Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Blogs | Writers | Paid | My Orble | Login

Pro Sports Wrap - Sports Personality of the Day:Sidney Crosby

I continue my recent string of Jaguars-themed Historical Player Profiles with their former star quarterback; Mark Brunell. The now-bankrupt backup Jets quarterback is probably shaking his head at the team's most recent loss. The lefty has lost most of his former glory, so I'm just going to focus on his notable seasons with the Jags and Washington Redskins.


Brunell is currently in his 17th season, and the three time Pro Bowler was a 5th round pick in the 1993 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. The Seahawks made a mistake in taking highly-regarded Notre Dame product Rick Mirer instead of waiting for Brunell to tumble. The Packers already had their answer in Brett Favre, and Brunell and the Jaguars struck gold when he was traded for a 3rd and fifth rounder.

The greatest quarterback in team history, Brunell would be named to the '96,'97, and '99 Pro Bowls. He was simply sensational in 1996, as he led the league in passing yards (4,367) and also led the NFL with 7.8 yards per attempt. This was made all the more impressive when you consider he was sacked a league-leading 50 times. It was the best season of his career, and he even had a league-leading three fourth quarter comebacks to show for it. Despite the 63.4 completion percentage, Brunell did throw 20 picks that year.


A season later, Mark Brunell still made the Pro Bowl- and was the game's MVP- on the strength of just seven interceptions. He also averaged 7.6 air yards per attempt and had a 91.2 QB Rating.

A devout Christian who is known as one of the nicest players and best mentors in the league, Mark Brunell threw for under 3,000 yards in 1998 but came back in 1999 with 3,060 yards and another Pro Bowl appearance (the last one of his career). Only two percent of his passes were picked off, and Brunell had another solid season.

Two interesting statistical streaks emerge when looking at Brunell's career, and these are his six straight seasons of at least 200 passing yards per game (1996-2001) and his streak of eight consecutive seasons with a QB Rating of at least 82.0 (1995-2002). Brunell has a career AV of 120, a QB Rating of 84.0, 6.9 yards per attempt, and 22 game-winning drives. Pro-Football Reference's Fan EloRater has him as the 374th best player in NFL history as of November 9th.

Known as a good scrambler, Mark Brunell was dealt to the Washington Redskins after the 2003 season when Byron Leftwich was named the Jaguars new starting quarterback.

However, Brunell got off to an awful start with his new team in 2004. In 2005, he turned up the heat to the tune of an 85.9 QB Rating and was third in the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award voting. He came up big with two key touchdown passes in an MNF game against the 'Skins most hated rivals; the Dallas Cowboys. His two bombs to the elite Santana Moss in the final four minutes gave them an incredible 14-13 victory. Although they were knocked out in the playoffs, they were able to take down the Tampa Bay Bucs in the Wild Card game.

Brunell set the record for the most consecutive complete passes in a game (22) in a game against the Houston Texans in 2006. However, eight weeks later, David Carr tied that record. What makes this all the more interesting is the fact that those 22 passes were his first attempts of the game.

That game was the only high point of a poor season for Brunell, as he was surprisingly benched in favor of first round pick Jason Campbell. Although Campbell would go on to have a decent career- up until his unfortunate injury this season- many people believed that this was an imprudent move and that the usually classless Redskins made Mark Brunell their scapegoat.

The Whataburger owner and Madoff/Dykstra investor signed on with the New Orleans Saints to back up superstar QB and franchise savior Drew Brees. This turned out to be a great move for the holder, as he won a Super Bowl ring thanks to the prolific play of Brees under center in 2009. The former Ed Block Courage Award winner and "Whizzer" White NFL Man of the Year did play a role as one of the main advisers to Drew Brees that season.

Mark Brunell signed a two-year deal with the New York Jets in 2010 to back up and mentor Mark Sanchez. Although a solid backup, Brunell was released after the 2010 season and was forced to take a reduced pay cut. He did, and Brunell has filed for bankruptcy since; mainly thanks to some ill-advised investments. It is a somewhat sad story, but at least he has that ring and those 11 Whataburgers won't be closing either.

