Quote:
Originally Posted by That Guy
as for why to bench him - he's not going to get better and we're probably not going to the playoffs, so seeing if campbell can play and giving him experience is in the best long term interests of the franchise.
brunell has been nothing but average. when we needed him in the playoffs, he was MIA. when we had a great defense he was terrible, now that we have a terrible defense, and he's just not good enough to overcome that. his W-L record (which is a valid stat) isn't good, and when we need a play to win, he often takes the sack/inc instead (TB, DEN, KC, etc). he has the worst record BY FAR in 4th quarter comebacks (something on the order of 8-43 - beyond horrible) and that's WITH very favorable conditions (down by less than 7 entering the 4th and failing to win = loss, but coming back from ANY number = win). I've never said he's the ONLY problem, or that he's the BIGGEST problem, just that he's a bottleneck (spending too much time watching the rush vs looking downfield) and we have possibly have the longterm solution in house, but it's important to know whether JC is truly the guy or if we're still looking. before building a team, it's important to be sure that the trigger man is more than just average, and capable of a clutch play more often than what we've seen lately.
14-13 was great, but for brunell, those kinds of plays have been very few and far between across his entire career. it's not a big shocker that he is what he is, only slower now.
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Philisophically speaking.... you play the guy that wins your next game. One game at a time. We're one game behind in the wild race. Theres no need to go "big picture" on us right now.
We put Campbell in, he throws picks (that happends to young QB's) and with our defense we can't afford that. We'll lose games with a young QB making mistakes. In-experience usually means turnovers, and our defense cannot win with that at stake. Brunell has not been playing badly as of recent, and if your a coach, your going to put your smart game manager in at QB. You cannot think long term in the middle of the season, and it's just not going to happen.
There really is no debate... JC will not start. We can all look at this when the season is over and say this and that, but right here, right now, we're making the only decision we can, and IMO it's the right one.