Is Drew done?

[Flying Fungi]

McNabb's been the league's best quarterback so far this season. But, just this past week, he threw two outs that were jumped by Ronde Barber for touchdowns. I guess he's done too. Then there's Tom Brady, who threw a 100+ yard touchdown pass to Champ Bailey in last season's playoffs. He must be done. We really need to start sticking forks in all these shot quarterbacks.

Come on, people, be realistic.

Michael Strahan noted that he was surprised that Dallas didn't have more protection set up in the first half so, unless he was lying his ass off for no particular reason, it's pretty clear that the problem was coaching. Bledsoe was hurried or hit on almost every one of his pass attempts, and 3 of the 4 sacks involved Giants players coming through untouched. Bledsoe isn't the problem, as the almighty Romo quickly showed while scrambling for his life on several occasions and still getting sacked twice in the second half, as well as throwing 3 picks. The problem is an offensive line that didn't get the needed upgrade, and a coaching staff that doesn't adapt to that problem against teams with a good pass rush.

Edited for typos

ladies and gentlemen, we have our first die hard Bledsoe apologist of the thread...

Drew Bledsoe, 2006:

YearTeamGGSAttCompPctYdsYPALgTDIntTkld20+40+Rate
2006Dallas Cowboys661699053.311646.89517816/10714369.2


(edited for stat format)

53.3% completion rate; 7 TDs; 8 INTs; rating of 69.2
Bledsoe sucks...I called a friend that is a huge Cowboys fan when Dallas obtained him and laaaaauuuughed my ass off...

 

[atlpatsfan]

I think there are plenty of teams that could use him but he is going to be in the same situation. He will spend a lot of time on his ***** while he helps then develope the guy who will be their "real" starter.

 

[VJCPatriot]

What is there to say except it is what it is?

Bledsoe is probably done in Dallas. For Parcells to stick in Romo after the half and just sit there and watch Romo throw 3 picks and get sacked 2 times shows just how little he thinks of Bledsoe.

All is definitely not rosy in Dallas. That Dallas OLine got worked like a bunch of illegal immigrants in a sweatshop. It was that bad. I don't care if you stick in Joe Montana in that lineup and in that particular game the Dallas offense would still have sucked with the way that OLine played.

Now do I apologize for Drew? No. I think he's done. Physically and mentally.
He's been taking way too many hits and sacks and not only has it gotten to him but even the people around him regard him that way. The reputation has stuck and there's no way for him to shake it.

Add TO's constant whining to that mixture and you have an ugly stew. The current situation where TO is always crying for the ball and TO is not happy unless he gets 10 passes thrown his way per game even when defenses key on it has got to be frustrating. Why did Drew throw to the opposite side the play was designed to go to? Maybe because TO was running to that side and secretly Drew was rebelling against giving in to TO's demands?

We've seen it before in Philly. When a QB and WR have personal conflicts things will get ugly. I didn't hear much love from TO for Drew either when he was asked what he thought about the change in QBs. I think TO was just thinking, well maybe the new guy will throw me the ball more so what do I care if Drew gets benched.

When all is said and done I think both Drew and Tuna will be gone by next season. If Jerry Jones was smart he wouldn't have made the move for TO though. That guy has been nothing but a distraction and the Cowboys won't be going anywhere far with that guy on board.

 

[Deus Irae]

ladies and gentlemen, we have our first die hard Bledsoe apologist of the thread...

Drew Bledsoe, 2006:

YearTeamGGSAttCompPctYdsYPALgTDIntTkld20+40+Rate
2006Dallas Cowboys661699053.311646.89517816/10714369.2


Bledsoe sucks...I called a friend that is a huge Cowboys fan when Dallas obtained him and laaaaauuuughed my ass off...

