Nobody "carried" the Bengals. They didn't just dominate on their way to the Super Bowl. Burrow made some nice timely throws, their defense was punching teams int he mouth and they were well coached. Burrow is a great player. I'm not taking that away from him. What i'm saying is on that playoff run he was not great. He was worse in the playoffs than he was in the regular season which is to be expected.
Herbert's talent jumps off screen...just like Romo's did...just like Phillip River's did...just like Dak's does. So are we changing the discussion? Its about who ACTUALLY wins in spite of his team or is it who's talent jumps off screen?
If Russ puts the Bronco's over then i'll change my view on what he's done. But once again, you're changing the discussion. You are now giving Russ the "participation trophy" for making the Seahawks "relevent" but he has essentially done nothing since losing the strongest unit on the team which is the Legion of Boom. That's with always having a solid receiver core and running backs.
No, I am actually trying to point out the disconnect between the point of the thread and many of the comments. Let me illustrate with a few simple statements.
1) The point of this thread is
how well does the QB play the position, not what success each team had. Yet many comments are about what the team accomplished as some sort of indicator of how well one individual played.
2) Certainly it is a team game & the collective effort of the team will determine how far they go. However, it is completely possible to evaluate every single player as an individual performing their responsibilities. That is why I named a few players as examples. Those QB's clearly play the position very well and give their team a chance to have success. That is why I believe you paint with too broad a brush when you dismiss the players performance ("essentially done nothing") simply because the team hasn't achieved the ultimate goal.
3) Seahawks & Broncos are perfect microcosm for the upcoming season. Seahawks are viewed as declining because they lost a proven top tier QB. Broncos are viewed as potentially going from last in the division to challenging the Chiefs because they upgraded to a top tier QB. Vegas understands the value of having a QB on the first list and is reflected in every line they set.
4) To further point #3, you can take any team past or present and change out only the QB's and the belief in that team either increases or decreases because everyone understands how the position impacts the team's ability to succeed. Any prior team results are irrelevant. It's strictly how well the individual plays QB that is relevant.
