Did Week 15-16 (49ers/Jags) games suddenly become tougher for the Patriots?
 

It looks like the Jaguars and 49ers may have new and improved quarterbacks when we face them...

49ers: Colin Kaepernick (vs Bears)
243 yards / 2 TDs / 0 INTs / 97.5 Rating

Jaguars: Chad Henne (vs Texans)
354 yards / 4 TDs / 0 INTs / 126.8 Rating

Fluke games?

Whatever the case, anyone is an improvement over Blaine Gabbert, would have much preferred that match-up.

Re: Did Week 16-17 (49ers/Jags) games suddenly become tougher for the Patriots?
 

Few things here, Pete....

1. We play the 49'ers in a few weeks, 6 days later from the HOU MNF football game on Dec.10th. That would make it the 16th.

2. It isn't week 16..or week 17 for that matter.

3. We play the Jags and Dolphins in weeks 16/17. Those games should not be any harder/easier than anyone expected, and Blaine Gabbart may very well be back by then anyway, considering it's 5-6 weeks from now.

4. The SF game was likely going to be the toughest game all year no matter who played QB, and it still is no matter what. Gary Coleman can come back from the dead and start as the 49'ers QB, and it would still be a tough game that we very well may not win.

5. Many are way more concerned about not having Gronk vs the 49'ers than they ever were about which QB started for them. Just so you know, A.Smith has had a TOTAL of 2 incompletions in his last 2 games with 4 TDs and 0 INTs, so it isn't like Capernick is suddenly replacing a bum.

Re: Did Week 16-17 (49ers/Jags) games suddenly become tougher for the Patriots?
 

1. Oops, I meant meant Week 15-16, not 16-17.

2/3. Yup, week 16 will be the Jaguars.

5. Gronk issue has it's own threads. Alex Smith is the ultimate game manager.

Re: Did Week 16-17 (49ers/Jags) games suddenly become tougher for the Patriots?
 

I agree that I'd much rather face Gabbert than Chad Henne too, but there is the possibility that Gabbert may return to health soon. They seem pretty set on riding out his learning curve and trying to turn him into one of the better QBs, so the pressure is on to do so. The Jags are pretty stubborn and dumb, overall a very poorly run organization, so they may actually end up placing him right back into the lineup. I do not think that the injury was all that significant.

Even if we do have to face Henne, we are used to him so that is a plus.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that Gabbert starts our game at the end of December, but if Henne is the guy then yes--the game probably became a little harder than it initially was.

MJD will also be back by that time too unfortunately, but when you have games @NYJ, @MIA, then host HOU and SF (in a 6 day span) you have better things to worry about then the health of the Jax Jags QB for the end of December game. I like the way you think though, always looking ahead ;)

Re: Did Week 16-17 (49ers/Jags) games suddenly become tougher for the Patriots?
 

They officially promoted Henne over Gabbert, injured or not.

Jaguars promote quarterback Chad Henne over Blaine Gabbert

Re: Did Week 16-17 (49ers/Jags) games suddenly become tougher for the Patriots?
 

I agree that Smith is surely a game manager, but they have been tailoring their gameplan fairly nicely to his skills lately. I think that he had 2 games in a row where he only missed on one pass each game, as I said he had 4 TD's and 0 INT's in his last 2 games.

I don't think that aspect of their offense was anything to be too concerned about, as their defense and running game will be more of a focus, but I would rather see Smith probably.

There is the thought that Caepernick could be making "rookie" mistakes vs us, even though he's technically in his 2nd year, so that's a thought.

A lot can happen between now and then, but I think I'd rather see Smith just because we'd have to worry about Caepernick running/scrambling a bit more probably.

Re: Did Week 16-17 (49ers/Jags) games suddenly become tougher for the Patriots?
 

There's absolutely no difference between playing either. Every win is a tough win.

Re: Did Week 16-17 (49ers/Jags) games suddenly become tougher for the Patriots?
 

Well, while I applaud the Jags for finally realizing what the rest of the world already knew in terms of Gabbert absolutely sucking, I do wish that they could've continued playing him through the rest of the year.

Henne has a tendency to become injured, so we still have that hope.

Of course, the popular thinking will be that if we can't beat up on the Jags we shouldn't be too worried about the playoffs, but I don't necessarily fully agree with that 100%. I think any game can be won by a lousy team on the right day.

They may have really overachieved yesterday though, and in the end they blew multiple chances to beat them, so they may end up being the same old Jags after all. We'll know more in the next month or so.

Re: Did Week 15-16 (49ers/Jags) games suddenly become tougher for the Patriots?
 

I still can't believe that it took a Blaine Gabbert injury to finally force them into going with a journeyman backup QB, how insanely pathetic is that?

At least we know they'll likely be sucking up one of the earlier QB's in the draft again this year.

Gabbert can hang out with JaMarcus Russell, Tim Tebow, and Brady Quinn in the offseason from now on, they should be able to tell some good stories to each other.

Re: Did Week 15-16 (49ers/Jags) games suddenly become tougher for the Patriots?
 

I try not to base any opinion on a single week's performance. The Jags are 1-9, and Henne (with a career QBR of 77) did not suddenly become Joe Montana after one game (Gabbert has the exact same QBR this season). Houston is not unbeatable, and this was a divisional game. It is no accident that the Jags are 1-9 this year, and Gabbert is not the only explanation for that record.

As for the Niners, the Bears D looked flat (maybe overconfident against a rookie QB) and was outmatched from the start (run and pass defenses looked bad). The Bears O-line is horrible, and looked it. The Niners just played the Rams, the team the Pats throttled the week prior, to a tie, so I am more inclined to chalk this game up to a Bears team that is starting to look like the Bears again (no consistent offense, a good defense, and potentially out of the playoffs).