RenoFinFan
Pro Bowler
- Joined
- May 4, 2006
- Messages
- 1,113
- Reaction score
- 0
In exchange for Miami’s 2nd round 2005 draft pick and $8,000,000 the Dolphins received a QB who has responded by producing 2 TD passes, 3 interceptions, 3 fumbles, 21 sacks, a 1-3 record and the worst QB play this franchise have ever seen. Should Miami entrust another season and millions of more dollars on Culpepper…let’s hope not! The Vikings were smart enough to get rid of Culpepper and I am hoping Miami’s new decision-makers are too. One of the best moves any new coach can do is to get rid of the garbage left from the previous regime. The following 10 reasons are only some of the reasons I hope the Culpepper experiment is over.
1. CULPEPPER IS NOT A WINNER / LEADER: Culpepper started his career by inheriting a team that was coming off a 15-1 record in 1998 and scored an NFL record 556 points with an old Randall Cunningham at QB that was a missed FG away from the SB. The next year in 1999 the Vikings started slowly with Randall but finished 10-6 with Jeff George at QB scoring 399 points. This offense was loaded with players like Moss, Carter, Smith, Birk, Steussie, Stringer. Culpepper started his career his career in 2000 leading the Vikings to an 11-5 record and scoring 397 points as a team. The Vikings started that year with an 11-2 record but lost the final 3 games of the regular season and suffered a humiliating 41-0 defeat to the NYG in the playoffs. Culpepper led teams have been an appalling “28-43†since starting 11-2. Culpepper’s overall record as a starter is 39-45 in the regular season and 2-2 in the playoffs.
Culpepper career record as starting QB:
2000: 11-5 (finished season 0-3 games) 1-1 in playoffs (beating NO and losing to Giants 41-0)
2001: 4-7
2002: 6-10
2003: 7-7 (finished season 3-7)
2004: 8-8 (finished season 3-7) 1-1 in playoffs (beating GB and losing to Philly)
2005: 2-5
2006: 1-3
A disturbing trend is for Culpepper led teams to “collapse†late in the season during his “GREAT†years.
2. NO MOSS, NOT MUCH CULPEPPER: Claims have been made that Culpepper made Moss and not the other way around. The best year to see how much of an impact Moss has had on Culpepper is to look at 2004. Moss missed 3 games and was a “lame duck†in 2 others by only acting as a decoy by lining up for a play or two split wide and didn’t even run a pattern (as I recall). So in effect Moss played in 11 games and missed 5 games. I have seen some people like to just subtract Moss’ stats that year from Culpepper’s and use that as proof that Moss’ doesn’t impact Culpepper. However, a much more accurate way would be to look at the average game when Culpepper had Moss to throw to and when Culpepper didn’t have Moss to throw to in 2004…
Culpepper’s average game in 2004 when Moss did play:
24 comp 35 att 322 yds 2.73 TD .73 INT 116.2 QB rating
Culpepper’s average game in 2004 when Moss didn’t play:
23 comp 33 att 236 yds 1.8 TD .6 INT 98.9 QB rating (these numbers were considerably boosted by a 363 yard 4 TD performance against GB. Overall, QBs threw for 33 TD and only 8 INT against GB that year. Culpepper averaged merely 1.25 TD and 204 yards in the other 4 games that year).
The difference being when Culpepper had Moss to throw to he averaged 86 more yards and nearly 1 more TD pass per game on only 2 more attempts…WOW!
Then there is Culpepper’s “career†W-L and statistics in games he has played without Randy Moss.
5-11 (W-L record) 333 comp 516 att 3672 yds 17 TD 18 INT 81.96 QB rating
Of significant note, Culpepper also has an amazing “64 sacks†in games played without Moss. Is that because Culpepper doesn’t know what to do with the ball if he doesn’t have Moss to just heave it to when the pressure comes?
