Myth of the "300 yd passer" ...to be a "great" QB

Originally posted by tjd808185:
This is a game Alex easily could have put 300 yards but the situation didn't warrant it. I don't think anyone is going to fault Alex for going 18-19 233 yards and 3 TDs. If he did that thru out his career nobody would be bashing him.

Obviously no one is going to go 18-19 every week but the point is if he consistently moves the chains thru the air very few will complain that he's not a fantasy God. The problem is you're delusional if you think Alex has been that thru out his career. Statisically he's not been an efficient qb over the course of his career. He's just now developing into this.

Sadly, you are wrong about the bolded.

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:
Sadly, you are wrong about the bolded.

That's just sports. You can't please everyone. I know Yankee fans that hate Derreck Jeter. Patriot fans that hate Tom Brady. Look at our own history with Steve Young.

There's a certain of percentage of people that will never be down with Alex Smith no matter what he does.

It's the Madden/Fantasy Football generation. Fortunately, we only have about five of these guys in NT that can't see beyond this and they tend to "mostly" stick in the Alex thread. Whew.

Originally posted by ElDannMann:
Passing yardage is one of the most overrated stats. I'm more worried about yards per attempt.

im more concerned with completion %

Check out our YAC ranking...there's another thread which brings this up. You can argue that Smith would have more yards if his receivers did a better job of running after the catch.

I don't think anyone wants a 300 yard passer or cares. What we want is when we play a team like CHI or NYG, is a QB who believes in himself to make the tight throws because that's what will be required to score on these types of teams.

On the flip side, Alex' great completion rate is a bit deceiving. He chose to take several sacks last night instead of throwing the ball away. It's arguable whether was really a good choice. Several drives were killed because we couldn't make up the lost yardage.

Originally posted by Joecool:
I don't think anyone wants a 300 yard passer or cares. What we want is when we play a team like CHI or NYG, is a QB who believes in himself to make the tight throws because that's what will be required to score on these types of teams.

This. Alex set the bar higher last year with the win over the Saints. We all know that he's CAPABLE of winning a game with his arm, but he doesn't really do it too often. With the stakes higher, us being a Super Bowl contender, and us playing the elite... we want to see if Alex can consistently be "the guy."

The fear is that we get to the playoffs and our running game gets shut down. A lot of fans just want to see if Alex can be productive enough to get the win.

I think the obsession with passing stats is a bit much, but if Alex plays pretty consistently and continues to make good throws like he's been doing... I don't really worry about the playoffs.

Originally posted by kray28:
On the flip side, Alex' great completion rate is a bit deceiving. He chose to take several sacks last night instead of throwing the ball away. It's arguable whether was really a good choice. Several drives were killed because we couldn't make up the lost yardage.

And on the flip side of that, we were up three scores against a team who was doing NOTHING on offense. This year, see whats happened to Michael Vick and Philip Rivers. Two great talents, but they are turnover machines. At the very least, other than the Giants game and that one INT against the Seahawks, Alex plays pretty well within the scheme of the offense and team.

The sacks kill drives, yes, and Alex says he needs to do a better job of avoiding sacks, but in that situation, they weren't the worst thing that could've happened.

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
300 yd passer? A must to be considered a top flite QB? Baloney. Bunk. Phooey. If you don't believe it, check out the list of Qb passing yds and attempts/completions for this past weekend.

Raiders 26 Chiefs 16 Two dog examples.
Palmer 14/28 1 209 yds
Cassel 20/30 1 218 yds

Browns 7 Chargers 6 another pair of dogs
Weeden 11/27 0 129
Rivers 18/34 0 154

Patriots 45 Rams 7 1 elite Qb( barely got to 300 yds with NO TDs, vs 1 dog of a team
Brady 23/35 0 304 yds
Bradford 22/30 1 205 yds

Packers 24 Jaguars 15 1 elite passer goes for 22/35 no TDs and 186 yds , and 1 below avg QB 27/49 303 yds NO TDs.
Rodgers 22/35 0 186 yds (303 yds and 27/49 with no TDs didn't get Gabbert much, did it? )
Gabbert 27/49 0 303

Dolphins 30 Jets 9 3 make believe QBs in a bottom of the barrel game. Sanchez stunk
Moore and Tannehill 13/24 149 yd 0 TDs
Sanchez 28/54 1 TD 283 yds,

Falcons 30 Eagles 17 1 elite QB hi % and 22/29 only 262 yds, no TDs. 1 lost qb 21/35 for 191 and no TDs....somebody is going to the bench
Ryan 22/29 0 262 yds
Vick 21/35 0 191 yds

Colts 19 Titans 13 I rookie, almost 300 yds on 38 tries , 68%, plus a win. Hasselbeck lower tier Qb.
Luck 26/38 1 297 yds
Hasselbeck 22/29 0 236

Bears 23 Panthers 22 Boy, 39 passes, 314 yds, 2 TDs, and a loss. Way to go Cam. Cutler, the workman, 19/28 186 yds, 1 TD, 1 win
Cutler 19/28 1 186 yds.
Newton 20/39 2 314 yds

Lions 28 Seahawks 24 Big win for stafford, but 49 passes for 359 yds? Wilson at 25/35 and 236 had a workmanlike day...but lost
Stafford 34/49 1 359 yds
Wilson 25/35 1 236

Steelers 27 Redskins 12 Hey RG III is a superstar and he puts up 16/43 for 0 TDs. Rothlesberger 24/33 , no TDs, hi % passes (72 %)
Rothlesberger 24/33 0 222 yds 2 pretty good QBs and both throw for way less than 300 yds , Roth 222 and RGII 177 yds.
RG III 16/34 0 177 yds.

