2018-2019 NFL Season Thread Football • Page 562

Placing an asterisk next to accomplishments because the game has changed is nonsense

 

Eh, come on now haha. Rice played for two of the top 10 QB of all time. And then went to a SB with the Raiders when Rich Gannon won league MVP. If anyone is an exception to that rule, it’s definitely Rice.

The Niners were absolutely pass happy through the 80s and 90s.

 

How?

 

I didn’t say they weren’t, but he played entirely before major changes in 2004 that clearly helped the passing game have a big advantage over defenses. Why do you think passing records are constantly being broken the last 10-15 years?

 

You didn’t see my edit in time so I’ll just paste it here:

“It was unusual for the league at the time, but realize that Rice’s team laid the framework for the league to become so pass happy to begin with. Manning / Brady merely built upon / added to the west coast offense that SF shell-shocked the league with.”

It’s revisionist and misleading to pretend that SF wasnt head and shoulders above every other passing offense in the league at the time.

 

I didn’t say they weren’t head and shoulder above back then.

But it’s factually correct that it’s easier to pass and catch now than it was during Rice’s entire career.

 

Concerning rule changes, look at special teams: Aren’t 50 yard field goals more impressive now than they were decades ago when the posts were farther apart and at the front of the end zone?

 

Sports evolve and there can be no baseline in which to measure players against. There are just the stats they accumulate within the sport and era they play. Should Jerry rice have an asterisk because he played in a different era than whoever played in the 1960s?

 

Okay, but did Jerry Rice ever do this??

 

Rice’s career spans nearly half the years the NFL has existed and is arguably the GOAT NFL player in general, so he almost defies comparisons at all. There’s a reason his stats haven’t been touched by any player, regardless of the rule changes.

And to clarify, it would be INCREDIBLE if Brown catches his yards totals, but I stand firm that albeit impressive, it wouldn’t hold the same weight as Rice’s records.

 

I fucking loved that premiere & Jarvis Landry is cool.

 

I like that my favorite team (currently) has a player named Brogan.

 

Not at all dude, I think you’re reading the narrative backward. It wasn’t that passing the ball was harder, it’s that passing offenses weren’t as sophisticated. But the 49ers WERE sophisticated in a sense that is now modern and common.

 

Like if you want my full opinion, Bill Walsh is the one who deserves credit for breaking new ground in the NFL. Rice was a titan among men but he couldn’t have done anything close to that statistically without the innovative, detail-rigid scheme they were running.

 

It’s fairly common knowledge that major changes in 2004 and multiple rule changes protecting quarterbacks and making defensive pass interference penalties harder and harder to avoid for defenders in the last decade or so has led to tons of all time records being crushed season after season.

For example, Romo has the best 4th quarter passer rating ever and I believe like 5th passer rating ever in NFL history. Obviously nobody thinks he should rank high on any all time list. The main reason is because he was a great efficient quarterback who’s career was entirely after those 2004 rule changes.

It’s why there are hundreds of articles and conversations about era adjusted rankings of quarterbacks. Sure, offense coordinators and play designers have got more sophisticated, but the biggest part is that the rules make it easier on those players than someone like Marino or Montana. That’s why they’re considered the greatest ever. They were putting up seasons like today but 30 years ago.

 

That’s only a part of the narrative. Defenses and offenses also just tend to respond to each other’s breakthroughs. There’s a long-term ebb and flow where schemes slowly get more and more complex, because they are accounting for more possibilities and finding more and more new ways to attack or deceive the opponent.

When you talk about who came first, the chicken or the egg? When it comes to high volume, high speed pass plays, The answer is San Francisco. Bill Walsh’s 49ers came first.

And then the rest of the league had to adapt, whether that was offenses trying to mimic their uptempo efficiency and laser-precise timing, or defenses trying to learn how to respond faster, and anticipate WR routes because they don’t have time to simply react. Both sides of the ball had to get faster and better conditioned as well, and learn how to make adjustments on the fly without huddling up, otherwise the west coast offense is just checkmate! You can’t respond to it if you can’t keep up.

To me that also has a lot to do with why the NFL slowly became a passing league. Hell, I’d argue a lot of changes to rules and penalties were pushed along by defenses not knowing how to defend the WCO and doing anything they could to gain an advantage.

 

It’s seemingly his favorite argument though.

 

Danny Etling is tied for the worst QB rating in Madden.

At least they know.

 

Let's penalize players because the game has changed ! All stats must be wiped out because it's the players fault the game is changed.

 

It’s not penalizing anyone, it’s appropriately placing their accomplishments in their era. It’s the same across practically every sport.

 

What more impressive: throwing 50 touchdowns in a season now or back in the 80’s?

 

I've said it before but Dan Marino's 1984 season is the GOAT QB season

 

It's all impressive, no matter what era it's awesome and impressive.

 

Splitting things beyond era is stupid in my opinion. Plus it sparks for better debates.

 

Agreed. But it’s more impressive to do it thirty years ago.

You have to split eras when it comes to sports and comparing players or coaches.