Wild Card Weekend Game Day Thread(s)

There's also a big difference between Bridges blocking for Kurt Warner and Bridges blocking for Jason Campbell. And this really isn't a knock on Campbell as much as it is praise for Warner. Dude is just redonkulous. His pocket awareness and ability to get rid of the ball at just the right moment is uncanny. He can make even the most routine of linemen look like all-pros.

You brought up the part people dont acknowledge, the QB makes the line better and the line makes the QB better. People want to blame all JC's problems on the line but if JC had better pocket presence and got the ball out faster he'd make the line look a lot better and they'd make him look better too.

You brought up the part people dont acknowledge, the QB makes the line better and the line makes the QB better. People want to blame all JC's problems on the line but if JC had better pocket presence and got the ball out faster he'd make the line look a lot better and they'd make him look better too.

True, but we still have to acknowledge our OL was one of the worst in the league. When your QB gets blasted on a 3 step drop semi-regularly, that's a problem that is out of his control.

There's also a big difference between Bridges blocking for Kurt Warner and Bridges blocking for Jason Campbell. And this really isn't a knock on Campbell as much as it is praise for Warner. Dude is just redonkulous. His pocket awareness and ability to get rid of the ball at just the right moment is uncanny. He can make even the most routine of linemen look like all-pros.

Yeah I'm def going to have to agree w/ you. And it's a knock on JC cause he can't feel the rush like Warner can. The great QB's just have that knack. Warner just showed why he is a HOF QB. He just ripped apart a damn good GB secondary. The guy is just a true stud and I can't believe he's even thinking about quitting.

One thing about "pocket presence", if you have the same line every down, you develop a knowledge of how each OL guy is going to handle their responsibilities. One of the big problems with the shuffling that we did is that Campbell, and the backs who had to pick up blitzers could not comfortably develop an idea of who would pick up which defender. Cohesion along the OL is as important as the quality of any individual player. Campbell certainly missed opportunities, and stepped up when he should have rolled out etc etc, but the OL flux we had this year would have given the best quarterbacks difficulties.

Yeah I'm def going to have to agree w/ you. And it's a knock on JC cause he can't feel the rush like Warner can. The great QB's just have that knack. Warner just showed why he is a HOF QB. He just ripped apart a damn good GB secondary. The guy is just a true stud and I can't believe he's even thinking about quitting.

5 TDs and 4 incompletions is just mind-boggling. Especially when a) he didn't have Boldin and b) the Packers have Charles Woodson. And I don't think Leinart is a bad QB but the gap between him and Warner is staggering.

It's crazy to think we may have never witnessed any of this if Trent Green hadn't gotten hurt and forced Warner into action. Just makes you wonder about all the 3rd string/practice squad QBs over the years that might have been in the same boat

Warner was in such a zone it wasn't even funny. And to think how well Rodgers played too, but Warner still upstaged him - amazing.

5 TDs and 4 incompletions is just mind-boggling. Especially when a) he didn't have Boldin and b) the Packers have Charles Woodson. And I don't think Leinart is a bad QB but the gap between him and Warner is staggering.

It's crazy to think we may have never witnessed any of this if Trent Green hadn't gotten hurt and forced Warner into action. Just makes you wonder about all the 3rd string/practice squad QBs over the years that might have been in the same boat
I wonder if he would have had 7 kids if he was still a bag boy?

One thing about "pocket presence", if you have the same line every down, you develop a knowledge of how each OL guy is going to handle their responsibilities. One of the big problems with the shuffling that we did is that Campbell, and the backs who had to pick up blitzers could not comfortably develop an idea of who would pick up which defender. Cohesion along the OL is as important as the quality of any individual player. Campbell certainly missed opportunities, and stepped up when he should have rolled out etc etc, but the OL flux we had this year would have given the best quarterbacks difficulties.Yep, you've hit on the biggest issue here. In Campbell's case, it's not really pocket presence vs. not pocket presence (all staticstics show that Campbell is average to below average in these respects going back to college. he's obviously no JaMarcus Russell back there), it's the wild week-to-week fluctuations in what the line can and can't do.

In Warner's case, neither Bridges nor Mike Gandy is a better left tackle option than, say, Levi Jones or Stephon Heyer. But because the rest of the line does a fairly good job (particularly Lutui and I think Sendlein and Wells are underrated), Warner can compensate for having a weak pair of pass blocking tackles with his great feel for the offense and a quick release.

If Bugel hadn't fallen in love with a guy who obviously wasn't NFL caliber (Will Montgomery), and we had gone with Rinehart immediately, things may have been different in terms of the line. Injuries forced our hand at RG, but we also spent the entire month of October just not playing our best line, which is perhaps the one thing that happened to this offense that can't be pinned on non-coaching related factors.

Warner was in such a zone it wasn't even funny. And to think how well Rodgers played too, but Warner still upstaged him - amazing.Maybe the thing that's hardest to understate is that he (and Big Ben as well) made the 2nd ranked Packers D look like the Lions D.

And that's a legitimate 2nd ranking as well. Not a Redskins-type inflated ranking.

There's also a big difference between Bridges blocking for Kurt Warner and Bridges blocking for Jason Campbell. And this really isn't a knock on Campbell as much as it is praise for Warner. Dude is just redonkulous. His pocket awareness and ability to get rid of the ball at just the right moment is uncanny. He can make even the most routine of linemen look like all-pros.When Warner is at his best, pass rushers can't seem to get anywhere near him. But there was a time when he was thought to be a flash-in-the-pan product of the Martz/Vermeil offense, when Warner was fumbling 20-30 times in a season. Certainly, at some point, Warner's offense was such a chain around his neck that he wasn't feeling the pressure the way an NFL quarterback should have been.

So, with a guy that's been on both extremes, perhaps there are external reasons that the same player can look clueless in the pocket, and can be excellent there, both for long periods of time, over the same career.

Anyway, I think you are right on here that you don't get to see the weakness of the Arizona tackles because Warner always seems to be two steps ahead of the defense (and because they are protected in the scheme). I just think there's a reason that Warner is so far ahead right now that goes beyond, "well, that's just Kurt Warner".