I'm not a Bledsoe apologist. I simply believe in being honest. Bledsoe is probably the least mobile quarterback in the league, and he's a downfield thrower, and everyone knows it. Now, knowing that, you have to get a line that can protect him. Spending the money on Owens rather than a Steve Hutchinson, for example, is simply stupid. People who attack Bledsoe almost always do it from a position of ignorance, or convenient memory loss.

This same player you're attacking once took a ridiculously mediocre Patriots team to the Super Bowl and might have had a shot at winning it, if the special teams hadn't allowed Desmond Howard to run wild.

Since being traded from New England, he's been put behind two of the worst offensive lines in the league. He took a Buffalo team that had been 3-13, and went 8-8, 6-10 and 9-7 despite that terrible line and bad coaching. After he left, the team fell to 5-11 and is currently 2-5. In other words, with Bledoe there, Buffalo went 23-25. In the years bracketing that without him, Buffalo went 8-24. Bledsoe may not have been the savior, but he was certainly a large part of the reason the team went from terrible to respectable.

In Dallas, Bledsoe went to a team that had gone 6-10 the season before and led them to a 9-7 season. This season, even with the terrible line that's currently there, having lost its Pro Bowl Tackle Larry Allen, he had the team at 3-2 and within a touchdown of the lead last night when he was pulled at the half.

This isn't being an apologist, it's acknowledging what he's done.

 

[Gumby]

ladies and gentlemen, we have our first die hard Bledsoe apologist of the thread...

Gee, I hope I don't get accused of being a 'diehard Bledsoe apologist' for what I am about to post (since some of his ill-advised throws and standing forever in pocket are inexcusable ) but.......................

Here goes.

Granted Romo is a rookie; but he didn't exactly have a ton more success than Bledsoe did. But look at the defense he was facing... the Giants had 3 defenders who DID NOT PLAY THE ENTIRE SECOND HALF (a DE, pro-bowl LB - Arrington, and a CB ).

With that weakened defensive front Romo still threw 3 picks to Drews 1. Not sure on the breakout of the 6 Sacks between the two; but I'm pretty sure at least 2 were Romos.

So even given that Bledsoe just "LOOKS BAD" out there sometimes; it was only a 5 point game when he was yanked. I am not entirely sure they still lose if he was left in.

But regardless; Parcells has crossed the Rubicon. Now that he blew whatever credibility Bledsoe had left with the team; he needs to start Romo. Its a poison pill either way and he can say his mind is not made up; but he has to go with Romo, I think, and just buy into that they are really a rebuilding team that MIGHT make the playoffs and not a championship team.

NOTES:

However, the Giants also come away facing two serious injuries: Arrington tore his left Achilles tendon and is likely out for the season, and defensive end Osi Umenyiora missed most of the second half with a strained hip. ........The Giants also played the second half without cornerback Frank Walker, who strained a hamstring.

 

[Fanfrom1960]

ladies and gentlemen, we have our first die hard Bledsoe apologist of the thread...

Drew Bledsoe, 2006:

YearTeamGGSAttCompPctYdsYPALgTDIntTkld20+40+Rate
2006Dallas Cowboys661699053.311646.89517816/10714369.2


(edited for stat format)

53.3% completion rate; 7 TDs; 8 INTs; rating of 69.2
Bledsoe sucks...I called a friend that is a huge Cowboys fan when Dallas obtained him and laaaaauuuughed my ass off...

Nice guy. With friends like you...Just kidding. That's how we sports fans are.

 

[hwc]

Then there's Tom Brady, who threw a 100+ yard touchdown pass to Champ Bailey in last season's playoffs. He must be done. We really need to start sticking forks in all these shot quarterbacks.

Those two interceptions are not even remotely comparable.

Brady was victimized by an intentional trap coverage laid by Champ Bailey. Brady had burned Bailey on that pattern earlier in the game. So this time, Bailey and the safety laid the trap. They showed the same coverage. On a quick read and release timing pattern, Brady saw what he thought was favorable coverage. As he released the ball, Bailey sprung the trap -- he and the safety swapped their assignments.

