Watching the game again, looked like they were trying to hide him the entire first half with all the screens. Had some real nice downfield throws in the second half. The occasional boneheaded one, but that's blake.
The INT and second td to hurns were two of the more concerning throws..... Looked like they were all arm so the ball hung in the air with little velocity and little distance.
Not the dumpster fire people are making it out to be though. And my God, sky's the limit for hurns if he can keep the drops down.
He was really bad. No more excuses, time for him to step it up.
He had 1 INT and 4 other throws that hit the defender in both hands. He played bad and got lucky. He makes some REALLY stupid decisions sometimes and I hope he learns from those mistakes quickly.
And hey, did you guys know Bortles is a rookie? Crazy huh, im sure a few people will come in here and remind us again for those of us who have forgotten.
He wasn't bad at all. He looked like a rookie and looked like one of the better rookies playing with rookie receivers. If perspective isn't used then people will try and make it worse than it really was. I find it funny how people talk about the picks that could have happened but don't realize that every qb every week throws 2-4 passes that could be picked. We just watched Peyton throw 1 pick and 2 other near picks against Brady Sunday. Brady threw 3 near picks that didn't happen. See how that works out for the box score? Its just part of the game. I've seen Peyton have a 6 interception game in the playoffs his 7th year in the league. It happens to the best.
What I find is more asinine is that people will crucify him for the near picks but wont credit him for the dropped Touchdowns and dropped passes in general. They say "every qb has to deal with that." Again it is just part of the game. Picks and TD's get dropped ever game. It's all about if guys are making plays and making them consistently. That the difference in Ed Reed and Josh Evans. Making the play consistently. The kid passes the eye test and makes plays. He's just a rookie right now and will need a little more seasoning before he plays lights out every week. He will be better next year but it will be a gradual thing over the next few years when you see him blossom.
I think about Jay Cutler. He is in his 10th year and still has multiple 2-4 pick games a season. Some time defenses catches the picks and some time they don't. Dude can still play though.
He's a rookie. He looked like a rookie. He looked bad at times on Sunday. He looked okay at others. That's the way it goes with rookies.
And there we already have the "other qb's throw INT's", and the now extremely routine Peyton Manning comparison. Didn't take long.
No one cares what other qb's did or didnt do, we care about what ours is doing.
Cutler? Ugh. Better example please.
Quote:And there we already have the "other qb's throw INT's", and the now extremely routine Peyton Manning comparison. Didn't take long.
No one cares what other qb's did or didnt do, we care about what ours is doing.
Exactly. We need to stop with the Peyton comparisons. "Well Peyton almost threw some picks..." Yeah, well Peyton also throws over 50 TDs and 5000 yds with VERY few picks. No more Petyon comparisons. We have a rookie who is playing poorly and is an unknown at this time. Yes, it appears he has a good upside, but it's not a guarantee. Kid simply needs to play better.
I've got a guarantee for everyone comparing him to Peyton. Blake will never be as good as Peyton. Guaranteed.
Is Mathew Stafford a better example? He's a guy that will have a 4 touchdown game and turn around and have a 3 interception game the next week. I could really give comparisons all day as to I watch a lot of football. I just use Peyton because he the most recognizable player to most of you guys know. How about Phillip Rivers? He just had a 3 pick game.
Quote:Is Mathew Stafford a better example? He's a guy that will have a 4 touchdown game and turn around and have a 3 interception game the next week.
Why don't we just look at him as Blake Bortles and go from there?
Quote:Cutler? Ugh. Better example please.
Cutler is the perfect example of a QB who is physically gifted but is out to lunch between the ears. Been playing against NFL defenses for years and is still making stupid mistakes. Not mentally tough. Now Philip Rivers I hold in higher regard and he was flat out terrible this past Sunday. All of the greatest QBs have had bad days the key is to limit them and be consistent.
He very easily could have come away with 4 INTs from that game. Lucky he didn't. It wasn't a good game for him. But it wasn't terrible for a rookie.
Still - he obviously "feels" pressure naturally and is usually pretty smooth eluding it (though looked a little jumpy/skittish about it a couple of times yesterday. Nothing to fret over though. )
I still feel really good about his upside and think the picks will decrease in frequency next year after he has time to really work on understanding the playbook, his progression of reads, and recognizing match-ups in the defense. He's still got work to do on some mechanics - but he's already improved them to some degree. Just has to keep moving forward there.
I, for one, don't have much issue with dialing up lots of short stuff for him early in games while they establish the run. Obviously they have to keep it honest with a few deep attempts, but I think it makes perfect sense to keep him out of possible INT scenarios and let the run game do some work.
I would have liked one or two more deep attempts in the first half vs Cincy - but other than that - I thought they used him pretty well.
Quote:Is Mathew Stafford a better example? He's a guy that will have a 4 touchdown game and turn around and have a 3 interception game the next week. I could really give comparisons all day as to I watch a lot of football. I just use Peyton because he the most recognizable player to most of you guys know. How about Phillip Rivers? He just had a 3 pick game.
Yeah, and that comparison's a pipe dream.
Quote:Cutler is the perfect example of a QB who is physically gifted but is out to lunch between the ears. Been playing against NFL defenses for years and is still making stupid mistakes. Not mentally tough. Now Philip Rivers I hold in higher regard and he was flat out terrible this past Sunday. All of the greatest QBs have had bad days the key is to limit them and be consistent.
Yup.
Quote:I, for one, don't have much issue with dialing up lots of short stuff for him early in games while they establish the run. Obviously they have to keep it honest with a few deep attempts, but I think it makes perfect sense to keep him out of possible INT scenarios and let the run game do some work.
I agree. They're trying to win football games, not pad stats. Fantasy football has killed perspective, IMO.
Quote:Why don't we just look at him as Blake Bortles and go from there?
That's cool too. But don't get caught in naming other qb's. Nobody is comparing him to Peyton or Stafford etc.. We are merely giving examples of what happens with other players to show you that it is not just some strange occurrence with our qb. It happens with every one. It just the really good ones limit those games. The others wash out. I want Bortles to make a name for his self but to convey the idea that this is normal other examples need to used other wise it just seem like we have the only qb in the history of the NFL to through interceptions.
They were trying to "hide" him because the screens and short passes are high percentage plays. No one on this team, especially Fisch WANTS to call conservative plays. I mean really, who wouldn't want Bortles airing it out and making big plays? But they are calling plays that they feel comfortable with him being able to complete, and this comes from watching him practice all week.
Quote:That's cool too. But don't get caught in naming other qb's. Nobody is comparing him to Peyton or Stafford etc.. We are merely giving examples of what happens with other players to show you that it is not just some strange occurrence with our qb. It happens with every one. It just the really good ones limit those games. The others wash out. I want Bortles to make a name for his self but to convey the idea that this is normal other examples need to used other wise it just seem like we have the only qb in the history of the NFL to through interceptions.
Fair enough. I guess my comment isn't so much directed at you but rather the expectations of much of the board that i've read.
Quote:They were trying to "hide" him because the screens and short passes are high percentage plays. No one on this team, especially Fisch WANTS to call conservative plays. I mean really, who wouldn't want Bortles airing it out and making big plays? But they are calling plays that they feel comfortable with him being able to complete, and this comes from watching him practice all week.
Exactly freaking right. The throw it deep crowd is so clueless.
Quote:Yeah, and that comparison's a pipe dream.
You are correct. I doubt anyone will ever play close to Peyton ever again. And yet he still has a 6 interception games under his belt. Hell he threw 2 in the super bowl and damn near 5 "almost picks." It happens. Let's just hope our guy can limit his and improve the TD totals.