Jim McMahon was he good or over-rated ? If Mitch is healthy will be way better.

[richb688]

When people bring up modern Bear Qb's his name is always brought up which is no surprise. Some people hold him up as a great Bears Qb and some people hate him. My views on him have changed since I was a youth and the Bears were an elite football team . I thought he was a good QB up to the Super Bowl time period and after that game I soured on him. The Bear defense carried him and made him much better than he was. Steve fuller could have won that game-that defense was primed and ready for that game.
I started to get mad at him after that game with all his assorted injuries which caused the Bears to lose bad Qb's which denied then returning to the big game. What would have happened if the Bears had had a dependable steady Qb then Lordy . I have read his career stats again and even for that time period were on the low side. His best year career wise was 83 and still was not a complete season. The years after 85 he went down hill. He could not stay healthy if the wind blew the wrong way and his comp percentage was poor 58 percent. His yards per game were low and he only ended up with 10 more touchdowns than interceptions. He was very soft and was hard pressed to play more that 7 or 8 games in a season for the rest of his career.
I already feel in some ways that Mitch is a better QB. If he stays healthy he will end up being the best Bears Qb of all-time. I say for a season or two he was the right guy but that's all it was.----very over-rated.

 

[TL1961]

He was very, very good. Career ruined by Charles Martin. Oftenhurt. Often a jerk. But not overrated.

 

[richb688]

Please his stats were not that great before the Charles Martin injury-------he was carried by the defense and Walter. he was a mirage at the right place at the right time. I appreciate him playing good in the Super bowl but he was very fragile. I don't feel that injury ruined him he was already on the down side.

 

[Broc]

Over-rated?!? Show some god damn respect son!

Let me know the next time you see someone do that^ to Brady or Rodgers. As Omlet would say, nancy boys are playing flag football now a days. Comparing anything today to McMahon's era is pointless.

 

[Albert Flasher]

I think the Bears could have traded McMahon to the Colts for Elway. They might have won multiple SBs.

 

[richb688]

Please he was carried by that great defense and Walter Payton-58 percentage completion, almost as many interceptions as touch downs , and his low passing yards per game. Yes, he was good in 85 but almost any other average QB would have had the same outcome. It was the defense and Walter Payton which made his better than he was.

 

[Viciousjay]

He was smart but lacked arm talent

 

[Sculpt]

When people bring up modern Bear Qb's his name is always brought up which is no surprise. Some people hold him up as a great Bears Qb and some people hate him. My views on him have changed since I was a youth and the Bears were an elite football team . I thought he was a good QB up to the Super Bowl time period and after that game I soured on him. The Bear defense carried him and made him much better than he was. Steve fuller could have won that game-that defense was primed and ready for that game.

I started to get mad at him after that game with all his assorted injuries which caused the Bears to lose bad Qb's which denied then returning to the big game. What would have happened if the Bears had had a dependable steady Qb then Lordy . I have read his career stats again and even for that time period were on the low side. His best year career wise was 83 and still was not a complete season. The years after 85 he went down hill. He could not stay healthy if the wind blew the wrong way and his comp percentage was poor 58 percent. His yards per game were low and he only ended up with 10 more touchdowns than interceptions. He was very soft and was hard pressed to play more that 7 or 8 games in a season for the rest of his career.

I already feel in some ways that Mitch is a better QB. If he stays healthy he will end up being the best Bears Qb of all-time. I say for a season or two he was the right guy but that's all it was.----very over-rated.

The question is always, are you talking about at one time? Or you talking about career?

For a few years McMahon was a great QB. He was the best QB I've ever watched live on the Bears. If you watch the games where he first came in for the injured starter -- I think it was against Minn -- Bears were trailing by 2 scores and McMahon comes in, gets chased out to the right and throws a long TD. Then next possession a few mins later he does it again. Just playing out of his head. He was heads up, very instinctive and accurate.

Maybe his stats weren't gaudy, even during his prime, but he played with the #1 Rushing team in the NFL featuring Walter Payton, and the #1 Defense in the NFL. So he didn't have to post 300+ yards to win. But he sure as heck won games, inspired his team, was a ton of fun to watch... and after all football is performance art.

But, yeah, his stats are shockingly less than I would have assumed...

