A Tale Of Two Quarterbacks
I want to tell you the tale of two quarterbacks. Quarterback A and Quarterback B. Quarterback A was a pocket passer with a big arm, but a fragile body. Quarterback B has a sturdier body, a good arm and good running ability.
Last year, Quarterback A was 0-6 as a starting quarterback guiding a poor team with a porous offensive line. 0-6! the national media and many Addicts crowed. He can’t win! He stinks! Get rid of him! Undeterred, the team started him this year, but didn’t do enough to fix the offensive line. After playing pinata, Quarterback A was hurt for the year.
Enter Quarterback B. The offense was changed to suit his talents and lessen the burden on the offensive line. Even with these changes, Quarterback B sits at 0-6 as a starting QB. However, the sound from the national media and the Addicts was….. praise for Quarterback B. Curious, isn’t it? Apparently, wins/losses isn’t the ultimate test. The disparity between how the two quarterbacks are treated is telling.
When we are criticizing players and coaches, maybe we should dig a bit deeper than looking at surface stats. Plus, it seemed that some of the vitriol directed at quarterback A was more personal than player evaluation. Oh, before you remind me about Quarterback A’s fragility, let me introduce you to Quarterback C. Quarterback C was a vet pocket passer without a history of fragility that got hurt often behind the same line as Quarterback A. Quarterback C is now lost for the season while appearing to take less punishment than Quarterback A. Yet, the sound of folks criticizing quarterback C was…non-existent.
Why bring this up now? Well, I have been thinking about the nature of fans. The great thing about Arrowhead Addict is that it is a forum for passionate Chief fans to talk, vent and exchange views. I admire the passion of all the readers and staff members. If you are sticking with the Chiefs this year, you are a true fan and any true fan of any team gets my respect. There are times when our passion blinds us and we start dumping on players and coaches out of a sense of dislike. The recent dumping on Gunther Cunningham is a fine case in point.
One final note. Before you tell me how much better Quarterback B has played compared to Quarterback A chew on this stat. This year, Quarterback B has a quarterback rating of 77.4 while Quarterback A’s rating is 81.3.
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Great observation. I think QB A wanted to prove his toughnous too much by staying in the pocket and with the line at the time, well we all know what happened. Too bad because I did have hope. Right now I am just hoping for a win.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:14 amThe first time we played the Faiders, we came off a good outing and they were throned as the worst team in the league, this time they’re coming off a good game and well some now consider us as the worst(totally understandable too)n. With the NFL now a days maybe, just maybe the script will flip.
GO CHIEFS!
November 29th, 2008 at 11:22 amBut … Quarterback B puts the ball in the endzone a helluva lot more than Quarterback A ever did.
November 29th, 2008 at 12:11 pmLet me start by saying I was rooting for Croyle the entire time. I still hopes he goes on to have a great career. He has the arm, he just can’t stay on the field.
I think the love affair you are seeing with Thiggy is caused by 3 things.
1- He is a 7th round pick that was released by a team and was a practice squad guy. That’s a great story if he pulls it out. It’s why the media loves him. Croyle story line was a kid from Alabama that was taken in the third round that couldn’t get a win or stay healthy. Just doesn’t have the same zing.
2- Thigpen has been a fantasy football stud. Even last week. I have him on 3 of my teams (I know, I have a problem). He has won me games. And god knows this nation is fantasy football crazed. Nobody cares about how many games he’s won if he’s helping them to win their league.
3- It’s been exciting to watch him. Croyle was exciting, and then he’d leave the game. Hard to get it going. It harkens back to the bad old Vermil days when you were never sure if they were going to be able to hold the other team to 40, but you knew the chiefs were going to put up at least 30.
I think your QB ratings are screwy though. You have to throw out all the games before the Tennessee game. If you look at the last 6 games his QB rating is 89.8
November 29th, 2008 at 12:16 pmOh, and Gunther isn’t helping my fantasy team at all. FIRE HIS ASS!!!
November 29th, 2008 at 12:48 pmThere has to be 20 better options than KC as a fantasy defense.
November 29th, 2008 at 1:29 pmThigpen has continued to outscore Jason Campbell in fantasy. I start Thigpen every week. That’s nuts, but it makes the Chiefs games even better to watch.
November 29th, 2008 at 1:33 pmWho wrote this article? Have you even considered how many points our defense has allowed since Thigpen has been a starter? Is that his fault? No..
Thigpen has been the chiefs best passer and anchor since Trent Green..We are scoring more points now consistently every game than we we’re in 2006 with Huard..
