Zappe vs Mac

[IcyPatriot]

I think he'll be fine if given a chance.

He certainly does what the coaches tell him ...

 

[Kontradiction]

 

[sportnik]

Interestingly, Joe Montana was within a half an inch for Zappe’s height

Joe Montana Height

Find out how tall Joe Montana is, discover other Celebrity Heights and Vote on how tall you think any Celebrity is!

www.celebheights.com

 

[WhatJustHappened]

Mac HAS WORSE Pocket awareness IMO, I don't care who wins, but IMO? ZAPPE wins, better slide/pocket awareness.

 

[Ian]

I wanted Mac to Rush back but if Mac goes against that Jets defense, it will be his last game as starter for us unless everybody else is hurt. The Jets will feed on his weakness.

Everybody is under this strange impression where they act like Bailey is going to be amazing for the rest of the season and Mac is some neurotic guy who runs around in the pocket without any poise with a weak arm. It's been a little odd watching people get worse there as each week passes...I don't get it. I do think he got hurt in the opener with the back injury and while he said he was fine, he likely wasn't because there was a noticeable drop off in the second outing in Pittsburgh, albeit he looked only slightly better in Baltimore.

But getting back to Zappe ... does anyone remember the Denver game for Brady in 2001? As I said, everyone struggles at some point and Zappe's moment just hasn't come yet. It will. But hey, if he can be a guy who goes out and throws 40 touchdowns and one or two picks that weren't his fault every year, then I guess, good for him.

However, I'm trying to temper my emotions with the thought that we need to find out if the issues in the beginning of the season were due to the disaster that the offensive line was coupled with the erratic offensive playcalling, or if it's just Mac.

That being said, Jones has earned the benefit of the doubt, and just like I wouldn't want to boot Zappe at this point next season if the situations were similar with a new player, he deserves a shot at redemption.

 

[Ian]

Is that HORRIBLE for us fans?
He's never done that, and never will.

LOL, obviously it wouldn't be horrible for fans at all. But you do realize he went unbeaten in the SEC and won a National Championship, right?

 

[WhatJustHappened]

Pocket Awareness is SO UNDERRATED, Mac runs backwards, Zappe moves forward into the pocket the OL has given him.
Say what you want, you can watch tape.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

LOL, obviously it wouldn't be horrible for fans at all. But you do realize he went unbeaten in the SEC and won a National Championship, right?

So, HE HAD AN ALL PRO TEAM.

 

[Kdo5]

I'm on the Zappe bandwagon. He seems to have better pocket presence. He moves up in the pocket rather than straight back 10 yards. He is avoiding pressure and making plays when it looks like a win for the defense. I haven't seen that from MJ this season.

The pocket presence is the most glaring difference to me. Zappe looks unfazed, doesn’t panic when the pressure is coming. Someone around here mentioned it but he seems to have that “sixth sense” in detecting pressure that is out of sight and he moves around the pocket accordingly.

There is a lot yet to see but that is super promising.

 

[Ross12]

Everybody is under this strange impression where they act like Bailey is going to be amazing for the rest of the season and Mac is some neurotic guy who runs around in the pocket without any poise with a weak arm. It's been a little odd watching people get worse there as each week passes...I don't get it. I do think he got hurt in the opener with the back injury and while he said he was fine, he likely wasn't because there was a noticeable drop off in the second outing in Pittsburgh, albeit he looked only slightly better in Baltimore.

But getting back to Zappe ... does anyone remember the Denver game for Brady in 2001? As I said, everyone struggles at some point and Zappe's moment just hasn't come yet. It will. But hey, if he can be a guy who goes out and throws 40 touchdowns and one or two picks that weren't his fault every year, then I guess, good for him.

However, I'm trying to temper my emotions with the thought that we need to find out if the issues in the beginning of the season were due to the disaster that the offensive line was coupled with the erratic offensive playcalling, or if it's just Mac.

That being said, Jones has earned the benefit of the doubt, and just like I wouldn't want to boot Zappe at this point next season if the situations were similar with a new player, he deserves a shot at redemption.

