PI Finds: Warner Bounces Back
Posted by Neil Paine on Monday, November 9, 2009
Kurt Warner has made an entire career out of bouncing back, and he did it again Sunday, following one of the worst games of his career with one of the best, a 5-TD effort that carried the Cards past the Bears in Chicago. With that performance, Warner joined Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Carson Palmer as the only QBs to toss 5 or more TDs in a game so far this season:
| Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Result | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Brady | 10/18/2009 | NWE | TEN | W 59-0 | 29 | 34 | 85.3% | 380 | 6 | 0 | 152.8 |
| Drew Brees | 9/13/2009 | NOR | DET | W 45-27 | 26 | 34 | 76.5% | 358 | 6 | 1 | 137.0 |
| Carson Palmer | 10/25/2009 | CIN | CHI | W 45-10 | 20 | 24 | 83.3% | 233 | 5 | 0 | 146.7 |
| Kurt Warner | 11/8/2009 | ARI | CHI | W 41-21 | 22 | 31 | 71.0% | 261 | 5 | 0 | 135.9 |
Warner's one of my favorite players ever because he's one of those old-school guys who just knows how to play QB -- I liken it to one of those crafty old control pitchers in baseball who have no stuff but still manage to get guys out, just based on intelligence and deception. Warner doesn't have the arm strength of the prototype passer, but he has a lightning-quick release and is ridiculously accurate on those short-to-intermediate routes. The league used to be full of guys like that, QBs who got by on accuracy and smarts above all else: Len Dawson, Bart Starr, Ken Anderson, Fran Tarkenton, and even more recent players like Joe Montana. Nowadays, you have Drew Brees, Chad Pennington, Marc Bulger, but more often than not that type of QB has been phased out in favor of stronger-armed passers.
That's why Warner's continued ability to operate at this high a level is so impressive, and so rare in today's NFL (incidentally, his backup Matt Leinart -- a player more in keeping with the newer school of prospect QBs -- was handed a big lead built by Warner, promptly threw a pick, and was yanked, at which point Warner had to come in and bail the team out with another TD pass). So we should appreciate Kurt Warner while he's still around, because watching him play QB is like watching the great passing savants of yesteryear perform their craft.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 4:02 PM and filed under PI Finds. Follow comments here with the RSS 2.0 feed. Skip to the end and leave a response. Trackbacks are closed.
Neil, I completely agree with all of your sentiments about Warner. I would add a few more playoff success stories that have been detailed here before. Kurt is the only QB that tempted fate (he wears shirt #13) and has some REAL SUCCESS in the playoffs. I know at least 1 site that is slowly moving Warner into their All-Time Top 10.
Posted on 09-Nov-09 at 9:21 pm | PermalinkThank you, Neil. Warner is also one of my all-time favorites because always plays to win. So many modern QB's just dink and dunk and try to avoid turnovers, but Kurt has spent his entire career making big plays and taking risks in order to lead his teams to victory. I especially loved his 2000 season, where his defense gave up 471 points but the Rams still won 10 games because Warner averaged a ridiculous 9.9 YPA! I bet no one will ever match that.
With Warner and Favre nearing the end of their careers, the gunslinger is becoming a dying breed. Most of the new QB's play a conservative and boring style, and that's a damn shame. I've come to like Philip Rivers because he's the only young QB that consistently throws the deep ball and makes things exciting. Damn the west coast offense.
Posted on 09-Nov-09 at 11:09 pm | PermalinkI don't think he's a dying breed. Tony Romo seems ready to take up the reins as a gunslinger.
Posted on 10-Nov-09 at 7:53 am | PermalinkSurely it's just coincidental that when Warner's been good, his WR corps has been the best in the entire NFL.
Granted, he's a very good QB, but Holt/Bruce/Hakim/Faulk back in the day and Fitzgerald/Boldin/Breaston now kind of mutes his greatness, IMO.
Posted on 10-Nov-09 at 11:29 am | PermalinkJiffy, I understand where you're coming from, but I disagree. Without exception, all of these receivers have had their best seasons with Warner as their QB. Would Holt and Bruce have been stars if Trent Dilfer was their quarterback?
Posted on 10-Nov-09 at 8:09 pm | PermalinkFor kicks, I used the player TD finder to look at what percentage of TD passes were from within the redzone. The average of the top 40 or so was 62%, and Tarkenton was 58%. Just looking at the names, I think he'd be at or above average if one adjusted for era. Now whether that metric I just invented actually MEANS anything is anybody's guess. Random era-grouped numbers:
Posted on 10-Nov-09 at 11:25 pm | Permalink.
Warner: 74%
Favre: 68%
Brady: 68%
Brees: 66%
Manning: 62%
.
Young: 64%
Marino: 64%
Anderson: 60%
Montana: 59%
Elway: 58%
.
Griese: 67%
Bradshaw: 59%
Tarkenton: 58%
Jurgensen: 56%
Hadl: 51%
Tittle: 50%
Namath: 50%