Saban in news conference right now (1 Viewer)

[Liquid Tension]

The fact is, Culpepper is the QB of a team that will be able to move the ball well against most foes. If his first game back means a meltdown at the end and a few rusty red zone passes away from a really good night, I can deal with that. He looked healthy out there and passed for a good number of yards against a very good D.Overall, encouraging. Not great, but very encouraging. New team, post injury adjustment and rust - not bad for a first game and a couple breaks away from a pretty good FF day.

I guess he was a couple of breaks away from a big FF day,....wait a minute,....ISN'T EVERYONE.

I thought this was the shark pool? I have never seen such poor and short sighted analysis! Was Culpy great last night, no. But, the Dolphins were leading by 17-14 and they had a 3rd and 2 from the Pitt 44 yard line with 7 minutes to go in the game. I wouldn't blame the Dolphins for not running up th middle as they hadn't had too much success, but the Pitt didn't stack the middle and a play right up the gut would have been effective. Instead they ran wide on a pitch play that got stuffed (wrong call) and then punted. That being said, Pitt got the ball pinned in their own territory with about 6 minutes to go in the game and Batch at QB. The Dolphins were in control to win the game and Culpepper had managed a pretty solid game to date with about a 55% completion and about 250 yards with no running attack support against a very tough defense on the road. The Dolphin defense let up a huge play to Miller and now Culpy had to throw with Pitt knowing he was going to throw and THEN threw 2 picks. Now, I am not excusing the picks as he could have led them downfield again, but he had just driven them to the 40 of Pitt and the playcalling stalled. Culpy wasn't real good, but these guys are just getting used to each other. If the defense does what they are supposed to do, people say how well C-pep managed the game and the Dolphins won a tough one on the road. The Dolphins and Culpy will be fine. There is no doubt in my mind they win 10 games this year and Culpy will be a big reason why. He made about 5 bad passes and made a lot of real nice passes as well. Anyone knocking C-pep doesn;t know what they are talking about and will be proved wrong later this year. Culpy is clearly a top half QB and most likely top 10

other than calling Culpepper "Culpy"

I was just trying to split up my uses of C-Pep and Culpepper. Next time I will use Daunte

 

[Liquid Tension]

The Dolphins were in control to win the game and Culpepper had managed a pretty solid game to date with about a 55% completion and about 250 yards with no running attack support against a very tough defense on the road. Anyone knocking C-pep doesn;t know what they are talking about and will be proved wrong later this year. Culpy is clearly a top half QB and most likely top 10

Did anyone else other than this guy see the game? Everyone in the world knew Culpepper had to throw the ball, especiallywhen they got behind. Their running game was horrible! 2.1 ypc? Pittsburgh didn't hold any team to that last year. If anybody is concerned about anyone, it should be Ronnie Brown.

Thanks Buckeye. I agree I am concerned for Ronnie (even though he looked as good as you can look under the circumstances). I was worried about their run blocking when they left their 1st team in against St. Louis' 2nd team in preseason and did not open holes. Pitt is tough against the run and I epxect the Dolphins to gel more as the season progresses. I have a lot of faith in Houck their line coach to make the best out of this group. At the end of the day the defense let the team down more than anything else.

 

[jurb26]

The Dolphins were in control to win the game and Culpepper had managed a pretty solid game to date with about a 55% completion and about 250 yards with no running attack support against a very tough defense on the road. Anyone knocking C-pep doesn;t know what they are talking about and will be proved wrong later this year. Culpy is clearly a top half QB and most likely top 10

Did anyone else other than this guy see the game? Everyone in the world knew Culpepper had to throw the ball, especiallywhen they got behind. Their running game was horrible! 2.1 ypc? Pittsburgh didn't hold any team to that last year. If anybody is concerned about anyone, it should be Ronnie Brown.

Thanks Buckeye. I agree I am concerned for Ronnie (even though he looked as good as you can look under the circumstances). I was worried about their run blocking when they left their 1st team in against St. Louis' 2nd team in preseason and did not open holes. Pitt is tough against the run and I epxect the Dolphins to gel more as the season progresses. I have a lot of faith in Houck their line coach to make the best out of this group. At the end of the day the defense let the team down more than anything else.

You both must have watched a different game than me. Cpep looked awful out there. He simply had no poise in the pocket and never once stepped into his throw. He blew several reads and looked confused. He staired down WRs and was noticably only looking to half the field the entire game. Sure, he may recover form this later in the year and it was possibly due to the mind melt of his knee injury... buuuut, this is also how he looked last year post Moss.