Thanks for mentioning the back injury Ian. For some reason I forgot all about that… I feel like a lot of folks did.

I’m eager to see Mac again but I also don’t want to see him playing hobbled.

 

[Ian]

Pocket Awareness is SO UNDERRATED, Mac runs backwards, Zappe moves forward into the pocket the OL has given him.
Say what you want, you can watch tape.

Oddly enough, pocket awareness and Mac's adeptness at moving around there was an attribute people talked about last season that they were impressed with. The running backwards and turning his back was a new thing this preseason and a new habit he seemed to picked up, because I don't recall ever seeing him do it last season despite all the All-22 footage I watched of him. The same could be said with going through his progressions. He did a better job of that last year than he was doing this year. Again, I don't know if that was due to not being comfortable with the offense or the fact that he was rushing through them and locking in on his guy because the offensive line really only gave him reasonable protection against Pittsburgh.

But yes, he did the things you said but didn't do them last year. There's an issue, I obviously don't know what it is. But I'm not ready to quit on a player three games into a season. I feel comfortable that Zappe is more than just a back-up, so I've mentally moved him ahead of Hoyer and have a comfort level if he needs to start. But I don't feel like he's eclipsed Jones just yet and I want to see Mac again in this current offense, with this more established offensive line.

Also, Zappe struggled against pressure in preseason and finished with one touchdown and three interceptions over three games in August. I like the kid and I'm also fair enough to realize there were some difficult situations that both he and Jones dealt with. He's just been playing with a group that, unlike Jones, had three extra games of experience to work out the kinks by the time he took the field with them.

 

[Betterthanmost]

We did this already I believe on this one. Linebacker was hidden behind the line sitting low where Jones couldn't see him and it looked worse in real-time than it was:

Spacing was terrible on this play too - but that's a story for another day

Ian, I am sorry but this picture does not help Mac in any way, when the ball was actually intercepted, there was already a player infront of Borne. So it is either his arm strength is that bad. Either way, this ball was going to be intercepted or battered down, there were better options


Go look at film at the exact time shown in the screen short of this video(4:40). It is the same play for me.
I saw Mac all of last year and I did not see the confidence, the poise that I am seeing from Zappe so far. Small sample size, but Mac never convinced me, I held it until after the Steelers game and that is when I wrote on here that Mac was not the future. I was shredded here by people who think otherwise because they claim it was too early. What I want to ask is this, what does Mac do better than Zappe? Browns defense is ranked higher than the Ravens FYI.

 

[Kdo5]

I feel like Mac's in a no-win situation. He has to throw 30 TDs and 0 interceptions the rest of the way and finish 11-0 to have any shot at fans possibly not wanting Zappe to get a shot. Oh, and also not lose in the postseason and win the Super Bowl, but you know... no pressure

That is a good point. If they take Zappe out for Mac right now when he’s been on a roll, he needs to perform at a high level or there is going to be a consistent chorus from the fans and media about Zappe whenever he has a down game.

There is a lot of pressure building on Mac that he definitely didn’t see coming after a promising rookie season. Interested to see how he handles it.

 

[Ian]

So, HE HAD AN ALL PRO TEAM.

Wait, hold on, so every team that wins a championship has an all-pro team? That's not exactly a fair evaluation, wouldn't you agree? Especially when he's going against like competition?

 

[Ross12]

Interesting story here. Apparently even the QBs and the rest of the players themselves don’t know who is the starter. This kinda sounds like Zappe wasn’t getting the first team reps last week…

Bill Belichick isn’t just playing his quarterback situation close to the vest with the media.


He’s taking it day by day with his players, too. On WEEI’s Merloni, Fauria, and Mego Show,Bailey Zappe revealed that he wasn’t told that he’d be the starter in Sunday’s 38-15 win over the Browns until the weekend.


“To be quite honest with you, I think it was Saturday, the day before the game,” Zappe said. “The whole week I was preparing as if I was, or if I was a backup like I had the last few weeks. Now this week I’ll be doing the same thing, taking advantage of all the reps I get, no matter what it is, getting ready for the Bears.”



