Brady, Manning or Roethlisberger in 12 of 13 Super Bowls

[Patler]

I read this interesting fact, that I hadn't realized

Including this year, in 12 of the last 13 Super Bowls, the AFC quarterback has been Brady, Manning or Roethlisberger. The sole exception was Flacco. That's kind of amazing.

[Deputy Nutz]

Brady: 6
Manning: 3
Roethlisberger: 3

[George Cumby]

This makes me wonder if Rodgers elevates the play of those around him. Does he make them better as the great ones do?

[Deputy Nutz]

This makes me wonder if Rodgers elevates the play of those around him. Does he make them better as the great ones do?

George,
This is a really tough question to answer. It seemed when things went bad this year Rodgers constantly had a look of disappointment on his face, I didn't see the type of leadership qualities of a guy that was determined to make the players around him better when the chips were down. Statistically Rodgers had another decent year in the modern era of QB play. My personal feeling is that he didn't give his guys enough opportunities to make plays on the ball this year, he seems to lack trust in guys and is unwilling to gamble with them when they are on the field.
Or
Is Ted Thompson ultimately responsible for not putting talent around Rodgers when injuries are taking a bite out of the lineup. It is one thing to go after James Jones after the final cuts to fill the spot for the injured Nelson and Abbey, but what if Abbey was healthy? Would he have signed a free agent instead? Thompson stacks his practice squad with young players that are not ready to play and then calls on those guys when the roster needs to be filled. I feel like Thompson goes into his cave once the season starts and doesn't feel the need nor the want to better the roster as the season goes on.
Or
Is McCarthy getting the most out of his players? Is he and his coaching staff making guys better, coaching them up? I was not impressed with the coaching job that McCarthy did this season. I thought when the shit hit the fan with the receivers this year that he and his staff would have worked double time to get Janis caught up. Janis is fantastic athlete there is no reason that he shouldn't know the offense by now. He has been with the team for two years.

[George Cumby]

Great points Nutz. Unfortunately for us as fans, we have to read a metric ton of tea leaves because we don't have enough real information to work with. There are so many layers and there is only so much we can parse from watching the broadcasts, reading non verbals and the sound bites we get during the pressers.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Nutz, great post...but instead of "Or" shouldn't it say "And/Or?" I felt all three possibilities played a role to some degree or another.

[RashanGary]

My gut feeling is that it's Aaron Rodgers. He doesn't adapt very well to the guys around him. He's rigid, inflexible and perfectionist in his approach. McCarthy is a "dance with the girl you came with" sort of guy. TT consistently fields a competitor. That's what i want from a GM. AR is supposed to be our best player and should be able to adapt more quickly to change than what he's shown. Let go of the stats, Rodgers. Some years you just have to win with defense and just enough offense. He was never able to adjust to the players or the style.

[smuggler]

I think it speaks more to the level of competitiveness in the NFC, or, relatively, the lack thereof in the AFC.

[Rutnstrut]

I've said this before. Rodgers is a golden boy when everything goes right. But when the going gets tough, he wilts a little. IMO he is not a great leader and is a bit selfish. But he's still better than most other QB's in the NFL.

[Fritz]

George,
This is a really tough question to answer. It seemed when things went bad this year Rodgers constantly had a look of disappointment on his face, I didn't see the type of leadership qualities of a guy that was determined to make the players around him better when the chips were down. Statistically Rodgers had another decent year in the modern era of QB play. My personal feeling is that he didn't give his guys enough opportunities to make plays on the ball this year, he seems to lack trust in guys and is unwilling to gamble with them when they are on the field.
Or
Is Ted Thompson ultimately responsible for not putting talent around Rodgers when injuries are taking a bite out of the lineup. It is one thing to go after James Jones after the final cuts to fill the spot for the injured Nelson and Abbey, but what if Abbey was healthy? Would he have signed a free agent instead? Thompson stacks his practice squad with young players that are not ready to play and then calls on those guys when the roster needs to be filled. I feel like Thompson goes into his cave once the season starts and doesn't feel the need nor the want to better the roster as the season goes on.
Or
Is McCarthy getting the most out of his players? Is he and his coaching staff making guys better, coaching them up? I was not impressed with the coaching job that McCarthy did this season. I thought when the shit hit the fan with the receivers this year that he and his staff would have worked double time to get Janis caught up. Janis is fantastic athlete there is no reason that he shouldn't know the offense by now. He has been with the team for two years.

Good points here, I think. I'm not as certain Thompson "goes into a cave" once the season starts so much as he believes that what's out there on the street or on the trading block is simply not a better option than what he already has or has seen.