Although Mark Brunell wasn't a great quarterback by any measure, he was a solid player and is a great person. Everybody will tell you that he is one of the best mentors around, and he is a very religious person whose attitude made him an ideal leader. The problem is that his life has been ridden with bad-luck, and it has costed him what would have certainly been a better career. However, Brunell was able to win a Super Bowl with the Saints and has had a nice 17-year career thus far.
108 AY/A-plus for his career



41
Vote
   


2011 Week 9 Preview: Jets and Bills

November 6th 2011 15:25
Although the Jets are 4-3, it feels like they are doing a whole lot worse when you look at their actual performances. The Buffalo Bills have been this season's surprise story thanks to a much better than expected offense. The main reason for this sudden offensive outburst is the revival of a once-awful offensive line that has turned itself around to be one of the top units the league this year. Led by a stunning season by left guard Andy Levitre, this line has given Ryan Fitzpatrick all the time in the world and is finally providing some much-needed push for stud back Fred Jackson.

Nick Mangold is finally back after rag doll Colin Baxter proceeded to suck things up as a run blocker (though he did provide some huge value in pass pro). Brandon Moore has been a surprise this season, but not in a good way. One of the best guards in the league, Moore has digressed this season to the "very mediocre" range of play. He will be matched up, for the most part, against explosive rookie Marcell Dareus in this game.

The interesting thing about Dareus is that he was always solid this season, but he turned up the heat in his last two games and put forth two of the best performances by a defensive tackle this season. Forget the criminally underrated Kyle Williams; it's the Dareus show in Buffalo now. The Jets will be soon acquainted with the the real "Hard Knock Life".

I really hate the Jets offense right now, and the listing of Plaxico Burress as the team's number one receiver over incumbent Santonio Holmes sums it up; stupidity. This offense squanders around and doesn't do crap, and that Mark Sanchez guy- as clutch as he is- doesn't put his team in the position to actually have a clutch anyway. He wilts under pressure, he has no arm, and he'll make stupid decisions too. Yeah, the guy has the whole package.

However, it isn't really all Sanchez's fault. Shonn Greene is subpar, and I have totally given up on him as a starting-caliber NFL running back. Nick Barnett and Kirk Morrison are two of the better linebackers against the run in the NFL, and they will eat this guy alive.

I think that's pretty much most of the pessimistic comments directed at the Jets, because they still have a nice D (read: Darrelle Revis is freaking awesome).

Fred Jackson is one of the best ten backs in the NFL, because he does everything extremely well. Not only is he a great pure runner with his elusiveness, but he can catch and is one of the best pass blocking backs in the league. However, he will face a huge challenge against the Jets in this game (the same can be said for his line). Sione Pouha and Mike DeVito are two of the best defensive linemen against the run in the NFL, and Pouha has ripped apart far better linemen than the ones that he is prepared to face today. And oh by the way, those linebackers are pretty tough to get by too.

The good thing- for the offensive line- is that the Jets have very poor pass rushers. Thus, Fitzpatrick should continue to have time to test the Jets secondary. Which means, everybody except Revis (if he's smart).

There is no more valuable defensive player in the league than Revis, because he is the reason why the Jets can blitz defensive backs and do all the crazy stuff that they do. Revis has given up the least amount of receiving yards, and he has had more tips/picks than catches allowed.

This lavish praise of Revis is actually pertinent to his game, because the Bills offense is one-dimensional receiving-wise. Everybody knows that Fitz is going to try to hit Stevie Johnson as much as he can, but Revis can easily take him out. This leaves David Nelson to be contained by Cromartie and whoever else has him guarded.

This is going to be a low-scoring contest, and it's the Jets utter offensive incompetence that makes the Bills go 6-2, instead of tying them up at 5-3. It seems hard to believe, well, to everybody but me. Look, the Jets stink because their offense has been horrible for such a long time. Revis and the defense will once again be the only guys keeping this game close. This is going to be one heckuva ballgame, and Revis will be the MVP, regardless of who wins.
Stevie Johnson: Prepare to be shipwrecked


38
Vote
   


2011 Week 4 Preview: Jets and Ravens

October 2nd 2011 13:29
This right here is definitely the game of the week, and it features Rex Ryan, Bart Scott, and Jim Leonhard going at it against their former team. This is a matchup between two contenders who have quite a bit to prove heading into this matchup. The Ravens need to show that they are indeed for real, and the Jets really have to show that they aren't all mouth after getting run all over by Darren McFadden.

