NFL Pro Bowl announcement

I think all three AFC guards were strictly on name recognition. Having watched Faneca all year, his level of play was down just like the rest of that offensive line.

 

Yeah, Faneca hasn't played well all year. Good thing Parker is a "gamebreaker" -- old man Bettis would have had a hell of a time running behind the '06 version.

Don't mind the Polamalu and Hampton picks, though I wish Aaron Smith received a bit more recognition.

 

I don't mind Hampton, either. Their run defense is still tremendous and he's the anchor. Aaron Smith is the better player, but that's at a different position. I haven't seen the guy from Buffalo this year, but Taylor has been dominant this year and Burgess is better than Smith.

At least they didn't vote in Hartings again. He didn't deserve it last year and he's been pretty lousy this season. When you see their running game faltering, it is usually because a nose tackle is kicking Hartings' ass all day.

 

Allen has widely been credited -- along with Frank Gore, obviously -- for the consistency of the SF running game this season. After several mediocre seasons with the Cowboys (those were obviously Pro Bowl by reputation), Allen has had quite a renaissance with the Niners.

A far greater travesty is the selection of Roy Williams at safety. He's a big hitter who makes some good plays, but he can't cover my mom down the field. Opponents have figured that out and have been designing routes to get him isolated in coverage. The result: Williams has been torched for more big plays than anyone in the league this season.

 

Roy Williams is a matador on pass defense. He never should have been voted in.

 

I missed that when I first looked through the list. Williams is a horrible choice.

 

Wow is right. ... Thank God. Someone argued for Brady because without him, they'd be 4-9 or 4-10. Well is this the Most Valuable Bowl? No. Rivers has had a much better year than Brady.

 

John Henderson was robbed.

 

Roy Williams is about all I can seriously take issue with. Thought Rivers over Brady and Bulger over anyone else were very good selections by the voters. And I'd still take Tiki over Chester Taylor.

 

Tom Brady is putting up statistics comparable to all his other years, with a shaky o-line and all no-name receivers, and he doesn't get in this year?

Terrell Owens has more catches, more yards and 150 percent more TD catches than Boldin, but doesn't get voted on. Yeah, it's a popularity contest of en vogue names. I take Brady over hot-name Philip Rivers in a heartbeat.

 

Following is borrowed from another thread on this topic.

The vote was complete prior to last Sunday's games.

Before Sunday...

First the total season numbers:

Completion Percentage
Rivers - 64.5%
Brady - 60.5%
Advantage: Rivers

Passing Yards
Rivers - 2879
Brady - 2946
Advantage: Brady (Although Brady has needed 47 more attempts to get those extra 67 yards)

Yards Per Attempt
Rivers - 7.52
Brady - 6.85
Advantage: Rivers

Yards Per Completion
Rivers - 11.66
Brady - 11.33
Advantage: Rivers

Touchdowns
Rivers - 18
Brady - 20
Advantage: Brady

Interceptions
Rivers - 6
Brady - 12
Advantage: Rivers (A huge difference-maker here, IMO)

QB Rating
Rivers - 96.3
Brady - 84.9
Advantage: Rivers


Now let's look at some of the best/worst performance numbers:

3 Best Games (As measured by QB Rating)
Rivers - W/L: 3-0 - 68/98 - 69.4% - 951 Yds - 7 TD - 0 INT - 124.1 QB Rating
Brady - W/L: 3-0 - 67/101 - 66.3% - 811 Yds - 10 TD - 1 INT - 119.7 QB Rating
Advantage: Rivers
(I did not include Rivers' first game against Oakland in this calculation even though his 133.9 rating was his second highest of the season because he only had 11 attempts in that game)

3 Worst Games (As measured by QB Rating)
Rivers - W/L: 1-2 - 52/96 - 54.2% - 544 Yds - 3 TD - 3 INT - 68.2 QB Rating
Brady - W/L: 1-2 - 47/89 - 52.8% - 499 Yds - 1 TD - 5 INT - 49.8 QB Rating
Advantage: Rivers

Games Below 60% Completion Percentage
Rivers - 4
Brady - 7
Advantage: Rivers

Games With 70% Or Higher Completion Percentage
Rivers - 4
Brady - 1
Advantage: Rivers

Games With 300 Or More Yards Passing
Rivers - 2
Brady - 3
Advantage: Brady

Games With Less Than 200 Yards Passing
Rivers - 4
Brady - 5
Advantage: Rivers

50+ Yard Passes
Rivers - 3
Brady - 1
Advantage: Rivers

Games With At Least 1 TD Pass
Rivers - 11
Brady - 10
Advantage: Rivers

Games With Multiple TD Passes
Rivers - 6
Brady - 6
Advantage: Even

Games With No Interceptions
Rivers - 8
Brady - 5
Advantage: Rivers

Games With Multiple Interceptions
Rivers - 1
Brady - 2
Advantage: Rivers

Games With A QB Rating Below 80
Rivers - 2
Brady - 5
Advantage: Rivers

Games With A QB Rating Below 90
Rivers - 4
Brady - 9
Advantage: Rivers

Games With A QB Rating Of 100 Or Higher
Rivers - 5
Brady - 3
Advantage: Rivers

Games With A QB Rating Of 120 Or Higher
Rivers - 3
Brady - 1
Advantage: Rivers

One of Brady's noted qualities is how "clutch" he is in critical games/situations. Now let's compare Rivers' and Brady's QB Ratings in several "clutch" categories (and a couple of other key comparison categories):

Philip Rivers vs Tom Brady (2006 QB rating by situation)

Situation..................... .....Rivers................... Brady...............Advantage

Overall....................... .......91.5................... .86.1..................Rivers
4th Q: +/- 3 pts.................107.5..... .............105.4............ ......Rivers
Last 2 Min. Of Half..............102.8....... .............79.8............. .....Rivers
2nd Half.......................... ..104.8.................. 83.2..................Rivers
4th Qtr........................... ..122.0....................88. 2..................Rivers
3rd Down.......................... .96.1....................73.8. .................Rivers
4th Down (Att)...................158.3 (5).............139.0 (7).............Rivers
When Behind.......................9 6.4....................69.3... ...............Rivers
Opp 19-1 Ydline (Red Zone)..111.6.................. 104.9..................Rivers
Against the Blitz..................132.2.. .................81.8......... .........Rivers
vs. AFC........................... ....92.9...................76. 3..................Rivers
vs. NFC........................... ..113.6..................101.7 ..................Rivers


Now let's look at the most important stat of all for any starting QB. This is something Brady's supporters often point to in his favor especially when compared with Peyton Manning - wins:

Rivers - 11-2 ; AFC West Champions ; Current 1st Seed In AFC
Brady - 9-4 ; 2 Game Lead In AFC East ; Current 4th Seed In AFC
Advantage: Rivers

 

As far as bitching about Owens, doesn't he lead the league in drops as well?