As a devout member of Northeast religion known as Patriots Nation, you’d be hard pressed to find a situation regarding the NFL that I can’t somehow misconstrue and relate back to the Pats. And the Bengals knocking out the Chiefs Sunday is no different. Because let me tell you this, Joe Burrow making it to the Super Bowl should be music to New England’s collective ears. Not just because the false ‘GOAT-to-be’ Mahomes is out, but due to what it means for Mac Jones moving forward.
Allow me to stand at the pulpit and give my sermon.
We live in a society (Joker shoutout) where fans, reporters and front office members alike seem to value “WOW” traits and athleticism over your traditional quarterback play. You know, reading defenses, putting the ball where it needs to be, those types of things. It’s the reason we prematurely crown people like RGIII, Baker Mayfield or Lamar Jackson the ‘next big thing’ before they ever win anything. Again, valuing highlight reel plays over steady, consistent, winning quarterback play.
If you take away Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers and maybe Josh Allen, name me a running/athletically superior quarterback in the league that you legitimately think is a Super Bowl contender. If you can’t think of any, let me help you out.
***Mike how are you going to relate this Joe Burrow stuff to Mac Jones*** hold on, we’re getting there…
Lamar Jackson? HA. The former MVP is racking up injury after injury recently. And, as much as some of you won’t admit it, he’s not a good quarterback in the sense of beating you with his arm. His legs will fade. When that happens, what do you have? Taysom Hill.
Kyler Murray? Supremely talented little guy! But it’s time everyone understands what Murray is: a mediocre quarterback with highlight reel plays. When he hits the playoffs, as he did this year, you need to rely on more than your pure athleticism to win you games. Being really really fast isn’t always a cheat code when you play elite competition.
Russell Wilson? His time is done. Yes, he’s won in this league before. There’s always an exception to the rule. But even when he was at his peak, he was a throw first, run second guy.
Dak Prescott? Big guy who can run and take on defenders in the mold of Cam Newton. But he’s becoming more and more a pocket passer with each game he plays.
The point is: you don’t need this magical WOW factor to be a successful quarterback in the league. Of course that helps, but it’s not the be all, end all by any means. The quarterbacks who have made it the furthest each year have been the ones who use their smarts to beat defenses as opposed to relying on always being the most talented one on the field.
Look at this years Super Bowl if you don’t believe me. Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow. Two pocket passers with average athleticism. And if you need more proof, other than Patrick Mahomes, you’d have to go back to 2016 in Cam Newton to find one of those athletic freak/WOW guys who made it all the way. And if you go back even further, you’ll find that it’s an extremely low percentage of guys who make those exciting plays with their feet or shock you athletically who make it to the promise land.
This takes me to Joe Burrow and Mac Jones. Burrow is a really good young quarterback. He’s accurate, can make all the throws and he makes good decisions (mostly). Mac Jones is a really good young quarterback. He’s accurate, can make all the throws and he makes good decisions (mostly). There’s no reason to believe that Mac won’t develop and perform similarly to Burrow in almost all phases of the game. And if that’s the case, then that’s great news for Pats fans.
And even if Mac doesn’t develop into Burrow (let’s not act like Burrow is the next coming of God on the football field) that’s not necessarily the point. The main takeaway here is that a young quarterback who doesn’t win game with his athleticism is in the Super Bowl. This is great news for Mac Jones who has been getting randomly jabbed at during these playoffs for not being athletic enough or not being able to “make game changing plays” with his feet. It’s almost like everyone has forgotten just how good Mac Jones was his rookie year. The revisionist history that this man is suffering from is unfair.
So I say all that to simply say this: you don’t need to be an athletic freak to win it all in the NFL. Guys like Mahomes and Jackson and Murray are really fun to watch! But we’re starting to see with all of them what happens when teams can somewhat contain your physical talent and force you to be accurate and smart with the ball. Joe Burrow is going to be a great quarterback in this league for a long time. And so is Mac Jones.
(Featured Photo Credit www.sportingnews.com)
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Mike Sullivan (@msully5433 on Twitter)