[aturnis]

Originally Posted by BigRock

I think a good rule of thumb is that if you have to look at a page of stats to determine whether a guy is an elite player, then he's probably not.

And Bowe isn't. He's a very good receiver. But he's not elite.

That doesn't mean he shouldn't get paid. I hope he's in KC for years. Pay him whatever he wants, it's not my money. But let's not get so carried away with ****ING PIOLI ****ING THINGS UP AGAIN that we trick ourselves into thinking Bowe's something he's not.

We all watch him play. We all know that his "very good" games far outweigh his "great" ones. If it wasn't for 2010, this wouldn't even be a topic of conversation.

Could Bowe be among the elite if he played under better circumstances? Better QB and all that? Sure. But things can cut both ways. If we're just going to compare blind stats, then all those guys in the OP, how much of their yards and TDs did they post while playing from behind on dogshit teams? Because in Bowe's case, it's a lot.

Bowe's first two years in the league, he put up nearly 70% of his stats while the team was getting its ass kicked. Obviously defenses play you differently in those situations. And we threw the hell out of the ball his first couple years. Everyone thinks of ol' Conservative Herm never wanting to throw, but they had to pass. They were constantly behind.

I believe we were 10th in pass attempts in Bowe's first two years. Lots of passes, always having to play catch-up, that's going to boost a receiver's numbers. But nobody ever factors that stuff in. We'll talk about why his numbers aren't as good as they could be, but never mention that in some years they look better than they really were.

Starting in 2010, it was a totally different story. We threw the ball far less. We were playing with leads. That year, Bowe posted nearly 70% of his stats while the team was tied or ahead. It was a total transformation. (Cue up simpleton bullshit about how Bowe didn't improve under Haley because he went from 1000 yards to 1000 yards).

That Bowe was elite. He changed games. He was a beast. He had a good 2011, but it wasn't quite at that same level. It's not a fair comparision, though, because the run game fell apart without Charles.

As it stands, though, he's had one great year and some years that were good to very good. That just doesn't make for an "elite" player.

But if Bowe beasts again this year, which he very well may if defenses have to respect the run, then Pioli's going to have to swallow his pride and open the checkbook or look like a massive fool (again).

Bravo. I knew someone who wasn't just interested in petty arguments would show up sooner or later. I'll take my turn one day, it's been a bit.

Just wondering, where is Milkman? Hope he's alright.