Bledsoe's INT was not a quick read and release. He held the ball. The coverage was fully declared when he threw the ball. You simply cannot throw that pass late. It's an INT everytime when the ball comes out that late.

 

[Flying Fungi]

I'm not a Bledsoe apologist. I simply believe in being honest. Bledsoe is probably the least mobile quarterback in the league, and he's a downfield thrower, and everyone knows it. Now, knowing that, you have to get a line that can protect him. Spending the money on Owens rather than a Steve Hutchinson, for example, is simply stupid. People who attack Bledsoe almost always do it from a position of ignorance, or convenient memory loss.

This same player you're attacking once took a ridiculously mediocre Patriots team to the Super Bowl and might have had a shot at winning it, if the special teams hadn't allowed Desmond Howard to run wild.

Since being traded from New England, he's been put behind two of the worst offensive lines in the league. He took a Buffalo team that had been 3-13, and went 8-8, 6-10 and 9-7 despite that terrible line and bad coaching. After he left, the team fell to 5-11 and is currently 2-5. In other words, with Bledoe there, Buffalo went 23-25. In the years bracketing that without him, Buffalo went 8-24. Bledsoe may not have been the savior, but he was certainly a large part of the reason the team went from terrible to respectable.

In Dallas, Bledsoe went to a team that had gone 6-10 the season before and led them to a 9-7 season. This season, even with the terrible line that's currently there, having lost its Pro Bowl Tackle Larry Allen, he had the team at 3-2 and within a touchdown of the lead last night when he was pulled at the half.

This isn't being an apologist, it's acknowledging what he's done.

Look--I liked Bledsoe and what he did--at one point I was willing to argue that he was right up there with Manning. But Drew has never been an upper echelon QB. And now, Drew Bledsoe is not a New England Patriot--so I feel no obligation to give him a free pass simply because he was the best QB in NE since Steve Grogan. I give ALL of the credit to the rise of the NEP franchise to the Kraft family--everything else is a result of their efforts.

Now--in regards to the records of Buffalo and Dallas before and after Drew--all you are proving is that Drew Bledsoe has been marginally superior to Rob Johnson, JP Losman, Alex Van Pelt, Travis Brown, Shane Matthews and now Tony Romo. I'm pretty certain that the list speaks for itself, especially when you consider that Drew has now been benched for JP Losman and Tony Romo.

 

[Flying Fungi]

Nice guy. With friends like you...Just kidding. That's how we sports fans are.

all's fair, right? :rocker:

 

[Flying Fungi]

Not sure on the breakout of the 6 Sacks between the two; but I'm pretty sure at least 2 were Romos.

Drew tied a career high with 4 first half sacks...which is pretty impressive as he has got to be one of the career leaders in sacks taken...

 

[jct]

What is the difference between Bledsoe and Marino...
Bledsoe has a SB ring for winning an AFC Championship game.

Ok, as a fan I appreciated Bledsoe, he brought us many victories excitement and hope. I wish him well. Frankly, he is far from great but he is one of the best 50 QBs of all time IMO. He is only done if he chooses to be. Frankly he would upgrade at least ten teams. I just hope that if he keeps playing he has some protection around him.

Anyone in NE who doesn't give Bledsoe his due for winning 2 AFC Championship games for us isn't a true fan of the Pats IMHO.

Ok slam me now...

If Drew could stand it, I'd be happy to see him as Bradys backup.
We could trade Cassel for like a 2nd or 3rd.

 

[Deus Irae]

Those two interceptions are not even remotely comparable.

Brady was victimized by an intentional trap coverage laid by Champ Bailey. Brady had burned Bailey on that pattern earlier in the game. So this time, Bailey and the safety laid the trap. They showed the same coverage. On a quick read and release timing pattern, Brady saw what he thought was favorable coverage. As he released the ball, Bailey sprung the trap -- he and the safety swapped their assignments.

