Mac Jones is the Starter [Update - Mac is starting vs the Jete, says BB]

[One-If-By-Sea]

He sure did, and Daniel Jones & Mills.

Look at where the other Bama QBs sit: at the top. I can see why Saban sat Mac behind those guys.

Mac beat out this year's Heisman winner - Saban could have sat Mac another year.

Neither Tua or Jalen were great in their 2nd year. And Miami and Philly were patient. There are some people on this site that can't comprehend patience.

 

[Ian]

Mac's at the bottom of the Week 8 QB list in rating again. He beat out Stidham, so that's good. But a win is a win. We'll take it.

You just did a Mac10 move and moved the goalposts mid-argument.

Obviously, it wasn’t a great overall performance, but as you said, we’re lucky it was enough. And yes, it needs to be better.

 

[catent]

Mac's at the bottom of the Week 8 QB list in rating again. He beat out Stidham, so that's good. But a win is a win. We'll take it.

Those six sacks stick out like a sore thumb.

Yes, the Jets' DL is good. Yes, the Pats' OL is dealing with some issues. But at some point those start to fall (in part) on the QB himself.

Zappe has been sacked six times through every game he has played in, let alone a single game. And it's not as if there was no pressure during the games Zappe played in. Packers got pressure on him, Browns got pressure on him (Myles Garrett is pretty good), even the Lions had some guys in his face at times. Bears game was probably the worst of the season in terms of OL play and pressure on the QB.

Zappe just seems to do a considerably better job of operating within the pocket, feeling pressure, keeping his eyes downfield, using leverage/angles to buy time and avoid pass rushers, all of which results in fewer sacks.

 

[venecol]

I’m sure they are. And none of us, or at least I don’t, want him playing if he can’t do it. Watching it back earlier, it was less bad than it felt initially. But it clearly still needs to be better.

Basically, my opinion is that the rest of this season is essentially an evaluation of his future. If it goes south, that will definitely result in a change, or at least an open competition with potentially a veteran also brought in.

But you’re putting a lot on a guy who also struggled Monday night and got picked twice. We still don’t know what we have yet and he did what Jones did last year. Played two good games in his first two starts and then threw multiple picks late against a tougher team.

Obviously, if Mac can’t do it, then we’ll have to hope Zappe can. But I’d like for them to do their full diligence on both before they part with either of them. You’re trying to rush it based on Zappe having two good games against two not so great teams.

That and Zappe ran a conventional offense and Mac is mostly in a shotgun spread…I don’t get it.

But I digress.

Either way, the future of this team requires a Qb and they can’t afford to be wrong about either of them. Hopefully one of them is the future because as I said, if they’re not, we’re in trouble.

I don't know if Zappe is the guy. He's a rookie. There's no way to know anything about him because he hasn't played enough (a full season).

But from everything I've seen since the 2021 Bye week, I'm pretty sure Mac isn't the guy. He's unsettled, jittery, makes poor decisions constantly, does not have a 2022 NFL QB arm, etc. Of course, we should keep him playing. He'll win next week against the dreadful Colts. But the last 7 weeks of the season, I don't see this team going better than 2-5.

If we're being 100% honest & he was the QB on any other team, we'd all be making fun of him.

 

[venecol]

You just did a Mac10 move and moved the goalposts mid-argument.

Obviously, it wasn’t a great overall performance, but as you said, we’re lucky it was enough. And yes, it needs to be better.

What goal posts? I'm just showing his performance compared to the other QBs that played this week. He's at the bottom. That's not an argument, it's just raw data.

Ian, his top receiver was Rhamondre Stevenson for Christ's sake. We have to baby him so he doesn't make mistakes. If it's not for that moron Wilson giving us the ball 3 times, this game would've been a lot closer. Fortunately, he's another bust and he actually has a hell of an arm. I doubt the Jets keep him past this season.

 

[PatsFan2]

I don't know if Zappe is the guy. He's a rookie. There's no way to know anything about him because he hasn't played enough (a full season).

But from everything I've seen since the 2021 Bye week, I'm pretty sure Mac isn't the guy. He's unsettled, jittery, makes poor decisions constantly, does not have a 2022 NFL QB arm, etc. Of course, we should keep him playing. He'll win next week against the dreadful Colts. But the last 7 weeks of the season, I don't see this team going better than 2-5.

If we're being 100% honest & he was the QB on any other team, we'd all be making fun of him.

