Sunday, September 2, 2007

A tale of two Bradys

Just as you cannot trace a curve with just one sample point, it is probably not correct to draw a whole lot of conclusions based on one football game. However, Notredame's stinker against Georgia Tech on Saturday, presents a different side of some of the hottest topics of discussion.

1. Was Brady Quinn really nothing but a reflection of Charlie Weiss's genius?

Brady Quinn watched 21 teams pass on him before Cleveland traded back intothe first round to draft him. The common justification was that he could not perform in the big games and that his success was essentially the result of playing for Charlie Weiss. After all, Charlie Weiss was the guy who coached Tom Brady. Quinn had absolutely no chance trying to fight All those Superbowl rings to take any sort of credit. However, this Saturday, ND used three QBs and yet did not score a single TD. On the other hand, Brady Quinn has been showing promise in his offseason performances. The NE offense is still as potent as it was without Weiss in the picture and if half the NE defense was not ill and hence unable to hold on to a huge first half lead in the AFC Championship, NE would have been playing in another Superbowl with Brady throwing to secondary recievers. This raises the question if Weiss was the reason for the success of the two Brady's or if it was the other way around.

2. Did Miami miss the chance to finally draft their franchise QB -again?

Miami passed on Drew Brees only to see him lead the Saints to the NFC Championship, less than a year after they had the second worst record in the league. The Dolphins went with Ted Ginn Jr in the draft despite all those stories of the "successful" interviews Quinn had with the Dolphins where he was asked to diagram all the ND plays in less than 7 minutes etc. Given the question above, would Quinn have been a much better choice? Did Miami miss their chance again?

3. Was ND too hasty in extending Weiss's contract?

There was a ton of discussion about how Ty Willingham had an equally good start at ND, yet ND chose to award Weiss with a hefty extension but chose not to do the same with the former coach. Will this game prove the naysayers right or will ND turn their season around and exonerate Weiss?

The next few weeks should be very interesting to watch!

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