Are we a quarterback away from being good?

[1960Pats]

Its no coincidence that Burrow goes down and Browning is putting up numbers with chase/Higgins

And that Mahomes is struggling without Hill while Tua looked like a good QB once the got....Hill.

A good QB does improve things. BUT it's 11 guys on offense and all pieces must work together.

But Without an improved OL or one elite receiving talent the ceiling of this team will never be high.

How some fans can look at the offensive talent of top teams in the league and then look at ours and say we are a QB away is beyond me.

I think those fans are trying to minimize Bill's mistakes by saying they're only one player away. The Pats need more than that. They also need to worry about losing what few top players they have and getting top FAs to come here.

 

[Stu Pidassle]

The short answer is yes, the Pats would be a team that is good enough to contend for the playoffs. A QB that did not give the ball away at the most critical times game after game would have this years team looking for a playoff slot, even with sub par OL and WR. Mac flaming out in such a spectacular way limited the ability to game plan around in season injuries and makes everything seem way worse than reality. NFL rosters turn over so often that it is normal to have certain positions that require investment on a specific year. When QB is one of those needs, it is hard to feel optimistic that things will be fixed in one year. Even a good draft pick is likely to need time to develop.

 

[upstater1]

I think those fans are trying to minimize Bill's mistakes by saying they're only one player away. The Pats need more than that. They also need to worry about losing what few top players they have and getting top FAs to come here.

Mahomes won the Super Bowl last year. Without Hill.
A backup QB frequently looks good for a few games, until the league figures you out.
This is just regular run-of-the-mill knee-jerk reactions after one week.

I mean, you should make the case that Mahomes misses Smith-Schuster. Big difference out there.

Hill has been gone from KC for 2 years.

 

[StockingAnarchyNumber12]

People also seem to only remember how he played prior to the bye week his rookie season and forget how bad he looked down the stretch. He looked like the player we've been watching the last two years at the end of 2021. The saying used for Mac "good for a rookie" is exactly that. He looked decent as a rookie, but if you're still seeing the same mistakes and no improved play in year's two and three it's a real problem.

Look at the career arc of all the great or even good QB'S in history. Most made improvements in year's one-two-three... they didn't stay the same before taking a flaming nose dive in year three.

Mac has been terrible, he was leading the NFL in interceptions last season when he got hurt and should have been benched at that point. I get BB's thinking about player development and giving Mac time to fix himself... but I disagree wholeheartedly that it was a good idea. If Zappe looks great for the rest of this season and next, we'll be looking back at these past two years as wasted seasons.

Once the league had tape on Mac, they knew his weaknesses and he couldn’t adapt.

 

[StockingAnarchyNumber12]

Mac Jones completes 2 passes, Patriots win anyway

Mac Jones only needed two completions on three attempts in Monday night's sloppy win for the New England Patriots over the Buffalo Bills

sports.yahoo.com

That up ^ there was pretty telling his Rookie year.

A very impressive win, need to give Bill that.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

The short answer is yes, the Pats would be a team that is good enough to contend for the playoffs. A QB that did not give the ball away at the most critical times game after game would have this years team looking for a playoff slot, even with sub par OL and WR. Mac flaming out in such a spectacular way limited the ability to game plan around in season injuries and makes everything seem way worse than reality. NFL rosters turn over so often that it is normal to have certain positions that require investment on a specific year. When QB is one of those needs, it is hard to feel optimistic that things will be fixed in one year. Even a good draft pick is likely to need time to develop.

The "one year" part doesn't matter though. What fans are looking for is an entertaining team that competes and has a future. Just a respectable offense and a 9-8 record would be good next season.

I go back and forth. If we're certain that Maye is going to be really good, then taking him solves probably our biggest problem, and we're still picking at about 35 and 66, with a lot of cap space for a couple of top FA's.

If on the other hand we get a great offer for the #2 or 3 pick - say a move down to 9 for a high 2nd and a 2025 1st - then we'd be picking at 9, 35, 41, and 66 (+ an extra 1st rounder next year):
- at 9 we take the BPA among QB/OT/WR
- then we trade up to about 21/22 for our 35 & 66
- at 21/22 we take the BPA among QB/OT/WR
- at 41 we take the BPA among QB/OT/WR
How we tee this up in FA would guide things. If we throw Tee Higgins a boatload of cash and get him, then we focus on QB & OT with our top 2 picks (9 & 21), and take a WR at 41. This draft seems to be deep at all 3 of our positions of need.