I don't really know, but my impression is that this year was not a good coaching job by MM or the assistants on offense. I'm glad MM finally owned up to it and took back the playcalling (though I was originally supportive of him giving them up), but the receivers and tight ends - even with all the injuries - underperformed, and Starks and Lacy was a fumbling machine.

But I do particularly agree with the statement I've bolded above. I was very disappointed with Rodgers's on-field leadership. Stop with the scowling and eye-rolling, dude. If you need to get into a guy's grille once in a while, pull him over on the sideline, or do like smart baseball players do with umps - walk up to the guy, and in a nice calm voice say "you know you really fucked up that route, right? And you'd better not do that again or you won't see another throw from me for a long time."

Suddenly, somehow, he seemed to change his tune a bit once he had some success in Washington, and he was then much better against Arizona. But I'm not sure why it took him so, so long. I think he contributed to the offensive funk more than he helped pull the team out of it. And when you make the kind of dough he does, you've got to get beyond your anal perfectionist tendencies and become a better leader.

[3irty1]

Unless Denver beats NE this year, no head coach with a background in offense has led an AFC team to the superbowl over that same period.

EDIT: not true. I forgot about Jim Caldwell in 2009. Wow Manning could play in 4 super bowls with 4 different head coaches?!

[Freak Out]

I read this interesting fact, that I hadn't realized

Including this year, in 12 of the last 13 Super Bowls, the AFC quarterback has been Brady, Manning or Roethlisberger. The sole exception was Flacco. That's kind of amazing.

It is....but it's not. The NFL is a passing league and those are/were three of the best. Even during the years they may have won due to heavy run game plan or great defensive play it still came down to those guys making some great plays and managing the situation.

[mraynrand]

Unless Denver beats NE this year, no head coach with a background in offense has led an AFC team to the superbowl over that same period.

EDIT: not true. I forgot about Jim Caldwell in 2009. Wow Manning could play in 4 super bowls with 4 different head coaches?!

Caldwell is an offensive background coach? His secret is safe.

[pbmax]

Caldwell is an offensive background coach? His secret is safe.

Who do you think hired Jim Bob Cooter?

[3irty1]

If there is a formula to follow here, its get yourself an elite QB, a defense-minded head coach, and a 10+ year drought on other elite QBs joining your conference. Then laugh at Phillip Rivers.

[mraynrand]

Who do you think hired Jim Bob Cooter?

He only hired him to fix his F100 and he just never left.

[woodbuck27]

Nice post Deputy:

Your analysis as most times is accurate in terms of the lrgitimate ?'s we all should need answered ASAP as Aaron Rodgers window of opportunity and status as a recognized high talent won't last forever.

The leadership on the Packers should be thinking Super Bowl opportunity and NFC Championship within 2 years.

Your comments and the teams young WR's raises and suggests a solid point in regards of getting them ready to answer the call as fully prepared as possible.

How can anyone expect Aaron Rodgers to have confidence with the less experienced WR's (if MM actually places them on some Island); thus separated from his Ranked No. 1 through No. 5 Guys?. That's a Practise Squad mentality and a slap in the face to a Roster player who needs to feel of real value to the Team Effort as a whole. Needs to be a real contributor and win Aaron's confidence.

There's a learning curve then that's placed on hold for those guys and essentially wasting the purpose of the full roster. It seems an error to me if 'in fact' that is a part of the style of Mike McCarthy and thus TT's choices of WR's (other position players) for depth and special skill sets are actually isolated in terms of learning the playbook and are NOT drilled (with all other WR's) to test and improve their ability of running decent routes.

It's difficult for any us to get to the TRUTH and how MM and TT operate as individuals; with one another. Unless we carefully examine (analyze) the things each says in Press conferences. Add what the beat writers give us Packer fans in articles made available to us on the internet.

[Scott Campbell]

I saw a lot of bad body language from Aaron when they started losing. Disappointment is understandable - especially after the 6-0 start. But he can't let the guys see him like that.

[denverYooper]

I think it speaks more to the level of competitiveness in the NFC, or, relatively, the lack thereof in the AFC.

Chicken Dinner!

In the arbitrary statistics department, Those AFC dudes are 2-4 in Super Bowls since Rodgers has been a starter, so it is not as though they are having overwhelming success over the teams that the Packers have to beat to get to the game. And that is 3 guys you are counting stats on vs 1.

Rodgers is 1-0, his head-to-head win coming over Big Ben. He's a series of improbable events away (NFCCG last year) from having played in 2.