Thursday, December 08, 2005

Best Quarterback Ever...

I don’t want to fan any flames of hostility toward Coach Turner or Kerry Collins, but I cannot resist posting the following observation…

In the aftermath of the Chargers game, while tipping his hand toward Tui yet still defending Kerry Collins, Coach Turner said the following about Collins: "In the third quarter, he was making good decisions. He gets a ball batted down, he gets hit as he's getting ready to throw a ball that would have been a 20-yard completion.''

Again, this isn’t to mock Coach Turner. Whether it’s uttered by Coach Turner or Prince Charles, it is simply an astonishing quote, considering the evidence:

Raiders’ total time of possession in the third quarter: one minute and 29 seconds.

Collins’ stats for the third quarter: five passes, zero completions for zero yards.

It’s one thing to be polite and not call Kerry Collins awful. But what is it with this continued irrational praise? Kerry Collins himself won’t tell you he’s played great, but everyone else will. Just this week, one local sportswriter claimed that Collins “regained his early season form Sunday night.” It was meant as a compliment, but if one touchdown qualifies as regaining your form, then you are in deep trouble. Indeed, regaining his form lost Collins his job.

Apparently, Kerry Collins is the best quarterback ever…to be benched.

8 Comments:

Blogger Doobie said...

Well, given his recent play, I guess even Al and Norv (c'mon, we all know Norv wouldn't make this call on his own) decided they've seen enough of Collins. And that's saying something considering they don't frequently bench their big name free agent veterans. I didn't think it would happen, so kudos for them for having the cojones to make the move.

11:45 AM  
Blogger js said...

It is good to see Turner and Davis facing up to reality. Where it goes from here I don't know, but that's a lot better than waking up every Sunday knowing exactly where it's going. Here's hoping Tui takes advantage of this opportunity and gives the Raiders a spark. I'll be listening.

12:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Speaking of QB's, check out the article 'Raiders need to pick a style' which you can link to from the raidernews page. Here's the list of QB's Dave DelGrande suggests could start for the Raiders next year--Garcia, McNair, Bulger, McNown, Warner. Gee, Alex, I'll take "QB's who are done" for $800, please. Do sportswriters actually watch football?

6:21 AM  
Blogger Doobie said...

QB's who are done...at least supposedly...is the name of the Raider game. Blanda, Plunkett, Gannon, Collins anyone? As I mentioned a while back, the future of the Raiders QB crew more than likely isn't sitting on the Raider bench, but on someone else's roster.

Of that bunch you mentioned, it wouldn't surprise me to see Warner in here. You just know that in 1999 when Gruden was just getting things working with the west coast offense, Al Davis saw *his* type of football being played successfully in St. Louis. He's probably been secretly coveting Warner since then.

9:55 AM  
Blogger Raider Take said...

Warner, McCown, Martin, Bulger, Garcia - what DelGrande's suggestions have in common is that they were/are backups who have risen (if only temporarily) to the occasion as starters when opportunity knocked.

I'm personally not interested in any of these guys until I've had a chance to see our own backups, Tui and Walter, in action.

P.S. Jeff Garcia as "the ideal addition" to the Raiders? Slowly back away from the take, Mr. DelGrande. We'll pretend it never happened.

12:02 PM  
Blogger Harkonnendog said...

Great post. Turner seems to forget Collins' job it not just to not screw up, but to actually MAKE PLAYS. You know, by yourself 2 seconds in the pocket by moving around, or scramble to give your receivers time go get open, or make a perfect pass for a completion despite tight coverage, or see a blitz coming and audible to a perfect play for the defense-

MAKE A FUGGIN' PLAY!!!

You know, like Drew Brees, Jake Plummer, and Trent Green do, pretty regularly, when they play us.

Here's to Tui!

12:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with Doobie... Al had to have a poster of Warner on the ceiling over his bed during Kurt's MVP days. I'm not interested in seeing Tui though I'm sorry to say. I think we should pop Walter's cherry now for next season.

5:11 PM  
Blogger Raider Take said...

Harkonnendog, love that take, well put!

Raideraj, that's the first softcore take we've ever heard in these parts. Thanks...I think.

8:14 AM  

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