He's a tad better than Wilson if that's any consolation.

 

[Tunescribe]

I'm happy we won. A win is a win.

He said through clenched teeth.

But if you think we're going far with this QB, you're delusional.

No, li'l fella, what's delusional is this idiotic anti-Mac campaign you can't let go of even after the Pats beat a tough divisional opponent. Mac went pretty far his first season finishing as the NFL's 13th-rated quarterback AS A ROOKIE while leading his team to a winning record and playoff berth. His second season remains an open book running a new offense and suffering a serious injury.

Why not pull for him to do well since winning supposedly makes you happy? Why not just let it play out? If he's as bad as you pray he is that will take care of itself.

He's terrible.

He is far from terrible. He threw a clutch scoring pass on fourth down that ultimately provided the margin of victory. His offensive line was a sieve vs. a strong defense and his No. 1 WR was shelved early. He hung tough and led his team to VICTORY. If you want to see "terrible" look at the other sideline.

He'll get exposed against better teams, just like last season.

He said with fingers crossed, hoping with all his might.

I hope someone in the FO is taking notice of his limitations.

Maybe you should gather all the anti-Mac Jones statistical evidence you've breathlessly attempted to conjure for this website and fax it to them. Since they apparently have no clue you can set them straight. Include a note suggesting they forward it to BB when finished.

You are so utterly full of crap it's unbelievable.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

Mac Jones was fantastic. He was under constant pressure and had to make quick throws to not-the-best-WRs-in-the-league. He did the best he could under these difficult circumstances.

 

[Rob0729]

Mac Jones was fantastic. He was under constant pressure and had to make quick throws to not-the-best-WRs-in-the-league. He did the best he could under these difficult circumstances.

He wasn't fantastic. He definitely struggled early, I will say given the circumstances, he played pretty well in the second half.

The good thing is that he seems to have worked himself out the funk he was in. That is a positive.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Yesterday kind of felt like the Pittsburgh game. He was good at times, lots of key 3rd downs converted, some with his legs. Then you had the turnover and should be turnover(s). Seems like his season reset with the injury and hes back to finding his
groove. If so Hopefully next week looks like the subsequent Baltimore game but without the turnovers at the end. If the defense does its job we wont be pressing too hard for points anyway so that could help prevent those picks.

Itll be interesting to see though what happens if hes still playing like this come thanksgiving. I always felt like he should get a fair chance to hold the job, but he shouldn’t be untouchable either.

 

[PatsFan2]

He wasn't fantastic. He definitely struggled early, I will say given the circumstances, he played pretty well in the second half.

The good thing is that he seems to have worked himself out the funk he was in. That is a positive.

No he didn't thanks to Zach Wilson what a pathetic QB class. Luckily Mac plays them twice in three weeks.

 

[Rob0729]

No he didn't thanks Zach Wilson what a pathetic QB class. Luckily Mac plays them twice in three weeks.

I didn't he played great. I said he played pretty well considering the circumstances (a crappy o-line that couldn't stop a cold and Parker being out).

 

[203Pat]

Do you seriously believe that was an acceptable performance from Jones going forward? I am extremely happy that we were able to get the W in Mac's first game back as he gets his feet wet, but he very nearly gave that game away on multiple occassions. He needs to start playing cleaner football quickly.

The homerism is at an all time high if people are actually defending Mac's performance yesterday.

 

[catent]

Yesterday kind of felt like the Pittsburgh game. He was good at times, lots of key 3rd downs converted, some with his legs. Then you had the turnover and should be turnover(s). Seems like his season reset with the injury and hes back to finding his
groove. If so Hopefully next week looks like the subsequent Baltimore game but without the turnovers at the end. If the defense does its job we wont be pressing too hard for points anyway so that could help prevent those picks.

Itll be interesting to see though what happens if hes still playing like this come thanksgiving. I always felt like he should get a fair chance to hold the job, but he shouldn’t be untouchable either.

I didn't see a lot of key 3rd downs converted. The team was 6/19 on 3rd down for the game. It felt like any 3rd-down of 6-8+ yards when they had Jones drop back was precarious.

This felt more like the Miami game than the Pittsburgh game to me, but it's hard to distinguish/compare.

 

[Rob0729]

The homerism is at an all time high if people are actually defending Mac's performance yesterday.

