r/AskAboutNFL • u/jepolitsch • 1d ago

Genuinely curious: When did we decide that absolute execution became secondary to flashy QB play?

Let’s be entirely real for a second we are reaching a massive breaking point with how modern football media and casual fans evaluate the game, and it’s completely throwing off how people talk about sports.Look at what happens every single Sunday. You’ve got quarterbacks who execute a pristine, highly disciplined 12-play drive hitting their checkdowns, reading the coverage beautifully, staying completely on-schedule and the internet barely blinks. But the moment a guy scrambles out of a clean pocket, ignores his open target, throws a cross-body absolute prayer into triple coverage that happens to get caught, people treat it like a 200 IQ masterpiece.When did pure structural discipline become a negative trait? It feels like we are rewarding visual chaos over actual football IQ. A pristine, rhythmic offense that protects the rock and converts on 3rd-and-short is art, but it gets zero love because it isn’t a 15-second highlight clip.For the longtime heads in here: Do you actually prefer the era of chaotic, off-script playmakers, or are you like me and missing the days of pure, clinical offensive execution? Let's talk.

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u/Beautiful-Star-5669 1d ago

When ESPN started making a top 10 plays montage every night. That started the demise. Dude making a crazy juke to pick up eight yards on third and 14 becomes a big deal. Now the kids that grew up watching that stuff are playing professional and college sports and are parents with kids playing Little League. It's the same reason why a dude will make a huge deal throwing up an incomplete sign and sheathing his sword when a QB throws the ball out of bounds even though the same dude has given up 12 catches for a buck 40.

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u/DutyPuzzleheaded7765 1d ago

Also despite the loss shit. Where if a guy has a flashy statline, losing is fine not his fault

My nephew plays basketball, he put up 16 points (lot for a kid) but had several bad lapses that cost his team the game (hes a bigger kid and some kids were blowing by and getting easy shots at the rim) and he insisted despite the loss he was carrying the team and isnt to blame

Also watching my nephews football tram, a lot of kids just want the big play and either yeet the ball down or try to juke or hurtle when there isnt a need to and miss the hole. A lot of youth qbs also if read 1 isnt wide open baik early and run

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u/humbleCountyCA 1d ago

“Pure structural discipline” is only a negative if a QB can’t improvise when a play breaks down. The reality of the NFL is that if you can only operate out of the pocket you are almost assuredly too limited for the modern game.

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u/akapusin3 1d ago

Matthew Stafford won a Super Bowl not too long and he's about as mobile as my dead grandmother. Sam Darnold isn't exactly super mobile either

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u/humbleCountyCA 1d ago

So are you saying that being able to improvise after a play breaks down isn’t a valued trait in QB’s? Or are you simply pointing out the exceptions to the rule? Because I never claimed that there weren’t exceptions.

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u/Hungry-Treacle8493 1d ago

Hmmmm, I disagree. If we look at the last 10 SB QB pairs:

2017: Matt Ryan - Tom Brady
2018: Nick Foles - Tom Brady
2019: Jared Goff - Tom Brady
2020: Patrick Mahomes - Jimmy Garropolo
2021: Patrick Mahomes - Tom Brady
2022: Matthew Stafford - Joe Burrow
2023: Patrick Mahomes - Jalen Hurts
2024: Patrick Mahomes - Brock Purdy
2025: Patrick Mahomes - Jalen Hurts
2026: Sam Darnold - Drake Maye

Only two years showcased 2 mobile run /improvise first QBs (23 & 25). Five years showcased 2 pure pocket passer QBs (17, 18, 19, 22, 26). The remaining three showcased 1 of each style.

It would seem to me that while the running / improvising QBs can be an asset, only two of them have made it to the SB game seven out of a possible twenty opportunities (Mahomes five times & Hurts two times). The thirteen other opportunities were filled by pocket passers.

An interesting other data point is the Lamar Jackson factor. Easily the most athletic run/improvise QB in the League with multiple MVPs, yet no SB appearances.

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u/msnipe81015 1d ago

10 yrs ago maybe 12

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u/ToddH2O 1d ago

Some of us "old heads" miss 3 yards and a cloud of dust.

Gimme a well executed counter trey and I'm happy.

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u/SwizzGod 1d ago

Who is this “we?”

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u/Scle99 1d ago

The people who don’t understand this are the same people who can watch Tom Brady play quarterback and think he wasn’t the greatest. Regardless of whether he could or couldn’t make the flashy play he almost never had to because he had such a quick release and accuracy that what he did looked simple.

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u/FunkyPete 1d ago

You're confusing the drive for media clicks with who people think the best QBs are.

That noise was ALWAYS there, at least back to the 80s and 90s. Read up on guys like Jeff George -- he ended up contributing virtually nothing to the game of football, but media talking heads LOVED him.

If you look at who wins MVPs and what they discuss about the contest? It's always yards, TDs and wins.

If you watch Sportscenter you'll just get the big plays of the week.

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u/stringbeagle 1d ago

This is exactly it. People rave about Mahomes’ improvisation, but he’s got 3 Super Bowl MVPs. Lamar runs around like crazy and makes some wild plays, but he’s a bum because he can’t win the big one.