Another big difference between Thigpen and Brodie is the fact that we never ever scored 20 points with Brodie ever (did we ever score atleast 14 points with Brodie?) and the defense was usually pretty good with him at the helm…Remember the INDY game when we lost 13-10?
And now we’re scoring anywhere from 20-30 points a game but our defense is giving up about 30 points a game..You can’t compare their win loss records at this point..Sorry..
Thigpen has my vote for qbof as long as things continue..We just have too many gaps to draft a qb now..We need a linebacker and de from this draft to come in immediately and start
November 29th, 2008 at 1:42 pmQuarterback C didn’t have a history of fragility because he had a history of holding the clipboard. He’s been pretty fragile the past two years. He’s not tough even if he isn’t fragile, he’s old and I still have a feeling he isn’t as hurt as the Chiefs let on. He sure has looked like one smiley mofo on the sidelines.
Merlin, did you get bodysnatched by John Croyle or something?
Mushin, great points on the QB ratings, too.
November 29th, 2008 at 2:06 pmWow,
November 29th, 2008 at 2:14 pmA defense of Brokie without ever mentioning his name.
I agree with sandya. its not T.T,s fault that the defense cant stop anything. He has put up enough points for us to be able to win the game in the past few weeks. Harm says ” YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME” and that is exactly what Thigpen has been doing.
November 29th, 2008 at 2:18 pmMerlin, please just stop. I don’t know if I can ever take you seriously again after that article.
November 29th, 2008 at 3:06 pmif we draft a quality qb do we have the coaching staff to bring him to NFL level?
November 29th, 2008 at 4:50 pmThebryman….well said.
The QB has to have the ability to ‘feel’ the pressure, the pocket collapse, call it what you will, and Brodie simply didn’t have it. I’m not saying Thigpen’s the guy, but he’s got something that Brodie ain’t got…and we might as well use it while we can.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:41 amThigpen makes things happen…Croyle never made anything happen…ever…If we had a defense that had a pair we would have won a few of these past games….
November 30th, 2008 at 1:41 amSimple math though, A+C<B
November 30th, 2008 at 3:04 pmPlayer A 0
November 30th, 2008 at 7:44 pmPlayer B 1
I go back to an earlier premise, who scouted QB A? Did they look at some tape put together by his dad? His college career wasn’t terrific, but we still picked him up. Did anybody else want him? I don’t recall any “buzz” about him or anyone really looking at him. And yet a waver wire pickup/cast off has really come from nowhere and played well enough to win. He hasn’t committed the huge errors that cost you the game. He even almost overcame the miserable defensive play to win a couple of times.
Just look at J. Russell and how he sucks. Bad reads, poor passes, and moves like a lineman. How much money has he actually “earned”. Last week against Denver, they made him look good. Without McFadden, would Russell still be playing?
Our final drive today put the nail in the Raider coffin. 81 yards and lots of time off the clock late in the game with everything on the line. That was truly large play by a guy from Coastal Carolina U. It felt like he was going 110% to win and leave it all out on the field. You can’t ask for much more in that situation.
Yeah, it’s a “feel good” story. But Thigpen has been getting better faster than his counterparts. Look at Eli Mannings first season. Realistically, are there any other 7th round draft picks that have had as good a progression their first year?
November 30th, 2008 at 8:40 pmI can only think of 1 and actually he was a 6th rounder who has done better, Tom Brady. But he already had a good o-line and defense in place and history was made.
I know he(Brady) did come from Michigan so it’s not really the same which make’s it an even more “feel good” story.
All I know is that Tyler sure makes me “feel better” about going out there on offense than Brokie ever did and I was kind of hopeful(or more optimistic) that Brokie would work out but hey I was wrong.
December 1st, 2008 at 9:58 amJust a few points:
1. Quarterback C has never been hurt in his primary role as a clipboard holder. He has never been hit nor even seriously hurried while holding a clipboard.
2. Quarterback A was saddled with utilizing the “run Larry Johnson into the offensive line’s ass” offense. He was a sitting duck and turned out to be just as fragile as many feared he might be. He is probably done with the Chiefs.
3. Quarterback C has REALLY been a smiley mofo on the sidelines. He has been grinning nonstop like the Cheshire cat. Relief? Inside Joke? What?
4. Okay, we are past some of the REALLY stupid sh*t on offense. Lets get over the REALLY stupid sh*t on defense and play some.
5. How about lets kick Denver’s ass again this weekend.
I rest my case. Baillif, bring in the next case. Make it Budweiser.
December 1st, 2008 at 2:43 pmI have to say that I’m with the Hammer on points 4, 5, and the next case(s). Well said Brother!
December 1st, 2008 at 8:46 pmlobo48,
The Hammer says, thank you for your support.
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:42 am