Time to bench Brunell? (Mega Man Merge)

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by RobH4413

Isn't that what makes a team win?

uh...no. Please read my entire post. I have reposted the most important point (which you didn't address) below.

Originally Posted by RobH4413

If I'm correct you're saying that Brunell isn't suited for a gameplan that involves downfield passing. Heres the thing.

1) You can't use the first two games to gauge Mark Brunells downfield pass ability.

um...ok, why not?

Originally Posted by RobH4413

2) You can use last year, to see that Mark Brunell can throw the ball downfield. The second he didn't have any receivers, or the receivers that he had were in double coverage, he flopped.

If he were 29 and healthy, then I would agree. He's not. He struggled at the end of last season, and for all of this season, with anything over 10-15 yards. (I'm not even bringing up the preseason since whether or not it "counts" in evaluating players' abilites is a debate unto itself)

Originally Posted by RobH4413

3) Brunell has proven that when he the rest of the team is solid, so is he. He has collapsed when given an inconsistent team, and that makes sense. His job is to get the ball to the playmakers... and when they dont make plays... the blame comes crashing down.

Why should the entire pressure be on Moss and Randle El and Lloyd to turn a screen pass into a 30 yard gain? It's on Brunell to make the play sometimes. Yesterday, Brunell did not make any big plays with his arm. He had one pass to Patton over the middle, and he strung Patton out (who made a fantastic catch). I think that goes straight to your point - Patton made the play, not Brunell. Why shouldn't Brunell be on the hook?

Originally Posted by RobH4413

Brunell is the best choice we have.

We'll see - if he can't get the ball to receivers because they are more than five yards away, then perhaps there are better options. I think he proved himself enough in this game to have support for the next game, but it's really hard to credibly argue that he showed off his accuracy and decision making yesterday. It was an incredibly safe gameplan that relied on the receivers, RBs, and O-line to make plays. He did exactly what was asked of him, and that's fantastic (hey, it's a win after all!).

However, and this is the part that everyone who quotes my posts on this subject seems to conveniently ignore, this gameplan will not beat anyone else on our schedule, with the possible exception of the Titans. So, yes, Brunell executed this gameplan very well. Great, but who cares? This gameplan probably isn't going to work against anyone else.