3. 2ND STRING QBS HAVE OUTPLAYED HIM: Culpepper has missed playing time 4 of the 7 years since becoming a starter in 2000. During that time the #2 QB has come in to play they have outperformed Culpepper. The 4 different #2 QBs to receive playing time in Culpepper’s absence are – Bouman in 2001, Frerotte in 2003, Johnson in 2005, and Harrington in 2006 (hardly a list of who’s who with QBs). The overall record’s are listed below…
Combined W-L record for Culpepper and TD / INT in games during the four years he missed some playing time and #2 QB played (01, 03, 05, 06)…
14 – 22 W-L (47 TD passes 39 INT)
Combined W-L record for #2 QB (Bouman, Frerotte, Johnson, Harrington) when Culpepper missed playing time and they received playing time…
15 – 10 W-L (39 TD passes 25 INT)
So the #2 QB have a much better W-L record and TD / INT ratio when given the chance to play.
4. TURNOVERS: For his career Culpepper has thrown 89 interceptions in 85 games for an average of 1.05 interceptions per game. One thing in Culpepper’s favor when it comes to QB ratings is fumbles are not counted against the QB. However, Culpepper is a fumbling machine (84 fumbles in 84 career games started…Culpepper played 1 game in 1999 and had zero pass attempts) and they do affect a team. Much was made about Harrington’s dumb decisions that resulted in turnovers, but when looking at the “career†of both players it turns out Culpepper has Harrington beat in this area by averaging 1.48 turnovers per game to Harrington’s 1.25 turnovers per game…
Culpepper career turnovers statistics:
84 games 89 INT 35 fumbles lost (84 total fumbles) for 124 turnovers = 1.48 TO per game.
5. SACKS, SACKS, AND MORE SACKS: Another advantage for Culpepper when it comes to QB ratings is that sacks have “NO†effect on their ratings. But I can assure you that sacks have a big impact on the game. Culpepper supporters have claimed the sacks this year have been due to the play of OL and injury. While this may have contributed to the alarming number of sacks this year, sacks have been a problem throughout Culpepper’s career despite an excellent OL during Culpepper’s tenure in Minnesota.
Culpepper’s career “sack†stats:
84 games 249 sacks 1364 yards in loss
Season by season average:
00 = 2.12 per game
01 = 3 per game
02 = 2.93 per game
03 = 2.64 per game
04 = 2.87 per game
05 = 4.42 per game
06 = 4.2 per game
Career total = 2.96 sacks per game
In order for Culpepper to get his 32 attempts per game (career average) a team has to deal with trying to overcompensate for his 4.44 “BAD PLAYS†per game (turnovers + sacks). This may go a long way to explaining Culpepper’s W-L record.
6. PADDED STATISTICS: One of the warnings I recall Viking fans on finheaven saying when he was traded to us was that Culpepper’s statistics were not an accurate reflection of the QB he truly is. How could the # 5 all-time passer (according to the QB rating system used) not reflect his play? We found out this year…
Daunte Culpepper overall statistics this year:
81 comp 134 att 929 yds 2 TD 3 INT 77 QB rating
However, Culpepper’s stats when Miami is winning, tied or within 7 points was terrible:
57 comp 95 att 622 yds 0 TD 3 INT 66.20 QB rating
But when Miami trailed by 8 or more points Culpepper was phenomenal:
24 comp 39 att 307 yds 2 TD 0 INT 103.25 QB rating
If teams would only play “soft†the whole game, we would have our QB.
Also of note…Culpepper did have an excellent statistical year in 2004. But when looking at the splits it shows the Vikings let Culpepper throw the ball rather than run the ball at the goal line. A whopping 16 TD passes were from 5 yards or less…every QBs dream to be able to pad their stats.
7. HE IS NO LONGER IN THE NFC NORTH: Culpepper’s career W-L success has mostly come against teams that I believe most experts would say is the weakest division in football during Culpepper’s tenure in the NFC North division.
Culpepper’s W-L percentage as a starter against teams in the NFC North (including playoffs) is 60% with a 21-14 record (including 1-0 in playoffs).
Culpepper’s W-L percentage as a starter against teams “NOT†in the NFC North over his career is 38% with a 20-33 record (including 1-2 in playoffs).
Of note, Culpepper has only led his team to victory over “ONE†team with a winning record in the past 3 regular seasons and that was Jacksonville who finished 9-7 in 2004.