 

[SSOG]

It will be interesting to see what c-pepp can do with a running game that opponents will have to respect. Never really had that before. Looked rusty tonight, not horrible. (although that throw to chambers in the endzone when he was wide open was pretty bad)

2000 (C'Pep's first season)- Min's rushing game finishes 6th in yards and 1st in ypa.

2002- 1st in yards, 1st in ypa

2003- 4th in yards, 6th in ypa

2004- 18th in yards, 2nd in ypa

Don't let the yardage total from 2004 fool you, that great rushing attack that didn't produce great results because Minny ranked 28th in rushing attempts (partly because their defense was brutally bad and the team was usually in shootouts, and partly because Culpepper was in the middle of the second-best QB season of the past 20 years).

And before anyone tries to argue that Culpepper's rushing ability unnaturally boosted Minny's YPAs in those years (much like Vick's boosts Atlanta's ypa), it just didn't happen. Culpepper actually brought the team's YPA *down* in 2004, and his ypa was very close to the team's average in 2000 and 2002, as well.

The perception that Minnesota never had an elite running game came from the fact that Minny platooned its backs so much. Regardless, Minny's rushing attack was INSANELY good for much of Culpepper's tenure. For instance, in 2002, Bennett and Williams combined for 1710/16 rushing (and another 602/1 receiving for a total of 2312/17). In 2003, the RBs posted a ridiculous 2771 combined yards and 15 TDs.

 

[The Jerk]

CPep wasn't doing that poorly until he had to play well. He is the ultimate front runner, meaning if he is out on the lead he will play like a million bucks. If the game is close or they are behind he always makes the big mistakes. Always has and always will. I own the guy in a dynasty league so I am not anti-Cpep. I am sure he will end up with a fair amount of fantasy points. Miami looked much better in pass protection than run blocking. I was actually surprised and impressed with a few of the throws CPep made under pressure.I am amazed so much focus has been on Cpep and not on how ineffective Miami was at running the ball. I guess it is the big mistakes that stand out. One thing I think is not a knee jerk reaction after one game is that Pitt's D is just plain nasty!!

Yeah, but Gargoylez can name 5 defenses that are better in 5 seconds or less.

 

[The Jerk]

There will never be a fool-proof system. My point is if Saban would have done anything other than throw the flag at his own feet, he probably would have gotten the challenge. I think it was pretty lame of him to call out the refs and say "who's fault is that" when he is mostly to blame. The refs were doing their job by waiting for him to decide what to do and also trying to watch the snap.

And can you believe the outrage that would be spewing in the Shark Pool if an official misses a call as he is looking over at an indecisive head coach who is swinging his challenge flag like a phys.ed. teacher's whistle?Improvements are almost always possible to just about anything in life, and that certainly includes the replay system. But I agree that no system will ever be foolproof, and most assuredly no system will ever prevent people from whining about something that happened connected to the officiating instead of assigning at least some responsibility to the players and coaches on the losing side.To his credit, on Friday, Saban acknowledged not knowing that he was allowed to run onto the field in that situation and basically took the blame. So now the officiating bashers will move on to blaming the NFL for Saban not knowing his options. Whatever. And there are roughly 100 times as many posts about the challenge being botched as there are on the Dolphins defense allowing an 80+ yard pass to Heath Miller with less than half of the fourth quarter to play.

 

[Gargoylez]

CPep wasn't doing that poorly until he had to play well. He is the ultimate front runner, meaning if he is out on the lead he will play like a million bucks. If the game is close or they are behind he always makes the big mistakes. Always has and always will. I own the guy in a dynasty league so I am not anti-Cpep. I am sure he will end up with a fair amount of fantasy points. Miami looked much better in pass protection than run blocking. I was actually surprised and impressed with a few of the throws CPep made under pressure.I am amazed so much focus has been on Cpep and not on how ineffective Miami was at running the ball. I guess it is the big mistakes that stand out. One thing I think is not a knee jerk reaction after one game is that Pitt's D is just plain nasty!!

Yeah, but Gargoylez can name 5 defenses that are better in 5 seconds or less.

I can. I did. And Iw as right.Glad I could help somone who didn't know.

 

[moondawg]

Why did Mularky and Culpepper abandon going to Brown through the air?

In prior Ronnie Brown discussions Aaron Rudnicki explicitely warned people that Mularky's play calling is suspect and that it might adversely affect Brown - referencing some "interesting" decisions Mularky made in Buffalo last year. I guess the staff around here actually know a thing or two eh?Hopefully Brown won't get Mularkyed too badly this season.....