Bledsoe's INT was not a quick read and release. He held the ball. The coverage was fully declared when he threw the ball. You simply cannot throw that pass late. It's an INT everytime when the ball comes out that late.

On the Bledsoe pick, the play was not supposed to go to Glen. Bledsoe stepped back, turned and threw to his safety blanket. It was a terrible decision and throw, but it was no worse than Brady's toss. In both cases, quarterbacks who knew better made stupid plays when they should have just thrown the ball away. And, realistically, one could argue that Brady's throw was far stupider since he was throwing against one of the best DB's in the game and had even less likelihood of success. Brady is the best quarterback in the NFL, but that throw was every bit as inexcusable as Bledsoe's was, if not more so.

 

[Deus Irae]

Look--I liked Bledsoe and what he did--at one point I was willing to argue that he was right up there with Manning. But Drew has never been an upper echelon QB. And now, Drew Bledsoe is not a New England Patriot--so I feel no obligation to give him a free pass simply because he was the best QB in NE since Steve Grogan. I give ALL of the credit to the rise of the NEP franchise to the Kraft family--everything else is a result of their efforts.

Now--in regards to the records of Buffalo and Dallas before and after Drew--all you are proving is that Drew Bledsoe has been marginally superior to Rob Johnson, JP Losman, Alex Van Pelt, Travis Brown, Shane Matthews and now Tony Romo. I'm pretty certain that the list speaks for itself, especially when you consider that Drew has now been benched for JP Losman and Tony Romo.

Ok, in your book 23-25 is only marginally better than 8-24, and 9-7 is only marginally better than 6-10? I'm pretty certain that speaks for itself.....

 

[RobertWeathers]

IMO after seeing 100s of his games, rooting for him to do well before #12 took over, I've reached the conclusion that the guy just never had the mental capacity to be a great QB. Period. He knows base defenses, playbooks, audibles, team's route adjustments and protection schemes, but when it comes to reading a variated defense like a BBs, or Kiffin, or Johnson's in Philly, processing it in 15 seconds, and then applying the right combinations of route adjustements, protection schemes and the the right play to counter the defense, the guy just could never do it at an elite level. No one would say Brady has better pure talent than Bledsoe. But there is no question that he's smarter. I think that is the main reason he always made those killer mistakes in the red zone where you need to think quicker because you can't just sit there and let plays develop. That's another reason why during critical junctures in games he screwed up. With the added stress of the situation, his judgement and processing of information is becomes muddled and he just doesn't connect the dots the situation calls for.

Holley does a good job of kinda calling this out in "Patriot Reign". I read somewhere (wish I remebered where) that the Pats coaching staff gives their QBs tests on situations, plays, etc. and must answer in 10-30 second time blocks. It's kinda like a wonderlic. Brady always aced it or got real close. Bledose sucked at it. It used to drive Weis and BB nuts.

 

[Oswlek]

On the Bledsoe pick, the play was not supposed to go to Glen. Bledsoe stepped back, turned and threw to his safety blanket. It was a terrible decision and throw, but it was no worse than Brady's toss. In both cases, quarterbacks who knew better made stupid plays when they should have just thrown the ball away. And, realistically, one could argue that Brady's throw was far stupider since he was throwing against one of the best DB's in the game and had even less likelihood of success. Brady is the best quarterback in the NFL, but that throw was every bit as inexcusable as Bledsoe's was, if not more so.

Are you talking about the EZ pick in the Dallas/NYG game? Because, if you are, you are mistaken.

Bledsoe dropped back looking towards Glenn the whole way. He waited until Glenn had already made his cut and then threw the ball. Glenn was open at the time, but because Bledsoe waited so long to throw the ball, the defender had worlds of time to recover and get the pick. I'm not sure how you can say that Glenn was not the intended target as Drew never looked in any other direction.

That is the type of play that has plagued Drew for his entire career. The guy was instrumental in helping the Phoenix rise from the ashes, but he was never that great. He had greatness in him, but he never cultivated it.