In big injury news, Nick Mangold is listed as questionable for this game, and this actually does mean quite a bit. Not only is he one of the best centers in the game, but his replacement Colin Baxter is one of the worst run-blocking offensive linemen in the league. He gets pushed around like crazy, and that more than "makes up for" his great work in pass protection. It's known fact that run blocking is far more important for centers than pass protection, and Baxter has proven to be a liability on the line overall.

While Ladarius Webb and- to a greater extent- Ed Reed have played well in the secondary, Cary Williams has been absolutely terrible this season. If you watched that Steelers game, you would pretty much know all that you need to know about this guy; he gives receivers far too much space.

I could see this being a very easy game for Haloti Ngata in run defense against Baxter, and Terrell Suggs is another high-impact player who should have a high impact in this contest. Dustin Keller has already been a force on offense for the Jets this season, and Mark Sanchez needs to continue hitting him up for the Jets to remain successful on offense. I really don't see them getting much on the Ravens defense though, and I have always been critical of Sanchez.

The Ravens tackles have been absolutely horrendous this season, but they are lucky that the Jets don't have any good pass rushers. Bryan Thomas barely qualifies as adequate, and I don't think anyone will be mistaking Aaron Maybin for DeMarcus Ware any time soon.

The Ravens interior, however, is much better and has two of the best in the business in Marshal Yanda and Matt Birk. I think Ray Rice should be okay in this game, but don't expect him to play like he has through the first three weeks. Even though they got run down by McFadden, this Jets run defense is a tough matchup.

While Lee Evans has been nothing short of disappointing and awful through his first three weeks in a Ravens uniform, Torrey Smith was exactly the opposite last week. Still, I really don't see Flacco being all that good against a very solid Jets secondary. This game is definitely going to be a battle of defenses.

For the reason stated above in that last sentence, I am going with the Ravens. Although both teams are about even defensively, the Ravens are actually good offensively. Even though I would probably take the Jets wideouts over the Ravens group, Joe Flacco and Ray Rice easily trump Sanchez and Shonn Greene.

Prediction: Ravens 20 Jets 14

MVP: Terrell Suggs (Wayne Hunter? What a joke of a tackle.)

Other picks

Cowboys over Lions
Steelers over Texans
Panthers over Bears
Chiefs over Vikings
Bills over Bengals
Titans over Browns
Redskins over Rams
Eagles over 49ers
Saints over Jaguars
Falcons over Seahawks
Giants over Cardinals
Patriots over Raiders
Packers over Broncos
Chargers over Dolphins
Bucs over Colts (How weird would that be five years ago?)
Terrell Suggs
Heeelloooo Wayne Hunter
21
Vote
   


8/2011 QB Rankings

August 24th 2011 14:50
1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Peyton Manning
3. Tom Brady
4. Drew Brees
5. Philip Rivers
6. Tony Romo
7. Ben Roethlisberger
8. Matt Ryan
9. Michael Vick
10. Matt Schaub
11. Eli Manning
12. Joe Flacco
13. Josh Freeman
14. Jay Cutler
15. Matthew Stafford
16. Kyle Orton
17. Matt Cassel
18. Sam Bradford
19. Kevin Kolb
20. Colt McCoy
21. Mark Sanchez
22. Donovan McNabb
23. Ryan Fitzpatrick
24. David Garrard
25. Jason Campbell
26. Chad Henne
27. Alex Smith
28. Matt Hasselbeck
29. John Beck
30. Tavaris Jackson
*Rookies Not Included
Not Overrated
39
Vote
   


Joe Soriano's Blogs

153 Vote(s)
7 Comment(s)
4 Post(s)
26729 Vote(s)
81 Comment(s)
294 Post(s)
78 Vote(s)
0 Comment(s)
3 Post(s)
Moderated by Joe Soriano
Copyright © 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]