For once I have to agree with Spy. I dont know that I have seen anything to tell me anything about Blaine Gabbert yet. I will not rule out the potential for him being a legitimate elite level QB in the NFL someday, but I cannot say for certain that he will even be in the NFL three years from now. I can say that if his play doesnt improve significantly next year and the year after than he will probably not be sitting in a very good situation career wise. I honestly hope he ends up being the next elite quarterback in the NFL, but he has not shown me a lot to his point that shows it is a realistic hope.

 

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In all honesty, he wasn't all that great at Mizzou...

But having said that, he got drafted into just about as bad a situation as any QB could. There was a lockout so he didn't get to practice or learn much from the coaches. He was supposed to have a chance to make up that learning curve by sitting a year only to have the starting QB cut a week before the season started. Even if he had been able to learn everything the coaches wanted to teach him, they ended up getting canned half way through the season. He had a very young and inexperienced offensive line that added a lot to his already pre-existing condition of 'happy feet', and even when he could get his passes off they went to a group of receivers that dropped more passes than they caught! (ok, that last one was a bit of an exageration, but it sure seemed that way) About the only good thing he had going was that he could hand the ball off like a champ!

Even with all that, his rookie stats were not all that bad historically, not good or great, but not horrible.

At this point (and yes it's really early), he is not in a good situation to be the next franchise QB, but more of a journeyman backup career trajectory. However, that can change, he is skilled enough to make it this far. I would never say that he is the next Drew Brees or Tom Brady (or even either Manning), or defend his play for other than what it is, but I am not about to discount his abilities based upon what happened this past year.

 

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Dont get me wrong no one here wants him to win 5 superbowls with the team that drafted him more than I do. I have not given up hope on the kid, he didnt exactly come into the same situations that Dalton and Newton did. I expect to see those weapons be placed around him this off-season. I will be surprised if the Jaguars dont sign a high profile WR in free agency, and draft another young WR. I also expect to see Cecil Shorts have a much larger impact this next season. Because those weapons will be placed around him this year, it is going to be put up or shut up time for Gabbert. No excuses, just victories. Also it should be noted that he is barely an adult. I think he is only 21 right now. There is plenty of time for him to grow, most of his flaws are coachable, and most of what is not coachable Gabbert does do pretty well. The only thing I would like to see him do less of is show his face in that back water inbred town we call Columbia. He suffered enough in that city, just leave it behind you Blaine, you are a son of Jacksonville now.

 

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Brady intentionally grounded in the end zone on his first play of the game. He cost his team 2 points and possession. They lost by 4 pts. It would have been by 2 if Brady didn't screw up, or more likley by 3 since the Giants wouldn't have gone for that failed 2pt conversion. So with 57 seconds left in the game, the Patriots would have been driving for field goal range to tie it instead of heaving Hail Mary's down the field like a losing college team. Brady cost his team the ring, not just his recievers. Brady was screwing up from the moment he got the ball, rookie mistakes to boot.

 

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That two points changes everything, and at the same time, it could have changed nothing. Take those two points away and the Giants are suddenly down four instead of two at the end. No way the patriots let them score leading by four. So now with a minute to go the Giants have first and goal from the 10. Do they score on the first play? Or get stopped a few times and run time of the clock. Maybe they score on the first play anyways and Brady does have 57 seconds to get a field goal, or perhaps they score with 10 secs left and it doesnt matter. It is all speculative, but I would not say the safety cost them the ball game. It was early in the game and factored minimally in the outcome of the game. The Wes Welker dropped pass, that cost the Patriots the game, and there is no debate about that.

 

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It's not just the 2pts. It's the possession they lost as well. It is all speculative of course, but who is to say they don't score on their first possession if Brady doesn't screw up like that?

 

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98 yards to start the game? You sure do have a lot of faith in Tom Brady. A score would have set the tone early, but I think even without the mistake it was a long shot they turned the first drive into point starting at their own two yard line. It was a bad mistake by Brady, but I think it had very little to no bearing on the end of the game. Now if that mistake had happened in the fourth quarter, then it would be one of the biggest Superbowl blunders in recent history.

 

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go watch the replay guy, the receiver turned in the way brady decided to roll out. brady didnt see it and threw the ball to where the receiver should have been in the first place.

 

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