Thread: Interesting what Rodney Harrison said

Originally Posted by Butka

And FWIW, I've maintained that Brady has average physical skills with high intelligence. He's an above average QB, but no HOF QB outside of that offense.

Well it's a good thing he plays for New England then because he's a lock to make the Hall of Fame! Do you think that Peyton Manning would be as good as he is if he played for the Raiders rather than Indy? Come on man, I'd say a guy who whipped our ass but good and passed for over 350 yards in a snow storm is much better than just above average. I'd say Jay Cutler is above average too but he sure didn't put up Brady like numbers on Sunday in exactly the same weather that Brady played in.

Originally Posted by JustWinBaby

For a guy that knows the Patriots inside and out .... he said you can't beat the Patriots by playing zone defense, because their OL is good and will keep the rush away from Brady, and he'll pick the zone apart all day. He said the Jets and Bears both relied on zone defense and were destroyed. Without playing man defense and bumping the WRs, there is no chance of beating them.

I like Rodney Harrison but he's just stating the obvious. The Pats offense is specifically designed to run pass routes with Welker underneath the coverage and to exploit the deeper seams with their Tight Ends. Those are two of the weak spots in the Bears Cover-2 and I said last week that if the Bears didn't take that away it would be a very long day for the defense.

They didn't and the Pats made them pay the price it's as simple as that. Unless Lovie Smith become more willing to abandon his typical defensive scheme when it doesn't work (doubtful as that may be) the Bears will struggle mightily against teams like New England and Indy. Unless you can bring a lot of pressure against guys like Manning and/or Brady they'll kill you if you just sit back in those zones. The Bears Super-Bowl appearance against Indy already proved that.

You really need more pressure from the Dline and unconventional blitzing coupled with much tighter coverage to beat those offenses consistently. Considering Lovies outright stubborness to adapt in that way (reference Super-Bowl again) pretty much guarantees that he'll lose far more times to those teams or that offensive system that he will ever win, in the long run we never do achieve a Super-Bowl win against those teams or any team that successfully puts in that offense. For that reason alone I don't think the Bears will ever be the "best team in the NFL" as long as he's the Head Coach.

Originally Posted by soulman

Well it's a good thing he plays for New England then because he's a lock to make the Hall of Fame!

Brady is about as big of lock as it gets to go into the HOF on the first ballot.

Originally Posted by Dagan81

Peyton Manning is the greatest quarterback of all time, period. He will break every passing record that is currently held by Brett Favre. That being said, the reason Manning is so successful in Indianapolis is because he has excellent pass blocking, coupled with the fact that he may well be the most intelligent quarterback ever to suit up in a football uniform. Tom Brady is a step below Manning in that regard. He also has excellent pass blocking.

I don't disagree Dags but it's a very short step. But yes, Manning is the best QB I've ever watched play the game.