(05-21-2018, 09:38 AM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: If we're gonna take the next step in the evolution of this team and Bortles is gonna be our starting QB, the coaches have to trust him more and allow him to take more risks in the passing game. That means when we have 3rd and long, they have to have the confidence in Bortles to make a deep throw every once in a while. I saw way too many instances last year where they didn't seem to trust him in certain 3rd and long situations and they either ran the ball or came up with a conservative, short pass. If this team is gonna take the next step, we gotta make the correct calls and that means trusting Bortles enough to make those plays. Whether he succeeds or not, is anyone's guess, but he's all we have and we gotta make it work. It time to take the reigns off the QB.

Agreed. But I think we saw some of that trust from the coaching staff open up more with him in December and at certain times during the play-offs. I think it comes down to who the opponent is. The defense is going to get beat from time to time. And honestly, as much as we like to deem them elite. 

Let's be real for a minute. They let up HUGE in Pittsburgh and New England earlier this year. HUGE. Bortles was able to answer every TD that Roethilsberger was able to put on the board. The defense didn't finish the job in Pittsburgh. Our offense did. And it came with a huge pass from Bortles to Cole to help seal it all up. The New England game is still a head scratcher. I am beyond blaming the officiating in that game. It was terrible. We all know that. 

But you can't get beat on 3rd and 19. You just can't. And the coaching staff got too conservative in the 3rd and 4th quarter and we paid for it. The creativeness that they had in the first half seemed to evaporate in the second half. It wasn't the same team offensively. And it was a let down. 

But I feel Blake has absolutely earned the right to have more chances to open it up through the air. We need that if we're going to truly take that next step.

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