not as good at reading progressions and throwing into tight windows, exactly the kind of criticism RGIII (and Kaepernick, for that matter) is getting. Also like RGIII, Mariota is accustomed to running when he can’t immediately find an open receiver. When NFL teams prepare for that and make it much more difficult, any deficiencies as a pocket passer become magnified.
Not saying he can't succeed, but a Winston-type QB seems to have a much better chance. I say Winston-type, of course, meaning a hypothetical QB like him but without the attitude problems we know he does have. I think Mariota's chances depend a lot on where he goes and how he's handled. An interesting comp might be Vince Young, who was also an outstanding QB who could run. Young's career did seem to be derailed by attitude problems. I could see Mariota as maybe like Young with the right attitude, in which case he might have a very good career.
But Luck is already there. He's carrying the Colts on his arm. He still makes mistakes and too many bad throws, but he's a top 10 QB right now. Arguably a top 5.
When I say elite, I mean Rodgers, Brady, Manning, probably Brees. Luck is not in that company yet, but he may be next year. In fact, if Manning has started declining, Luck might even be better than Manning next year. I could see him possibly being top 3 next year, with Rodgers and Brady, and that’s assuming Tom “as good at 45 as 25” doesn’t start his own decline.