One of the football websites (football outsiders?) did a QB analysis and one of hte surprises was that Campbell is actually rated pretty high based on their metrics

how bout being a winning QB?

Wins dont matter, metrics and stats are all that matter.

Donovan McNabb wins a lot of games, and Philly fans still hate him

Besides, a lot of winning has to do with what you have around you, which for him, isn't much.

It's more the system (or lack thereof) than anything. If you have to constantly change offensive schemes it's going to be hard to be a good QB. Most of the top-flight QBs have had consistency in this area.

It's a pretty persuasive argument that they make with the Jason Campbell/Peyton Manning comparison.

It's something like, Campbell has been in the league 5 years and been under 5-6 different systems. Manning has been in the same system for a decade.

I'm not entirely sold on the notion that Campbell could be as good as Manning, because I haven't seen metrics that measure some of the things Manning is best at (calling plays, audibles, etc). But it's a very persuasive argument that the trend some organizations have (the Redskins especially) of, "one year to make it work or we're trying something else," is a bad idea. Consistent planning and personnel can make a huge difference. Indianapolis is a good example of that, as well. Manning has typically been the only real A caliber player on that team most of the time. But he makes everyone else around him good (he's like the Steve Nash of the NFL). Marvin Harrison was very good, but probably would never have been anywhere near that if he'd been a Jet instead of a Colt.

#25: San Francisco 49ers
Record: 68-92 (.425) (26th)
Playoff Appearances: 2 (T24th)
Playoff Wins: 1 (T21st or T22nd)
Consistency Rank: 23rd

If you ever needed an example on how much ownership matters in the NFL, the 49ers should be your Exhibit A. Their dominance in the 80s and 90s also exactly coincided with the rein of the legendary Eddie DeBartolo. Unfortunately for Niners fans, DeBartolo was also a corrupt man, and the decade began with forcing him out of the team’s ownership in favor of his sister, Denise York.

Since the acquisition by York and her husband John, the 49ers have sunk to a depth that no one would have ever thought imaginable. The team enjoyed early successes in the aftermath of DeBartolo’s departure with familiar names like Jeff Garcia, Terrell Owens, and Bryant Young, culminating in a highly controversial playoff win against the Giants in 2002. But ever since then, the Niners have failed to register a winning season, falling the hardest when the team completely rebuilt under Mike Nolan. Their first overall pick from that period, Alex Smith, has also failed to pan out as they had planned.

There’s reason for optimism in San Francisco. Mike Singletary has brought a new passion to Candlestick that Nolan simply didn’t match, and he has had the team fighting in almost every game they play. Smith has also shown some signs of being a capable quarterback at the NFL. If both can produce demand more out of the team, perhaps the 49ers ownership won’t be as dire as in other towns.

Seeing SF this low breaks my heart. The NFL is better when the 9'ers are good.

Yes, especially because the Bills were good back then

I completely agree. Every time we think about the post-DeBartolo era we should thank our lucky stars we have owners like Pat Bowlen and Robert Kraft around.

Yeah, that's a sad one.

dennis erickson era

I like the direction that the niners are going with Singletary.

#24: Jacksonville Jaguars
Record: 76-84 (.475) (26th)
Playoff Appearances: 2 (T24th)
Playoff Wins: 1 (T21st or T22nd)
Consistency Rank: 29th

Tom Coughlin had quickly turned an expansion team into a powerhouse in the late 1990s, closing that decade out with an undefeated season excepting games against the Titans. The bottom completely fell out entering the last decade, however, and three straight losing seasons cost Coughlin his job. Jack Del Rio has been at the helm ever since, and his experience, with a couple exceptions, hasn’t been much different. A 12-4 and 11-5 campaign in 2005 and 2007 were wrecked as they were dismantled by the Patriots both times in the playoffs. The other seasons, Del Rio has mimicked the pure mediocrity that plagued Coughlin’s final years, evidenced by their low consistency ranking.

There is some good talent to build upon in Jacksonville, most notably Maurice Jones-Drew. However, there are serious questions as to whether that talent will even develop in Jacksonville. The team has been notorious for its lack of sellouts, and even covering seats with Jaguar tarps has failed to do the trick, reaching a true low point in 2009 by failing to sell out all but one game. Whenever relocation talk sparks up in the NFL, the Jaguars are guaranteed to always be high on the list of consideration.

when they made the playoffs in 2007 i was saying that Jacksonville didn't deserve that team. Imagine if those players had people behind them cheering them on and getting them pumped up to play some football.

