Comments on: New York Times, Post Week-17 (2015): This Season Was The Best Passing Season Ever, Again

By: eag97a

eag97a — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 05:11:00 +0000

I am all for different types of ways to win football games. Be it spread, read-option, short-passing, vertical attack, ball-control running game/great defense etc. It makes for a variety of attacks that just enhances the strategic/tactical potential of the game. I think that defenses should be given more leeway like allowing jamming/hand-fighting up to 10 yards to tilt the game towards the defenses a little bit but I’m not in favor of allowing kill shots, spearing and other dangerous ways of tackling. Allowing all types of attacks generally makes the game more popular/view-able across a wide set of demographics. The prevalence of the short-passing attacks is generally attributed to the copycat mentality of the league due to the massive sustained success of the Pats but besides Alex Smith and the Chiefs and a few other teams there doesn’t seem to be a lot of success that can be traced to the short-passing game. Teams and their owners are for the large part still behind the learning curve when it comes to replicating the Pats success (superior coaching, front office and ownership). No disrespect to vertical passing game fans, I think it is a byproduct of the highlight reels of ESPN and other sports networks and I think I’m in the minority here in equally favoring all types of football philosophies and how they match up against each other.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 03:07:00 +0000

In reply to Brad O..

I think we actually agree for the same reasons. I prefer a high risk / high reward passing game, with the scales tipped toward longer completions and more turnovers. My favorite offenses of my lifetime were the 2000 and 2001 Rams, who led the league in both Y/A and turnovers. They went for the kill shot several times per drive, and it was exhilirating to watch. In today’s game, I always root for the deep passing offenses to succeed, in hope that maybe the rest of the league will copy them and we’ll end up with an environment like the 80’s. A Cardinals SB victory would be awesome for that reason.

To be honest, one reason I rate Tom Brady lower than consensus is because I hate his playing style. Of all the great offenses throughout NFL history, Brady’s are undoubtedly the dullest. It seems obvious that many other teams have noted the Pats’ success and copied their style, so Brady-ball has become a full fledged plague around the league.

And I wholeheartedly agree that passing records have been devalued to the point of almost being meaningless. The current era of football is equivalent to the steroid era in baseball. Looking ahead 15-20 years, it will be interesting to see if the Pro Football HOF scoffs at 2010’s passing stats the way the Baseball HOF laughs at steroid era batting numbers.