12-30-2015, 12:13 PM
(12-30-2015, 11:16 AM)gobobro Wrote: For what it's worth, I listened to Lap discuss the game (and I put a ton of stock in what he says). He thinks the Bengals would have won the game by a couple of touchdowns with Dalton, and way more than that with Dalton and Eifert.
In essence:
1. Andy's pre-snap reads would have checked them out of many of the drive killers (I saw someone tweet a screen cap in which the Broncos had 9 defenders in the box and AJM still ran the run play to Hill).
2. Andy's post snap quickness would have gotten the ball to open receivers AJM just couldn't see.
3. The move to zone coverage by the Broncos wouldn't have hindered Dalton, and he'd have destroyed that zone with Eifert.
None of that is a knock on AJM, who showed great stuff. It's just the difference between a guy making his second start, and a fifth year QB having a Hell of a season. AJM can't see everything Andy can, can't make the checks Andy can, and the game hasn't slowed down enough for him to react quick enough. It happens. All QBs have this adjustment period. The positive for AJM is that he's trending well for a guy at his experience level.
The exact reasons why AJM needs to play against the ravens. He needs the experience. The more D he sees and learns to read, the better he will perform in the next game. Which in this case will be playoffs.
