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Published on 04/21/2008 at Mon Apr 21 18:40.
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[Philip Rivers]I’m not sure how many of you woke up yesterday to this love fest for Philip Rivers by the Denver Post’s own Jim Armstrong.  He basically goes into a sixteen paragraph rant about how Rivers is currently the cream of the AFC West QB crop and how the other 3 quarterbacks don’t even compare.  The piece also has a round about way of bashing Jay Cutler with back handed comments and contains excerpts that slaver to Rivers like no other.

Frankly, given the state of the AFC West these days, Rivers has every right to chirp.

When it comes to quarterbacks, Rivers is the man for all seasons in the West. He’s the best quarterback in the division and the most experienced. He has won 25-of-32 starts and twice taken the Chargers to the playoffs.

The problem with Mr. Armstrong’s article is that it’s severely lacking in realistic individual statistics.  He uses team records to compare the two.  Rivers does have the better team record being 25-7 compared to Cutler’s 9-12. But he doesn’t take into account that Rivers inherited a team on the cusp of the playoffs finishing 9-7 in 2005.  He has arguably the best running back and tight end playing the game behind him.  Many experts think it was a mistake to ever let Drew Brees go to New Orleans.  Armstrong makes the assertion that there is a large disparity between River’s game and the remaining three starting QBs in the division.  (Cutler, Russell, Croyle)

At the moment, it isn’t a close race. Not between the Chargers and the other teams in the West, and not between Rivers and the other quarterbacks in the division. But Mike Shanahan is hoping things tighten up in 2008, when Cutler will embark on his third NFL season.

I don’t think so Jim.  Lets look at the individual statistics for the only full season the rivals played against each other to see how much of a disparity there is between Jay and Philip.

2007 Individual Quarterback Statistics

  • Total Yards [Cutler – 3497]    [Rivers – 3152]
  • Completion Percentage [Cutler – 63.6%]    [Rivers – 60.2%]
  • Yards per attempt average [Cutler – 7.49]    [Rivers – 6.85]
  • Longest Pass of the Season [Cutler – 68yrds]   [Rivers – 49yrds]
  • Touchdowns [Cutler – 20]    [Rivers – 21]
  • Interceptions [Cutler – 14]    [Rivers – 15]
  • QB Rating [Cutler – 88.1%]   [Rivers – 82.4%}          (the most telling)

This doesn’t look like a close race?  It looks like a real close race with Cutler in the lead!  Also to compare Cutler to on and off again starter Croyle and a holdout who only played five games in Russell is ridiculous.  I thought it was sad the only complement for Cutler came from River’s own coach Norv Turner.  I could go on about intergrity, sportmanship and leadership qualities but I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    This article was so absolutely ridiculous that I didn’t even post it in the Daily Links. Every single point you said is valid. It’s just the type of tripe papers will put out, knowing they’ll get a rise. Meh.

  • kerry

    yeah jim armstrong needs to quit the post and go live with his boyfriend phyllis rivers. take the picture here of phyllis and compare him to a picture of Sloth from the goonies and you will see a resembelence

  • Arden

    Nice picture. That looks just like the kind of guy I want QBing my team.

  • http://rockymountainfever.blogspot.com Michael

    That yardage number is only passing yards. When you factor in Cutler’s rushing statistics the disparity gets even bigger. Rivers had something like 33 rushing yards last season. Not much of a scrambler are ya Phil?

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    Compare rivers face to this picture:

    Sloth (thanks kerry)

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Josh Temple

    Baby Ruth!!!

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Jonathan Douglas

    Josh, I’m glad you handled this one. I was a bit to hot to trust my internal editor long enough for a reply post.

    I really don’t understand why the fans in Denver haven’t organized a date to cancel your subscriptions in mass and really impact the Post’s hard copies sales until they straighten up their ‘reporters.’

    I’m all for freedom of speech, but I’m also for the rights of consumers to express their displeasure with a companies products and/or services with their wallets.

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Josh Temple

    I get the Post, I just read the web version. The thing I don’t get is why all of sudden the hate for the Broncos coming out of Armstrong? He has always been a level headed guy with some interesting and fun statistics but lately he has been taking a page out of Woody’s book. Maybe he has seen that’s they way to get national coverage?

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Josh Temple

    *that meant to read “I don’t get the post”

  • Sean

    Maybe, since he’s a level-headed guy, he might have a point right now? Rivers has had success, Cutler has not. And by success, I mean wins. Cutler is a good QB and will be a star, just not yet. Look at Peyton Manning’s first 2 years.

  • david canada

    this so,so,so funny that fact that is this jerk QB in San Diego talk to much i tell you what this improve Denver ball club trust me on their defense they are after that jerk.
    trust me it mark down on the day they play them so start running you jerk they are coming and coming hard.