 

[Flying Fungi]

Ok, in your book 23-25 is only marginally better than 8-24, and 9-7 is only marginally better than 6-10? I'm pretty certain that speaks for itself.....

I cannot give those 15 wins to Drew alone. Is that what you are trying to do?



2002 Drew has a point to make and has one of his best seasons ever...along with a 1500yd rusher and TWO 1000yd receivers
2003 Drew gets Travis Henry's 1500 total yards and is still 11tds/12ints
2004 Drew gets McGahee and Moulds with over 1000yds apiece and finishes 20/16 and a 76.6 rating
2005 Drew gets back with Glenn and Parcells and has a decent year with twin RB threats and a TE binky...and a WOW 83 rating...

So yeah...in 4 years since he left NE, he has inherited better skill players than Brady inherited and posted 86, 73, 77 and 84 ratings...with 52 (FIFTY-TWO!!) fumbles in FOUR YEARS!

mediocre????? yeah...by my book, that's mediocre...

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Ok, in your book 23-25 is only marginally better than 8-24, and 9-7 is only marginally better than 6-10? I'm pretty certain that speaks for itself.....

OK, so in your book throwing the occasional ill advised pick at the worst possible time (although the genie was out of the bottle after the back to back fumbles he had nothing to do with) - and how many times has he done that in 6+ seasons, slightly more often than it snows here in July - is only marginally different than doing it time after time after mind mumbing time to 3 teams and 4 HC's and half a dozen OC's and any number of Oline configurations in too many games to count over 10+ seasons? I'm equally certain that speaks for itself.

Your a Drew apologist, plain and simple. And those are the folks who over the course of an NFL career have enabled Drew to maintain his facade of denial. Never his fault. The proof? A JAG rookie backup didn't do any better...

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Are you talking about the EZ pick in the Dallas/NYG game? Because, if you are, you are mistaken.

Bledsoe dropped back looking towards Glenn the whole way. He waited until Glenn had already made his cut and then threw the ball. Glenn was open at the time, but because Bledsoe waited so long to throw the ball, the defender had worlds of time to recover and get the pick. I'm not sure how you can say that Glenn was not the intended target as Drew never looked in any other direction.

That is the type of play that has plagued Drew for his entire career. The guy was instrumental in helping the Phoenix rise from the ashes, but he was never that great. He had greatness in him, but he never cultivated it.

Glenn was Drew's intended target. TO was BP's intended target and the play that was called in. That Drew never even looked for him was insubordination in the eyes of his HC. I think that is what triggered the half time benching. Not just the mistakes and miscues, the improvising that amounted to insubordination.

 

[soxpatsbscs]

I had to endure the Drew love fest for a while, but thank God everyone sees the error in it. He is a million dollar arm QB with a five cent head. Always has been. I even remember some Pats fans being happy when Brady got hurt in the 01 AFC Championship game, saying Drew was a real QB. I will never understand those people. He will probably end his career soon unless he wants to play backup. No one is fooled by his flashes of talent anymore.

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

I don't know about Drew but I'm pretty certain Parcells is all done in Dallas.
I'm sure he was done when Jones brought TO in the fold.

--------------------

I agree. The whole question period with T.O. is just getting old, you can see it in Parcells face. I think that Drew is still a pretty decent qb, he just simply needs protection in a pocket that is somewhat clearly defined, so that the o-line can block for an area.

I have always liked Drew, as he is a pretty classy guy, last however he just looked so pissed. Ya gotta feel for the guy, like they said on ESPN it seems like lately he is constantly interviewing for his job. Dallas still can get it right, however I think Drew has to move on, as short a history as it has been. Parcells has played his hand, he has to develop the kid and give him a chance, he did not look too bad last night. Drew can carve you up still, he just needs time and protection, both of which were not even close to being present last night. I wish him well however, wherever he plays....