Bortles is quietly on his way to his best statistical start of a season.
58.6%
1398 yards
9 TDs
5 INTs
85.4 rating
Extrapolated to 16 games is:
3200 yards
22 TDs
11 INTs
I think a lot of us would have taken those numbers all day long from Blake. His biggest issue is consistency. He'll have great games (Bal, Indy) and then terrible games (Tennessee)
That being said, he's had multiple good passes dropped, but he's not making those stupid INTs that have plagued him on years past. Missing ARob is a big blow, but hopefully Westbrook can ease that a bit.
What we need to see from Blake is consistency. Now obviously we shouldn't expect an Indy like performance every week, but we shouldn't get a 2nd half Tennessee Bortles either.
It will be interesting to see how the season progresses, especially since we are built well for colder weather with the run game and strong defense. Not that Jax gets cold, but still.
Honestly, if he stays at the pace he's on right now, I could see us bringing him back in some capacity. We of course will draft a QB, but if Bortles finishes the year 2-1 on TD/INT and doesn't single handedly lose some games, be prepared for him to be back.
It's amazing what a proper coaching staff can do.
I meant to add, by QB Rating, he's ahead of:
Mariota
Cam
Ben
Dalton
Blake had a very good day.
Unfortunately he doesn't really string them together... I'm not trying to throw cold water on anything right now... so there is nothing wrong with a little optimism I would just be weary of extrapolating too much.... It only takes one game to ruin an average.
As our long lost buddy Eric Stoner astutely used to say, QBs are either the trucks or the trailers of a team. Blake is the ultimate trailer. If everything else is going great he can have days like he did against Baltimore or Indy (facing godawful defenses doesn't hurt). Unfortunately, if he ever has to turn into truck mode it's all but inevitable that the team is headed straight for a ditch.
So yes over the course of a season the average might look palatable, but the crests and valleys are still extremely volatile.
(10-23-2017, 09:39 AM)Kane Wrote: [ -> ]Blake had a very good day.
Unfortunately he doesn't really string them together... I'm not trying to throw cold water on anything right now... so there is nothing wrong with a little optimism I would just be weary of extrapolating too much.... It only takes one game to ruin an average.
Sure, but this is an average of almost half a season already, against the toughest stretch of our schedule.
I agree, and specifically mentioned, inconsistency is his killer right now. By no means am I saying Bortles is our franchise QB of the future at this point. Just pointing out the numbers by themselves.
It's about time the Jags opened up their offense to play to Blake's strengths (e.g. counterplays, rollouts, etc). This is the exact philosophy that has made Deshaun Watson and Marcus Mariota effective.
He's surprised me some days and is without a doubt better than last year. He's still pretty much the same guy though. Bad accuracy, inefficient, bad on 3rd down, bad Vs pressure, turnover prone.
It's great to see him ball out on his good days. Was talking [BLEEP] to the colts and finished the drive with that TD to Lewis..he's a great QB personality wise and I gained a lot of respect for him with how's hes handled himself this year.
That said I still wouldn't give him the option. Maybe if he balls out over the next few weeks I'd give him some kind of incentive based contract with an option attached just in case. I'd still draft a QB and aim to get a QB like Alex Smith or Tyrod to start. Last thing we need next year is being forced to play a rookie QB week 1. If they're good enough that's fine, QBs learn more by playing. It's just not a corner you want to force yourself into
Cant wait to see him with DeDe. Hope they develop chemistry quickly.
Is this sarcasm? Blake’s best season was 2015 by a country mile. The yardage is horrible, completion percentage is horrible and qb rating is average. With that said he is not losing games and has even contributed to wins. He’s playing winning football and at the end of the day, that stat matters most. Stats are cool but they don’t tell the whole story. You can throw 5 tds in a blow out loss or have 1 td when the game is on the line. The throws during the flow of the game determines how great a qb is to me. I’m glad Blake is playing well enough to win games but he is still holding this team back. He needs to do what he did yesterday or in London 5-6 games in a row to get me back on board. Still pulling for him but he has proven to me what he is at this point.
(10-23-2017, 09:48 AM)Etdavis2006 Wrote: [ -> ]Is this sarcasm? Blake’s best season was 2015 by a country mile. The yardage is horrible, completion percentage is horrible and qb rating is average. With that said he is not losing games and has even contributed to wins. He’s playing winning football and at the end of the day, that stat matters most. Stats are cool but they don’t tell the whole story. You can throw 5 tds in a blow out loss or have 1 td when the game is on the line. The throws during the flow of the game determines how great a qb is to me. I’m glad Blake is playing well enough to win games but he is still holding this team back. He needs to do what he did yesterday or in London 5-6 games in a row to get me back on board. Still pulling for him but he has proven to me what he is at this point.
