# NFL Week 16
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [December 21, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937 "2011-12-21T10:55:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 7
### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/121 "2011-12-27T06:06:19Z")
Rodger’s numbers are better, Brees just has 80 more attempts. Rodgers is throwing for a full yard per attempt more, he’s thrown 9 more TDs and 5 fewer ints (1 more than half as many). And he’s doing it while playing outdoors.
If Rodgers has as many attempts as Brees the raw numbers would crush him too.
Rodgers is pretty clearly ahead. He’s pretty much having the best quarterbacking season ever - better than Manning’s 04 or Brady’s 07.
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### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/122 "2011-12-27T06:08:15Z")
Does the MVP consider the playoffs, or only the regular season?
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/123 "2011-12-27T06:34:47Z")
> [@Oakminster](#):
>
> Brees has done it. 5087 passing yards on the season, with another game to play.
It’s a little premature, isn’t it? He’s only a couple yards ahead of the record. Suppose he throws a screen next week, the receiver gets tackled for a three-yard loss, and the coach pulls Brees.
I prefer to wait until this kind of thing is official.
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/124 "2011-12-27T13:48:57Z")
Hey Sean McDermott, look for Brees to go deep early.
I imagine everyone watching last night was aware that one run of any significance that final drive would have left him without enough room to reach it. After Thomas’ yard on 2nd, Brees was on the 32 and needed 30. That did add a little drama to an otherwise predictable ending.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/125 "2011-12-27T15:24:26Z")
Congratulations to Brees on a great achievement, and thanks to him for doing it in a reasonably exciting way. 😉 He could put this record pretty far out of reach next week because the Saints and Niners are tied at 12-3 and they both play at 1 p.m. So the Saints have a shot at a first-round bye. He could get to 5,400 or even 5,500 yards depending on how the game goes. Brady is likely to get to 5,000 yards next week and it’s true that passing yardage totals are only going up, but when you combine Brees, this system, and this season with the lockout chaos, I’m not sure anybody is going to challenge this one for a while.
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### Author:  [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/126 "2011-12-27T16:00:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Congratulations to Brees on a great achievement, and thanks to him for doing it in a reasonably exciting way. 😉 He could put this record pretty far out of reach next week because the Saints and Niners are tied at 12-3 and they both play at 1 p.m. So the Saints have a shot at a first-round bye. He could get to 5,400 or even 5,500 yards depending on how the game goes. Brady is likely to get to 5,000 yards next week and it’s true that passing yardage totals are only going up, but when you combine Brees, this system, and this season with the lockout chaos, I’m not sure anybody is going to challenge this one for a while.
Sure they will. The way the game has changed this record will be broken again within 5 years IMHO. It’s possible that had Rodgers not sat out the fourth quarter of a few blowouts he could have broken this record to.
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/127 "2011-12-27T16:34:46Z")
> [@Laggard](#):
>
> It’s possible that had Rodgers not sat out the fourth quarter of a few blowouts he could have broken this record to.
Yes, the _Discount Double-Deck._
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/128 "2011-12-27T16:37:31Z")
> [@Laggard](#):
>
> It’s possible that had Rodgers not sat out the fourth quarter of a few blowouts he could have broken this record to.
Yup, but it didn’t play out that way. I don’t remember any rules changing between last year and this year. I think it’s a combination of changing offenses and the lockout: teams that already had strong offenses in place had a bigger advantage than usual.
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### Author:  [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/129 "2011-12-27T16:56:01Z")
I’m a little sad to say that I missed pretty much all the football this weekend. I couldn’t monitor the fantasy championships on the line or track the different playoff scenarios. This is because I spent the weekend planning and road tripping to Green Bay to watch this undermanned and poorly constructed Bears team get punked in person. The most annoying thing is that the Bears actually played pretty well offensively and the effort was there, the backups were actually some of the high points and the game plan was pretty sound. Anyways, if I get a little time I’ll have to scan this thread to see what I missed.
I’ll give a breakdown on the Bears-Packers game in the NFC North thread if anyone is interested.
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### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/130 "2011-12-27T16:56:12Z")
Interesting to me at least, I was looking at stats of great passing and came across the stats for 400 yard passing games. The one that surprised me the most was the last chart on 400 yard games per season.
There is a minor bulge toward the end, but no where near what I expected. Really seems fairly random, and not the “open the passing flood gates” I was expecting to see. Only one in 2005? The best years; 86, 04, 11.
