[53Fan]

Originally Posted by 44Deezel

One thing I'll say about Flacco is that he isn't afraid to throw to receivers when they're "covered" (and he seems to go downfield on every pass play). There has been a lot of criticism that the skins receivers can't get open, but open is a relative term in the NFL. A few times every game, you'll see receivers who are blanketed, sometimes by 2 defenders, make spectacular catches. I recall one bomb Flacco threw to Clayton in the playoffs, I believe against Tennessee, where the 2 defenders ran into each other and fell down right as the ball got there. Clayton caught it and walked in for the score. I remember saying to myself, Campbell would have never thrown that ball".

Now, you can't always get away with those passes, but good NFL QBs make a few completions like that every game. And I don't want to hear about pass protection. Yes, the pass protection was poor at times, but it wasn't as if he never, ever got time to pass. And if the Skins were smart, they would use all of their running backs like the Ravens, Giants, Falcons, Titans, Dolphins and seemingly every other team in the NFL does these days with a few exceptions. It's nice that Portis was 4th in the NFL in yardage, but some of that has to do with the fact that there are only 10 or so feature backs left.

All that said, Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl with the Ravens, so I guess it's possible JC could have as well. But does anyone consider Trent Dilfer a good QB? I don't think too many JC "haters" would argue that he's pretty good when everything else around him is perfect, but perfect conditions are the exception, not the rule in the NFL. I think some of us would like to see him display the ability to make things happen when conditions are less than ideal. Hopefully, he will do so this year.

Good post 44Deezel. I agree with what you're saying. As I stated in another thread, I really hope JC plays with a little more confidence this year and I think he will. At some point he's going to have to make the throw and trust the receiver to make a play on the ball. Of course that would have been hard to do with the way the receivers played last year and it being pounded in his head to go through his progressions quickly and check down when no one is open. I think he'll have more of a feel for it this year. This is his year to prove he can do it and if he can't, then it's time to move on. I wish JC all the best and I think he can handle it, but I'm not married to the guy. I hope he proves a lot of people wrong and I think he has the tools to do so. Am I certain of it? NO. But he certainly doesn't deserve the crap he's being dealt here.