As a Bills fan, Zappe scares me

[Pape]

I feel like it’s 1992 again. Hodson or Zolak? Secules?

I remember being drunk enough to chant for Zo ... I don't think it is physically possible to drink enough alcohol to cheer up Hodson or Secules

 

[RIpats88]

The Pats babied Mac through much of his rookie season. What Zappe did today was the same thing Mac was being praised for early last season with a better coordinator.

This is also an argument why we shouldn't be calling for a QB change because a guy had 188 yards and 1 TD against the lions. People acting as if he threw 400 yards and 4 tds. Zappe is good but he's limited right now. But it's the NFL fanbase. If zappe has a poor game and loses vs the browns people will call for him to be cut....

Clearly they are calling the offense different now than they did in the beginning of the year having Mac throw up 50-50 deep balls. They are running more and the OL seems to have been playing better. If they called this offense with Mac Jones. I'd say we put up over 40 on the lions.

 

[Triumph]

If Zap starts launching TD passes like Josh Allen did yesterday it will be really hard to go back to Jones.

 

[Stu Pidassle]

I like Zappe. He’s Joe cool and reminds me of when Brady started out.I like how he stood in the blitz and completed a pass. If he continues to I improve I say ride it out with Zappe so we get everything smoothed out in time to beat Buffalo rather than switch horses again. Mac got the rug pulled out on him with the coaching and system changes and he’s not handling it well.

As fun as yesterday was, it is unrealistic to think that Zappe will look as good going forward. The script was set when the DB just fell down with a freak neck injury leaving Henry wide open on the first play. A bad defense that kept losing DBs coupled with the D scoring points and providing great field position made everyone look great on offense. Stupid coaches going for it on 4th down kept giving the Pats the ball without scoring any points. No doubt Zappe did his job efficiently, benefiting from a good game plan that protected him while taking advantage of the opportunities. Vilma mentioned multiple times that the play calls were one read plays to simplify things for the QB. As with Mac we will not know what we have until he has to play from behind against a good defense.

The building blocks from this game are the play of the defense, the dominant offensive line and the coaches figuring out a game plan that works. Unless Mac is healthy Zappe should start next week.

 

[Froob]

Jimmy barely played. Brissett was terrible.

Brissett played a nice game vs the Texans, his thumb was ****ed up vs the Bills and he shouldn't have had to play.

 

[A Defiant Goose]

Lol at the subtle backhanded dig at Mac Jones. Bills fans are getting good at trolling

 

[Tunescribe]

Hey Tunes...you go to the game today? that Campbell sure is a huge meathead

Here's Campbell on the sidelines after going for it on fourth down six times:

 

[StrawHatPatriot]

He's looking good, but I wouldn't be "scared".

I like his agility in the pocket though, and his decision making is clean.

It's a little early to give a verdict however. The lions defense is one of the worst in the league. The next 2 games should give a clearer indicator of how he is.

 

[Toofy]

I think we need to pump the brakes a bit on zappe. The overreaction stems from the fact that Mac has been so bad this season and zappe as a game manager looked much superior to Mac as a QB.

So we need to see how zappe adjusts against a better team . But if he continues to have the same pocket presence as today's game, then we are definitely entering QB controversy area.

The schedule gets easier for zappe but he is also without Harris which could impact our running game which is probably 75% of our offense .

Maybe we see a bit more intermediate and short screens from zappe to get him acclimated to passing offense .

 

[GreenCow]

The Pats babied Mac through much of his rookie season. What Zappe did today was the same thing Mac was being praised for early last season with a better coordinator.

And a full off-season of getting all the 1st team reps (which Zappe didn’t get).

 

[Bill Lee]

I think we need to pump the brakes a bit on zappe. The overreaction stems from the fact that Mac has been so bad this season and zappe as a game manager looked much superior to Mac as a QB.

So we need to see how zappe adjusts against a better team . But if he continues to have the same pocket presence as today's game, then we are definitely entering QB controversy area.

The schedule gets easier for zappe but he is also without Harris which could impact our running game which is probably 75% of our offense .

