I'm not trying to stir anything up, I'm just saying sometimes stats are misleading, especially in football. You really need to use the eye test a lot more in football than any other sport.
The eye test is far more of a failure than statistics that I've used. The eye test REQUIRES coaches tapes, knowledge of the play called and responsibilities and a deep knowledge of the game in general. The fact that casual fans think they can judge NFL players based on memory of TV feed and throw out all statistics baffles me.
I wouldn't rate CB's based on those stats just like I wouldn't rate OL guys based on pancake blocks. It goes back to the Moss discussion where you use a lot of stats to form your argument. Stats are nice but they don't tell the whole story.
They are far better in rating a CB than a fan's subjective view based on the far more limited information of a tv feed. catch %, YAC, INT, PD, Stops, etc... tell a whole lot more of the story than your eyes watching a TV feed and that's assuming you even watch every game of every team with your eyes intently on the players' in question.
As for Moss, once again the eye test is an utter failure. Hell the DBs can't even tell how hard he's trying or how fast he's running but yet the fans around here can determine for a fact when he's "quitting". The fact that some of you still can't understand that the bias against Moss has always been wrong (at least for his time as a Patriot) just shows that many of you simply ignore facts and come to conclusions based solely on emotions.
The stats I've used to backup my assertions are not cherry picked, they aren't terribly flawed, I don't hide certain stats and promote others, and I sure as hell don't try to bend the facts to what I want them to say.
The reason I used "homer" is because in every thread you post in it appears you vehemently defend the Pats/their players/their coaches/etc. It's not like I'm saying it's a bad thing to be such an optimistic fan, but it wouldn't hurt to a bit more objective. No one is perfect, even the Pats
Well you don't see me jump into conversations that are dissing my favorite team, even when there is truth to it. I will however defend against players/coaches when the facts so obviously point the other way. There have been players that I did not defend, I just don't jump in on the ugly train because it's not fun as a fan to pile on a player that isn't getting the job done.
I didn't defend Chad Jackson for example and I'm not defending Wilhite's play this season. It's not worth my time to pile on guys that I WANT to do well, and if that makes me a homer then so be it.
I let my eyes give me an idea of what I see but I'm not afraid to admit my eyes were wrong when I go to the facts/data.