8. INTELLIGENCE: This (along with leadership) is the variable that concerns me the most. Culpepper’s inability to adjust his style of play when facing adversity this year left me dumbfounded. After all, Culpepper is a 7 year veteran. I felt like I was watching Forrest Gump play this year with Culpepper at QB, but instead of yelling “Run Forrest Run!†I was yelling “Throw Daunte Throw!†The line “Todddddddddddday Junior,†from Happy Gilmore also came to mind.
That Culpepper is not intelligent is not a knock that began this year when his mobility became limited, but has followed him his whole career. The following is a quote from Sporting News Scouting Guide that came out before this season, “Makes poor decisions. Will hold the ball too long and take unnecessary hits.†And from Pro Football Weekly, “He’ll almost never outsmart a defense…†Unfortunately, I believe Ron White’s, “You can’t fix stupid,†applies to Culpepper whether his knee recovers 100% or not.
Seeing how both Manning and Brady had difficulties against playoff defenses and considering how Culpepper was NOT able to adjust to adversity this year I can’t imagine Culpepper would not be eaten alive if he had to face a Chicago, Baltimore, SD, NE type defense in the playoffs. Goes a long way to explaining why CULPEPPER and PLAYOFFS are rarely used in the same sentence unless “not in†is inserted between the two words.
9. CURRENT OL / WR: Culpepper has shown that he if he is not surrounded by outstanding talent his play is “ATROSIOUS.†Every season Culpepper lost a key contributor on offense from the year before he played poorly the following year (Robert Smith in 01, Cris Carter in 02, Randy Moss in 05). Looking at 2005 while in Minnesota when he was without the services of Moss or Matt Birk, Culpepper led the Vikings to 2 wins (against the lowly Saints who were on their 3rd road game to start the season after Hurricane Katrina and GB…the 2nd and 5th worst teams in the NFL) while getting demolished in the other games. To see how bad Culpepper was that year we can subtract his performance against the two poor defenses he played against that year (NO and GB).
Culpepper against NO and GB…44 comp 60 att 580 yds 5 TD 0 INT 131.25 QB rating.
But when Culpepper went up against every other team…95 comp 156 att 984 yds 1 TD 12 INT 49.19 QB rating…OUCH!
Unfortunately, we don’t have the type of talent on the offensive side of the ball (OL, WR…Chambers as #1…ugh!) to carry Culpepper. And Culpepper has not shown that he can step up and carry a team that is not talented when it goes up against a team with a solid defense. He “definitely†wasn’t even able to carry the Vikings in 05 or even the Dolphins this year against poor defenses (Tennessee was 31st in defense when played them and Houston was dead last). In fact, he pulled the team down.
10. THERE IS NO “I†IN “TEAM†BUT THERE IS A “MEâ€Â: My biggest gripe with Culpepper is I think winning QBs are great leaders. I have yet to read or hear from former players, coaches or fans that contend Culpepper is a good leader, let alone a great leader. I don’t care what a quarterback’s rating is if he is not a leader then his team will not be playing in the most important game of all. This has clearly been the case with Culpepper.
Ray Childress likened dealing with Culpepper to dealing with Terrell Owens when he was in Philadelphia. That is the reason he was available last off season. Culpepper refused to rehab at team facilities off of a severe knee injury and demanded a raise despite leading the Vikings to a 2-5 record while throwing 6 TD passes and 12 interceptions. Although Saban and consulting doctors deserve partial responsibility for playing Culpepper this year, I clearly remember Culpepper “INSISTING†he was fit to play. I recall Culpepper choking against Pittsburgh and his “TERRIBLE†play for another three games against some of the worst defenses in the league. I remember how Culpepper sulked on the sidelines this year when benched for his horrific play still while still “INSISTING†he could play when it was clear he could and should not.
That’s…I have limited this post to 10 reasons I am hoping Cam Cameron and the Miami Dolphins cut their losses with Culpepper and precede in a new direction, but there are plenty more reasons. I didn’t even go into some of the other legitimate reasons such as INABILITY TO READ DEFENSES, INEFFECTIVENESS GETTING RID OF THE BALL, INJURY, SALARY CAP, AGE or that it will be THREE YEARS since he has been effective on the field of play. Perhaps the most important reason to cut our losses with Culpepper is that by keeping him it could prevent Miami from finding a real “solution†at QB.
