Rewatched the Falcons game and this is what jumped out at me...

[1of10Charnatives]

Three things:

1. I don't want to be overly optimistic, Lord knows that can bite you in the ass with backup QB's a time or two, but watching PJ throw the ball in this game, even though his stats don't look amazing, the one interception while bad, was a somewhat fluky great play by a long defensive end. Didn't look to me like the point at which it was intercepted is one you normally as a QB have to worry about that. Moreover, many of PJ's non caught throws didn't look like flat out bad throws, but the sort of thing that might come from a lack of reps and chemistry and timing with your WR's and that could improve with practice and game reps. I just do not get the same gut feeling anymore of "This isn't going anywhere good" watching PJ of this season that I did in the past and that I get when watching Mayfield and Darnold. They look lost and overwhelmed, PJ is starting to look like a guy who is figuring it out and just needs to continue to fine tune chemistry and timing with his WR's. Most importantly, he seems to have eliminated horribad decisions from his throws. One of the most encouraging aspects of this is he isn't the unknown quantity that defenses have no film on, and we should expect them to soon figure out.  Before the last few games, there was enough film already on him to study his tendencies. I'm not prepared to proclaim him the solution at QB, but PJ's evolution at this moment just has a different gut feel. I am seeing him make impressive throw after impressive throw. To the eye test, he just looks like a guy getting better at his craft.

2. The rest of our roster seems to have pretty solid talent. QB is just the major weak spot, followed somewhat by a lack of pass rush outside of Burns. Whether we draft a QB or PJ becomes some sort of revelation by end of season, pass rush should still be a major focus in the draft. Marcus Mariotta got off to a horrible start 2 of 5 when we got early pressure, but as their line figured out our pressure and neutralized it, Mariotta started completing pass after pass after pass. The way to stop journeymen from looking like All Pros is to get in their face. Our secondary is good, but no secondary can hold out for 5 seconds.

3. As easy as it is to hate the call on DJ, for all the conspiracy theorists out there saying the refs are always fuging us, you're conveniantly overlooking the ST penalty against the Falcons where their player tried to flop when barely touched by (think it was) Hartfield. I also was inclined to bitch about the inconsistency of calling that penalty on DJ and think dark thoughts about the deck being stacked against us on purpose, but rewatching the game forced me to confront the reality of this call. If the refs were really out to get us, this is one they don't call the way they did. Players try to bait the refs all the time, very rarely does the baiting player get called for a penalty the way this Falcons STer did. If you're going to even try to pretend you're being objective, you have to weigh this into consideration. It weighs strongly against the notion of deliberate malice on the refs part. I'm perfectly fine with saying NFL refs suck and are wildy inconsistent, but that's about it.

Except when it comes to Ed Hochuli and Jerome Boger.

fug those guys.

Right in the ass.

With a big rubber dildo.

Sideways.

[TheCasillas]

OP please add a TL DR for us Sunday morning alcholics

<3 

[1of10Charnatives]

Just now, TheCasillas said:

OP please add a TL DR for us Sunday morning alcholics

No.

Get your ADD under control for a minute and focus. It's not war and peace, it's 3 paragraphs.

[Catsfan69]

Pj had a 50% completion percentage. 

He wasn't good

[1of10Charnatives]

3 minutes ago, Catsfan69 said:

Pj had a 50% completion percentage. 

He wasn't good

I'm well aware he has a 50% completion percentage.

Did you actually watch the game?

Did you actually read my post and respond to my argument, or did you just kneejerk with a stat?

 

[Wundrbread33]

6 minutes ago, 1of10Charnatives said:

I'm well aware he has a 50% completion percentage.

Did you actually watch the game?

Did you actually read my post and respond to my argument, or did you just kneejerk with a stat?

 

It’s best to just overlook those comments. You gave effort in your post. Respond to those who do the same.

[Wundrbread33]

PJ, at bare minimum, looks way more comfortable and controlled than Baker and Darnold in the pocket. He doesn’t play scared or under pressure. He’s loose. That in itself is a breath of fresh air. 
 

I disagree about there being enough tape. There certainly is tape, but it’s not just about a player’s tendencies, but their tendencies within an offense. So he’s still in the “backup sweet spot” if you will IMO. Historically that’s been somewhere around 5 games. 
 

So the next 3 weeks should tell a lot. 
 

He’s easy to root for, and if he can be a relatively mistake free, average type starter through the end of the year, It eases the QB pressure, and would open up draft options, particularly since we have a young talented QB we drafted last year. 
 

