02-04-2022, 01:50 AM
(02-04-2022, 12:59 AM)Shake n Blake Wrote: OK I know I said I was done responding but I can't resist on this take.
How is Joe Burrow responsible for Hendrickson getting 14 sacks? For Awuzie being a top rated corner? For Wilson taking a giant leap and becoming a big playmaker? For Chase beating his man constantly or taking a short pass, juking 3 defenders and outrunning everyone to the house? For Mixon being the tank he's always been?
I mean, I get that Joe gives a massive moral boost and makes everyone feel like they're "always in it". That may help their energy/effort level, but it's not making these players beat their man. Joe's Aura isn't going to help them there. They need talent.
A good portion of our players performed at the same level with guys not named Joe Burrow. The overall team W/L performance is just better because we have an elite QB. That can also change some people's PERCEPTION of these players.
In reality though, they're just great players. Even Joe will tell you that. He raves about the talent on this team. Maybe we should take a page out of Joe's book and do the same. This is a great team. Period.
I'm almost starting to feel like if I don't grovel at Joe's feet and credit him with the invention of sliced bread and electricity, it won't be enough for some on here.
I think you're missing the point, but that's at least partly my fault. I'm saying it's a combination. The chicken or the egg is unclear. Your guess is as good as mine as to why players perform better in the presence of greatness, but it's a common theme across sports. At a bare minimum it imbues them with confidence to realize their potential, which they may not have done otherwise. Chido is a fine example. He was seen as disposable to Dallas, signed here as a CB2, and now he's a "top-rated" CB1. It's ludicrous. Was he always this good or did take a mysterious leap in the middle of his career?
Logan is an interesting case. His PFF grade for this year is just 54, yet you're saying yourself that he's taken "a giant leap" and become a "big playmaker". Can both be true? Maybe. But would we be describing in the same terms if Burrow had gotten hurt again and Allen had replaced him? I doubt it. We'd be talking about him as a 54 grade. Neither playmaker nor "giant leap" would apply despite holding everything about his performance constant.
Mixon is another fantastic example. He hadn't had a great year since 2018. That could be due to a lot of factors (including Pollack) but is it a coincidence that he's gone all-league alongside a stud quarterback? Maybe, maybe not. Is it a coincidence that he rushed himself back from injury this year and not last? Maybe, maybe not. But these are all the kinds of intangibles that I'm talking about. I'm not saying they're all linked to Burrow. But I'm also not saying they're not. The culture of the team has undergone a facelift and I think if you ran a survey of the players, they would give you a pretty clear indication of who's responsible for that.
As for 8-8 and 7-9 being Super Bowl contenders... uhh no. That can only be said in hindsight. 8-8 and 7-9 is by definition mediocre. Marvin Lewis could speak to that at length.
