Saturday, September 20, 2008

The George-Gannon Experience

All this Jeff George talk brings up an interesting point that might say a few things about the Raiders, but clearly points to what is important for a quarterback. Jeff George's practice sessions are the stuff of legend, but he put up gaudy stats on the field from time-to-time as well. In 1997, he threw 29 TDs vs. 9 INTs leading the Raiders to a 4-12 record. Soon after, they switched to Gannon and became part of the annual Super Bowl conversation.

Those "intangibles" of toughness, leadership, and decision-making obviously outweigh pinpoint passing. In the poisonous Raider atmosphere, it takes nearly superhuman leadership qualities to win regularly. Yes, we'll watch whether JaMarcus is just staring at Zach Miller now that Ben Troupe can stay in to block. Sure, we'll argue over how to normalize his stats against Curry's multiple drops and Javon's tender hammy. But will the offense be focused and scoring points in the 4th quarter? So far that is one of the only things they can do, and that's a good sign for JaMarcus.

1 comment:

john said...

Ah yes, the Jeff George Era, which coincidentally is also the Joe Bugel era. I remember two things about that: losing every game 41-38, Tim Brown threatening to start calling his own plays, and then, when Gruden came in, his disgust when Jeff George informed him, though the media, that he was hurt and unable to play. Good times.