Is QB play in the league this good or is there more to this?

[SPTO]

Here's the lead from a weekly column from TSN.ca:

Quote:

As someone who loves defensive football, Week 10 in the NFL was a tough one to watch. A new NFL record was set this week as 13 quarterbacks threw for more than 300 yards, despite the fact that three of the league's best passers were on bye (Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers). The record could have been pushed even further had Mark Sanchez (299), Kyle Orton (296), Donovan McNabb (295) or Carson Palmer (292) had one more completion on the day. Watching Michael Vick shred the Redskins on Monday night was exciting. Seeing Vick pass for 333 yards, rush for 80 yards and add six touchdowns was a feat we may never see again...until he takes the field next week. Following Rivers as he chases Dan Marino's single-season passing record is one of the best sub-plots of the season. Watching him do it with an all-star tight end and a slew of backup receivers is even more impressive. Seeing young arms like Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy excel as rookies for the Rams and Browns is great for the game, especially since they're doing it with no-name receiving corps. Bradford is on pace to set NFL rookie records for passing attempts (593) and completions (357) and will likely finish in the top five all-time in passing yards and touchdowns as a rookie. So maybe quarterback is the most important position on the football field. Teams like the Saints, Patriots and Colts are able to use their short passing games almost as effectively as a reliable rushing attack and the spread offence has forced defences out of their comfort zones and into more nickel and dime sets. However, those clubs have Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning taking snaps. This week's list of 300-yard passers had your usual suspects like Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and Eli Manning, but it was also littered with the likes of Troy Smith, Derek Anderson, Shaun Hill and Jon Kitna. Apparently the 300-club isn't as exclusive as it once was.

(emphasis/italics mine)

This brings up a good philosophical question:

Is the quarterback play THIS good across the board or is this a function of defenses not being as good and/or the overall trend away from using the running game?

As much as we all would like to say we're seeing some of the best QBs around at this point in time I think it's a combination of all the factors I mentioned above. The league has shifted so far towards passing and the rules against defense has made it doubly hard to contain offenses. That being said, I do think defensive play for the most part has declined. I'm not even talking about headshots and the like but if you watch a game carefully you can see just how SLOPPY tackling is. I think the sophisication of defensive coverage and schemes are the best we've ever seen but the execution is severely lacking.

What say you guys about this whole issue?

[The GIGGAS]

Rules have made it super difficult for defenses to defend the passing game.

[ryan36]

Quote: Originally Posted by The GIGGAS

Rules have made it super difficult for defenses to defend the passing game.

That's part of it. Also , I think that as more college athletes come up in pass happy , spread-type offenses, more NFL teams run them.

Plus for all that yardage Derek Anderson put up, they didn't score much. I think that's because of just a lot of passing...not a talent level.

[The GIGGAS]

Quote: Originally Posted by ryan36

That's part of it. Also , I think that as more college athletes come up in pass happy , spread-type offenses, more NFL teams run them. Plus for all that yardage Derek Anderson put up, they didn't score much. I think that's because of just a lot of passing...not a talent level.

Good point.

[slickdtc]

I agree that tackling is very sloppy nowadays. Guys run right by guys and throw their arms out like they can just clothesline their whole body or something. Dude makes one cut, and the defender is flailing his arms and out of the play. Which leads me to my next point, the players are a lot better then they once were. Maybe not fundamentally, but physically. I think it makes a huge difference. If you don't run full speed to knock that guy out, it may not even matter if you properly wrap him up because he's either so big and strong or so fast and agile that you're beat anyway.

The game is A lot different then it was. Perhaps it's a new era.

[sportyguyfl31]

The way the game is officiated now, if you dont have a QB rating of over 90, you arent doing a good job.
10 years ago, 7 QBs had QB ratings over 90.

This year, 17 do, and many of them are really pretty average.

The rule changes, have drastically skewed passing and receiving statistics.

[GATESopenRIVERSflow]

The rules are so much different. Terry Bradshaw won more Super Bowl's than everybody, but you couldn't imagine him throwing 4000 yds or 25+ TD's.

[steelcurtain311]

Quote: Originally Posted by The GIGGAS

Rules have made it super difficult for defenses to defend the passing game.

Pretty much this.

Rules made so hard to play man coverage, it forced so many teams to goto a bend-don't-break philosophy, where they give up the pass yards to try and hold teams to field goals.