Reading signals creates doubts about McNair

[BengalszoneBilly]

From the Baltimore Sun.

Reading signals creates doubts about McNair

Mike Preston

September 6, 2007

It's hard trying to get that picture of quarterback Steve McNair out of your head, the one of him playing so poorly in the Ravens' 15-6 playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts last season.

McNair completed 18 of 29 passes - but most of those were short - for a total of 173 yards. Two of his passes were intercepted, one deep in Colts territory in the first half that killed a drive and turned the momentum of the game.

McNair was baffled Jan. 13. Neither he nor the Ravens' coaching staff had an answer for the Colts' two-deep coverage. Quite frankly, McNair looked old and tired.

But he is back again to lead the Ravens, and you wonder whether this quarterback who will turn 35 in February has enough left to lead the Ravens to the Super Bowl.

If the Ravens were in the NFC, the answer would be a definite yes. But it's a different story in the AFC. Two of the other top teams are Indianapolis, the defending Super Bowl champs, and the New England Patriots.

The Colts have Peyton Manning and the Patriots have Tom Brady. They have remained fairly healthy throughout their NFL careers, and both are in their prime. So ask yourself: In a close game, can McNair still make enough plays to compete with his counterparts?

It's a hard question to answer. McNair brings the same qualities to the Ravens that Manning and Brady bring to their respective teams. They all have confidence and swagger. They all know their way around the pocket and can find passing lanes when there appear to be none. Because of their pocket awareness, all three can make offensive lines look better than they are.

But Manning and Brady can still make all the throws that an NFL quarterback needs to make, such as the ones to the far side of the field and 12- to 15-yard comeback routes. They can still throw the deep ball effectively.

McNair?

He can still throw them, but not consistently. There are times when his passes lack zip. The Colts and Cincinnati Bengals, at least in the second meeting last season, were content to let McNair complete short passes just as long as they made tackles. It's a strategy the Ravens probably will see Monday night, when they open the season against the Bengals, and for the rest of the season.

I'm concerned, but Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome isn't.

"I played with Brian Sipe, and there were questions about his arm strength, and he ended up being the MVP, and threw for 3,000 to 4,000 yards," Newsome said. "There were questions about Bernie Kosar's arm strength near the end of his career, and all he did was win.

"Sometimes, arm strength is overrated," Newsome said. "There is something to be said about a quarterback who has anticipation, location, accuracy and feels like he can throw a ball where he wants. The quick release Steve has makes him extremely effective."

But Brady and Manning also have another major advantage because they both have big-play wide receivers. The Colts' Marvin Harrison has been one of the league's best for a decade, and the Patriots now have malcontent Randy Moss, who - when he feels like it - can dominate a game. In seasons past, Brady had mediocre receivers at best.

The Ravens don't have a proven deep threat. Starters Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton are good, but more possession-type receivers. Second-year wide receiver Demetrius Williams might be the vertical threat the Ravens are looking for, but that's questionable.

You throw this at Newsome, and he remains unshaken in his faith in McNair. Of course, he has to be because he brought McNair to Baltimore. But Newsome's stance about McNair isn't just public relations.

He saw what McNair could do last season in limited time working in a new offense. McNair threw for 3,050 yards and 16 touchdowns, completing 295 of 468 attempts, the fourth-most attempts of his career.

Despite the poor showing in the playoffs, the Ravens won 13 regular-season games and finished No. 17 in total offense after being near the bottom for the first quarter of the season.

Maybe McNair can't hit home runs often anymore, but he can still direct long drives as he did against the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins in the preseason. You know the ones, where he just picks teams apart with short- to mid-range passes.

Indianapolis and New England have to take more chances because they don't have the No. 1-ranked defense in the league as the Ravens did last season. Quarterbacks with a lot less talent than McNair have made it to the Super Bowl (see Rex Grossman), and some have won (see Jim Plunkett and Trent "I'm Still Mad" Dilfer).

During various minicamps in the off season, McNair always seemed fit. He looked a lot fresher in training camp than he did a year ago.

"This time, he knew who he was playing with. Last year, he had that uncertainty, and when you have that uncertainty, it's hard to get going, hard to gear it up," Newsome said.

"Steve had a real serious talk with [coach Brian Billick] after the Colts game, and he left here with a purpose," Newsome said. "He has come back with a purpose, and you can see it in the way he has approached training camp and the preseason."

Newsome isn't concerned about McNair's past injuries.

"I was talking with a GM the other day about QBs, and he said two of the toughest guys in the league were Steve McNair and Brett Favre," Newsome said.

That doesn't ease my concern, nor does McNair reporting in great shape. It makes you feel better, but you're still uncertain. My mind keeps shooting back to January, and I keep remembering Manning and Brady making play after play in the Colts' 38-34 win over the Patriots in the AFC championship game. There were some incredible throws.

While watching the game, I kept thinking about McNair, wondering whether he could make those kinds of plays again in a big game.

And as the season opener approaches, I'm still wondering.

mike.preston@baltsun.com

[HoosierCat]

While we're on the subject of AFCN QBs, how about this on Ben...

Steelers Notebook: Roethlisberger will make all the calls

Saturday, September 08, 2007

By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will do more than change plays and switch protections at the line of scrimmage this season. He will have veto power to discard plays offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has formulated for the game plan.

It will be the first time in his four seasons Roethlisberger will have such control of the offense.

"A lot of things look good to coaches," Arians said. "It's not any good if the quarterback doesn't like it."

