jesseasi said:
Rivers 11INT + 4 Lost Fumbles = 15 TurnoversManning 12 INT + 0 Lost Fumbles = 12 Turnovers
lost fumbles brings up an interesting point: the OLRivers: sacked 25 timesPManning: sacked 14 timesso Rivers did what he did with a worse OL, making it even more impressive
jesseasi said:
It really comes down to what their teams did - 8-8 vs 12-4.
1. we all know it's 9-7 vs 12-4

2. the QB can only be responsible for the offense, which as we all know is only 1/2 a football teamso let's compare offenses:SD: 433 points - 4 Def/ST TDs = 405 pointsIND: 373 points - 5 Def/ST TDs = 338 pointsso SD's offense significantly outperformed IND's offenseon a more basic level, you can look at what each offense does per driveSD: 2.52 pts/drIND: 2.41 pts/drit's undeniable that SD's offense is performing at a higher level than IND's offense despite having a worse offensive line
jesseasi said:
Trust me, if Manning were in closer games and playing from behind - just as the Chargers were all season long - he would have thrown for way more TD's.
irrelevant, we can only judge players on what they did do, not what they could shoulda woulda doneif Manning were in closer games and playing from behind he would have thrown riskier passes and had more interceptions
jesseasi said:
Plus head to head - at San Diego - Manning is the one that led the Colts to victory over Rivers.
so . . . if the Chargers win this game, you'll agree that Rivers should have gotten the MVP?
His team adds NO merit as a 'top' team. Its a mediocre regular season team.
it was actually a very unlucky team while Indy was a very lucky teamthe point differential (+92) was very good and better than Indy's (+79)according to the PFR Expected W-L, they are both exactly the same (10.2-5.8)according to FO, Indy and SD are ranked 7th and 8th respectively in total DVOA (SD OFF rank = 3, IND OFF rank = 4, SD DEF rank = 22, IND DEF rank = 14)what we see are two fairly evenly matched teams except one has been very lucky and one has been very unluckyperhaps luck is random and perhaps it's not (coaching and whatnot), but in raw ability, there is no reason to think one team is substantially better than the other