 

[The Jerk]

CPep wasn't doing that poorly until he had to play well. He is the ultimate front runner, meaning if he is out on the lead he will play like a million bucks. If the game is close or they are behind he always makes the big mistakes. Always has and always will. I own the guy in a dynasty league so I am not anti-Cpep. I am sure he will end up with a fair amount of fantasy points. Miami looked much better in pass protection than run blocking. I was actually surprised and impressed with a few of the throws CPep made under pressure.I am amazed so much focus has been on Cpep and not on how ineffective Miami was at running the ball. I guess it is the big mistakes that stand out. One thing I think is not a knee jerk reaction after one game is that Pitt's D is just plain nasty!!

Yeah, but Gargoylez can name 5 defenses that are better in 5 seconds or less.

I can. I did. And Iw as right.Glad I could help somone who didn't know.

Except that of the five defenses you listed, only the Bears gave up fewer points than the Steelers last season. And of those same five teams, only the Bears and Panthers created more turnovers than the Steelers. (Bucs had the same number.)Maybe I'm old school, but the last time I checked, defenses were measured primarily by points allowed and turnovers created. Please educate me about how the Redskins, Ravens and Bucs are superior when they give up more points and create fewer turnovers (or in the Bucs case, the same). Thanks.

 

[SSOG]

CPep wasn't doing that poorly until he had to play well. He is the ultimate front runner, meaning if he is out on the lead he will play like a million bucks. If the game is close or they are behind he always makes the big mistakes. Always has and always will. I own the guy in a dynasty league so I am not anti-Cpep. I am sure he will end up with a fair amount of fantasy points. Miami looked much better in pass protection than run blocking. I was actually surprised and impressed with a few of the throws CPep made under pressure.I am amazed so much focus has been on Cpep and not on how ineffective Miami was at running the ball. I guess it is the big mistakes that stand out. One thing I think is not a knee jerk reaction after one game is that Pitt's D is just plain nasty!!

Yeah, but Gargoylez can name 5 defenses that are better in 5 seconds or less.

I can. I did. And Iw as right.Glad I could help somone who didn't know.

Except that of the five defenses you listed, only the Bears gave up fewer points than the Steelers last season. And of those same five teams, only the Bears and Panthers created more turnovers than the Steelers. (Bucs had the same number.)Maybe I'm old school, but the last time I checked, defenses were measured primarily by points allowed and turnovers created. Please educate me about how the Redskins, Ravens and Bucs are superior when they give up more points and create fewer turnovers (or in the Bucs case, the same). Thanks.

Well, it's a little bit more complicated than that. You also have to look at the Time of Possession disparity (a defense that is only on the field for 20 minutes thanks to a fantastic running game will allow fewer points than a defense that's on the field for 40 minutes). You also have to look at offensive proficiency (offenses that stake big leads allow the defense to play pass all the way and really tee up and make a run at the QB, which leads to a lot more turnovers and a lot fewer points allowed- just ask Indy). Another big factor is schedule (playing a bunch of cupcakes does wonders for your scoring defense- again, just ask Indy). Then there's average starting field position for the defense (an offense that turns the ball over and a special teams that keeps allowing big returns frequently results in a great defense giving up more points than it otherwise would have). Finally, you cannot discount yardage defense or 3rd down efficiency. Teams that allow a lot of yards on defense but not a lot of points will consistantly leave their offense in crummy field position, which results in fewer points SCORED (so a "bend but don't break" defense gives up fewer points, but also prevents their OWN offense from scoring, while a "break but don't bend" defense such as what Denver ran last year might give up more points, but will also set the offense up fantastically and help their team score, too).I mean, by your simple "points allowed and turnovers" equation, Indianapolis's defense beat Pittsburgh in both "important" categories last year and must clearly be a better defense. Would you rather have Indy's defense than Pittsburgh's? Because I know *I* sure wouldn't.For a good site that takes into account all of that stuff I mentioned (score, turnovers, points allowed, starting field position, yards allowed, schedule), as well as a bunch that I didn't mention, go to www.footballoutsiders.com and check out the Defensive DVOA. You'll probably like it, because it has Pittsburgh listed at #2 behind Chicago last year (although their projections predict Pitt's defense will only be league-average this season).

 

[Irish]

the positives for Culpepper:

his knee seemed healthy. there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with him physically.

the negatives for Culpepper:

he is an inaccurate QB that is slow to make decisions.

You do realize that Culpepper has a career completion pct of over 64%. He did look rusty, but it is only 1 game against the best defense in the league on the road.