PatriotSeven
In the Starting Line-Up
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2011
- Messages
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I have absolutely no criticism, only praise, for the intermediate pass that went for a lot of yards after the catch.
I actually wrote in a thread earlier this week that I think Tebow is more accurate than Tom Brady in throwing the long ball. Unfortunately, that's as much a criticism of Tom Brady (at least this year, perhaps not historically true) as it is a compliment to Tebow. At any rate, I gladly concede that the inaccuracy problems are with the intermediate and short passes and that the long passes look pretty good from what I've seen.
In response to the general yards per attempt point, this is what happens when you have a disproportionate number of long pass attempts (along with some good runs after the catch); you get a really good yards per attempt number. If Tebow threw about the same percentage of short and intermediate passes as other QBs, then I'd expect his YPA numbers to be average at best. In other words, good YPA don't always correlate to accurate passing.
Agreed, this is a factor.
But really, haven't you been watching Tebow? Haven't you heard the analysis of his accuracy from all those that have been watching Tebow? Do you refuse to believe your eyes and your ears?
Indeed it has.
I'm convinced of it.
Let's just agree to disagree for now because we just have different viewpoint of approaching the QB passer. I honestly do not agree at ALL that Tebow's a more accurate deep ball thrower than Brady. Not in the least. All I'm saying, to everyone's surprise it turns out that Tebow's the most efficient deep ball passer in the NFL, and there used to be a time when that's what we used to respect in a passer's ability. To be able to accurately place that ball deep 50 yards out, not 15 yards away.
Now "general opinion" has shifted. Perception has shifted.
In short: In the 70's and 80's West Coast offense QB's who completed a bunch of short passes started looking bad in the NFL passer rating, therefore as passers, compared to those who threw the deep ball a lot(you just saw Tebow kill it against the Steelers). Back then there used to be more interceptions than TD's so that didn't help either when you had a whole bunch of attempts per game which just increased the chance of that, and interception % killed your passer rating. They complained. They claimed it was just as difficult to make short passes in traffic as it was to throw a bomb down field. The NFL adjusted the rating, not just for that but because WCO brought in more money and it encouraged passing. More yards and more passing meant more passing and money. Then WCO QB's started looking better than your traditional style QB's.
Today, it's simply the complete opposite. So then Brady started getting criticized that he couldn't throw the deep ball.
Truth is it's all one big illusion and perception. Those favorite numbers we all look at: completion %, attempts, yards average has little to do with these QB's actual ability to make those throws that end up making them rank good. There's a bunch of other things that go into the the calculations. So it creates amazing debates and stories like Tebow. It creates "myths" that Tebow can't throw short and Brady can't throw long. Which is nonsense if you think about it, even if you know nothing about football.
I fully believe Brady's still the better deep ball thrower. Tebow also happens to be a pretty good passer and everyone underestimated him. Not better than Brady though, because he throws on the run more. Pocket passer >>>> more accurate than dual/rush QB. Deep or short. But that's mainly because Brady's an experienced pocket passer, with amazing footwork, football IQ and timing. If Tebow wants to be a pocket passer, I wouldn't be surprised if he can do the same thing. The question is, what style of offense do you want? What works best for the type of quarterback you have? Why would you want to keep Tebow in the pocket all the time?
Fact is those 4 categories, the way they are used, say very little about the QB's actual individual passing ability and accuracy. Those stats and the NFL passer rating never really did a good job in ranking QB's by their actual passing ability. But Tebow's got plenty of time to be criticized after tomorrow, just like Brady, and he's going to have to go through it no matter what going forward though, and he's going to have to do it over and over to convince people no matter what, so let's just enjoy this game.
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