I don't know that I would go so far as to say Sam "deserves" to lead this team. But I don't find many players I would like to see have success more so than Sam. The contract is what it is. He'd have gotten that from any team. But the guy has always been a positive role model, a good team mate, a student of the game, and is right there with the team through all this. Maybe it's that WE deserve for Sam to lead this team. I think as fans we should all hope for that to be the case. If he comes back healthy (yeah - I get the big "if" stuff) there aren't many QBs that have his skill set. It's funny how many other teams' fans have put Sam on their wish list to replace their QBs.
I just rewatched the game. I've got to say, Hill was damn good. Dude was under pressure all game and made some really really good passes. Some were dropped and many great plays were called back.
It also dawned on me why a lot of people MIGHT be thinking he makes a lot of bad passes. He throws a TON of timing routes. If the receiver doesn't make it to the right spot on time, or the defender catches up, it looks like a bad pass. SB and AD don't throw a lot of timing routes so it's not what we're used to seeing.
Good examples are the TD passes to Bailey. The one that got called back that Bailey caught behind the defender's back, Hill released that ball when Bailey was still a yard off the line of scrimmage. Bailey got to where he needed to be and the ball placement and timing were right on. The defender just caught up with him. The second one looks like this arching weak lob but is a timing route. Bailey is just entering the endzone when Hill releases. He HAD to put the lob on it to get it to be in the right spot at the right time. It was perfect.
This is also why Bailey is exploding under Hill where he didn't under AD IMO. Hill trusts Bailey on timing routes. AD held the ball until he could see the open receiver.
The second reason is that Hill throws the ball away a lot under pressure by overthrowing the covered receiver. The ball almost always goes high out of bounds or over the covered receivers head to land in the open field. These are smart throws. It's almost always when he's about to be sacked and he's still in the pocket. He avoids the sack and the penalty.
If you re-watch the game with this in mind, is he about to be sacked or is this a timing route, his entire game has a different light to it. The lobs are about hang time, not a weak arm. I'm not saying he has a great arm, but that's not why he appears to lob.
He lobbed that one TD to Britt that got called back and it left his hand while Britt was still half way through his route completely covered making his double move. The move worked and the ball fell into his hands down field in stride at the perfect time.
IMHO, these are the reasons for the Rams success in avoiding the issues AD had. Hill doesn't scramble much. Instead he releases very quickly and throws a timing pass or throws it away. When he does scramble, he's pretty damn good. AD might be a fantastic QB behind a really good line where Hill's particular skillset is much more geared towards a weak line.
We also need to remember that the Chargers are the #7 passing D and earned those interceptions. They were both heads up plays where the defender was stalking the route and came from the opposite side of the receiver.
We'll see how Hill finishes the season, but I agree, I think we have a keeper. I think if people watched with these points in mind, they would change their opinion on Hill.
). Or, at least, I would have to say the bad passes mostly looked like good decisions to me. He overthrew someone long but he avoided a sack and an intentional grounding penalty while overthrowing a covered receiver. Was it a smart veteran play or a miss? He also threw a few too high. But ducks? I didn't see ducks.
