It's pretty simple. Bill sees both players in practice every day. Obviously, he and the coaches know more than we do. They draw up the plays. They know what's supposed to happen and see the film with what he does.
I mean, honestly, if Mac was screwing up as royally and missing guys - Sunday aside - as often as so many people like to believe he is, do you honestly believe he'd still be in there? Not a chance. He'd be on the bench, especially if he's telling off Patricia on television and then blowing reads left and right.
Coaches in the NFL, Patricia and Judge included, get fired every day when a player doesn't do what they're asked. If that was happening, Mac would have been yanked a long time ago. They're not taking the fall for him and they'd start Zappe in a second if that was the case, I can absolutely promise you that.
That aside, my response was in regard to the claim that there's a "Mac crew" that is just ignoring his mistakes and that we somehow won't change our minds. I simply pointed out that most of us on this supposed "Mac crew" are letting the kid - who is a second-year player - try and work out the kinks and improve. You can't just kick a second-year player to the curb without letting him deal with adversity. Or at least historically, that's been a bad move unless the player has truly shown he can't do it. Same thing with the team in general. Stuff happens. We see it every year.
Yes, I've already broken down the numbers, posted them, and pointed out that it's the worst game of his career. That can't continue. I've mentioned this multiple times.
Zappe's under contract for three more years after this. They're not in any rush to make a decision because they've got plenty of time there. They have three games left, and I'm sure by then, we'll have a sense of how they'll approach things heading into next year. I'm just patient enough to let it play out.
If Mac finishes poorly, Zappe's going to have the same opportunity to get stronger this offseason that Mac had and it could set up an interesting camp. But I'm not going to give up on the kid unless he reaches a point where there's no longer anything positive on film to think he can do the job.
But this is what we're up against. We had an elite QB. We don't have that now. I've had to lower my own expectations, and it is what it is. So we're going to have to try and win with a guy who can make some throws and not turn it over. It sucks, but that's what we have and that's what we're in for unless our own Mahomes or Josh Allen drops into our laps. But you and I could age 10 years before that happens again.