No I agree with you. But my point was that we have to roll with whoever the coaches determine is the best for the team. We can say whatever we want about who might be better, but I am 99.999% sure that it doesn't mean squat to the Patriots.
I mean half the case for Jones over Zappe appears to be Zappe had better offensive coaching. Also interesting to see how much PA they seemed to use vs. man coverage when Bill was recently on record saying running PA vs. man wasn't really that useful. Seems like perhaps they were simply holding it back, why I guess we won't know. I also don't like the pressure stats as they don't tell the whole story. Is Zappe under less pressure because he is quicker to get the ball out or has the OL improved that much. To me Zappe seems to progress through his reads quicker, albeit sometimes giving up on a read perhaps too quickly. I don't think anyone would argue that the game plans installed recently have been better than the earlier game plans which featured virtually no pre-snap movement and no PA.
I do wonder about the pressure stats for two reasons....
Exactly pressure rate should really be re-examined as a stat, it is about as useful as RBI in baseball since context is what matters, not the outcome. If a QB holds onto the ball too long because he can't diagnose pre-snap the blitz and identify the appropriate hot read that is a lot different than say having Isiah Turnstile trying to block an all--pro DE who gets to the QB in under 2 secs despite the team only sending 4 rushers.
Bedard making the case for Jones makes me desperately want BB to do exactly the opposite. I find Bedard to be pompous and insufferable.
The answer to this is the quality of the defenses. Cleveland and Detroit, Zappe's opponents, have 2 of the worst defenses in the NFL, maybe the worst defenses in the NFL.
At least some of it has to do with Mac playing from behind in a lot of his games vs. Zappe always playing with a lead.
Isn't the question what BB does when Mac *is* 100%?
Volin will write whatever he thinks will generate complications for Belichick. Belichick doesn't given him the time of day like he does Reiss or Steve Burton.
I agree with your take on who BB will play, but I think that means he'll reinsert Mac as the starter when he's ready to go. I love the Zappe story, but I suspect Bill would attribute a huge chunk of his success to the game planning and coaching of Patricia and Judge. I mean we know that Zappe would never have seen the field had Hoyer not gotten hurt. I have a really hard time believing Zappe has gone from 3rd stringer who's not ready to take snaps from an utterly washed up Hoyer, to supplanting Mac, in 2 1/2 weeks.
1 + 1 could also be 10 or 11 depending on how you look at it.
I still lean this way as well, I'm loving the Zappe experience but right now believe Mac will be back when healthy, we obviously have not seen enough from Zappe yet.
If the reports are true that Mac's ankle is 85-90%, I'd guess that the best path going forward is to have Zappe play Monday against a Bears team that's not very good. It will give Mac yet another week or recovery, Zappe gets an opponent that he could do very well against, and then the team can reassess afterwards.
I agree 100%. Makes all the sense in the world for Zappe to start this week. I do think that Mac must be personally feeling pressure to get back as soon as possible.
I can't believe he rolled with it on the word of someone he didn't know who said he worked in the friggin' ticket office. Are there any people working in ticket offices in the NFL (or any pro league for that matter) privy to player/personnel information? It just seems ridiculous to me.
If Mac is the confident guy that most people think that he is, he's not feeling the pressure. He thinks that he's an NFL starting quarterback.
Ah yes but the issue is what Bill Belichick thinks. Mac may see himself as a starting QB, but if BB sees Zappe’s success maybe Mac fears that BB will stick with BZ. Thus the potential pressure to hurry back.
No doubt about it. Been that way for awhile now. It’s more important to be first than to be right in the world of twitter and social media.
I think that I'm not communicating well.
Volin may be the only person on the entire planet who might have believed, even for one micromillisecond, that BB was, at any time, giving any thought to *starting* Zappe over Hoyer against GB.
Why wouldn't BB be thinking about starting Zappe? Am I missing something here? I guess I don't pay much attention to the endless speculation threads, but it seems very plausible that who started against the Packers was very much a discussion internally.
Against Green Bay? Hoyer probably got 90% of the 1st team reps that week. Maybe more.
Patriot players were saying after the Green Bay game that Hoyer and Zappe split reps 50-50 in practice that week.
In BB we trust, etc. but I am confused as to how Hoyer looked better than Zappe in practice.
In hindsight, I suppose there's a chance he didnt look better than Zappe in practice.. From Tuesday, BB was saying "If Mac cant go, its Hoyer." Hoyer took 1st team reps on Wednesday and Thursday.
I assume that Hoyer was always the starter against GB because he was the backup and they were hoping it was a short term injury and Hoyer could keep them afloat a few weeks due to schedule easing up after GB.
Hoyer hasn't thrown a pick since 2020. Mac has thrown 20. Hoyer should be QB1!
And Volin owns up to it. Ladies and gentlemen, your Boston Globe Senior NFL writer!
Based on his history...
This has already been debunked. Ben Volin got trolled by someone on Twitter and reported a fake DM as fact. By all accounts, Mac is nothing but a team first guy who is beloved in the locker room. Zappe himself has had nothing but praise for Mac.
