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NFL Week 7: John Elway's not horsing around

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by YGBFKM, Oct 19, 2011.

  1. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I liked the hire at the time... Nobody thought they'd be good this year, so it will be interesting to see how long his leash is.
     
  2. nmmetsfan

    nmmetsfan Active Member

    Criminally misused? Really? Three Super Bowl appearances with a marginal running game and he was misused? If Reeves had Terrell Davis he'd have won a couple titles, too.
     
  3. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I think Reeves is a great coach. But he had one of the best QBs of all-time and he didn't use him properly.

    The Broncos made the first three Super Bowls with Elway because he carried them there. Under Reeves and Phillips, the Broncos would make the playoffs one year and then miss the next year. I think Shanahan had one transition year and then went 13-3, 13-3 and 14-2 with two Super Bowl titles.
     
  4. nmmetsfan

    nmmetsfan Active Member

    I'm just curious what more Reeves could have done with Elway. He gave the guy quite a bit of rope. Occasionally Elway would hang himself. I always thought those Bronco teams were overachieving anyway, largely based on Elway's ability to close. If Reeves had a runner as good as Davis, I'd imagine you would have seen a lot more consistency from year to year.
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    He should have opened up the offense. It seems remarkable, but Elway rarely threw for 20 touchdowns in a season early in his career.

    He threw more TDs in his last three seasons than he did when he was in his prime.
     
  6. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    You sure it wasn't the other way around? Elway making Shanahan look like a good coach?
    There have been too many bums who drew NFL paychecks as starting QBs (Losman, O'Sullivan, Thigpen, Moore, Leftwich, Gradowski, Grossman, McCown, Carr, I could go on) to completely discount Tebow's chances, as long as he gets a chance beyond the three throwaway games he started last year. This is his chance. If he bombs, I'll be the first in line to say it was a failed experiement.
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I think Shanahan took advantage of a situation that maybe no other coach has seen before or after, a HOF quarterback who wasn't being allowed to throw the ball...

    No question Shanahan rode Elway to coaching stardom. Lord knows he hasn't done shit since, but you can't fault the guy for being in the right place at the right time.
     
  8. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Mizzou, the problem with the Reeves Broncos teams (and three Super Bowl appearances in four years indicates they weren't THAT bad, was the defense, not the offense. In their three Super Bowl losses, the Broncos gave up 39, 42 and 55 points. There's never been an offensive game plan to counter that.
     
  9. nmmetsfan

    nmmetsfan Active Member

    Look at those stats a little more closely. His passing attempts per game from 1985-1992 were just over 32. Which was almost exactly the same number of attempts per game he had under Shanahan (32.45 pass attempts per game). The only difference in Elway's career statistically was his interception numbers were much higher under Reeves. That's not on Reeves.

    Elway finally matured and teamed with Davis to make Shanahan's career. But Elway was not somehow tied down by Reeves' playcalling. Many of those Reeves teams were wide open offensively (remember the three amigos?), and Elway's career highs in pass attempts were under Reeves (605 in 1985) and Phillips (551 in 1993).
     
  10. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    Yes, but 137 of those pass attempts were shovel passes to Steve Sewell.
     
  11. nmmetsfan

    nmmetsfan Active Member

    I know you're joking seeing as Terrell Davis caught more passes per season than Steve Sewell did.
     
  12. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    Very astute.
     
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