Time to dispel the myth

By: T. Love

For the past two seasons, the Atlanta Falcons have started hot and fizzled down the stretch. In 2005-06, the team started 6-2 before completely melting down and going 2-6 over the final eight contest to finish 8-8, miss the playoffs and destroy the franchises first opportunity to have back-to-back winning seasons. Last season, the birds started 5-2 before a 2-7 slide, which included a four-game losing streak to kill the season.

Over those two seasons, many “fans” wanted to place the blame on Michael Vick and pointed to his poor passing numbers as the reason for the team’s demise. Many clamored for the “bar-room brawler” Matt Schaub and believed his preseason expertise proved that he was a better quarterback and a pure pocket passer. Well, Schaub is gone (good luck man, your going to get killed behind that line) and now I am hearing people’s excitement for having a pure passer in Joey Harrington.

Harrington is far less mobile than Vick, but is your prototypical NFL quarterback standing at 6-4. Or is he? Let’s take a look at the numbers… Is Harrington really that much better of a passer than Vick?

We are going to look at the numbers on the season for each quarterback and compare. I will only count the seasons where the quarterback started at least 10 contest. The reason being in Vick’s rookie season, he was not thrust into the fire and only had mop-up duty late in games and in 2003, he missed 11 games with a broken right fibula.

With those factors taken into consideration, Harrington has the early advantage taking into consideration that it is not awesome to be thrown to the wolves. But, he made due.

2002
Michael Vick (2nd Season) – 15 games started, 231-421, 54.9%, 2,936 yards, 16 touchdowns, 8 interceptions.

Joey Harrington (1st Season) – 12 games started, 215-429, 50.1%, 2,294 yards, 12 touchdowns 16 interceptions.

Analysis
In their first seasons as NFL starters, Vick led the way in each statistical category and tacked on 777 rushing yards, while leading the Falcons to a 9-6-1 record in the regular season. The Falcons earned a wildcard birth and became the first team to defeat the Packers at Lambeau Field in the playoffs. Harrington went 3-9 in his rookie campaign and completed 55% of his passes once. In comparison, Vick passed for 55% on seven different occasions and surpassed the 70% plateau twice. Advantage: Vick

2004
Michael Vick (4th Season) – 15 games started, 181-321, 56.4%, 2313 yards, 14 touchdowns, 12 interceptions.

Joey Harrington (3rd Season) – 16 games started, 274-489, 56.0%, 3,047 yards, 19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions.

Analysis
Well, Harrington did pass for more yards and touchdowns, but he attempted 168 more passes. Vick added 902 yards on the ground on 120 attempts. Some were designed runs and some were passing plays that broke down. When unable to make a play through the air, Vick made it happen with his legs all the way to the NFC Championship game. Harrington carried the Lions to a 5-11 finish. Advantage: Vick

2005
Michael Vick (5th Season) – 15 games started, 214-387, 55.3%, 2,412 yards, 15 touchdowns, 13 interceptions

Joey Harrington (4th Season) – 11 games started, 188-330, 57.0%, 2,021 yards, 12 touchdowns, 12 interceptions.

Analysis
Harrington missed five games during the 2005 season, but began to fall out of favor with the fans in Detroit. His completion percentage was little about two points higher than Vick. Vick posted an 8-8 record, while Harrington went 4-7 in games started. Tack on the extra 597 rushing yards by No. 7 and you have your winner. Advantage: Vick

2006
Michael Vick (6th Season) – 16 games started, 204-388, 52.6%, 2,474 yards, 20 touchdowns, 13 interceptions.

Joey Harrington (5th Season) – 11 games started, 223-388, 57.5%, 2,236 yards, 12 touchdowns, 15 interceptions.

Analysis
Michael Vick set a career-high for touchdown passes with 20 and became the first quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season (1,039). It is important to note that both quarterbacks threw the same number of passes during the season. Harrington’s completion percentage was about five points higher, but Vick made his completions count which is evidenced by his eight more touchdowns and three less picks. Harrington rushed for 24 yards. Sure the completion is higher, but what did that really do for the team? Advantage: Vick

So what does this mean?

In my opinion and as the numbers show, Vick is a better passer than Harrington. Bobby Petrino’s offense calls for his quarterback to complete 65% of their passes to be successful. Vick has a career completion percentage of 53.8%, while Harrington sits at 55.2. Harrington is closer to that number, so maybe Petrino could make him work. With one more year under his belt, Vick has thrown one less touchdown with 71 compared to Harrington’s 72. But, the interceptions really stand out. Harrington has helped the opposition on 77 different occasions, while Vick has thrown 52. And as far as passer rating, which is some ridiculous formula that does not take into account total play, just passing numbers. The true acumen of a quarterback according to “talent” experts, talking heads on ESPN and fans. Vick has a career 75.7 rating while Harrington falls in at 68.1

The best quarterback on our roster is gone (please don’t start with the Schaub BS) just like Atlanta “fans” wanted. No one wanted to see Vick leave this way, but the truth is that people wanted him gone. We needed a pure passer and the excitement over one has mounted with Joey Harrington now at the helm…

The problem is… Harrington is not a better passer than Vick nor the all-around player. All I hear is “thank god Vick is gone, now we have a real quarterback”. A guy that is going to stand in the pocket and not make anything happen with his feet. A traditional pocket passer in every sense of the word.

It helps to do a little research before getting too excited and tossing out blind claims.

Luckily, this is America and someone else will do the research for you.