@tiamat63 said:
1) Include Flacco in there. Only difference is those teams didn't have staying power and paying their QB's, such as the Ravens did with Flacco, held back their rosters and cap room. Lesson here - want long term shots a playoff/SB windows? You NEED an elite QB. Otherwise you'll get a magical run and then nonsense on the in between years.
2) Agreed. No QB can overcome severely deficient talent, especially up front. But Mahomes is also having issues with turnovers this latest stretch of games because his fine line of brilliance and stupidity has clocked on the latter of late. You can't always get away with some of the throws he has been making and his casual approach to being used to it has been a shock to the system of the KC offense. I mentioned it in some past thread - they live for the deep ball, the flash and the celebration. Make them play patient and physical and these have been the results. A high flying team with zero defense. The 2000's Oregon Ducks of the NFL, in a nutshell.
1) Of course, I 100% agree that for sustained (like a decade long) success you had better have an elite QB. The question is- and you're seeing it from a lot of quarters- is Baker "elite" enough? My observation was plenty of guys around here- after 57 years without a Championship- would be more than thrilled with a "one and done". Count me in on that group. I've mentioned it a bunch of times- one of my greatest regrets in life was not using some of my paper route money, buying a ticket and hopping on the bus downtown to catch the 1964 Championship game. Can't be more than another year or two.. Right? Wrong. Two QB examples for you to comment on if you'd like to. Since I live in Bengal Land.. 1) Andy Dalton- good enough to make the playoffs 4 seasons running, and flopped in all of them. Is that the best we can expect out of Baker? 2) Matt Ryan.. I think you can safely say he's "elite" but Mr. Bad Luck ala Archie Manning.
2) Preaching to the Choir. I already duly noted they had to let a bunch of their OL starters go to pay for Mahomes cap busting contract... I could easily envision 6 more losses on their schedule. To make the playoffs- they're going to have to beat the Raiders twice, Chargers on the road, sweep Denver, and pull at least one win out against the Cowboys, Steelers, and Bengals. Not easy. Haven't heard from Pat Mahomo of late, have we? I did look up the stats and his qbr has tanked in the last few games.