Giants 29 Cowboys 24 Ok, great game by great qb who throws for 192 and wins and other throws 62 times for 437 and loses.
Manning 15/29 1 192 yds
Romo 36/62 4 437 yds

Broncos 34 Saints 14 Ok, two great QBs, one barely makes it to 305, other throws 42 times for 213 yds. Obviously Saints are devastated by loss of HC.
Manning 22/30 0 305 yds
Brees 22/42 1 213 yds

And the moral of the story? Well just picking one weekend, 3 guys threw for over 300 yds and win....Brady, Peyton, and Stafford. 3 other guys throw for over 300 and lose....Newton, Gabbert, and Romo at an incredible 437 yds. Then there were the real creme de le creme worker bee qbs: who all won.

Rodgers 185 yds 22/35
Ryan 262 26/38
Rothlesberger 222 24/32
Eli 192 15/29

Of the top 7 qbs playing this weekend, 3 threw for over 300 and won and 4 did workmanlike QBing and won with 185, 262, 222, and 192. Looking at these numbers, it is easy to put alex in the worker bee elite group somewhere between 185 yds and 262 yds. The 3 Qbs with 300 + yds who lost prove that a 300 yd game isn't necessarily a winning QB. Fact is 4 of the best qBs this weekend threw way less than 300 yds and won, and only Brady and Peyton, plus stafford threw over 300 and won.

For once and for all I would love to put to rest the false idea that great QBs have to consistently throw 300 yds. Usually those throwing over 300 yds don't have great running games...and we do. It is completely unrealistic to expect our Qb with our running game to be throwing 300 yd games frequently. If so it means our running game is failing...and it isn't . So let's put the "alex didn't throw 300 yds" to rest and concentrate on the one thing that matters...winning. I believe just prior to AZ game that we are in fact, leading the NFC west at 5-2. The NFC West has become tough this yr, Rams excepted, maybe AZ. All this business about what our QB should be doing is just noise. Question is, "are we winning?", and the answer is yes. Focus guys, focus on the raison d'etere....winning is everything. Just get it done, w/ 60 % completions, and mid 200s in yds....just as long as we win.

I'd say there are more of the top flight QB's around the 300 YPG range than the 200... Follow the link and see for yourself.
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=0&season=2012&seasonType=REG&d-447263-n=1&d-447263-o=2&d-447263-p=1&statisticCategory=PASSING&conference=null&d-447263-s=PASSING_YARDS_GAME_AVG

Originally posted by Kronos2560:

Originally posted by obx49:

If our QB threw for 300 hundred yards on a consistent basis then we wouldn't be having this discussion.

But he dosent and we win a good majority of our games. So we are.

That's the point, Alex isn't trusted to go for the 300 hundred yard game not by me, Harbaugh and judging by your statement you as well. Unlike the great to elite QBs in the league, Alex has to be put in a position to be successful with a gameplan that is run heavy and short passes to his playmakers, otherwise he is very average. This team is successful not because of Alex, not by a long shot, it's successful because we have one of the best defense, ST, and running game in the league along with Harbaugh's unique style which allows Alex to be put in a position of success.

Originally posted by Garcia:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:
Tom Brady had 4 TDs

Alex could have easily had 4 TDs but we are conservative with the lead and dont run up scores the like Pats.

I agree with this. I'm all for getting a big enough lead to make sure the other team can't rally a comeback but the Pats are notoriously bad when it comes to running up the score. It's disgusting.

Originally posted by GhostofJimmyDean:

Originally posted by Garcia:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:
Tom Brady had 4 TDs

Alex could have easily had 4 TDs but we are conservative with the lead and dont run up scores the like Pats.

I agree with this. I'm all for getting a big enough lead to make sure the other team can't rally a comeback but the Pats are notoriously bad when it comes to running up the score. It's disgusting.

I like running up the score. I think when teams take their foot off the gas is when teams let other teams come back and win.

Originally posted by jvangeystel:
The fact of the matter is if you insert ANY qb in this system you are going to get mid 200 range in passing yards. Our defense and running game are both elite. Meaning for the majority of games we are in complete control by the 3rd quarter and are just killing the clock. Look at our past games. Alex is near the half way marker for 300 yds at half time. Then closes the game under 300. Why, because the game is won.

Want us to keep throwing the ball? Running up the score? Padding the stats to stroke the ego of the average delusional football fan. The cliche is that winning percentage is the only stat that matters and that is true. The win is what matters and when we have games won by the half, and only have lost to a surprise Vikings team and an amazing Giants squad then what's to be upset about? Multiple blowouts in a season where the Cardinals won 4 straight to start the season.

Thank you thank you thank you...

Originally posted by McLovinAlexSmith:

Originally posted by GhostofJimmyDean:

Originally posted by Garcia:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:
Tom Brady had 4 TDs

Alex could have easily had 4 TDs but we are conservative with the lead and dont run up scores the like Pats.

I agree with this. I'm all for getting a big enough lead to make sure the other team can't rally a comeback but the Pats are notoriously bad when it comes to running up the score. It's disgusting.

I like running up the score. I think when teams take their foot off the gas is when teams let other teams come back and win.

That's why I said get a big enough lead that a comeback can't be made. The Pats take it too far. There are times when Brady shouldn't even still be in the game yet they keep him in there launching rockets into the endzone when the game is way out of reach for their opponent. You see Gronk celebrating like they've just won the Superbowl. I don't know, it just rubs me the wrong way.