On Drew Bledsoe, statistics and the big question

By Os Davis  |   Tuesday, July 18, 2006  |  Comments( 4 )

Dallas Cowboys
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Imagine you're penciling in the starting roster for, say, the Dallas Cowboys and (lucky, lucky!) you find yourself having to choose between the following four quarterbacks:

Quarterback A - Coming off a season in which he threw at a 63.8% completion rate, over 3,400 yards and 23 TD's.

Quarterback B - Completed 58.2% of passes, posted an 88% winning percentage and threw the least interceptions in the NFL.

Quarterback C - Threw for 8.2 yards per attempt (as compared with the 7.3 of QB's A, B, and D), boasted a two-to-one TD/interception ratio, and added 242 yards and five TD's on the ground.

Quarterback D - Amassed gaudy numbers of exactly 300 completions on 499 attempts for a 60.1% percentage and 3,639, a Cowboy high.

No problem here, right? Certainly, our mythical Dallas Cowboys can't lose, because all these guys are winners, right? Well...

The above statistics are drawn from one-year lines of guys named Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Don Meredith and Drew Bledsoe, respectively. The first two lines come from the 1992 and 1977 seasons, years in which the Cowboys stomped their way through Super Bowls. Meredith's numbers are from 1966, the second consecutive season in which the 'Pokes played in the NFL championship game.

Bledsoe's stats, on the other hand, represent his output from 2005, a season that looked so promising after a 7-3 start but went all for naught. The Cowboys missed the playoffs snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at least twice, and rolling over in a must-win game against Washington.

Bledsoe has been dissed by critics (and venerated by fantasy-football players) for his seemingly bloated stat lines. Bledsoe's gaudy numbers have been attributed throughout his career to lack of supporting running game or over-reliance on the passing game; what is seen as overcoming negatives in a guy like John Elway have worked against Bledsoe since taking over as a starter for the New England Patriots.

It feels bizarre to ask of a QB that has been in the Super Bowl once, seventh in all-time passing yardage and may very well be a Hall of Famer someday, but how good is Drew Bledsoe? What has he been missing to put his teams over the top? And do the 'Boys have what it takes this year? And the big question: Can Bledsoe Win The Big One?

The Dallas-side reunion of Bledsoe with Coach Bill Parcells was well-publicized, as were retrospectives of the duo's surprising run with the Patriots in 1996. After an poor season in 1995, Bledsoe re-achieved form in '96 and tossed the Pats all the way into the Super Bowl with the NFL's 20th-ranked defense.

When new coach Bill Belichick entered the New England scene, a Bledsoe injury was all the excuse needed to install Tom Brady in the new-fangled game plan. Many forget, however, that in the storied run of the 2001 Patriots, Bledsoe represented the sole TD pass in the entire playoff run when Brady went down in the AFC championship.

The Pats took the Lombardi Trophy and Bledsoe was given a bus ticket to Buffalo, where more wacky numbers ensued in 2002, when Drew threw for 4,359 yards at a 61.5% clip. For the record, the Bills finished 8-8 that year and 24th in rushing yardage. Aside from Travis Henry, an absolutely anemic total of 62 runs from scrimmage were made by the Bills that year, 37 by Bledsoe.

And so Bledsoe arrived in the Lone Star State last year to resurrect his career for a third time with the coach who caused him to thrive in the first place. The result was lots of stats, no glory.

Seemingly flying in the face of wisdom after last year's signing of Terry Glenn and this year's of the unstoppable Terrell Owens, Coach Tuna has proclaimed that "this isn't an offense where [Owens] will get 1,000 yards." Indeed, when pressed on questions of the offense, Parcells has implied greater emphasis on the running game and even on bringing up younger QB's.

In football, perhaps more than any other sport, personal glory means less in the public consciousness than the golden ring of a championship title. A true football immortal brings home a title. Paradoxically, a smaller, tighter year statistically might be exactly what Bledsoe needs on his résumé. Optimistic Cowboy backers should look to the 1997-1998 version of John Elway and his Broncos, seasons in which the QB's stats took a slight dip but, supplemented with adequate running and strong D, garnered the man two Super Bowl rings.

And a reputation forever as a winner, something that doesn't appear in Bledsoe's numbers.

- Watch the Dallas Cowboys chase the Big One at Realfootball365.com
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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CommentsComments: 4  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Norman		12:28 PM
07/19/2006
With the Cowboys switching fully to a 2-TE set for next season (meaning less backfield help picking up blitzers), will Bledsoe's...
No.2
Nathan		06:02 AM
07/23/2006
weird comment norman because until dallas'Offense lost Flozell Adams last year Beledsoe had one of the top passer ratings in the...
No.3
Doctor Football		08:45 PM
07/26/2006
While I think it is entertaining to discuss Drew Bledsoe and his lack of ability and lack of championships I think on should...
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