As the upcoming Super Bowl approaches, I can only hope that it will “soon†be the Miami Dolphins playing in the big game. Based on what I have learned and seen from Culpepper I am positive it would be “in spite of†Culpepper and not because of him if we ever made it to the Super Bowl with him as our starting QB…a highly unlikely scenario.
1. CULPEPPER IS NOT A WINNER / LEADER: Culpepper started his career by inheriting a team that was coming off a 15-1 record in 1998 and scored an NFL record 556 points with an old Randall Cunningham at QB that was a missed FG away from the SB. The next year in 1999 the Vikings started slowly with Randall but finished 10-6 with Jeff George at QB scoring 399 points. This offense was loaded with players like Moss, Carter, Smith, Birk, Steussie, Stringer. Culpepper started his career his career in 2000 leading the Vikings to an 11-5 record and scoring 397 points as a team. The Vikings started that year with an 11-2 record but lost the final 3 games of the regular season and suffered a humiliating 41-0 defeat to the NYG in the playoffs. Culpepper led teams have been an appalling “28-43†since starting 11-2. Culpepper’s overall record as a starter is 39-45 in the regular season and 2-2 in the playoffs.
Culpepper career record as starting QB:
2000: 11-5 (finished season 0-3 games) 1-1 in playoffs (beating NO and losing to Giants 41-0)
2001: 4-7
2002: 6-10
2003: 7-7 (finished season 3-7)
2004: 8-8 (finished season 3-7) 1-1 in playoffs (beating GB and losing to Philly)
2005: 2-5
2006: 1-3
A disturbing trend is for Culpepper led teams to “collapse†late in the season during his “GREAT†years.
2. NO MOSS, NOT MUCH CULPEPPER: Claims have been made that Culpepper made Moss and not the other way around. The best year to see how much of an impact Moss has had on Culpepper is to look at 2004. Moss missed 3 games and was a “lame duck†in 2 others by only acting as a decoy by lining up for a play or two split wide and didn’t even run a pattern (as I recall). So in effect Moss played in 11 games and missed 5 games. I have seen some people like to just subtract Moss’ stats that year from Culpepper’s and use that as proof that Moss’ doesn’t impact Culpepper. However, a much more accurate way would be to look at the average game when Culpepper had Moss to throw to and when Culpepper didn’t have Moss to throw to in 2004…
Culpepper’s average game in 2004 when Moss did play:
24 comp 35 att 322 yds 2.73 TD .73 INT 116.2 QB rating
Culpepper’s average game in 2004 when Moss didn’t play:
23 comp 33 att 236 yds 1.8 TD .6 INT 98.9 QB rating (these numbers were considerably boosted by a 363 yard 4 TD performance against GB. Overall, QBs threw for 33 TD and only 8 INT against GB that year. Culpepper averaged merely 1.25 TD and 204 yards in the other 4 games that year).
The difference being when Culpepper had Moss to throw to he averaged 86 more yards and nearly 1 more TD pass per game on only 2 more attempts…WOW!
Then there is Culpepper’s “career†W-L and statistics in games he has played without Randy Moss.
5-11 (W-L record) 333 comp 516 att 3672 yds 17 TD 18 INT 81.96 QB rating
Of significant note, Culpepper also has an amazing “64 sacks†in games played without Moss. Is that because Culpepper doesn’t know what to do with the ball if he doesn’t have Moss to just heave it to when the pressure comes?
3. 2ND STRING QBS HAVE OUTPLAYED HIM: Culpepper has missed playing time 4 of the 7 years since becoming a starter in 2000. During that time the #2 QB has come in to play they have outperformed Culpepper. The 4 different #2 QBs to receive playing time in Culpepper’s absence are – Bouman in 2001, Frerotte in 2003, Johnson in 2005, and Harrington in 2006 (hardly a list of who’s who with QBs). The overall record’s are listed below…
Combined W-L record for Culpepper and TD / INT in games during the four years he missed some playing time and #2 QB played (01, 03, 05, 06)…
14 – 22 W-L (47 TD passes 39 INT)
Combined W-L record for #2 QB (Bouman, Frerotte, Johnson, Harrington) when Culpepper missed playing time and they received playing time…
15 – 10 W-L (39 TD passes 25 INT)
So the #2 QB have a much better W-L record and TD / INT ratio when given the chance to play.