By "best" I didn't mean biggest numbers, but meant more-so efficiency. His rating in 2015 was like 88 so he's about in the same boat there. Difference is we're winning games.
It was refreshing to see them trying to take some shots deep downfield off playaction. We would go several games before we even attempt one real homerun shot. This last game we attempted at least 4 or 5 of them and hit on the one to Cole. That changes a defense when you have to worry about homerun balls, even if they are unsuccessful.
Pretty tough to buy in on Bortles for me right now. He played great yesterday, but he's really only done that in 2 of the 7 games thus far.
I hope that the colts game is evidence that this offense can be multi-dimensional, but I can't be convinced until I see some consistency from the QB.
(10-23-2017, 09:57 AM)NYC4jags Wrote: [ -> ]Pretty tough to buy in on Bortles for me right now. He played great yesterday, but he's really only done that in 2 of the 7 games thus far.
I hope that the colts game is evidence that this offense can be multi-dimensional, but I can't be convinced until I see some consistency from the QB.
Agreed. Consistency is the biggest killer right now.
And that's not even just Bortles, but the entire team. I wonder how much the two would go hand in hand.
(10-23-2017, 09:53 AM)imtheblkranger Wrote: [ -> ] (10-23-2017, 09:48 AM)Etdavis2006 Wrote: [ -> ]Is this sarcasm? Blake’s best season was 2015 by a country mile. The yardage is horrible, completion percentage is horrible and qb rating is average. With that said he is not losing games and has even contributed to wins. He’s playing winning football and at the end of the day, that stat matters most. Stats are cool but they don’t tell the whole story. You can throw 5 tds in a blow out loss or have 1 td when the game is on the line. The throws during the flow of the game determines how great a qb is to me. I’m glad Blake is playing well enough to win games but he is still holding this team back. He needs to do what he did yesterday or in London 5-6 games in a row to get me back on board. Still pulling for him but he has proven to me what he is at this point.
By "best" I didn't mean biggest numbers, but meant more-so efficiency. His rating in 2015 was like 88 so he's about in the same boat there. Difference is we're winning games.
Jags are winning games because of defense and the run game. Blake has had some good games and some very good games. Can't take anything about from those games but this year has been about the defense and Fournette. Jags D beat the Texans by themselves. They beat the Steelers by themselves and they basically beat the Ravens and Colts by themselves.
Blake is having an extremely average season and that's exactly what everyone wanted. They wanted him to be "just average" and that's exactly what happened. Kudos to the coaching staff and Blake for improving.
(10-23-2017, 09:59 AM)imtheblkranger Wrote: [ -> ] (10-23-2017, 09:57 AM)NYC4jags Wrote: [ -> ]Pretty tough to buy in on Bortles for me right now. He played great yesterday, but he's really only done that in 2 of the 7 games thus far.
I hope that the colts game is evidence that this offense can be multi-dimensional, but I can't be convinced until I see some consistency from the QB.
Agreed. Consistency is the biggest killer right now.
And that's not even just Bortles, but the entire team. I wonder how much the two would go hand in hand.
The defense has been consistent. It's just the offense and special teams.
He's 17 Teams points and a dropped pass by Lee from having this team 6 and 1. I'll take it.
(10-23-2017, 09:42 AM)imtheblkranger Wrote: [ -> ] (10-23-2017, 09:39 AM)Kane Wrote: [ -> ]Blake had a very good day.
Unfortunately he doesn't really string them together... I'm not trying to throw cold water on anything right now... so there is nothing wrong with a little optimism I would just be weary of extrapolating too much.... It only takes one game to ruin an average.
Sure, but this is an average of almost half a season already, against the toughest stretch of our schedule.
I agree, and specifically mentioned, inconsistency is his killer right now. By no means am I saying Bortles is our franchise QB of the future at this point. Just pointing out the numbers by themselves.
I would much rather Bortles plays at that rate every game and gives the franchise a very tough decision in the offseason.
I'll take all those sorts of "good problems"
like our problem with too many RBs lol
Its funny reading comments about inconsistency when just......what...2 to 3 weeks ago, everyone was saying the staff doesn't trust Blake so that's why we wont throw. Now, present day and time, his stats are just average and he needs to do more or the same consistently. DO ANY OF YOU EVEN FOOTBALL. We only threw because the staff doesn't trust ivory/grant/Yeldon to carry the team so they opened the playbook back up and forced BB5 to pass and play winning football in which he did. Just eat the crow you served yourselves and be happy after the bye when we put BB5 back in the cellar and lock the door.
