Triumph
Hall of Fame Poster
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2004
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I am not sitting there with hopes of watching the Pats offense give the ball away via INT.They got lucky with Brady. Obviously, there's not a Brady-esque guy sitting around they can pluck off the streets, and Mac won't have the same leash this year given the fact Belichick is obviously facing some pressure from Kraft to get back to the postseason.
Again, you can obviously do whatever you want if that's how things play out. But again, I would at least suggest rooting for the kid to succeed since the success of the team is what we're all hoping for. Maybe he turns it around, and if you go back and watch film from 2021 and even last season, as much as you don't like him, he made some pretty terrific throws at various points over that span. Honestly, the biggest difference I saw in watching it was the confidence. He played a lot faster in year one compared to last year, which under McDaniels made sense since he trusted him.
I've said this before, but the Dallas game stands out to me. After throwing a pick-six, rather than going to a safe short game, McDaniels came right back and called a strike down the field to Bourne, and Jones threw a perfect ball over the safety for the touchdown to put them right back up. That was essentially symbolic of the difference between the two seasons.
He may not have a rocket for an arm, but he's smart enough and accurate enough where we've seen him complete some pretty solid throws. Hopefully, O'Brien will put him in a position to allow him to have more options in getting the ball out of his hands faster to allow him to make more of them.
If not, and Belichick plays Zappe at some point, same story. And based on the comments, Zappe and Mac will likely be going back and forth at camp this time around because Zappe won't be behind Hoyer, or whatever other veteran they eventually bring in this year. So that part of it should be interesting.
Otherwise, again, it is what it is. We have who we have and they're going to have to make the best out of it. Mac may not be an elite guy, but if he can go out and throw 20+ touchdowns and move the chains and get them in the end zone the way he did two seasons ago, with this defense, they'll be in the mix. If he does take a step forward, maybe they win a Wild Card game, and another high seed gets bounced, and they end up with a shot at going further. Especially if they're actually healthy and aren't down two starting corners during the most critical stretch this time around. Who knows?
It would be nice for them to add an explosive receiver, but replacing Jonnu Smith with Gesicki in and of itself is a significant boost, since now they have an extra guy to draw coverage which should hopefully open up someone else. It's a lot easier to complete passes when 2-3 of your guys are spaced in a way to create a throwing lane instead of being right on top of one another. I'm assuming that gets fixed this year.
So we'll wait and see. But again, you want a guy gone without much of an alternative. Maybe you'll get your wish, but if not, and he ends up playing well, all we can do is root for it all to work out. Rooting against it makes for a miserable experience, so let's try and avoid that, if possible.
If it happens though the person responsible will be singled out.
Time is running out.