4. TURNOVERS: For his career Culpepper has thrown 89 interceptions in 85 games for an average of 1.05 interceptions per game. One thing in Culpepper’s favor when it comes to QB ratings is fumbles are not counted against the QB. However, Culpepper is a fumbling machine (84 fumbles in 84 career games started…Culpepper played 1 game in 1999 and had zero pass attempts) and they do affect a team. Much was made about Harrington’s dumb decisions that resulted in turnovers, but when looking at the “career†of both players it turns out Culpepper has Harrington beat in this area by averaging 1.48 turnovers per game to Harrington’s 1.25 turnovers per game…
Culpepper career turnovers statistics:
84 games 89 INT 35 fumbles lost (84 total fumbles) for 124 turnovers = 1.48 TO per game.
5. SACKS, SACKS, AND MORE SACKS: Another advantage for Culpepper when it comes to QB ratings is that sacks have “NO†effect on their ratings. But I can assure you that sacks have a big impact on the game. Culpepper supporters have claimed the sacks this year have been due to the play of OL and injury. While this may have contributed to the alarming number of sacks this year, sacks have been a problem throughout Culpepper’s career despite an excellent OL during Culpepper’s tenure in Minnesota.
Culpepper’s career “sack†stats:
84 games 249 sacks 1364 yards in loss
Season by season average:
00 = 2.12 per game
01 = 3 per game
02 = 2.93 per game
03 = 2.64 per game
04 = 2.87 per game
05 = 4.42 per game
06 = 4.2 per game
Career total = 2.96 sacks per game
In order for Culpepper to get his 32 attempts per game (career average) a team has to deal with trying to overcompensate for his 4.44 “BAD PLAYS†per game (turnovers + sacks). This may go a long way to explaining Culpepper’s W-L record.
6. PADDED STATISTICS: One of the warnings I recall Viking fans on finheaven saying when he was traded to us was that Culpepper’s statistics were not an accurate reflection of the QB he truly is. How could the # 5 all-time passer (according to the QB rating system used) not reflect his play? We found out this year…
Daunte Culpepper overall statistics this year:
81 comp 134 att 929 yds 2 TD 3 INT 77 QB rating
However, Culpepper’s stats when Miami is winning, tied or within 7 points was terrible:
57 comp 95 att 622 yds 0 TD 3 INT 66.20 QB rating
But when Miami trailed by 8 or more points Culpepper was phenomenal:
24 comp 39 att 307 yds 2 TD 0 INT 103.25 QB rating
If teams would only play “soft†the whole game, we would have our QB.
Also of note…Culpepper did have an excellent statistical year in 2004. But when looking at the splits it shows the Vikings let Culpepper throw the ball rather than run the ball at the goal line. A whopping 16 TD passes were from 5 yards or less…every QBs dream to be able to pad their stats.
7. HE IS NO LONGER IN THE NFC NORTH: Culpepper’s career W-L success has mostly come against teams that I believe most experts would say is the weakest division in football during Culpepper’s tenure in the NFC North division.
Culpepper’s W-L percentage as a starter against teams in the NFC North (including playoffs) is 60% with a 21-14 record (including 1-0 in playoffs).
Culpepper’s W-L percentage as a starter against teams “NOT†in the NFC North over his career is 38% with a 20-33 record (including 1-2 in playoffs).
Of note, Culpepper has only led his team to victory over “ONE†team with a winning record in the past 3 regular seasons and that was Jacksonville who finished 9-7 in 2004.
8. INTELLIGENCE: This (along with leadership) is the variable that concerns me the most. Culpepper’s inability to adjust his style of play when facing adversity this year left me dumbfounded. After all, Culpepper is a 7 year veteran. I felt like I was watching Forrest Gump play this year with Culpepper at QB, but instead of yelling “Run Forrest Run!†I was yelling “Throw Daunte Throw!†The line “Todddddddddddday Junior,†from Happy Gilmore also came to mind.
