Boon wrote:
But he moved the chains with his arm and legs, made clutch throws on third downs and didn't turn the ball over.
If his receivers stay healthy , and even with the terminator there, anything short of 150 yards should raise an eyebrow and deservedly bring some heat on him if he does it more than once. It's not acceptable
Boon, I like your take, I truncated to focus on what I want to respond to. IMO the first sentence is really the key. I don't care if he is sub 200 yards if all his plays are the ones that matter. That being said, if he is making those plays his yardage will be over 200.
I think the 2nd sentence I quoted is a sound point on the stat line, however, my one area of dissagreement is that I think some of his sub 100 yard outtings were due not just to him, but also other players who are part ofthe passing game. It certainly takes bad QB play to get under 100 yards, but it also takes bad WR play. To your point though, the latter issue has been addressed.
I think your 150 yard bench mark is sound. As I've said many times, I do not feel like we'll see 300 yard games out of Ponder only because the offense isn't seeking that quantity of passing attempts. Put another way, if Ponder breaks 300 yards it iwll be because he connects on some monster plays due to the defense selling out to stop AP, not because he had 30+ completions in a game.
I come back to your first sentence again because it really is critical. Good QB play means giving us net positive plays. During Ponders's slump last year the problem wasn't just the really bad negative plays, it was the complete absence of anything positive. The latter cannot happen this year if we are to improve.
