when the steelers won the Super Bowl in 05, Big Ben threw for 2,300 yds and 17 TDs….so i said Mr. Smith is dead on
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Ben missed 4 regular season games to injury and had 803 yards, 7 TDs (+2 rushing), 3 INTs. B.R. was huge in the 2005 playoffs.
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ninergold says:May 28, 2012 3:56 PM

Hey America how about these numbers San Francisco 5 Super Bowl wins! carolina panthers absolute zero super bowl wins!
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This is relevant to Newton vs. Smith in what way?
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jibanez0810 says:May 28, 2012 2:32 PM
“At the end of the day the only numbers that matter are wins. Ask Dan Marino.”

What was the biggest difference between Marino and Elway?

When Mike Shanahan and Jimmy Johnson took over the Broncos and Dolphins in 95/96 respectively – Elway bought 100% into Shanahan’s philosophy of an offense that saw the run being used to set up the pass. Marino fought Johnson on it (despite the success Aikman had with it). It’s not about statistics, it’s about efficiency and making plays when called on.

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axespray says:May 29, 2012 6:53 AM

Dan Marino won a lot of games buddy… just happened to be on a lot of teams that weren’t anywhere near as loaded as the 2011 49ers or the ’70s steelers.

If Alex Smith & Terry Bradshaw played on some of those Dolphin’s teams, they’re out of the league faster than Brian Brohm.

Don’t kid yourself. Bradshaw played in a completely different era with a completely different set of rules. But Bradshaw was the difference in winning 3 Super Bowls – particular in 78 and 79 when the Steelers Defense was beaten in the SB and Franco couldn’t run – Bradshaw stepped it up then. Marino played on some great Dolphins teams (reaching 3 AFCCGs) but he was very stubborn, refusing to run the ball. In the end, that is what kept Miami behind Buffalo and Marino from a ring.

Same thing with the Bucs too, they received a TON of prevent towards the end of games, which in turn, allowed them to throw under all day, thus, boosting Freeman’s stats a bit.

There is an ebb and flow to the game. Some guys like Vick and Cam will never understand the idea that it’s a team sport.

It’s also why guys like Dilfer (of all people) have a superbowl ring. It’s also why P.Manning (for all his worth) will never be as good as his brother after it’s all said and done. And it’s also why Alex did well last season.

There are other people out there that can help the QB. It’s not all about him.

Alex haters….. Alex Smith is a better QB than ALL of you. So until you beat him in a real football game, go back to waxing your own genitalia. Don’t let some feeble reply dribble off of your lip. Show some proof with pictures and video… proof you are better….

(crickets…chirp… chirp…)

Tim showing up 5 minutes before the end of a game and gets the praise for every win, isn’t the same as a young rookie carrying his team without any OTA or pre-season work-out for 55 minutes.

Cam exerts his energy for 55 minutes to help his team as much as he can. Tim over-exerts his defense and offense so they can keep down the score until he feels like showing up 5 minutes before the end of the game.

Dan Marino won a lot of games buddy… just happened to be on a lot of teams that weren’t anywhere near as loaded as the 2011 49ers or the ’70s steelers.

If Alex Smith & Terry Bradshaw played on some of those Dolphin’s teams, they’re out of the league faster than Brian Brohm.

You want stats here you go …
2005 … only 2 QBs threw for 4,000+ yds.
2011 … 10 QBs threw for 4,000+ yds with 3 of them throwing for over 5,000 yds.

The league is changing the passing game has taken over and this is why the RBs are not getting the big contracts.

“Attaching any member of the 49ers’ front office, coaching staff, roster (except for Smith), and fan base to a lie-detector and asking whether they’d prefer the first overall pick from 2005 or 2011 to be the San Francisco quarterback, and the answer would be unanimous.”

Really one good year … what happens if he gets a career ending injury?
WOW … that’s all it takes to be a HOFer … I guess Josh Freeman is a HOFer too because he had one good year also … seriously let Cam play afew years and then you can put him in the Hall of Fame.

Frankly speaking, though I will be the first to praise Cam for his outstanding year, I would not have wanted the additional 12 turnovers, as they most definitely would have cost us a few wins.

I’d compare their rookie seasons to be fair.

Newton- 35TD, 17int and 2 fumbles
VS
Smith- 1TD, 11int and 2 fumbles.

I do agree that there is no comparing who the better QB is but the 9er homers won’t like the answer. . .

You make some great points. Unfortunately defenses are ranked by yards, not points or turnover ratio. Just to play devil’s advocate to your point:

1.) The Pats for example had a terrible defense when measured by yards, however I recall them leading the league in takeaways. So while giving up many yards, they were putting the ball back in their QB’s hands more allowing Brady to rack up more yards.

2.) Another way to look at is, a great offense with a short passing game and/or running game is able to keep their defense off the field and rested. So if a defense’s rank is measured by yards, an average defense may look great due to opposing offenses not getting the opportunity due to a great time of possession strategy.

What you speak of is just the ebb and flow of the game. Situations can play out differently based on the random occurences in a series of games. Offense begets Defense and vice versa. Not to mention Special Teams contributions. This kind of lessens the importance of stats, which are still quite important.

What we can go by, is what we see over the long haul of a season visually and use stats to bolster our visual analysis. Honestly, to me it’s a no brainer to crown Newton as “better” than Smith by LOOKING and ASSESSING. Not having an all pro receiver doesn’t necessarily excuse Alex Smith. Steve Smith had plenty of QBs throw to him and they weren’t producing like Cam was. Hell, most people thought S. Smith was done. On the other side of the coin, who did Sam Bradford have in his rookie year? When you are good and it is visually represented by your play it will show in the numbers. Alex Smith doesn’t stack up to Cam when visually assessed and his numbers quite frankly show that. When Newton gets more years under his belt we will have a better view of this picture. As of now, clearly it’s Newton > Smith, as football player despite win/loss record. No one is questioning that wins are what really matters though.

As a side note: While I somewhat agree with the point Alex Smith was trying to make I think rexryansfork’s quote sums it up best: “Game managers should not be talking about game changers.” Simple, yet eloquent. Keep another man’s name out of your mouth and we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

If it was Cam playing qb for the niners, it’s them in the super bowl, not the giants. Game managers should not be talking about game changers.

I’m pretty sure that Newton was throwing bombs to Steve Smith. Bet Alex Smith would have personally hacked off his left nut to have an All Pro Receiver to throw to in his rookie year and woulda given up his right one for a Line that would give him an average of 3 seconds a snap.

But yeah Superman Cam is just so much better. :/

He gave Newton the credit the kid deserves. But the truth is would you rather have stats or Wins? Give me the latter every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Funny thing about stats though, the QBs’ who threw for over 4k yards? Not a single one of their Defenses ranked over 23. Only ONE of those QBs’ had less than 10 Picks on the season as well. The odds are that the more you throw the ball the more Interceptions you throw too. Interceptions that put your Defense back out on the field. The longer a Defense is on the field the likelihood that the Opponent will score. The more the Opponent scores your QB has to answer.

It’s great for Fantasy Football, but if you wish to be successful it’s best not to throw more than 40 times a game if you can help it.

3400 yds is nothing but look at what the 9er Defense ranked last year? 4th. The 9ers didn’t need Smith to throw a lot. Regardless of 3rd down stats Smith got it done when he needed to and a 13-3 Regular season record to show for his troubles.

Even Newton would give up the stats to get a shot at the prize. Anyone that thinks differently, well their elevator doesn’t go to the top.

28 other NFL Qb’s > A. Smith.

Smith Shut up, you are garbage!!! hell Patrick Willis could have more yards then you.