pinkfloyd2000

January 16th, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^

Nice article -- thanks for sharing.

Bonus: if you watch the 1-minute video on that page, Jeff Saturday offers his thoughts on the game, and delivers this nugget of wisdom: "Whichever team plays better on Sunday is going to win."

Well.

Ruminate on that for a while.

Joined: 01/27/2009

MGoPoints: 18471

1464

January 16th, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^

That reminds me of hearing Madden say something to this effect on a MNF game:

"As a defense, you can't let the wide receiver get past your last defender, because if he does there's nobody between him and the endzone."

Thank you, John, for that bastion of knowledge.

Joined: 06/21/2010

MGoPoints: 37173

LSAClassOf2000

January 16th, 2014 at 11:24 AM ^

Great article. Thanks for sharing this!

I particularly enjoyed the story Damien Woody told of Brady getting fed up with Jason Taylor's taunting. That was superb in-game management in a way, as well as a nice football way to shut someone up. 

What was interesting for me is that this is consistent with how I imagine both of them to be - Brady seems far mor laid back, whereas Manning seems a little more tightly wound, if you will. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130623

tmzenn

January 16th, 2014 at 12:35 PM ^

It is funny how people argue which quarterback is better. I think it is very difficult to determine which quarterback is better out of Manning or Brady. I have always liked Brady more because I am a Michigan fan, but I would be ignorant not to notice that Manning is also a great quarterback. I particularly love the arguments that one has won more superbowls or the other has played with less talent. Football is a team sport, and when you are as good as both these quarterbacks, it is difficult to determine which is better. 

Joined: 10/11/2008

MGoPoints: 311

Farnn

January 16th, 2014 at 1:45 PM ^

I think you can get rid of the more/less talent after this season.  Everyone said Manning was great with unknowns at WR while Brady had great receivers.  But look at this year, Brady lost his top 3 receivers from last year and still went 12-4 with a collection of receivers who were afterthoughts.  He may not have put up the same numbers Manning did, but Manning probably had a better group of receivers than Brady did when he set the TD record.  Not sure we'll ever see Brady with a good enough group of skill players to get back to setting those records but if we do it could get interesting.

Joined: 07/07/2008

MGoPoints: 12788

treetown

January 16th, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^

From all of these posts it seems that what good teams (Denver, New England) and bad teams (Detroit) have in common are:

1. To win you have to do one of two things: score more or prevent your opponent from scoring more. It is a "no, duh" observation but simplifies the discussion. Some teams have a losing record despite putting up nearly 4 touchdowns per game - evidence which suggest they should work more on improving their defense. I cringe when I hear some columnists and pundits ask the the Lions select another WR high in the upcoming draft. The Pats have guys signed as undrafted free agents who have put credible numbers as the number 2 and 3 options. They need to continue to improve their defense.

2. It is easier to find receivers who are above average and really good but not great, than it is to find a QB. The QB has to not only make the throws physically but know who to throw to (which is what probably prevents most of the so-called journeyman or game manager QBs from breaking through to the higher level). Both Brady and Manning show that so long as the OL is pass protecting them, they could give almost any team a credible offense in today's pass oriented NFL simply by walking on the field.

Joined: 11/10/2010

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