Most underrated backup QB we've had

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(06-27-2021, 09:31 PM)Destro Wrote: Needs to be hundreds of cardboard cut outs of this face at the Steelers games.

People need to get on this. ELIZABETH!!!!

[bonesaw]

Eric Wilhelm or Jeff Driscoll

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(06-27-2021, 09:35 PM)motoarch Wrote: They don't get in scoring range without twiddle dumb and tweedle dumber making stupid penalties.

You don't have to worry about them getting in scoring range without Hill fumbling the ball.

Burfict sacked Ben, both forcing the punt and briefly knocking him out of the game. Then Burfict intercepted the ball..... A FF turnover, a huge 3rd down sack, and what should have been a game sealing INT. He won that game for the Bengals.

Just don't fumble it.

There's nothing more stupid than not having two hands on the ball with 1:36 to go, with the lead, on the other team's 26 yard line.

[Shouldamapads]

Surprised anyone would say Fitz- I think you all are confusing his later career with what he was like early on. He was not very impressive in those early seasons, not even when he played here. He certainly has outplayed any expectation most would have of him, which came with more experience and play time. He's a smart guy, he learned how to adapt to the NFL speed and style, but early on he was adapting from Ivy League play.

[XenoMorph]

(06-26-2021, 03:31 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: Conveniently forgot about the 4th quarter. He’s got the same number of TDs as Andy Dalton in the playoffs lol

due to defense giving short field... It was Defense that game all Day not the offense.

[fredtoast]

(06-28-2021, 08:44 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: You don't have to worry about them getting in scoring range without Hill fumbling the ball.

Burfict sacked Ben, both forcing the punt and briefly knocking him out of the game. Then Burfict intercepted the ball..... A FF turnover, a huge 3rd down sack, and what should have been a game sealing INT. He won that game for the Bengals.

Just don't fumble it.

There's nothing more stupid than not having two hands on the ball with 1:36 to go, with the lead, on the other team's 26 yard line.

Every time I see this argument I wonder why fans can't blame BOTH Hill for the fumble AND the defense for their complete collapse.

Hill's fumble was an epic mistake, but that in no way excuses what the defense did after that.  It is like letting a blind drunk friend drive your car.  If he crashes and kills someone then you are to blame for letting him drive, but he is still to blame for driving drunk.  One huge mistake does not excuse or remove blame for another.

[GreenCornBengal]

(06-28-2021, 09:44 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: due to defense giving short field... It was Defense that game all Day not the offense.

Eh, they started at the 45 and he did something Andy never could… throw a TD to AJ in the playoffs.

[*SHRacerX*]

Didn't scroll through them all, but Jeff Blake was a THIRD STRING QB, and I absolutely loved watching that guy play. Still, to this day, the most beautiful deep ball I have ever seen.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(06-28-2021, 09:59 AM)fredtoast Wrote: Every time I see this argument I wonder why fans can't blame BOTH Hill for the fumble AND the defense for their complete collapse.

Hill's fumble was an epic mistake, but that in no way excuses what the defense did after that.  It is like letting a blind drunk friend drive your car.  If he crashes and kills someone then you are to blame for letting him drive, but he is still to blame for driving drunk.  One huge mistake does not excuse or remove blame for another.

Except being blind means he was ALWAYS going to fail at driving regardless of if he was drunk or not. Are we now saying that Jeremy Hill was always going to fail at not fumbling? That it was destined the second he was chosen to carry it? It doesn't make sense.

Your hypothetical fails on a couple levels there, Fred.

A better example of it is if someone (the defense) blows a beautiful glass bowl (a masterpiece of a game where they not only set up the lead but also then got what should have been a game sealing pick) only for the person responsible to put it on the shelf for sale (Hill) to drop it mid-way, breaking it in half. It might have been able to be repaired, but probably not. The glass blower then in a fit of rage stomped on it to make sure that the small chance of it being fixed turned to zero.

At the end of the day, Hill is still the asshole who dropped it and broke it when his task was a very small and simple, yet still important one. (Don't F'ing fumble, put two hands on the ball.)

[fredtoast]

(06-28-2021, 12:54 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: A better example of it is if someone (the defense) blows a beautiful glass bowl (a masterpiece of a game where they not only set up the lead but also then got what should have been a game sealing pick) only for the person responsible to put it on the shelf for sale (Hill) to drop it mid-way, breaking it in half. It might have been able to be repaired, but probably not. The glass blower then in a fit of rage stomped on it to make sure that the small chance of it being fixed turned to zero.

At the end of the day, Hill is still the asshole who dropped it and broke it when his task was a very small and simple, yet still important one. (Don't F'ing fumble, put two hands on the ball.)

The game was not "broken" when the defense came on the field.  The Bengals were still ahead.  The Steelers had the ball at their own 10 yard line with a minute left and a QB who could barely throw the ball.

Hill made a bad mistake.  But the defense that you keep fawning over pulled an epic fail on the final drive.

I am not blaming the defense more than Hill.  I am saying they BOTH failed.  Why heap praise on a defense that shit the bed when the game was on the line?

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(06-27-2021, 02:00 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Still think he could of been better than McCarron in that game with that 2015 team and that D to cover up his play.


