The Super Bowl Thread

[Buffalo Bob]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

I think the main reason I was for Seattle in the Superbowl was all of the talk weeks before the Superbowl of "if Peyton Manning wins this super bowl he will be seen as the greatest QB of all time."
That is stupid. Not to mention how much that jinxed Manning.
I am tired of today's pass happy fans and media that do not understand the only reason all of these passing records are being broken is because of the rule changes created by the NFL in the last 10-20 years to promote passing (ratings), like you can not touch a receiver after 2.5 yards from line of scrimmage and many others to protect the Qb.
Individual stats and records are not big deal when you are throwing the more than any one ever has in the history of the game. Or that your teams is so one dimensional that you lose the big game. Winning Superbowl's trumps all individual stats and records.

10-20, more like 35 years or so. It was the 1978 season where they made the head slap illegal. I remember the specific time because I was playing High School ball and most those type rules followed the pros. They also changed the way they called holding and illegal use of hands. 1977 and before a defender could hit a blocker in the head while the blocker had to keep his hands close to his jersey. Most O-lineman were coached to grab their own jersey while blocking to prevent being flagged. Also starting in 1978 you were only allowed to contact a receiver once, but still you could knock him down anywhere on the field as long as the ball wasn't in the air.

Do to these evolving rule changes favoring the offense you can only compare quarterbacks against their peers that played in the exact same time period. Quarterbacks were not protected if they stayed in the pocket back when Sonny Jurgensen played, roughing the passer was rarely called and you could hit them in the head, clothesline them and horse collar them. A 37 year old immobile Peyton Manning would have been watching the Super Bowl from a hospital bed or a wheelchair if the 2013 season was played under rules of the "dead ball" era. He probably would not have lasted 4 games.