There is a difference between defending him against the over the top hatred towards him and defending him by thinking he had a good game. I thought he was pretty good in the third quarter and the first part of the fourth, but he struggled in the first half. But many here are putting all the blame on him for the offensive woes and won't acknowledge the offensive line was downright offensive.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I didn't see a lot of key 3rd downs converted. The team was 6/19 on 3rd down for the game. It felt like any 3rd-down of 6-8+ yards when they had Jones drop back was precarious.

This felt more like the Miami game than the Pittsburgh game to me, but it's hard to distinguish/compare.

At least 4 of those failed 3rd downs were runs or kneel downs. And there were a couple more 3rd and very longs that we just did dump offs to get closer. So that 6/19 wasnt as bad as it looks at least on macs end.

On the first fg drive in particular he converted 3rd and 10 to meyers, 3rd and 11 to meyers, then 3rd and 5 scramble. I thought that was pretty impressive. And I remember one of the scoring drives in Pittsburgh being similar. But in both games he was wildly inconsistent.

 

[203Pat]

There is a difference between defending him against the over the top hatred towards him and defending him by thinking he had a good game. I thought he was pretty good in the third quarter and the first part of the fourth, but he struggled in the first half. But many here are putting all the blame on him for the offensive woes and won't acknowledge the offensive line was downright offensive.

I don't hate him and if I had to pick one of the two QBs to succeed it would be Mac. I would like to not have whiffed on a first round pick but I am starting to get more and more worried. The offensive line was terrible yesterday but Mac's pocket awareness isn't helping. He doesn't seem to feel the pass rushers bearing down on him and holds the ball for far too long. He needs to hit some of his check downs. I think there was that one play before the half where the RB was wide open standing in the flat and Mac never even looked his was and got sacked. He just doesn't seem to be seeing the field well and his new desire to tuck and run is a recipe for disaster as well. He was getting a little too cute yesterday on the run along the sidelines and his going to get himself killed.

 

[Rob0729]

I don't hate him and if I had to pick one of the two QBs to succeed it would be Mac. I would like to not have whiffed on a first round pick but I am starting to get more and more worried. The offensive line was terrible yesterday but Mac's pocket awareness isn't helping. He doesn't seem to feel the pass rushers bearing down on him and holds the ball for far too long. He needs to hit some of his check downs. I think there was that one play before the half where the RB was wide open standing in the flat and Mac never even looked his was and got sacked. He just doesn't seem to be seeing the field well and his new desire to tuck and run is a recipe for disaster as well. He was getting a little too cute yesterday on the run along the sidelines and his going to get himself killed.

I wasn't pointing the finger at you. But there is clear over the top hatred of Jones on this board where some posters blame him for everything wrong with the offense.

Jones was definitely a part of the problem in the first half, but I felt he was closer to his last year's self in the second half with good pocket awareness and making decisive throws.

 

[jdlboot14]

In Josh Allen's first 2 years he started 28 games, with these combined stats:
Cmp % = 55%
TD/INT = 30/21
Yards = 5100
Pass RTG = 77
Record = 15 - 13

In Mac's first 2 years to date, he's started 22 games (including the Bears 3 series, which is cheap to call that his loss)
Cmp % = 66.7%
TD/INT = 25/20
Yards = 4800
Pass RTG = 83
Record = 12 - 10

If the Bills gave up at this stage, they wouldn't have what they got now.
(and relax with the "Mac doesn't have Josh's talent" talk, that's obvious, but I think Brady proved you don't need a cannon and dual-threat ability to WIN in the NFL) If Mac has a ceiling like a Cousins/Jimmy G, who both started similarly, there's no reason he can't be a winning/steady QB. Especially if we get a pro-level OC and system. Heck, if Payton came in, he could be a top 7 QB.

 

[203Pat]

I wasn't pointing the finger at you. But there is clear over the top hatred of Jones on this board where some posters blame him for everything wrong with the offense.

Jones was definitely a part of the problem in the first half, but I felt he was closer to his last year's self in the second half with good pocket awareness and making decisive throws.

This fanbase is very fickle. I don’t think think Mac is playing well whatsoever but when I was at the Monday night game against the Bears people also seemed to be rooting for Mac to fail and reveling in him getting pulled even before Zappe led the two touchdown drives. I agree that it seems to have morphed from dissatisfaction over his play to just hating on Mac in general. Between the mocking he received for his reaction to the ankle injury to the Zappe chants before the game even started last Monday a large portion of the fanbase seems to have turned on him already.