 

[FCB02062]

no

 

[Toofy]

Mahomes won the Super Bowl last year. Without Hill.
A backup QB frequently looks good for a few games, until the league figures you out.
This is just regular run-of-the-mill knee-jerk reactions after one week.

I mean, you should make the case that Mahomes misses Smith-Schuster. Big difference out there.

Hill has been gone from KC for 2 years.

Let Mahomes win without kelce and we can talk.

Mahomes had 2 cheat codes in kelce and Hill and last year 49ers might have won if they had purdy in center.

Brady had gronk , Edelman and scar conjuring magic on Oline. Bill had 0 work there and hence the success.

Now the entire offensive line and significant part of defense needs to be resigned. Only Gonzo is the young stud on defense, rest are aging veterans or free agents.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

Texans are a good example. Hot garbage last year. Draft a good QB and they are in the playoff hunt this year.

 

[1960Pats]

A very impressive win, need to give Bill that.

Of course Bill (or the designer of the running game that day) deserves credit, but drawing up a running game isn't even in the same ball park as executing one.

 

[Wozzy]

At first when I saw that last line I thought it was a contradiction, but I understand what you meant. The problem is that in the case of Brady it's impossible to overrate what he's done in the game.

The second line makes no sense at all though. The top QBs are clearly not the same. Tom proved that too.

The only people that we know are interchangeable in the NYFL are the coaches. The myth that coaches make players was also disproved by Brady. It's clearly the other way around.

The notion that those Patriot teams wouldn't have won rings with Peyton Manning or Ben Rapistburger is silly. So is the notion that the difference between Tom's 7 rings and Brees/Rogers/Farve one ring was Tom's magical power.... or that he was so far above them is fan nonsense. The stats don't reflect that either.

Nobody had better defenses, nobody had better special teams, nobody had better rushing attacks and blocking around them more consistently then Tom had. It's also not coincidence Tom won all his rings at the bookends of his Patriot career when he was playing on a 6th round rookie contract or at the end when he took less money.

It wasn't magic powers, he was simply a great QB on the best team. He never had a defense that was ranked dead last in points allowed for three years in a row like Brees did for example, his defenses never came close to that bad, nor did the team around him... outside of 2002 maybe.



This doesn't diminish Tom and it's not an attack on Tom.

Football is a team sport, it takes a team to win... and especially win rings.

 

[Wozzy]

Once the league had tape on Mac, they knew his weaknesses and he couldn’t adapt.

Exactly.

 

[Ross12]

I am kinda wondering if we might just be good now, with Zappe getting comfortable and getting Pop back. Not Super Bowl good, but maybe playoff contender good. Let's see.

 

[upstater1]

Once the league had tape on Mac, they knew his weaknesses and he couldn’t adapt.

If you can't throw an out, why would a defense pay attention to the perimeter. They will cheat inside every time. It took a year and a half for the ball to get to the corner on that interception he threw in the '21 playoff game. Micah Hyde was on another guy deep in the center of the field, and he still caught it.

From then on, teams clogged the middle and cheated inside. There was never any point in doing anything else.

It's a miracle the Patriots even have a run game with 8 in the box just daring them to throw long.

 

[Toofy]

To all football pundits here , what is purdy doing so correctly, playing at MVP level despite having similar arm strength as mac or having height disadvantages like zappe . What are the intangibles that Bailey and Mac lack that purdy seems to have in abundance.

I understand the 49ers roster is stacked. But that doesn't mean purdy is not doing anything. He seems to be doing something right or Shanahan is doing something right to limit his weaknesses.

 

[moosekill]

We are a qb away from being a playoff contender. I think we are a very good qb and a few other offensive players away from being a serious superbowl contender. I believe our defense is good enough. Not our offense.

 

[203Pat]

A quarterback can't function well with too many needs around him. Your team is in the process of slowly realizing that.

Or you can be the Jets with a solid team and no QB and still go nowhere.

 

[Tunescribe]

Or you can be the Jets with a solid team and no QB and still go nowhere.

The Jete offensive line has been in shambles all year. That's the key to their woes and also why Rodgers isn't coming back this season.

 

[203Pat]

The Jete offensive line has been in shambles all year. That's the key to their woes and also why Rodgers isn't coming back this season.

True. Putting a 40 year old QB behind that offensive line was a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[Patriot Missile]

QB, Wr and a LT away. Defense is stout. 100+ million in cap space and picking early in each round gets them a lot closer if done wisely.