Stiddy discussion

upstater1 · Jan 20, 2026

SVN said:
Oh man, i couldnt understand why we were doing blitz zero on eveyr third down. Kuhr needs to see who he is playing. Stroud couldnt do anything when we dropped in coverage.

Exactly, the blitzes drove me nuts. My butt clenched every time LOL. Guy was doing nothing against our zones. So we isolated our CBs on an island and gave him a free shot.

upstater1 · Jan 20, 2026

ViperGTS said:
Payton this, Payton that. How many SBs did the guy win in NO with freaking Drew Brees as his QB. I, like last week about the Texans D am SICK AND TIRED of hearing about how good Payton is. People need to stop with this ****, the OC on the Pats side, as well as the HC have accomplished so much more in the NFL than Payton has.

Oh and as far as the best o-line in football, pretty sure they are running some backups out there in a couple of spots on that O line.

Luke Wattenberg is the only starter who is injured. The other 4 guys are the regular starters. Wattenberg is mediocre as is Forsyth so effectively this is the same OL. They have an All-Pro at LT and an All-Pro at guard. The other guard and the right tackle are big free agent signings with experience. Having 2 first team All-Pros and 2 big free agent signings is a luxury in this eague.

On the flip side-- the center twisted his ankle this week and will play hurt.

p8ryts · Jan 20, 2026

upstater1 said:
Luke Wattenberg is the only starter who is injured. The other 4 guys are the regular starters. Wattenberg is mediocre as is Forsyth so effectively this is the same OL. They have an All-Pro at LT and an All-Pro at guard. The other guard and the right tackle are big free agent signings with experience. Having 2 first team All-Pros and 2 big free agent signings is a luxury in this eague.

On the flip side-- the center twisted his ankle this week and will play hurt.

first stringer might be able to return this week.

BUSTAMOVE · Jan 20, 2026

I have fear of any team this time of year
But that is normal be prepared for anything fear
But the salivating over Payton and their defense is a bit exaggerated IMO
Their defense gave up points in the mid to high twenties when they played a good team
They win a lot of low scoring Games. Many where Nix won it for them in the end
What I do know is Anything can happen. But
We have Payton to worry about, but they have Vrabes and McD to worry about
I have more faith that Drake will have a good game and put some points on the board than Stiddy having the game of his life.
If it’s a close low scoring game Nix is not their with his clutch factor they have a QB with no real in game experience
The only thing I fear is the altitude factor if it is a low scoring game
I think we will be ready with a good game plan and a team that has morphed into Vrabel
I’ll take our chances in this one

n1997y · Jan 21, 2026

Ross12 said:
Payton will have a plan and he will make some throws - but then Vrabel and Kuhr will adjust and take those away. Will ~~Stidham~~ Payton be able to adjust on the fly as well?

FIFY

SVN · Jan 21, 2026

n1997y · Jan 21, 2026

40yrpatsfan said:
The real opponent is Sean Payton. Stidham is capable of carrying out Payton’s offense. If we turn the ball over again this will be a dogfight.

This.

I’ve already said that if the Broncos were playing the Texans I think Stid would give them about as good a chance to win as Nix, because the OL will be more important to that matchup than the QB. That’s because the Texans defense isn’t so much about disguising complexity, it just is what it is and wins by overpowering opponents. If Payton is able to create a suitable game plan and coach the OL up to be able to beat Houston I don’t think the downgrade from Nix to Stidham will be enough to change anything.

I don’t think the same is true for the matchup with the Patriots, but I’m not sure how much difference the drop off from Nix to Stidham will actually make. Thing is, the Pats defense is more complex and very good at disguising what they’re doing. Problem is, with no film on Stidham, and no idea what trends or preferences he or Payton might have for his game plan against the Pats it’s unclear how the Pats might choose to defend him.

It does seem to me that not knowing what to expect from Payton and Stidham may leave the D vulnerable to being ripped for some big plays if they guess wrong.

n1997y · Jan 21, 2026

turkeyneck said:
This is the key. BB favored giving weak qbs all the time in the world, trying to trick them by forcing complex reads. That often failed. Weak qbs are mainly weak in their ability to process at speed what they're looking at. Giving them time helps them. Pressing them hard to act before they understand, as above re Stroud, is the better way. Get inside their OODA loop, in tactical parlance.

Interesting point. You almost had me just by mentioning OODA. I Col John Boyd!

But….

That’s a very good approach for an attacking defense. My question is whether the lack of any good book on Stidham will mean our defense is operating with a flawed OODA loop because of the lack of intel (scouting) to inform our orientation when diagnosing his intentions.

Not sure it’s a win to run inside the opponent’s OODA loop if yours is wrong.

n1997y · Jan 21, 2026

XLIX said:
No, we do know. There is a reason he has started 4 games in 7 years and absolutely no team in the entire NFL is even remotely interested in him as a starter.

If he balls out and looks good in the last two games of this season that will almost certainly change.

n1997y · Jan 21, 2026

cmasspatsfan said:
Wouldn't be surprised if Stidham is as good as Stroud.

Exactly.

Behind a better OL than Stroud.

In better weather than Stroud had last Sunday.

With a defense almost as good as Stroud had.

Playing at altitude in Denver.

This game is not a slam dunk gimme.

n1997y · Jan 21, 2026

farn said:
Serious question : where do posters think Stiddy ranks amongst all backups ? Top third ? Bottom third ? Mid ?

Can’t tell.

