Evaluating Quinn
Nov 7, 2008
Author: Jason Ice

Before you delve deeper into this article, I want to warn you… there are criticisms of Brady Quinn’s performance ahead. It is not my intention to bash him. On the contrary I think he played outstanding in his first NFL start. I merely want to point out the areas that he will want to improve on. He is by no means a finished product, he can and will get better, and that should make all of us very excited.

The Good

Let’s look at the numbers everyone else will focus on. Quinn was 23 of 35 passing for a completion percentage of almost 66%. That is much higher than we are used to and certainly was great to watch. He had two touchdowns and no interceptions, so he is taking care of the ball. He took zero sacks and put points on the board in six of his ten drives. All that adds up to a 104.3 QB rating. Those are all astounding numbers and he more than lived up to expectations for this game.

Also notable was his poise, from the minute he stepped on the field. He did not come barreling out of the tunnel jumping in the air and pounding his chest like he is in the Super Bowl. He walked out as if he had been there before and his focus was on what he was going to do. He was never flustered during the game, even when protection broke down or someone else made a mistake that killed a drive. We had zero procedural penalties which we can all agree are the most preventable and frustrating penalties an offense can have.

Preparation was key. The press has been saying he only had one practice to prepare for this game, but I do not know of any other player on the field who was more prepared than Quinn. He may not have worked on timing a lot with the starting WR’s, but he knew the game plan inside out. He knew his reads, his checkdowns, and his protection. He read the defense well and played within himself. He did not look like a guy getting his first start after only practicing once.

Finally, his post game press conference almost looked as if it was scripted by Tony Dungy. He took the blame for the loss. He said he should have done a better job and we could have won that game. He refused to blame play calling, coaching, or throw any other player under the bus. It was all his fault. What kind of tone do you think that sets in the locker room, especially with the players who had a much bigger role in the loss? This guy stands up for them, defends them, takes the blame for them. That is a guy people will rally behind, even if it’s just to see him talking about winning a game to the press instead of deflecting blame to himself for a loss. Very mature, very classy.

The Bad

‘Bad’ is not really the correct term here, more fitting would be ‘areas of opportunity’. Quinn’s performance, while admirable, was not perfect so let’s take a look at where he can improve. His completion percentage was very high, as I said almost 66%, but the offense definitely had the training wheels on. He did not throw anything long, it was almost purely slants and screens. I am sure that for the next game Quinn will have the full offense in play. But a problem Quinn has had since preseason is that he is checking down too much. He only completed six passes to the WR’s. 17 passes went to the backs and tight ends. It’s almost the opposite problem that Anderson has. Anderson will try to force the ball too much, leading to a low completion percentage and interceptions. Quinn doesn’t show trust of his receivers yet, which means a lot of completions but for few yards. Of course Quinn’s trust of the WR’s will grow once he actually spends some time practicing with them, but still you have to occasionally take a shot to keep the defense honest. He was a little over protective of the ball. I can see him quickly growing out of that though. Also a problem was his production. He mustered 239 yards in the air for 6.8 yards per attempt. That is not really low, but against a team with a better defense it would be an issue. A team like Pittsburgh would quickly clamp down on the short passing game, and to this point that is all that Quinn has shown us that he has. Again, this is partially due to the playcalling, the checkdowns, and the lack of trust in the WR’s. If we are forced to come from behind, the QB needs to be able to hit the WR’s on the edges and deep. Quinn has not shown that he cannot do that, in fact his passes looked very crisp and at times were even a little too hot. It’s just something that he needs to have at his disposal.

The Ugly

We lost. Quinn is 0-1 as a starter. Even though anyone who watched the game is not putting the blame on Quinn (well except for Quinn himself), this goes down on his record as a loss for him. Five years from now, people will not remember that the defense crumbled and the TE fumbled, they will just know that there is one more point in the ‘loss’ column than there needs to be. This is one of the way QB’s are measured in the long run. Guys do not make it to the hall of fame who have not won a bunch of games. It’s hard for a QB to make it at all without a ring. The QB is judged by the output of his team. Want more evidence? At this point last season people were talking about Eli Manning being a bust. Now that his team won the big game he is suddenly on everyone’s top ten QB list. He did not win the Superbowl by himself, in fact his defense had more to do with it than he did. Just like the defense had a lot more to do with our loss than Quinn did. Nevertheless he is now a starting QB who has never won a game. Until this team rallies together and finally puts a good product on the field that is how he will be viewed, fair or not.

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