I wonder if there is a bigger talent gap then there used to be. The best QB are miles better than the bad QBs or what.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_NFL\_quarterbacks\_who\_have\_passed\_for\_400\_or\_more\_yards\_in\_a\_game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NFL_quarterbacks_who_have_passed_for_400_or_more_yards_in_a_game)
Does anybody know of a similar list of 300 yard passing games by season? It might be more standardized and less flukey.
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### Author:  [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/131 "2011-12-27T17:15:53Z")
Does anybody know where you can find out how many possessions a team gets per game and how many their opponents get? I am looking for the actual statistics, not averages. The reason I ask is because some of the worst defenses in the league (by yardage) seem to be some of the best teams, the Patriots,the Packers, the Saints. And I wonder how much of that is because the defense actually has to defend two or three more possessions a game. I am not saying it would turn those teams defenses into elite, just wondering how much that might skew the results.
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### Author:  [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/132 "2011-12-27T17:18:19Z")
I’d guess offensive and defensive plays would be a better statistic than possessions. A terrible team getting dominated by a great defense is going to have a lot of 3 and outs which will lead to more possessions but few total plays.
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### Author:  [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/133 "2011-12-27T17:20:14Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#):
>
> Does anybody know where you can find out how many possessions a team gets per game and how many their opponents get? I am looking for the actual statistics, not averages. The reason I ask is because some of the worst defenses in the league (by yardage) seem to be some of the best teams, the Patriots,the Packers, the Saints. And I wonder how much of that is because the defense actually has to defend two or three more possessions a game. I am not saying it would turn those teams defenses into elite, just wondering how much that might skew the results.
Great question. I wonder how much pressure it puts on a defense when the average time for a Packers scoring drive is three minutes (not sure what it really is but they are not grinding the ball down the field with 7 minute drives giving the defense much chance to rest.)
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### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/134 "2011-12-27T19:29:11Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#):
>
> Rodger’s numbers are better, Brees just has 80 more attempts. Rodgers is throwing for a full yard per attempt more, he’s thrown 9 more TDs and 5 fewer ints (1 more than half as many). And he’s doing it while playing outdoors.
>
> If Rodgers has as many attempts as Brees the raw numbers would crush him too.
>
> Rodgers is pretty clearly ahead. He’s pretty much having the best quarterbacking season ever - better than Manning’s 04 or Brady’s 07.
Ooops…you’re right of course. I guess yards is the only stat Brees has on Rodgers. I thought it was closer than that in the other categories.
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### Author:  [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/135 "2011-12-27T23:33:08Z")
In the biggest fucking joke in Pro Bowl history, I’ve heard that Tebow is a AFC alternate to the Pro Bowl. Pathetic.
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/136 "2011-12-27T23:42:48Z")
Meh.
It cannot, by definition, be a bigger joke than the Pro Bowl.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/137 "2011-12-27T23:52:18Z")
Nah, it’ll be great. If you can convince yourself to watch the Pro Bowl in the first place (I never can), you’ll get to see if Tebow can stand there and complete some passes in an offense that wasn’t specially designed for him while the defense puts forth minimal effort.
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### Author:  [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/138 "2011-12-27T23:53:19Z")
> [@mhendo](#):
>
> Meh.
>
> It cannot, by definition, be a bigger joke than the Pro Bowl.
True. The Pro Bowl game is a joke, and the selection of players has been bad at times. But I cannot think of a least deserving selection to the Pro Bowl than Tebow as a QB. Maybe Stallworth in '83 beats him, but it’s pretty bad.
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### Author:  [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/139 "2011-12-28T00:12:53Z")
Rosters are [here](http://www.nfl.com/probowl/story/09000d5d82578253/article/2012-pro-bowl-rosters?module=HP11_breaking_news).
ETA: No Tebow (yet.)
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-16/606937/140 "2011-12-28T03:03:40Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#):
>
> Rosters are [here](http://www.nfl.com/probowl/story/09000d5d82578253/article/2012-pro-bowl-rosters?module=HP11_breaking_news).
>
> ETA: No Tebow (yet.)
Tebow is apparently the second alternate, and he will almost undoubtedly wind up in the Pro Bowl.
The three AFC QBs are Brady, Roethlisberger, and Rivers. Brady never actually goes to the Pro Bowl, and I can’t see the Steelers letting Big Ben play on that gimpy ankle (and that’s even barring either the Patriots or Steelers going to the Super Bowl, which would make their players ineligible for the Pro Bowl).
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