Ward vs. Harrison

I didn’t include any stats in my previous post on Hines Ward. Below you can see just how much bigger Marvin Harrison’s career receiving numbers are than Hines Ward’s (through Week 15 of the 2009 season).

Player	G	Rec	Yds	Y/C	TD
Harrison	190	1102	14580	13.2	128
Ward	184	883	10849	12.3	78

That's a big advantage. Of course Ward’s not done yet though I don’t see how he realistically catches Harrison in any major category. However, there is one area where Ward is clearly superior to Harrison. One huge area. The postseason. Check it out:

Player	G	Rec	Yds	Y/C	TD
Harrison	16	65	883	13.6	2
Ward	14	76	1064	14.0	8

For such a great receiver on such a successful team, Harrison’s postseason numbers are shockingly pedestrian. And despite playing in 16 playoff games, Harrison’s only scored twice in the playoffs, both in a wild-card round blowout of Denver. By contrast Ward’s raised the level of his game in the playoffs. Check out the tables below. While Harrison seemed to play worse as his team got farther in the playoffs, Ward gets better each playoff round. The goal of every team is to win. At least in the postseason Ward did a lot more to help his team win it all than Harrison ever did. That’s got to count for something in choosing an all-decade team.

Harrison

Playoff Round	G	Rec	Yds	Y/C	TD
Super Bowl	1	5	59	11.8	0
Conf. Championship	2	7	60	8.6	0
Divisional	6	25	331	13.2	0
Wild Card	7	28	433	15.5	2

Ward

Playoff Round	G	Rec	Yds	Y/C	TD
Super Bowl	2	7	166	23.7	1
Conf. Championship	4	19	287	15.1	2
Divisional	5	27	362	13.4	3
Wild Card	3	23	249	10.8	2