Originally posted by 9ers4eva:
Originally posted by Giedi:
Jimmy was a trade. Teams don't trade franchise QBs like Purdy, Brady, or Montana while they are at their peak. One reason Jimmy was let go is because he wasn't as good as Brady. Still, even Trent Dilfer won a Superbowl with a good OLine and defense. Point being, a good OLine makes things a lot easier for even tier 2 QBs to win games.
Ravens O line had a Special Tackle. Edwin Mulitalo Jeff Mitchell Mike Flynn and Harry Swayne weren't some amazing group. Sounds vaguely familiar.
No one has ever suggested you don't need a good O line. It's the suggestion that it MUST be among the 2 best in the league that is at issue.
They were pretty good in the run game though. That makes a difference if you have a 2nd or 3rd tier QB that can pass OK. As long as the QB doesn't hurt you with turnovers and you have a dominant ground attack - your OLine and your RB will win you some games despite having a Trent Dilfer or Nick Foles as your QB. Then you have that legendary 2000 Raven's defense that (I think) had +23 net turnovers and was ranked number 1 in the turnover ratio department, and you have a legit playoff team right there.
Point being, that you have to have a good OLine to win a lot of games. Nowadays, with the pass happy NFL, that translates to a good *
pass blocking* offensive line team to win a lot of games. The run game is still important, but the pass blocking is key nowadays with the new CTE rules.