Maybe we see a bit more intermediate and short screens from zappe to get him acclimated to passing offense .

A counter point: Look at how the Dolphins third string QB played yesterday.

If nothing else, we have a cheap backup QB for four years, saving us millions of cap dollars.

I think BB and team heavily simplified the game, largely depended on FGs and a nice defensive score, survived Agholor's bad hands, and let the defense control the game.

That should be the recipe for Mac when he returns. Mac has had too many interceptions. Some have been the fault of the receivers, but some have been Mac clearly throwing into double and triple coverage.

Mac should be told if he can't clean up that part of his game, Bailey is gonna start.

Agholor is a FA this off season, clearly he won't be back next year, he is just not playing well enough relative to what he gets paid.

 

[Toofy]

A counter point: Look at how the Dolphins third string QB played yesterday.

If nothing else, we have a cheap backup QB for four years, saving us millions of cap dollars.

I think BB and team heavily simplified the game, largely depended on FGs and a nice defensive score, survived Agholor's bad hands, and let the defense control the game.

That should be the recipe for Mac when he returns. Mac has had too many interceptions. Some have been the fault of the receivers, but some have been Mac clearly throwing into double and triple coverage.

Mac should be told if he can't clean up that part of his game, Bailey is gonna start.

Agholor is a FA this off season, clearly he won't be back next year, he is just not playing well enough relative to what he gets paid.

I think we are saying the same thing. He played brilliantly that we just want to make sure we don't jinx him with the over optimism . He felt far more assured than Mac over the last 10 months .

If zappe continues in the same vein, I don't see a reason to start Mac. We might end up with the conservative playmaking that we saw yesterday.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

La Costa Nosa was not built in a day

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Zappe has the look of a career back up.......nice effort today, he's a gamer, but he's not an NFL starter, either

This sounds so familiar...

21 years ago,...

 

[Bill Lee]

I think we are saying the same thing. He played brilliantly that we just want to make sure we don't jinx him with the over optimism . He felt far more assured than Mac over the last 10 months .

If zappe continues in the same vein, I don't see a reason to start Mac. We might end up with the conservative playmaking that we saw yesterday.

Yes, we are in agreement.

I think perhaps Mac has been too optimistic.

Maybe seeing someone else playing a game manager role within a limited game plan will help him understand he doesn't have to win the game with his arm, and that he can lose the game with his arm with a few bad throws.

I think Mac will start when healthy. It might be better if possible to keep Zappe as an undefeated QB threatening Mac's job rather than have him play a few bad games and then have two QBs with losing records.

 

[Vindicate]

I feel like Zappes decision making is obfuscated by running a really simple offense, whereas Jones is being trusted to take more command.

All that to say, it's hard to feel confident saying "No need to start Mac." - and that's putting it lightly.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Agholor is a FA this off season, clearly he won't be back next year, he is just not playing well enough relative to what he gets paid.

We always seem to have at least one guy to stretch the field like when we carried Dorsett for years. With Thornton being drafted, I assume the Pats have been planning to move on from Agholor for the last year.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

If Zap starts launching TD passes like Josh Allen did yesterday it will be really hard to go back to Jones.

Agreed. What are the chances of that happening?

Did you see Zappe launching TD passes like Josh Allen at Western Kentucky? I love Zappe, but please talk about events that have a chance of actually happening.

 

[Patsgofor4]

 

[jdlboot14]

Everyone take a swig of the reality elixir.
BB broke Mac a bit with the Bills wind game - fair enough. But he came out swinging this year despite a horrible start for the OL, a horrible start for a brand new OC, and a few untimely errors in the pass game (including by WR's). But if you erase from your short-term memory some of the incredible passes and precision plays he did have, then you fall into that trap that "the guy on the bench" is the next superstar. Zappe showed that he won't fold, but it's such an extreme leap to say he's proven anything like Mac did through most of last year. And when Mac comes back and looks better than the first 3 games everyone will get back on the wagon and say "the time off cleared his head".