They would probably still take Stroud or Young, but PJ balling means they wouldn’t have to reach for one of the other QB’s, and could get a pass rusher if need be. Then maybe look developmental QB round 2 or late round 1.
 

A lot of football still to be played though. 

[rayzor]

At the very least PJ gives us a bit of a cushion at QB while we draft one and get him ready.

At best he's Jake Delhomme and a solid starter for a few years while we get a future franchise QB ready, whether that's a guy we draft in the next year or two or Matt Corral.

I do wish we could answer QB and DE this year. I wish we could get our QB and Will Anderson or even Myles Murphy. That would be ideal. If we wound up doing that and picked up a good TE in the draft, we could call the draft a success.

I wouldn't be opposed to bundling most of our picks this year and getting those three taken care of in the first two rounds. 

 

[1of10Charnatives]

9 minutes ago, Wundrbread33 said:

PJ, at bare minimum, looks way more comfortable and controlled than Baker and Darnold in the pocket. He doesn’t play scared or under pressure. He’s loose. That in itself is a breath of fresh air. 
 

I disagree about there being enough tape. There certainly is tape, but it’s not just about a player’s tendencies, but their tendencies within an offense. So he’s still in the “backup sweet spot” if you will IMO. Historically that’s been somewhere around 5 games. 
 

So the next 3 weeks should tell a lot. 
 

He’s easy to root for, and if he can be a relatively mistake free, average type starter through the end of the year, It eases the QB pressure, and would open up draft options, particularly since we have a young talented QB we drafted last year. 
 

They would probably still take Stroud or Young, but PJ balling means they wouldn’t have to reach for one of the other QB’s, and could get a pass rusher if need be. Then maybe look developmental QB round 2 or late round 1.
 

A lot of football still to be played though. 

You may well be right that I'm being a tad overly optimistic about the amount of tape out there on PJ. It's just nice to have at least some reason to enjoy watching. Prior to the last couple games, our QB play was not at a level that gave us a reasonable chance to win most games.  Obviously by end of the season we'll have a better idea, but at least now we have a reason to stay interested.

[CmC2k]

There's a giant Help Wanted sign on our QB position and we are just waiting for someone to come in and take it. Weather that's PJ, Baker, Sam, Corral, or a rookie in the draft we don't care just come in and provide good QB play, and we will rally behind them. The defense is ready to compete aside from another pass rusher opposite Burns and the offense is ready for a QB to step in and lead them. PJ has his opportunity to audition for the job the rest of the season so let's just wait and see what he does with it. If he plays like he did in the Tampa game and the 2nd half of last week's game, then things could get interesting.

[DaveThePanther2008]

I kind of consider PJ a rookie.  He hasn't had much time under center and is going to make mistakes.  That said, it looks like each week he improves.  He's going to have his ups and downs but he may be serviceable for a short time frame. ( as @rayzor said a year or two)

The last thing we need to do is reach for a QB just because all the talking heads think we should draft one of their favorite QBs.  We have other needs as well.

DE in round one.  Bowers TE Georgia Round two and a QB with the SF pick. 

[Khyber53]

Right now, I think PJ is making a case to be in the QB room next season. Mayfield won't be there. Darnold probably won't either and he definitely won't if he doesn't see the field this year (which has a good chance of happening). 

I think we look at PJ and Matt Corral going into next season. Depending on how Matt has done with the play book and how he recovers, he could be the starter or the back-up still on the learning track. 

That would allow us to address DE immediately and I think we need to do that. Burns can't get it done without someone on the other side to really press a defense. YGM isn't doing it and he's really just a rotational guy. We need someone that will command double teams on the outside and pull some of the pressure off of Burns.

You never know, we could enter the arms race for a proven vet QB who is looking for a new contract. Jackson from Baltimore may not have a deal done before the legal tampering season opens... 

Still, PJ shows more promise now than I ever thought he would. Good on him and I hope he continues to grow. It sure would a miracle for us to find out that the answer really was on the roster for once.

[CmC2k]

3 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

It sure would a miracle for us to find out that the answer really was on the roster for once.

How ironic would it be that Matt Rhule brought in 4 QB's to start only for the true answer to be the backup QB he coached in college who he never gave an opportunity too and could never see his potential. 

[hepcat]

You forgot to add Clete Blakeman to the list of crooked refs 

I saw the Falcons game as an example of how overrated the defense is. Run defense is ATROCIOUS. Gross-Matos is garbage. They built the core of the defense outside of Brown to be small and fast. It’s a disaster to body up and defend the run. This team won’t win many more games with how bad the run defense is especially late in games.