ColdHardFootballFacts.com: Rivers, not Manning, best of the AFC West

[HailGreen28]

http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Articles/11_5355_Rivers%2C_not_Manning%2C_best_of_the_AFC_West.html

By Tony Cocco

Cold, Hard Football Facts man behind the scenes

The “Where Will Peyton Go?”soap opera is now over. And with the future Hall-of-Fame QB taking his talents to the Rocky Mountains, the football “pundits,” and a few Denver players are beside themselves with orgasmic joy at the thought of what a healthy Manning can do for a Broncos team that came out of nowhere to win the AFC West in 2011.

You might say they've contracted a dangerous case of Spinal Manningitis, a 14-year-old pigskin parasite that can be cured only with a huge dose of the Cold, Hard Football Facts.

(click on link to continue reading)

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I'm smirking, thinking of how much the Broncos paid to get the current second-best QB in their division. I think when Peyton plays like, well, a 36 year old in a new offense, the outcry from Broncos fans will be a wonder to behold. Even before he starts missing games.

[88Comrade2000]

If Peyton can play like he did before; the Broncos will win at least 10 games.

The Chargers have one big liability that will prevent Rivers from doing well, his name is Norv Turner.

[HailGreen28]

If Peyton can play like he did before; the Broncos will win at least 10 games.

The Chargers have one big liability that will prevent Rivers from doing well, his name is Norv Turner.

Agreed about Norv, lol.

Good point. I think it's a weak division, and any good team should win 10 games. And Peyton HAS BEEN a greatest of all time QB. I just think the Broncos are in for a big let down now.

[SteveFromYellowstone]

Let's not kid ourselves here, the Broncos were willing to offer Manning by far the most money. He did not pick Denver because he wants to win a Superbowl. He would have picked SanFran if that was his top priority. Denver was willing to let him run the offense (like Harbaugh is going to give full control to Manning LOL), pay the most money, and is in a relatively weak division. I think Manning is a little greedier than people think.\

And read the article there about the Broncos defense also. A Superbowl was not his top priority.

[paloosa]

If Peyton can play like he did before; the Broncos will win at least 10 games.

The Chargers have one big liability that will prevent Rivers from doing well, his name is Norv Turner.

BINGO! The Chargers lost too much already from their offense and Phillip "Gomer Pyle" Rivers won't have the season he is used to. Norv is a very good OC but a terrible HC. I guess he will be losing his job this year along with his buddy Smith in the front office.

[SkinsFTW]

BINGO! The Chargers lost too much already from their offense and Phillip "Gomer Pyle" Rivers won't have the season he is used to. Norv is a very good OC but a terrible HC. I guess he will be losing his job this year along with his buddy Smith in the front office.

Firing Marty and hiring Norv had to be about the dumbest thing a team has ever done before. As if Norv hadn't already proven twice that he's garbage as a head coach, they had to give him the best overall roster in the NFL and watch him underachieve year after year. LOL. Maybe that 1999 Redskins team is a SB Champ with an average HC coaching it. I watch Chargers games here locally with friends and laugh my ass off every time they find ways to blow games, just like Arizona/Esiason or Dallas in 1999 when Norv was coaching the Skins.

[Bubble Screen]

Is this guy aware that the Chargers lost Vincent Jackson and Mike Tolbert (among others)? Those were two key guys in that offense.

Mathews is a good back. But he seems pretty brittle. Where do they turn when he goes down? Who becomes Rivers' main go-to guy at WR?

Rivers may or may not have a better season than Manning. The fact that this guy can say for certain that it will be Rivers, is absurd. Rivers wasn't even that good last year. Not by his standards.

---------- Post added March-24th-2012 at 05:45 PM ----------

Let's not kid ourselves here, the Broncos were willing to offer Manning by far the most money. He did not pick Denver because he wants to win a Superbowl. He would have picked SanFran if that was his top priority. Denver was willing to let him run the offense (like Harbaugh is going to give full control to Manning LOL), pay the most money, and is in a relatively weak division. I think Manning is a little greedier than people think.\

And read the article there about the Broncos defense also. A Superbowl was not his top priority.

He wanted to stay in the AFC, dude. But yeah, the fact that Harbaugh probably wouldn't be willing to give him full control of his offense was probably a factor, too.

He was gonna get his money no matter where he played.

[SirClintonPortis]

Cold HardFootballFacts.com can be a useful reference, but not in the way they intend it. By "it", I mean form definitive conclusions from just looking at who has the "better" value.

The better "statistical quarterback" is not necessarily the better quarterback. Even if we drop the "common sense" intuition that Manning must be better, this "analysis" does not conclusively prove that Manning is the worse quarterback.

One factor is falsely assuming identical or near identical environments for Manning and Rivers. There are many potential variables that can affect these final numbers, such as the differences between Air Coryell and Manning offense.

Even if we assume that environmental differences have no significant impact, we must remember that stats are an incomplete measure of "output", not inputs. The measure the RESULT of the player's effort ability, not the actual amount of effort and ability. But since football is a team sport, effort and ability of teammates AND coaching behavior ALSO affect these numbers. And playing also affects the final value.

Third, comparing how a team fares against another is NOT comparing quarterback performance. Manning's Colts got raped by the Chargers in part because the Colts had a weaker supporting cast than the Chargers.

[dsciambi]

Above post is dead on.

It also holds true for the one about Denver's defense. Statistically, sure, they sucked. But realistically? The defense is what propelled the Broncos into the playoffs.

Statistics don't tell the whole story, but for those articles, that's all they focused on.

[KCClybun]

That defense got torched by every high power offense it faced.

So it gets all the credit for the wins they got to minimize any impact Tebow had, but take no blame for getting destroyed against anyone who had a legit quarterback and offense.

[SirClintonPortis]

That defense got torched by every high power offense it faced.

So it gets all the credit for the wins they got to minimize any impact Tebow had, but take no blame for getting destroyed against anyone who had a legit quarterback and offense.

New England, Green Bay, and Detroit destroyed many teams....

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

its not out of left field in fairness

Manning had a down year in 2010. His ypa was down, as was his interception rate was up.

We also see his QB rating was down as well.

Its not crazy to say that Rivers is the better QB right now, however the Broncos have a better team than the Chargers

[Pedro]

I enjoyed watching some back yard football last season. Those comeback wins were off the back of a D that kept them in games with no offensive production. We know how that skews the stats for a D. Give that Broncos D a lead then watch them get after the QB, same as we're looking to happen here.