Quote:Last year, the Jags' offense scored 40 TDs. Of those 40, Blake accounted for 37 - 35 passing TDs and 2 rushing TDs. Yeldon scored the other three rushing TDs.
That means that Blake accounted for just under 93% of the TDs scored last year.
To put that percentage in comparison, I looked at a few other quarterbacks during their best years.
In 2013, Peyton Manning threw a career high (and NFL record) 55 TDs. Yet he only accounted for 79% of the TDs Denver scored that year. The Broncos also rushed for 14 TDs, with Knowshon Moreno leading the way.
I looked up Tom Brady's stats during the Pats' last Super Bowl year (2014). Brady threw 34 TDs, yet accounted for only 72% of the offense. New England scored 13 rushing TDs that year, with five players scoring more than two.
To me, that says that even the best quarterbacks can not succeed without an effective running game.
My guess is that Blake feels like it's his responsibility alone to score. And in reality, given our poor running game, he's probably right. The pressure might be causing him to panic, to forget about his mechanics, and just sling the ball. Also, consider that teams are double teaming his favorite target, A-Rob.
On Sunday, Yeldon gave him some support, and he did much better. He was far from perfect, but certainly improved over his terrible outings against Baltimore and San Diego.
Blake may never be an elite QB in this league. But we'll never know unless he gets some running support.
I thought this was common sense. I've been screaming this on here since the San Diego game. It's not a coincidence that when the running game was somewhat productive in London with Yeldon that all of a sudden Bortles looked like he's supposed to look at the QB position. When he's able to get help in the running game it opens up what he does best. Which is working off the play action fakes and bootlegs. He's not a traditional pocket passer. He's a mobile guy. He's in the same vein as Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Russel Wilson and Andrew Luck. Those guys NEED a convincing running game to let them keep the defenses honest and to allow them to buy time with their feet to extend plays. Lacy is underrated in Green Bay. But he's a reason why Rodgers can succeed. Big Ben just got Bell back last night. Bell runs for almost 150 yards and Ben does what? He throws 5 TD passes around like it's nothing. Luck hasn't had a 100 yard rusher in over 50 games or something to that effect. He's struggling and suffering because of that. Look at Atlanta right now. Between Coleman and Freeman they've banged up defenses and it's allowing Julio Jones and the rest of the receivers to get deep which Ryan is now having a field day with. Look at New England. Before they got shut out by Buffalo they were leading the leauge in rushing with Blount's legs. The running game is still a key aspect of a successful offense. It gets overlooked because we see so many 5K passers now. But in reality. It's your QB's like the guys above that flirt with 4K with a stout running game that get it done.....
"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."