Preseason knife cuts both ways (1 Viewer)

[amnesiac]

just reading a thread about a qb who had a good preseason game recently, and i had a thought:

why is it if a guy goes out and has a terrible game, everyone will jump on him and say "wow, player x really sucks!", while if the same guy goes out and has a great game, a very vocal portion of people will say "it's PRESEASON, player x still sucks!"

seems a bit unfair, no?

i would think we at least have to give player x the recognition of going out and performing well, don't we?

 

[Steelnation]

welcome to preseason football

whether a FF player or fan, this happens every year........

 

[DoubleG]

just reading a thread about a qb who had a good preseason game recently, and i had a thought:why is it if a guy goes out and has a terrible game, everyone will jump on him and say "wow, player x really sucks!", while if the same guy goes out and has a great game, a very vocal portion of people will say "it's PRESEASON, player x still sucks!"seems a bit unfair, no?i would think we at least have to give player x the recognition of going out and performing well, don't we?

Agreed - especially when player x is still playing against the opposing team's 1s. I think it is much fairer to compare two starters and how they are playing in preseason when both are playing against opposing team's starters. It gets more difficult when comparing a starter and a backup as backups in Preseason are often playing against backups.But yes, when a lesser player is playing well in the preseason, I agree, it's unfair (especially at the QB position) to say "It's only preseason - he still sux." Keep in mind that Rex Grossman had a bad preseason last year - many said "It's only preseason - he'll be fine" - well, he wasn't. His regular season was as inconsistant as his preseason. (I realize you're not talking about Sexy, just using it as an example).Obviously you have to keep in mind (especially with non-QB positions) who else is on the field during those preseason games as well. For example, I think Vincent Jackson's stats are a little off, simply because Gates and LT aren't on the field much - even when the #1s are playing. You can't simply read the stat sheet and say - "Jennings is Atlanta's #1!!!" - he just played more, the Falcons were trailing and Jenkins, Horn and White were all planning their post game activites by that point. IMHO, the QB position (as well as RB to an extent) are the easiest to look at in preseason. Each usually gets plenty of reps and opportunities agianst oppsing teams starters. Preseason is usually more important to less proven players (i.e. LT can relax - if P.Manning throws 2 picks in preseason, nobody cares much).

 

[amnesiac]

just seems like every time a player steps on to the field, he can either play poorly, or play well.

i personally like it when they play well.

of course it doesn't mean player x is going to the pro-bowl, but wtf?

 

[massraider]

just seems like every time a player steps on to the field, he can either play poorly, or play well.i personally like it when they play well. of course it doesn't mean player x is going to the pro-bowl, but wtf?

The preseason can get spun however you like it.As a team, my Raiders have looked much better this August. Now, depending on who you talk to, they may actually be better (Raider message boards), or played against someone that played so badly themselves that they made the Raiders 'look good' (Cardinal, 49er, Ram message boards). I don't think there's a hard and fast rule. There are too many examples of preseason meaning nothing, and too many examples of preseason being a harbinger.

 

[Snotbubbles]

just reading a thread about a qb who had a good preseason game recently, and i had a thought:why is it if a guy goes out and has a terrible game, everyone will jump on him and say "wow, player x really sucks!", while if the same guy goes out and has a great game, a very vocal portion of people will say "it's PRESEASON, player x still sucks!"seems a bit unfair, no?i would think we at least have to give player x the recognition of going out and performing well, don't we?

Because in the preseason, teams run vanilla offenses and defenses. So when a player looks good he looks good against mostly basic schemes which for professional players should be easier to notice. When a player looks bad against basic schemes, how much worse would he look if they were disguised or more complex. That's why you get the catch-22.

 

[Moe Green]

Congratulations. You've just described every Raider player on their roster for the last five years.