That Culpepper is not intelligent is not a knock that began this year when his mobility became limited, but has followed him his whole career. The following is a quote from Sporting News Scouting Guide that came out before this season, “Makes poor decisions. Will hold the ball too long and take unnecessary hits.†And from Pro Football Weekly, “He’ll almost never outsmart a defense…†Unfortunately, I believe Ron White’s, “You can’t fix stupid,†applies to Culpepper whether his knee recovers 100% or not.
Seeing how both Manning and Brady had difficulties against playoff defenses and considering how Culpepper was NOT able to adjust to adversity this year I can’t imagine Culpepper would not be eaten alive if he had to face a Chicago, Baltimore, SD, NE type defense in the playoffs. Goes a long way to explaining why CULPEPPER and PLAYOFFS are rarely used in the same sentence unless “not in†is inserted between the two words.
9. CURRENT OL / WR: Culpepper has shown that he if he is not surrounded by outstanding talent his play is “ATROSIOUS.†Every season Culpepper lost a key contributor on offense from the year before he played poorly the following year (Robert Smith in 01, Cris Carter in 02, Randy Moss in 05). Looking at 2005 while in Minnesota when he was without the services of Moss or Matt Birk, Culpepper led the Vikings to 2 wins (against the lowly Saints who were on their 3rd road game to start the season after Hurricane Katrina and GB…the 2nd and 5th worst teams in the NFL) while getting demolished in the other games. To see how bad Culpepper was that year we can subtract his performance against the two poor defenses he played against that year (NO and GB).
Culpepper against NO and GB…44 comp 60 att 580 yds 5 TD 0 INT 131.25 QB rating.
But when Culpepper went up against every other team…95 comp 156 att 984 yds 1 TD 12 INT 49.19 QB rating…OUCH!
Unfortunately, we don’t have the type of talent on the offensive side of the ball (OL, WR…Chambers as #1…ugh!) to carry Culpepper. And Culpepper has not shown that he can step up and carry a team that is not talented when it goes up against a team with a solid defense. He “definitely†wasn’t even able to carry the Vikings in 05 or even the Dolphins this year against poor defenses (Tennessee was 31st in defense when played them and Houston was dead last). In fact, he pulled the team down.
10. THERE IS NO “I†IN “TEAM†BUT THERE IS A “MEâ€Â: My biggest gripe with Culpepper is I think winning QBs are great leaders. I have yet to read or hear from former players, coaches or fans that contend Culpepper is a good leader, let alone a great leader. I don’t care what a quarterback’s rating is if he is not a leader then his team will not be playing in the most important game of all. This has clearly been the case with Culpepper.
Ray Childress likened dealing with Culpepper to dealing with Terrell Owens when he was in Philadelphia. That is the reason he was available last off season. Culpepper refused to rehab at team facilities off of a severe knee injury and demanded a raise despite leading the Vikings to a 2-5 record while throwing 6 TD passes and 12 interceptions. Although Saban and consulting doctors deserve partial responsibility for playing Culpepper this year, I clearly remember Culpepper “INSISTING†he was fit to play. I recall Culpepper choking against Pittsburgh and his “TERRIBLE†play for another three games against some of the worst defenses in the league. I remember how Culpepper sulked on the sidelines this year when benched for his horrific play still while still “INSISTING†he could play when it was clear he could and should not.
That’s…I have limited this post to 10 reasons I am hoping Cam Cameron and the Miami Dolphins cut their losses with Culpepper and precede in a new direction, but there are plenty more reasons. I didn’t even go into some of the other legitimate reasons such as INABILITY TO READ DEFENSES, INEFFECTIVENESS GETTING RID OF THE BALL, INJURY, SALARY CAP, AGE or that it will be THREE YEARS since he has been effective on the field of play. Perhaps the most important reason to cut our losses with Culpepper is that by keeping him it could prevent Miami from finding a real “solution†at QB.
As the upcoming Super Bowl approaches, I can only hope that it will “soon†be the Miami Dolphins playing in the big game. Based on what I have learned and seen from Culpepper I am positive it would be “in spite of†Culpepper and not because of him if we ever made it to the Super Bowl with him as our starting QB…a highly unlikely scenario.
