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Christensen: "And It Came to Pass" – A Lot

By Todd Christensen, The Mtn. Insider
January 4, 2012

One of the season-ending games in the NFL featured the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers.  In that game, Matthew Stafford of the Lions threw for 520 yards and five touchdowns and he was not the best QB on the field.  That honor fell to reserve Matt Flynn, who threw for 480 yards and six touchdowns en route to a 45-41 victory for the green-and-gold.  There had never been a game in NFL history in which both QB's threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns each, not to mention the 1000 yards that both combined to throw for.

But this has been the direction the NFL has been taking and it seems to be more pronounced in this 2011 campaign that saw ten quarterbacks throw for 4,000 yards.  Dan Marino's mark of 5,084 yards had stood for 27 years and only one player, Drew Brees, had garnered 5,000 yards in a season.  This year, there were three, and two of them - Tom Brady and Drew Brees - both broke the longstanding standard.  In fact, Brees broke it by nearly 400 yards as he averaged a gaudy 342 yards per contest.  In a league in which a 300-yard game is considered an achievement, he statistically redefined what is possible at the quarterback position.

There are a variety of reasons for this, ranging from rule changes that favor the offense and protect the quarterback and receiver to the improved skill of those involved in the passing game.  

Is this what the public and the league want?  I hear a pining for a return to a more physical style of play and to now aid the defense as the pendulum has swung too far to the other side of the ball.  

But before anyone gets too upset about how the NFL is turning into Arena Football Grande, all they have to do is look at the Denver/Kansas City game of this past week to see Tim Tebow go 6-for-22 and realize that not everyone is throwing the ball effectively.  Toss in the fact that on the collegiate level, the National Title game is between two teams that played a 9-6 game earlier this season and rely almost solely upon their running games and their respective defenses.  

There is still a need to block and tackle. 
See all of Todd Christensen's blog entries HERE.