I wanted to offer a perspective to everyone on the boards and try to get everyone to understand how the talent level on the team overall effects a quarterbacks play. So I decided to do some research and compare the first four years of David Carr’s career to Hall of Famer Troy Aikman. Since Carr started with an expansion team and in Aikman’s first year the team was 1-15. Good starting point for both I think. So I will list the first four years and the statistics and then go into more detail on the 4th year. Since everyone expects a quarterback to be at their potential at that point.
1st Year Games Comp Att Pct Yards TD/Int sacks/Yds
Carr 16 233 444 52.5 2592 9/15 N/A
Aikman 11 155 293 52.9 1749 9/18 N/A
2nd Year Games Comp Att Pct Yards TD/Int Sacks/Yds
Carr 12 167 295 56.6 2013 9/13 N/A
Aikman 15 226 399 56.6 2579 11/18 N/A
3rd Year Games Comp Att Pct Yards TD/Int Sacks/Yds
Carr 16 285 466 61.2 3531 16/14 49/301
Aikman 12 237 363 65.3 2754 11/10 32/224
4th Year Games Comp Att Pct Yards TD/Int Sacks/Yds
Carr 16 256 423 60.5 2488 14/11 68/424
Aikman 16 302 473 63.8 3445 23/14 23/112
As everyone can see, Carr was progressing the first three years on par with what Aikman did. Now comes the dreaded 4th year where everyone decides Carr sucks and he needs to be ran out of town. Just look at the numbers, in the 4th year Aikman took his team to the Super bowl while Carr took his team to the number 1 pick. After looking at the numbers I said to myself something must be wrong, lets look at the team as a whole. I mean it is a team game, regardless of what some VY lovers will tell you. So lets start by comparing the two units that actually do the dirty work. The offensive line:
Texans Pro-bowler Cowboys Pro-bowler
Riley/Pitts No E. Williams Yes
Pitts/Brown No N. Newton Yes
Mckinney No Stepnoski Yes
Weigert/Weary No Gogan Yes
Wade/Weigert No Tuinei Yes
Sacks allowed – 68/424 Sacks allowed – 23/112
I know what you are saying, Carr runs into sacks and runs out of bounds with the ball. I agree that he does, but I am willing to bet that it is more because of the line than not. I know this still doesn’t mean anything. So let’s look at this a bit further. Let’s look at the offensive supporting cast. Now VY can win games on his own, but mere mortals need help, so lets break them down:
Rushing
Texans
Davis – 230 att – 976 yds – 4.2 yds/c – 2 TD
Wells - 90 - 325 - 3.6 - 4
Morency – 46 - 184 - 4.0 - 2
Cowboys
Smith – 373 – 1713yds – 4.6 yds/c – 18 TD
Receiving
Texans Cowboys
Johnson – 63 rec – 688 yds -10.7 av.– 2 TD Irvin – 78 - 1396 - 17.9 - 7 Gaffney – 55 - 492 - 8.9 - 2 Harper – 35 - 562 -16.1- 4TD
Bradford – 34 - 436 - 12.8 - 5 Martin – 32 - 359 - 11.2- 3TD
Rivers - 24 168 - 7.0 - 0 Novacek – 68 – 630 - 9.3- 6TD
Defense
Texans Cowboys
NFL Ranking 31 1st
So in conclusion I think by looking at the numbers that maybe, just maybe Carr has gotten a lot of blame that is not justified. Everyone’s question is can a Carr take the Texans to the Super Bowl? Well Aikman did, and the stats say Carr is just as good, its just Aikman had a all pro supporting cast. Maybe I am wrong, maybe the numbers lie. I am sure many will spin the numbers to justify what they think. I just wanted to give a different view instead of all the man love for VY that is going on around here. Oh and by the way, one more thing, Emmitt Smith was 5’-9 210 pds and Reggie Bush is 6’-0 205 pds. So I guess size is not a question. All the Carr haters and VY slobber monsters can fire away.
1st Year Games Comp Att Pct Yards TD/Int sacks/Yds
Carr 16 233 444 52.5 2592 9/15 N/A
Aikman 11 155 293 52.9 1749 9/18 N/A
2nd Year Games Comp Att Pct Yards TD/Int Sacks/Yds
Carr 12 167 295 56.6 2013 9/13 N/A
Aikman 15 226 399 56.6 2579 11/18 N/A
3rd Year Games Comp Att Pct Yards TD/Int Sacks/Yds
Carr 16 285 466 61.2 3531 16/14 49/301
Aikman 12 237 363 65.3 2754 11/10 32/224
4th Year Games Comp Att Pct Yards TD/Int Sacks/Yds
Carr 16 256 423 60.5 2488 14/11 68/424
Aikman 16 302 473 63.8 3445 23/14 23/112
As everyone can see, Carr was progressing the first three years on par with what Aikman did. Now comes the dreaded 4th year where everyone decides Carr sucks and he needs to be ran out of town. Just look at the numbers, in the 4th year Aikman took his team to the Super bowl while Carr took his team to the number 1 pick. After looking at the numbers I said to myself something must be wrong, lets look at the team as a whole. I mean it is a team game, regardless of what some VY lovers will tell you. So lets start by comparing the two units that actually do the dirty work. The offensive line:
Texans Pro-bowler Cowboys Pro-bowler
Riley/Pitts No E. Williams Yes
Pitts/Brown No N. Newton Yes
Mckinney No Stepnoski Yes
Weigert/Weary No Gogan Yes
Wade/Weigert No Tuinei Yes
Sacks allowed – 68/424 Sacks allowed – 23/112
I know what you are saying, Carr runs into sacks and runs out of bounds with the ball. I agree that he does, but I am willing to bet that it is more because of the line than not. I know this still doesn’t mean anything. So let’s look at this a bit further. Let’s look at the offensive supporting cast. Now VY can win games on his own, but mere mortals need help, so lets break them down:
Rushing
Texans
Davis – 230 att – 976 yds – 4.2 yds/c – 2 TD
Wells - 90 - 325 - 3.6 - 4
Morency – 46 - 184 - 4.0 - 2
Cowboys
Smith – 373 – 1713yds – 4.6 yds/c – 18 TD
Receiving
Texans Cowboys
Johnson – 63 rec – 688 yds -10.7 av.– 2 TD Irvin – 78 - 1396 - 17.9 - 7 Gaffney – 55 - 492 - 8.9 - 2 Harper – 35 - 562 -16.1- 4TD
Bradford – 34 - 436 - 12.8 - 5 Martin – 32 - 359 - 11.2- 3TD
Rivers - 24 168 - 7.0 - 0 Novacek – 68 – 630 - 9.3- 6TD
Defense
Texans Cowboys
NFL Ranking 31 1st
So in conclusion I think by looking at the numbers that maybe, just maybe Carr has gotten a lot of blame that is not justified. Everyone’s question is can a Carr take the Texans to the Super Bowl? Well Aikman did, and the stats say Carr is just as good, its just Aikman had a all pro supporting cast. Maybe I am wrong, maybe the numbers lie. I am sure many will spin the numbers to justify what they think. I just wanted to give a different view instead of all the man love for VY that is going on around here. Oh and by the way, one more thing, Emmitt Smith was 5’-9 210 pds and Reggie Bush is 6’-0 205 pds. So I guess size is not a question. All the Carr haters and VY slobber monsters can fire away.