#23: Atlanta Falcons
Record: 75-84-1 (.472) (21st)
Playoff Appearances: 3 (T17th)
Playoff Wins: 2 (T18th)
Consistency Rank: 25th

In 2001, the Falcons made a decision that would chain the course of their franchise for most of the decade. They made an aggressive trade up in that year’s draft to secure the rights to Michael Vick, a player whose talent was perceived as unseen in the history of football. The returns were mixed, at best. The Falcons did secure two playoff wins, one of them which inflicted the first playoff loss by the Packers at Lambeau Field in franchise history. They also suffered a 5-11 season which cost the experienced Dan Reeves his job.

The major investment in Vick would, with a bad pun warning, bite them in the end, when their franchise quarterback was convicted in 2007 on charges related to dog fighting. It was the trigger that made football in Atlanta hell that year, a 4-12 campaign which saw Bobby Petrino retreat to Arkansas. Sometimes, however, one bad year can set the foundation for a bright future. There are signs that it could be case, with new face of the franchise Matt Ryan helping to turn the franchise around to and 11-5 season the following year. If GM Thomas Dimitroff can continue to find other solid personnel, Ryan and Mike Smith could have something special on hand.

#22: Oakland Raiders
Record: 62-98 (.388) (T28th)
Playoff Appearances: 3 (T17th)
Playoff Wins: 4 (T10th)
Super Bowl Appearances: 1
Consistency Rank: 16th

How could a team who started the decade so strong—ten win seasons in its first three years, culminating in a Super Bowl appearance—fall to such a low ranking in overall decadal performance? The answer is quite simple: Al Davis. The face of the Raiders seemed to have learned from his previous mistakes when he hired a general manager (Bruce Allen) and gave his head coach (Jon Gruden) a sporting chance to succeed. After suffering in the shadow of the Broncos for a while, the Raiders finally broke through, only to suffer from a play that fans will never be able to forgive: The Tuck Rule.

However, Davis proved that he didn’t learn a lesson, as he clashed with Gruden so much that he was shipped off to Tampa Bay for a bevy of draft picks that eventually amounted to nothing (Phil Buchanon, Langston Walker, Tyler Brayton, and Jake Grove), a move that would directly harm him as his team was humiliated by Gruden and the Bucs in the 2002 Super Bowl. Yet the humiliation of Raider Nation was only starting. Another Davis trademark of collecting older players looking for a second shot (such as Rich Gannon) completely fell apart in 2003, setting off a string of seven straight seasons of eleven-plus loss seasons. Davis didn’t help the matter at all by habitually firing a string of coaches: Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Art Shell (again), and Lane Kiffin.

The incumbent coach, Tom Cable, may not be such for long, either. This is just another sign of how bleak things look for the Raiders as long as Davis remains in charge. Considering the iron grip that he has always enjoyed over the team, it may take death for Raiders fans to see a true change.

Yay to the thought of Al Davis shuffling off this mortal coil!

a sad state to a great franchise...

#21: Arizona Cardinals
Record: 62-98 (.388) (T28th)
Playoff Appearances: 2 (T23rd)
Playoff Wins: 4 (T10th)
Super Bowl Appearances: 1
Consistency Rank: 28th

In a way, the Cardinals are a mirror image of the Raiders. Both have the exact same record over the decade, both were generally bad except for a few breakout years, except that it came at the end of the decade for Arizona. Both have suffered from less than ideal ownership. In the case of the Cards, instead of a micromanaging owner, they have one in Bill Bidwill who has a history for penny pinching

For a long time, the Cardinals and Lions matched each other by netting only one playoff win since the Truman administration. The regimes of Dave McGinnis and Dennis Green didn’t change that one bit, but things have turned around with Ken Whisenhunt at the helm. The architect of Steelers offensive football in the decade reignited the career of Kurt Warner to produce an exciting offense in the desert that culminated in an unlikely Super Bowl berth in 2008.

For this reason, citizens of the greater Phoenix area finally have some football to look forward to. There are solid, young players all over the roster, and bona fide stars like Larry Fitzgerald that the franchise hadn’t seen in years. The Cardinals have been helped by a weak NFC West division, but there’s no reason why they can’t keep their recent success going, so long as investment to success is made.