Blah Blah Blah, I believe that criticism sounded more like this last year "We will never win games with Mark Brunell." "We will never go to the playoffs with Mark Brunell."
Here is the bottom line.
Matt Hasselbeck: Completed 294 of 449 passes for 3459 yds, 24 TD and 9 Ints.
Mark Brunell: Completed 262 of 452 passes for 3050 yds, 23 TD and 10 int.
Difference? Matt Hasselbecks team was coasting through the weakest schedule in the league, and he had the top scoring running back in league history.
Mark Brunell played top ranked defenses and ONLY HAD TWO REAL RECEIVERS who could get open. Despite our more conservative offense, the fact that we played a tough defensive schedule, and the lack of any other wide receivers...Brunell STILL ONLY HAD ONE LESS TD and ONE MORE INT, than did the NFC PRO-BOWL STARTER.
Please get off of the Brunell stinks campaign...the argument simply doens't hold water to anyone who pays attention.
Very nice use of stats in your argument, except for the fact that you left out a bunch of stats that more accurately tell the story.
QB RATING:
Hasselbeck: 98.2
Brunell: 85.9
Completion %
Hasselbeck: 66.9
Brunell: 57.7
Turnovers
Hasselbeck: 4 fumbles
Brunell: 11 fumbles
So lets see, Brunell had a lower qb rating, lower completion percentage, less completions, less yards, and less td's....so your point is??
Well lets look at some more stats.
Hasselbeck in the first 8 games of the season:
164-256, 1881 yards, 64.1 completion %, 10 td's, 5 int's, 91.0 rating
Hasselbeck in games 9-16:
130-193, 1578 yards, 67.4 completion %, 14tds, 4 ints, 107.8 rating
Hasselbeck in 1 playoff game:
16-26, 215 yards, 61.5 completion %, 1td, 0 int, 100.6 rating
Brunell in games 1-8:
148-255, 1781 yards, 58 compeltion %, 12tds, 3ints, 90.3 rating, 73 rushing yards
Brunell in games 9-16
114-199, 1269 yards, 57.3 completion %, 11td, 7ints, 80.2 rating, 38 rushing yards
Brunell in 2 playoff games
29-52, 283 yards, 55.8 completion %, 1td, 1int, 69.6 rating
So Hasselbeck got better as the season progressed and kept up his high play going into the playoffs and so far in the playoffs....that is what you need from your qb to be a succesul playoff team. Brunell on the other hand, started strong, got worse as the season progressed, and tanked down the stretch and in the playoffs....exactly what you DONT need from your qb. Brunell did an admirable job for a guy that is 35 years old but at this point he is best suited as a backup. Campbell needs to take his lumps at some point so better for it to happen sooner rather than later. With Campbell starting we would likely take a step back next season but it would give us a chance to compete for a Super Bowl in the upcoming seasons. With Brunell at qb we would just be spinning our wheels and just postponing Campbell's inevitable struggles and his growth as a qb.