Insufficient data.

n1997y · Jan 21, 2026

SVN said:

Very interesting. He knows Stidham, and makes some good points about how highly both McDaniels and Payton value him.

I won’t be surprised if his prognostication proves accurate.

I’m afraid his comment about a Disney movie seems could come true.

Gumby · Jan 21, 2026

TB12TheGoat said:
losing to Stidham would be a disaster. this isn’t a Foles situation. Foles looked like an all-pro in 2013 and then was helped in the SB by the opposing coach benching a starting corner the entire game and playing guys in the secondary out of position

Foles also had a 5-6 game run up to playoffs. Stiddy coming in cold.

Only thing is that as a franchise (more BB time), we have made some first game players look good. Kinda like how in game 1 of this season we made the LVR look good. Is that [because: ] you don’t know what to expect , opponent plays on a high, or ??

SVN · Jan 21, 2026

n1997y said:
This.

I’ve already said that if the Broncos were playing the Texans I think Stid would give them about as good a chance to win as Nix, because the OL will be more important to that matchup than the QB. That’s because the Texans defense isn’t so much about disguising complexity, it just is what it is and wins by overpowering opponents. If Payton is able to create a suitable game plan and coach the OL up to be able to beat Houston I don’t think the downgrade from Nix to Stidham will be enough to change anything.

I don’t think the same is true for the matchup with the Patriots, but I’m not sure how much difference the drop off from Nix to Stidham will actually make. Thing is, the Pats defense is more complex and very good at disguising what they’re doing. Problem is, with no film on Stidham, and no idea what trends or preferences he or Payton might have for his game plan against the Pats it’s unclear how the Pats might choose to defend him.

It does seem to me that not knowing what to expect from Payton and Stidham may leave the D vulnerable to being ripped for some big plays if they guess wrong.

I dont know about the disguising part. From the first play on CJ stroud missed open throws . Sure they bought a ton of pressure but some of it was unwarranted especially the zero bliztes which was the only think stroud was handling well. Its one thing to disguise and another to do it for effectiveness. I thought our D played well straight up than the disguise vs texans.

n1997y · Jan 21, 2026

SVN said:

Just a reminder, this clip is Stidham’s first NFL start, for Josh McDaniels’ 6-9 Raiders against the 11-4 Niners he took it to overtime before losing 37-34.

n1997y · Jan 21, 2026

SVN said:
I dont know about the disguising part. From the first play on CJ stroud missed open throws . Sure they bought a ton of pressure but some of it was unwarranted especially the zero bliztes which was the only think stroud was handling well. It’s one thing to disguise and another to do it for effectiveness. I thought our D played well straight up than the disguise vs texans.

I was thinking of the Chargers game as well. That really showcased the ability of the Pats D to change things up, which may be important against Stidham.

Mayeniac · Jan 21, 2026

Bunch of chicken littles.

I have zero concern going up against Stidham. This will be a blood bath!

Ross12 · Jan 21, 2026

n1997y said:
Interesting point. You almost had me just by mentioning OODA. I Col John Boyd!

But….

That’s a very good approach for an attacking defense. My question is whether the lack of any good book on Stidham will mean our defense is operating with a flawed OODA loop because of the lack of intel (scouting) to inform our orientation when diagnosing his intentions.

Not sure it’s a win to run inside the opponent’s OODA loop if yours is wrong.

Why do we think we do not "have a good book" on Stidham?

Stidham was in the Patriots facility for 3 years (2019, 2020, 2021) and then was with McDaniels for all of 2022. He's spent more time with New England and New England coaches than not. The only years of his entire pro career that he was not were 2023, 2024 and this season.

Do we honestly believe he has completely transformed into a different person and player in just three seasons? Perhaps he may have matured some mentally and mechanically, but he's still who he is.

sb1 · Jan 21, 2026

Hopefully the Patriots logo transforms Stid back into the pick 6 machine that he was when he was here.

Gumby · Jan 21, 2026

Ross12 said:
Why do we think we do not "have a good book" on Stidham?

Stidham was in the Patriots facility for 3 years (2019, 2020, 2021) and then was with McDaniels for all of 2022. He's spent more time with New England and New England coaches than not. The only years of his entire pro career that he was not were 2023, 2024 and this season.

Do we honestly believe he has completely transformed into a different person and player in just three seasons? Perhaps he may have matured some mentally and mechanically, but he's still who he is.

Add one more reason we have a “good book” on Stiddy…..apparently his agent was selling to. Rabes, but he wasn’t buying…

From the press-conference on Monday (apologies if a repeat, but I didn’t recall seeing anyone else post in this thread)…

Q: Mike, this morning on the radio, you mentioned that you did some offseason work on Jarrett Stidham. I'm just curious what you saw from him as a quarterback when you were doing that work.

MV: Well, I guess it was kind of ironic, just speaking with his agent. They're like, "Well, if you don't want your starter to get hurt, sign Jarrett." That was before yesterday or two days ago. Just going back to when Josh [McDaniels] had him and playing against that. I think he sees things really well. I think he's athletic enough to extend, like we talk about a lot of quarterbacks. Accuracy. I think the decision-making – he's really decisive in the games that we went back and watched. This is even going back to when I was in Tennessee as well.

He later also said he doesn’t recall why they chose Dobbs over Stiddy.

So all-in-all; a lot of the ……BB praise your future opponent; don’t give them any bulletin board material (like: he was way too expensive for his skills Or we have a better backup. ); and wrapped in w the MV trademark ‘speak a lot without saying much.’ type of answer.

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