So was Zappe getting most of the first team reps during practice?



“Um, you know, that’s uh...,” Zappe paused as the hosts laughed. “I was taking advantage of the reps that I got. That’s all I can really say. I’m just getting ready for the Bears now.”

Bailey Zappe didn't know he was starting vs. Browns until Saturday

Bill Belichick isn’t just playing his quarterback situation close to the vest with the media.

www.masslive.com

 

[Ian]

Ian, I am sorry but this picture does not help Mac in any way, when the ball was actually intercepted, there was already a player infront of Borne. So it is either his arm strength is that bad. Either way, this ball was going to be intercepted or battered down, there were better options
View attachment 46366
View attachment 46367
Go look at film at the exact time shown in the screen short of this video(4:40). It is the same play for me.
I saw Mac all of last year and I did not see the confidence, the poise that I am seeing from Zappe so far. Small sample size, but Mac never convinced me, I held it until after the Steelers game and that is when I wrote on here that Mac was not the future. I was shredded here by people who think otherwise because they claim it was too early. What I want to ask is this, what does Mac do better than Zappe? Browns defense is ranked higher than the Ravens FYI.

Bourne is where he is in the shot you showed because Jones slid left and Bourne drifted to that side and again, the linebacker drifted out from behind the line. Had nothing to do with Jones' arm strength, etc.

They pointed this out in the broadcast and they said exactly what I said. I just grabbed the screenshot when someone else brought it up at the time and I remembered I had it on my desktop after your post.

 

[Tunescribe]

All this anti-Mac recency bias is mind boggling.

 

[Ian]

Ian, I am sorry but this picture does not help Mac in any way, when the ball was actually intercepted, there was already a player infront of Borne. So it is either his arm strength is that bad. Either way, this ball was going to be intercepted or battered down, there were better options

Not really. He had Jonnu Smith, but that was really about it. You can see it in the screen shot.

Go look at film at the exact time shown in the screen short of this video(4:40). It is the same play for me.
I saw Mac all of last year and I did not see the confidence, the poise that I am seeing from Zappe so far. Small sample size, but Mac never convinced me, I held it until after the Steelers game and that is when I wrote on here that Mac was not the future. I was shredded here by people who think otherwise because they claim it was too early. What I want to ask is this, what does Mac do better than Zappe? Browns defense is ranked higher than the Ravens FYI.

Listen, it's cool if you like Zappe better, I like him too - but again, I'm trying to be fair and I had to dial back my affinity for Jones because in the end, I only care if the team wins games and each season is fun and not a miserable grind. Some of us lived through the early 90s and that 5-11 season in 2000. That's not fun for anyone, so however we avoid that, I'm O.K. with.

Let's pretend for a second Zappe stays as the starter and leads them to the playoffs this year, they lose, and then he gets hurt early in the year in 2023 and they end up with another rookie phenom they drafted next April who goes out and lights it up while he's sidelined while people pick apart whatever things they don't like about Zappe while he's hurt. Would you want Zappe to get a chance to start? Or would you be O.K. with things playing out with him the way they've been with Jones?

 

[Ian]

That is a good point. If they take Zappe out for Mac right now when he’s been on a roll, he needs to perform at a high level or there is going to be a consistent chorus from the fans and media about Zappe whenever he has a down game.

There is a lot of pressure building on Mac that he definitely didn’t see coming after a promising rookie season. Interested to see how he handles it.

At the same time, he's a pro now and he should be used to this given that Saban made him work for the gig in Alabama and didn't exactly have it handed to him. What the people who are killing him are forgetting is that they have the ideal situation. Jones is now going to have some additional pressure and we're going to find out just how mentally tough he is and what type of player we have.

If the doubters end up being right, they'll get what they want, a guy who can hopefully help them win. But if they're wrong, that means they still get what they want, a guy who ends up helping them win.

So... I feel like some people are losing sight of that?? There's no way Belichick won't play the guy who thinks gives them the best chance to win. But they still need to let the process play out first.

 

[Fubby]

Zappe until he plays a ****ty game. It’s the only fair way to go about it