Eh, who knows, all I know is Dalton is and was a far better QB and that year he was shining before the injury.

Guess we will never know, just my opinion that McCarron definitely wasn't the one who about led us to a victory it was the D.

I agree, every once in a while, average to good players have that one magical year, and 2015 was that year for Andy. I also think he would've gotten over the hump finally that night. Ah well, broken thumb, and all....


I go with Blake.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(06-28-2021, 01:35 PM)fredtoast Wrote: The game was not "broken" when the defense came on the field.  The Bengals were still ahead.  The Steelers had the ball at their own 10 yard line with a minute left and a QB who could barely throw the ball.

Hill made a bad mistake.  But the defense that you keep fawning over pulled an epic fail on the final drive.

I am not blaming the defense more than Hill.  I am saying they BOTH failed.  Why heap praise on a defense that shit the bed when the game was on the line?

Hill doesn't fumble: Steelers need a TD, and they have 1 minute and 0 timeouts to get it.
Hill fumbles: Steelers need a FG, and they have 1.5 minutes and 3 timeouts to get it.

...Yeah, the game was broken when the defense came on the field.

[fredtoast]

(06-28-2021, 02:12 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Hill doesn't fumble: Steelers need a TD, and they have 1 minute and 0 timeouts to get it.
Hill fumbles: Steelers need a FG, and they have 1.5 minutes and 3 timeouts to get it.

...Yeah, the game was broken when the defense came on the field.

If defense does not give up 50 yards to a QB with a bad arm Bengals win.

Game was not broken.

Not until defense shit the bed.

[Shake n Blake]

Fitzpatrick was apparently underrated by our coaching staff, because they clearly didn't know how to utilize the guy. He had his worst statistical season in his one year as a Bengal.

Most underrated backup that actually played well for us was probably Jeff Blake. Not only did he come off the bench (as 3rd stringer) to become a Pro Bowl QB, he also spent the latter part of his career coming off the bench for guys like O'Donnell and Akili. He played well as a spot starter, and had a win over the Steelers during that time.

If we're talking guys who were strictly backups who never rose to starter status, then IDK. Macaroni played pretty well in 2015.

[Shake n Blake]

(06-28-2021, 03:05 PM)fredtoast Wrote: If defense does not give up 50 yards to a QB with a bad arm Bengals win.

Game was not broken.

Not until defense shit the bed.

We wouldn't even have been in that game in the first place if the defense didn't hold the Steelers to what...13 points until the stupidity at the end?

So acting like the offense had the game wrapped up until the stupid defense screwed it up isn't accurate to what actually went down.

The offense screwed the pooch for 3.5 quarters while the defense pitched a heroic effort to keep us in the game, then when the offense finally stepped up, the defense wet the bed. But again. The offense wouldn't have had a chance if the defense hadn't made a heroic effort for 95% of the game.

[motoarch]

(06-28-2021, 08:44 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: You don't have to worry about them getting in scoring range without Hill fumbling the ball.

Burfict sacked Ben, both forcing the punt and briefly knocking him out of the game. Then Burfict intercepted the ball..... A FF turnover, a huge 3rd down sack, and what should have been a game sealing INT. He won that game for the Bengals.

Just don't fumble it.

There's nothing more stupid than not having two hands on the ball with 1:36 to go, with the lead, on the other team's 26 yard line.

I watched the game also but thanks for the unnecessary recap.

[t3r3e3]

(06-26-2021, 06:54 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Have you already forgotten about Daltons playoff performances? We would have been killed with Dalton in there.

To put just how terrible Playoff Raggedy Andy was into context, A.J.’s performance against the Steelers, as putrid as it was, still resulted in a higher passer rating than any of Andy’s playoff performances. Andy played like dogshit in all of his Playoff appearances. Dogshit. Andy was the Mendoza line of NFL starters for a reason.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/McCaA.00.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DaltAn00.htm

[fredtoast]

(06-28-2021, 03:25 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: We wouldn't even have been in that game in the first place if the defense didn't hold the Steelers to what...13 points until the stupidity at the end?

So acting like the offense had the game wrapped up until the stupid defense screwed it up isn't accurate to what actually went down.

The offense screwed the pooch for 3.5 quarters while the defense pitched a heroic effort to keep us in the game, then when the offense finally stepped up, the defense wet the bed. But again. The offense wouldn't have had a chance if the defense hadn't made a heroic effort for 95% of the game.

So we agree that it was the defense that kept the game close, not the play of McCarron.

That was my original point when some one gave AJ credit for "playing well enough to win".

[grampahol]

I hate to bring it up, but backups are kind of expected to be able to play well in any game and not just one playoff game and then sit on the shelf the entirety of their time with the team. McCarron stank 99% of the time..period, end of story. Otherwise he would have been offered a huge multi year contract instead of going the way of the dodo bird..   If you wanna get technical Ken Riley was drafted to be a QB..He just happened to turn into a pretty good CB..

[EatonFan]

So it sounds like:

Fitz
Blake (agree that he had the prettiest deep ball)
Schonert?

It is interesting that the first two went on to be a starter and had losing records.