Quote:I agree in the scheme of things,  Bortles is still a strength of the team and last year's defense was a huge weakness.

 

However, there were turnovers Bortles had last year (to be expected under the circumstances) that absolutely KILLED this team-the pick 6 against Carolina, the INT against Tampa, the pick 6 against Houston, the INT right before halftime at the goal line against Atlanta-that were huge differences in thosee games.

 

In light of your post, my point is if we are hovering around the 9-7 mark and still in the playoff hunt, turnovers of that nature could derail any playoff shot.

 

Well, of course.   So could a fumble, or a blown coverage, or a missed tackle.  

 

The question is, does Blake have to get better in order to get this team into the playoffs.  No, he doesn't.   If the people around him get better, we can make the playoffs with the exact same Blake Bortles as we had last year.   Heck, if we could have a defense like Seattle, we could go deep into the playoffs with the exact same Blake Bortles.   Forgive me for being argumentative, but the issue we are debating is very clearly defined.

 

"Blake doesn't have to play any better to get us into the playoffs."  

 

No, he does not.   He can play exactly the same and get us into the playoffs, if the people around him play better.  Because he is not the weak point of this team, and he is not the reason we didn't make the playoffs last year.  In fact, I doubt last year's team could have made the playoffs with Tom Brady at QB. 

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