(10-23-2017, 01:19 PM)LetsBReal Wrote: [ -> ]Its funny reading comments about inconsistency when just......what...2 to 3 weeks ago, everyone was saying the staff doesn't trust Blake so that's why we wont throw. Now, present day and time, his stats are just average and he needs to do more or the same consistently. DO ANY OF YOU EVEN FOOTBALL. We only threw because the staff doesn't trust ivory/grant/Yeldon to carry the team so they opened the playbook back up and forced BB5 to pass and play winning football in which he did. Just eat the crow you served yourselves and be happy after the bye when we put BB5 back in the cellar and lock the door.
I think you are overthinking this dynamic.
They opened up the passing game against Indy because Indy has the 31st ranked pass defense in the league. They let him sling it 26 times and they ran it 37 times.
Conversely - the steelers are the number one ranked pass defense. Blake's total of 14 attempts in that game two weeks ago should make it very obvious in which situations this staff has confidence in him.
It has nothing to do with confidence in Ivory or the other backs behind Fournette.
(10-23-2017, 01:19 PM)LetsBReal Wrote: [ -> ]Its funny reading comments about inconsistency when just......what...2 to 3 weeks ago, everyone was saying the staff doesn't trust Blake so that's why we wont throw. Now, present day and time, his stats are just average and he needs to do more or the same consistently. DO ANY OF YOU EVEN FOOTBALL. We only threw because the staff doesn't trust ivory/grant/Yeldon to carry the team so they opened the playbook back up and forced BB5 to pass and play winning football in which he did. Just eat the crow you served yourselves and be happy after the bye when we put BB5 back in the cellar and lock the door.
Can't. Tell. If. Serious. Or.......
(10-23-2017, 01:29 PM)NYC4jags Wrote: [ -> ] (10-23-2017, 01:19 PM)LetsBReal Wrote: [ -> ]Its funny reading comments about inconsistency when just......what...2 to 3 weeks ago, everyone was saying the staff doesn't trust Blake so that's why we wont throw. Now, present day and time, his stats are just average and he needs to do more or the same consistently. DO ANY OF YOU EVEN FOOTBALL. We only threw because the staff doesn't trust ivory/grant/Yeldon to carry the team so they opened the playbook back up and forced BB5 to pass and play winning football in which he did. Just eat the crow you served yourselves and be happy after the bye when we put BB5 back in the cellar and lock the door.
I think you are overthinking this dynamic.
They opened up the passing game against Indy because Indy has the 31st ranked pass defense in the league. They let him sling it 26 times and they ran it 37 times.
Conversely - the steelers are the number one ranked pass defense. Blake's total of 14 attempts in that game two weeks ago should make it very obvious in which situations this staff has confidence in him.
It has nothing to do with confidence in Ivory or the other backs behind Fournette.
I just want Blake to continue hitting receivers when we need it whether he throws 14 or 26 times a game. The point I was making, was directed at the stat complaints. He is doing exactly what the coaches want him to do and doing it near perfect. Whether they are comfortable or not is up to them but he is checking the boxes that he needs too. If we bring in another Vet or rookie that cant even do that right, then what? We will move on but at least enjoy the man playing good football while it lasts. Judge him with the coaches trusting him with a decent team and protection for once not without. If he's done, so be it, but don't act like he hasn't improved and done what he's been asked.
(10-23-2017, 02:18 PM)LetsBReal Wrote: [ -> ] (10-23-2017, 01:29 PM)NYC4jags Wrote: [ -> ]I think you are overthinking this dynamic.
They opened up the passing game against Indy because Indy has the 31st ranked pass defense in the league. They let him sling it 26 times and they ran it 37 times.
Conversely - the steelers are the number one ranked pass defense. Blake's total of 14 attempts in that game two weeks ago should make it very obvious in which situations this staff has confidence in him.
It has nothing to do with confidence in Ivory or the other backs behind Fournette.
I just want Blake to continue hitting receivers when we need it whether he throws 14 or 26 times a game. The point I was making, was directed at the stat complaints. He is doing exactly what the coaches want him to do and doing it near perfect. Whether they are comfortable or not is up to them but he is checking the boxes that he needs too. If we bring in another Vet or rookie that cant even do that right, then what? We will move on but at least enjoy the man playing good football while it lasts. Judge him with the coaches trusting him with a decent team and protection for once not without. If he's done, so be it, but don't act like he hasn't improved and done what he's been asked.
He's shown some improvement. He hasn't shown it consistently enough though. He's had his share of blunders this season that contributed to losses. And he still has that unnecessary hitch in his motion that telegraphs his passes and leaves the ball exposed for a potential forced fumble. (like the one yesterday)
I'm always rooting for him to succeed, but he'll have to produce a few more games like this most recent one before I'll feel remotely comfortable about paying that big money to keep him on next year.