ckparrothead said:
Because then in order to be fair you have to compare what Feeley did in those games to what Frerotte did in his games with the Vikings.
DIFFERENT TEAMS. DIFFERENT OFFENSES. Comparing apples to oranges.
But how can you not look at what Feeley accomplished last year in his final six games as a starter last year including the win over the Pats? He showed the ability to play the position with a suspect offensive line, no running game, and a vanilla offensive game plan. We rushed for 60 yards against N.E. yet Feeley played under control, took what the D gave him and beat the defending and future champs in a primetime game with the entire world watching. Talk about pressure. Frerotte's numbers came in 2003 against San Francisco where he posted a 157 QB rating because he threw the ball up three times to Moss, which really anyone can do. Not trying to discount the stats but we remember the highlights, he literally just threw the ball up there. Frerotte was also the beneficiary of three Garcia interceptions a regular pout by TO.
The only other game Frerotte did well in was against Atlanta the next week, where Vick did not play, the Falcons turned it over three times and Minny ran for over 170 yards. When did Feeley get 170 yards of running from anyone on Miami last year! It would have taken us two games to come close to 170. The other game Frerotte played significant was the week prior to S.F. when he came in when Daunte got hurt. He posted a 75 or so in QB rating in mopup duty. Even if you throw that out he had much better support for his numbers than Feeley ever had. He had Moss, which is better than anything we have right now (Chambers can fill that role, we will see). He benefitted from playing the worst defensive team that year (Atlanta) who didn't have their best player (Vick) and a team whose QB threw three INTs. By contrast, Feeley consistently played against teams who knew that Miami couldn't run and so they focused on stopping the pass. Feeley's rush support in his starts: 25, 52, 37 (qtr and a half against AZ, 3 yd avg), 69, 49, 106 vs. Buffalo (surprising), 70, 52, and 116 against Cleveland. As you see, Feeley rarely had run support and hung in admirably and gained his team's respect. He also did not have a good OC, and a defense that wore down as the season went on. And remember, N.E. was playing for home field advantage so it is not like they laid down for us. All of this adds up to Feeley deserving a chance as I have said before with a real OC, a real coach, a real running game, an invigorated D with more playmakers and better schemes, and hopefully an improved OLine.