In a given week, Arians will put in the game plan Tuesday and script the first 15 plays and third-down plays by Friday afternoon. If Roethlisberger isn't comfortable with some of the plays when he meets with Arians the night before a game, he can tell him to strike them from the game plan.

"The confidence that he approaches his business with is very satisfying to me," Arians said. "In between practices, he's working with guys on all the little details. When you're working on the little details, it kind of tells you he has a pretty good grasp of the big details."

It won't be Roethlisberger's only new duty.

Unlike past seasons when guard Alan Faneca or retired center Jeff Hartings called out the protection changes for the offensive line, Roethlisberger will handle all the calls this season, beginning tomorrow in Cleveland. Roethlisberger said he never made those calls before, which are predicated on reading defensive formations.

"He's in charge of everything," Faneca said. "We don't make any changes to anything. Everything was all on me or Jeff or Kendall [simmons]. Not now. It's all on him."

OK, let me get this straight: first, they are going to install an all-new super-keen spread offense. Then give Ben the OK to call his own plays. And the OK to overrule the OC. And he gets to make all the line blocking calls as well. Does anyone agree with me that this sounds like a recipe for disaster?

[BengalszoneBilly]

Does anyone agree with me that this sounds like a recipe for disaster?

And quite a tasty recipe it is!

[James_Brooks21]

Does anyone agree with me that this sounds like a recipe for disaster?

And quite a tasty recipe it is!

I hope you guys are right about him sucking, because when I watch that guy he scares me to death that one day it's going to click and then the NFL is going to be in trouble. Big Ben has the tools to be a top five quarterback in this league and we might be looking at a monster year for him, I'm just hoping that he does not realize that potential.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

While we're on the subject of AFCN QBs, how about this on Ben...

OK, let me get this straight: first, they are going to install an all-new super-keen spread offense. Then give Ben the OK to call his own plays. And the OK to overrule the OC. And he gets to make all the line blocking calls as well. Does anyone agree with me that this sounds like a recipe for disaster?

Oh, it worked great in the preseason! One play I saw he audibled from a pass to a run when he saw blitz. That would have worked - except the blitz was coming up the middle and that's where the run went. Ben can't count LBs.

Oh, and JB - the only things clicking in Ben's skull are the Titanium plates. I don't know what tools you're talking about, the only thing he's ever been good at is hitting open receivers running through defenses who have their safeties at the line of scrimmage.

[HoosierCat]

Oh, and JB - the only things clicking in Ben's skull are the Titanium plates.

:lmao:

To JBs point, tho, it's been noted in these part is the recent past that the Steelers organization is rapidly approaching a put-up-or-shut-up point with Ben, contract-wise. Either he's the franchise QB and thus gets a $100 million+ extension...or he's not. What I see here is a crucible: they're throwing Ben into the fire and he's either going to fulfill JB's fears and earn that extension...or he burns up. Me, I'm betting on the latter.

[jjakq27]

McNair stayed realtively injury free last year which was a first. Let's see if he can do it again this year. I did see where the Raves re-upped Kyle Boller the other day.

[BengalszoneBilly]

I did see where the Raves re-upped Kyle Boller the other day.

They probably feel their string of luck with "McFair" remaining injury free can't last forever.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

To JBs point, tho, it's been noted in these part is the recent past that the Steelers organization is rapidly approaching a put-up-or-shut-up point with Ben, contract-wise. Either he's the franchise QB and thus gets a $100 million+ extension...or he's not. What I see here is a crucible: they're throwing Ben into the fire and he's either going to fulfill JB's fears and earn that extension...or he burns up. Me, I'm betting on the latter.

That's the rumor, and I hope it's true. I think they're nuts, though, really - for all his faults, Ben fits well in that offense, sort of as a better Trent Dilfer. So making him into something he's not is a bad idea, and dumping him and re-tooling will set the team back a few years.

So win-win for us, outside of the remote possibility that he's a lot smarter than we think he is....Nah.

[jjakq27]

I think he is as good as his O-line is or will be. Having Faneca there certainly helps his situation. The things he seems to do best of all is to improvise. He isn't a great pocket passer but always manages to come up with something after he is flushed out of the pocket. I also think he has benefited greatly from a solid defense that creates short fields. Again a new an improved version of Trent Dilfer as someone mentioned earlier.

[jjakq27]

I did see where the Raves re-upped Kyle Boller the other day.

They probably feel their string of luck with "McFair" remaining injury free can't last forever.

[BengalszoneBilly]

I did see where the Raves re-upped Kyle Boller the other day.

They probably feel their string of luck with "McFair" remaining injury free can't last forever.

Hey! I called one! Why can't I do that in my fantasy league!?!

[redsfan2]

I think he is as good as his O-line is or will be. Having Faneca there certainly helps his situation. The things he seems to do best of all is to improvise. He isn't a great pocket passer but always manages to come up with something after he is flushed out of the pocket. I also think he has benefited greatly from a solid defense that creates short fields. Again a new an improved version of Trent Dilfer as someone mentioned earlier.

True of most NFL qb's ...... maybe a little more so in the case of Big Ben. His physical size has also helped him shrug off defenders that would have brought down a smaller guy. Watching our newer guys against McNair ( also a good size guy ) last nite makes me think they won't be getting shrugged off as easily as others have in the past.

He had a good game against the Browns, but I'd like to see a little more before coming to any conclusions. Serioulsy doubt that the Steelers are as good or the Browns are as bad as that game would make it seem.