Year	Team	G	Att	Comp	Pct	Att/G	Yds	Avg	Yds/G	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	20+	40+	Sck	SckY	Rate
1996	Green Bay Packers	5	4	3	75.0	0.8	39	9.8	7.8	0	0.0	0	0.0	24	1	0	0	0	105.2
1995	Green Bay Packers	1	1	1	100.0	1.0	6	6.0	6.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	6	0	0	0	0	91.7
1995	Cleveland Browns	0	--	--	--	0.0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	0.0
1994	Arizona Cardinals	2	43	23	53.5	21.5	219	5.1	109.5	1	2.3	3	7.0	33	3	0	3	23	46.6
1993	Minnesota Vikings	12	331	200	60.4	27.6	1,968	5.9	164.0	9	2.7	8	2.4	58	20	3	23	104	76.2
1992	Philadelphia Eagles	4	43	22	51.2	10.8	279	6.5	69.8	1	2.3	2	4.7	42T	4	1	4	25	60.1
1991	Philadelphia Eagles	12	311	187	60.1	25.9	2,239	7.2	186.6	12	3.9	11	3.5	75T	28	6	21	128	80.3
1990	Philadelphia Eagles	5	9	6	66.7	1.8	63	7.0	12.6	0	0.0	0	0.0	21	0	0	1	7	86.8
1989	San Diego Chargers	12	318	176	55.3	26.5	2,132	6.7	177.7	10	3.1	10	3.1	69T	0	0	28	167	73.5
1988	Chicago Bears	9	192	114	59.4	21.3	1,346	7.0	149.6	6	3.1	7	3.6	63T	0	0	13	79	76.0
1987	Chicago Bears	7	210	125	59.5	30.0	1,639	7.8	234.1	12	5.7	8	3.8	59T	0	0	22	136	87.4
1986	Chicago Bears	6	150	77	51.3	25.0	995	6.6	165.8	5	3.3	8	5.3	58T	0	0	6	40	61.4
1985	Chicago Bears	13	313	178	56.9	24.1	2,392	7.6	184.0	15	4.8	11	3.5	70T	0	0	26	125	82.6
1984	Chicago Bears	9	143	85	59.4	15.9	1,146	8.0	127.3	8	5.6	2	1.4	61T	0	0	10	48	97.8
1983	Chicago Bears	14	295	175	59.3	21.1	2,184	7.4	156.0	12	4.1	13	4.4	87T	0	0	42	266	77.6
1982	Chicago Bears	8	210	120	57.1	26.2	1,501	7.1	187.6	9	4.3	7	3.3	50T	0	0	27	196	79.9
TOTAL	119	2,573	1,492	58.0	21.6	18,148	7.1	152.5	100	3.9	90	3.5	87	56	10	226	1,344	78.2

 

[benplace]

Things people always forget that weren't alive or old enough in 85 or have forgotten:
1. Mike Ditka was not a good coach. He loved Steve Fuller and wanted him to be the QB. McMahon came in against the Vikings in a game the Bears were down by 2 TDs at half and lit it up. After that the fan base basically forced him to play McMahon.
2. The loss to Miami was all on Steve Fuller. McMahon was recovering from an injury and Ditka refused to play him. Steve Fuller got hurt in the 4th but there wasn't enough time to come back.
3. Stats are deceiving, Fuller won 3 games when McMahon was hurt that year, but, when Fuller was the holder for Kevin Butler, me and my brothers used to hope his hand would get kicked off. McMahon was not afraid to do whatever it took to win, remember the helicopter tackle? Those things don't show up in stats.

 

[Camden Cutler]

look up the stats.....i know it was a different era but ehhh...you be the judge

 

[Doubledown]

Fun loving doesn’t made him a jerk, don’t look at stats much for that era. He was a winner but flames out quick , old school daddy long neck. LOL

 

[napo55]

He was an outstanding QB with great touch and instincts. Disregard the stats which reflected a different game over 30 years ago.

Unfortunately, he couldn't stay healthy and the Bears wasted a brilliant defense and probably a couple of championships after 1985 because the team never brought in a competent backup QB.

 

[DB51]

He was good/very good even though his numbers aren't brilliant. I loved the way he taunted Rozelle with his head band ect.
On thing Jim was an expert at was audibilizing.

 

[richb688]

all I hear about is the Minn game-yes it was a great game but one game does not create a career for the Bears. I am not comparing his stats to todays QBs but his peers. still say the defense and Walter carried him-he was injury riddled and meah stats. When Walter left his game really went down hill

 

[DB51]

For that matter look up Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaws stats. They're not even of starting quality today, but both are considered a couple of the best that played the game.

 

[BearDownZZ]

He's a really interesting QB to judge.

He was the kind of a QB that went for it. Guy was covered, he didn't care, he tried to thread the needle. But that backfired sometimes as he would get picked. He had a tendency to hold the ball and wait for guys to get open and go for big plays. He made big plays and the good was always better than the bad, but didn't make him efficient. I think he was aggressive because he knew he had Walter and that defense.

The easiest way to explain it as someone that watched him was that he was gutsy, likeable and respected by everyone.

As a passer he wasn't as talented as Marino or Montana.

But look at his stats compared to Elway when he played for Reeves and compare that to McMahon with the Bears.

Both had 80 rating.
McMahon 75%win, Elway 62% wins
McMahon 4.4%TD, Elway 3.7%
McMahon 3.7%INT, Elway 2.7%
McMahon 7.4YPA, Elway 7.0 YPA
McMahon 180 PYPG, Elway 216 PYPG
McMahon 19.5 RYPG, Elway 14.5 RYPG

 

[richb688]

he was not Bradshaw or staubach

 

[Monster]

Helped bring a ring to Chicago... guy can eat at my table anytime.

 

[mecha]

he was a versatile player too. when he'd catch passes from Walter for scores. :lmao: him and Payton were such a tandem, and then Payton and Suhey. that offense had some options and depth.

alas he played in a different era. all QBs outside the upper echelon elite types (which Marino only really comes to mind?) had very mediocre stats with more interceptions than touchdowns. McMahon at least wasn't a pussy.

to conclude his career, he wore his Bears jersey to the Packers White House visit. he was a defiant and hilarious MF.

 

[mac bear]

He was brilliant to watch. That whole team—it was more than the D, it was everything and he was huge in that.

We always knew when he was on. Period.

Sport magazine, 85, I think, rated him the best WB of the year going into the year... using funky (at the time analytics). I still have the magazine, and the articles.

His jersey I cherish. #9 is my favourite number in no small way due to him.

Mitch is a totally different animal, BUT, there is something to the way the team is responding to Mitch (work ethic, locker room, huddle moxey) that reminds me a bit of the vibe we all had back in Mac’s day.

I am macbear for all of this.

Cheers


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