RG3 vs. Andrew Luck (record, NFL, Bills, Dolphins)

[BajanYankee]

Any thoughts after Week 1 of the Pre-Season?

[manderly6]

Neither one looked like a rookie. Pretty impressive start for both of them.

[Mr. GE]

Originally Posted by manderly6

Neither one looked like a rookie. Pretty impressive start for both of them.

Its Preseason... Basically a glorified scrimmage. Let's wait a while.

[manderly6]

Originally Posted by Mr. GE

Its Preseason... Basically a glorified scrimmage. Let's wait a while.

I didn't annoint them hall of famers. I said they had a good start. How else would you describe thier performance?

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by manderly6

Neither one looked like a rookie. Pretty impressive start for both of them.

Yeah, both of those guys looked like bona fide pros. Gone are the days when QBs come to the NFL and hold a clipboard for three seasons. A lot of these guys are already playing in pro style offenses so they're coming to the League ready.

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Yeah, both of those guys looked like bona fide pros. Gone are the days when QBs come to the NFL and hold a clipboard for three seasons. A lot of these guys are already playing in pro style offenses so they're coming to the League ready.

Agreed. Like John Elway and Dan Marino stand out in the 1983 draft, ditto Griffin and Luck. By the latter half of the 1983 season, both Elway and Marino started. Before that time there were few rookie quarterbacks who started. Going back to the days of Roger Staubauch, Terry Bradshaw, Ken Stabler, Dan Fouts, Ken Anderson, Phil Simms, and even Joe Montana, I can't think of any of them starting their rookie season, either early in the season or later in the season. I'm going to do some digging on that issue if I get time.

I haven't seen the Redskin/Bill game yet on the NFL Channel, but I did catch the Colt game for at least the first half. And Andrew luck DID look good.

Still Mr. GE makes a good point. In lots of preseason games (maybe not all) regarding week one the starters only play half the first quarter. This weekends games are usually a quarter. It's the third game where the starters get a good workout, playing at least the first half and in a few cases a good portion of the third quarter. And in the final preseason games, those will involve a lot of people who are borderline cases of making the roster.

[susancruzs]

I agree with Manderly in spite of the so called vanilla play calling, they looked good. Now with first stringers, games counting, different game plans, mistakes might be made, rushed plays, interceptions thrown but as rookies I thought they looked pretty darn good for 1st time out.

I always look at Alex Smith and Aaron Rodgers. Alex is finally coming into his own with stability he didn't have for 3 or 4 yrs., Aaron on the other hand, got to work on his skills for those years in the Packers QB school. I don't think he would be where he is if he was thrown in a game situation right away.

I don't watch enough college ball, has it changed that much and are the players that much better? I know they come out earlier, many opting out of their senior year.

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by DOUBLE H

Agreed. Like John Elway and Dan Marino stand out in the 1983 draft, ditto Griffin and Luck. By the latter half of the 1983 season, both Elway and Marino started. Before that time there were few rookie quarterbacks who started. Going back to the days of Roger Staubauch, Terry Bradshaw, Ken Stabler, Dan Fouts, Ken Anderson, Phil Simms, and even Joe Montana, I can't think of any of them starting their rookie season, either early in the season or later in the season. I'm going to do some digging on that issue if I get time.

I haven't seen the Redskin/Bill game yet on the NFL Channel, but I did catch the Colt game for at least the first half. And Andrew luck DID look good.

Still Mr. GE makes a good point. In lots of preseason games (maybe not all) regarding week one the starters only play half the first quarter. This weekends games are usually a quarter. It's the third game where the starters get a good workout, playing at least the first half and in a few cases a good portion of the third quarter. And in the final preseason games, those will involve a lot of people who are borderline cases of making the roster.

Double H,

Was reading this, and can specifically remember Phil Simms first game starting as a rookie. The week prior, game 4 of the 1979 season, Simms came off the bench after the Giants fell behind early against the Saints, and finished out the game. As I recall, the Giants lost that game, in spite of Simms throwing a late TD pass.

The next week, against the Buccaneers, was his first start. The Bucs were 5-0, and on their way to their first playoff birth, where they would eventually lose to the Rams in the NFC Championship game. The Giants, conversely, were 0-5.

Of course, the Giants won, 17-14, but in this game, the outcome had everything to do with the Giants superior run blocking. Billy Taylor, Giants RB, had his first big game as a Giant, rushing for something in the order of 150 yards. Simms barely had to pass at all during the game, as the Giants advanced the ball on the ground at will.

For the next 3 weeks, Simms was the toast of New York. They won their next 3 games to pull within 4-5, it was the first 4 game winning streak I bore witness to as a Giants fan. They even went to Los Angeles and beat the Rams. They also beat the 49ers, who were using Steve DeBerg at that time. Simms was making Giants fans forget about booing him because they wanted Joe Montana instead.

The Giants went into the 10th game of the season carrying a 4 game winning streak against the vaunted Dallas Cowboys. A 5th consecutive win would have really signaled a measure of respect for the Giants in the NFC East.

I was never more excited when early in the 4th quarter, the Giants increased their lead to 14-6 as Simms threw a short pass to Billy Taylor and he crossed the goal line. I thought we were going to take down the Cowboys, first time I would have witnessed a victory over this team that had frustrated me over the past 4 years. However, Roger Staubach very calmly led the Cowboys down the field twice in the last 5 minutes, first throwing a TD to get the Cowboys within a point (no 2 pt conversion then) and then milking every second off the clock on the ensuing drive. Rafael Septien kicked a point blank range field goal with 5 seconds left. The Cowboys kicked off, Beasley Reece fielded the ball, went nowhere, and I angrily flipped the TV set off.

The Giants never recovered from that game, and lost 4 of their remaining 6 to finish 6-10. At that, it was the best record they ever posted in my young Giants history. Phil Simms finished his first year with a 6-5 record as a starter, which was nothing short of miraculous for the time. The days of Joe Pisarcik and Jerry Goldsteyn as a QB were over.

[DOUBLE H]

Solid info here Mike0421! Good points here!

You make a great point regarding the fans wanting Joe Montana The Giants fans were certainly not the only ones. A lot of fans of several NFL clubs were howling at their general managers over him. Why? He wasn't drafted until the third round of the 1979 draft! Yea, in the case of the Giants, I think it's a safe bet that long time fans would just as soon forget a good share of the 1970's. though I do remember them finishing with a 9-5 (?) record in 1970. Shortly afterwards, the Fran Tarkenton experiment was over, as was Norm Snead, Craig Morton fared worse, and Joe Pisarcik, well, a lot of us long time NFL fans know about his only claim to fame.

[Cali BassMan]

Originally Posted by mike0421

Simms was making Giants fans forget about booing him because they wanted Joe Montana instead.

.

Really??
Joe was a third round pick..