What Mac Jones Can Learn From Bailey Zappe

Below are the statistics of two anonymous NFL Quarterbacks throughout their first five seasons in the NFL;

Quarterback A:

Games: 62 Completion %: 61.6% Yards: 13,925 (225 yards per game) Touchdowns: 97 (1.6 TD’s per game) Interceptions: 52 (0.84 INT’s per game) TD/INT Ratio: 1.87 Yards Per Attempt: 6.9 Rating: 78.62

Quarterback B:

Games: 80 Completion %: 62.1% Yards: 20,618 (258 yards per game) Touchdowns: 138 (1.7 TD’s per game) Interceptions: 100 (1.3 INT’s per game) TD/INT Ratio: 1.38 Yards Per Attempt: 7.4 Rating: 85.9

Without knowing who each Quarterback is, which one would you prefer to have commanding your favorite teams huddle on Sundays? There’s no wrong answer here — this exercise is anonymous, not random, and is designed to point out the different interpretations of what makes a Quarterback truly great in the NFL.

While it’s obvious that Quarterback B was given a bit more leeway to pull strings early in their career, this seemed to translate to higher volume stats for better and worse. While Quarterback B has a higher overall rating, completion percentage, more yards per game, yards per attempt, and touchdowns per game, they also threw more interceptions per game and had a considerably worse TD/INT ratio than Quarterback A.

If it hasn’t been figured out by now, Quarterback A is Tom Brady, and Quarterback B is Peyton Manning.

There are two major points to be taken from this comparison — 1: More games are lost than won in the NFL, and 2: Coaching, game management, and team stats are at least as important to a team's success rate as their Quarterbacks talent level.

It’s funny how fast history changes narratives. During the first ten-plus years of the Brady/Manning rivalry, the most popular question by analysts and pundits alike was “imagine if Manning had Belichick, how many Super Bowls would the two have?” Now that Manning’s long retired and Brady‘s gone full cyborg mode, moving on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and winning a Super Bowl in his first year under definitely-not-fired-at-the-will-of-Tom Brady coach Bruce Arians (lol), the narrative has shifted to Belichick being useless without Brady and Quarterbacking being paramount over everything and anything else on an NFL field…

Moving forward, we arrive in present-day Foxboro Massachusetts, where the current Quarterback situation consists of a second-year first-round pick, Mac Jones, and a rookie late-fourth-round pick, Bailey Zappe. While Jones had an undeniably impressive rookie campaign, leading the Patriots to an overachieving 10–7 record and wildcard playoff birth, the start of his second year hasn’t gone as smoothly.

Jones Quarterbacked the Patriots for the team's first three games, leading the team to a 1–2 start before limping off the field on the final play of the team's week three loss to the Baltimore Ravens. In those three games, Jones threw two touchdowns, five interceptions, lost one fumble, and notably saw his rating drop to 76.2 from 92.5 through his first year. It’s worth mentioning that Jones lost his rookie-year offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and has gone through a total scheme change under Matt Patricia and Joe Judge's leadership.

Following Jones’ injury (and one-quarter of Brian Hoyer prior to exiting with a head injury), entered Bailey Zappe, who featured in his first-ever NFL game against the Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay Packers in Lambo Field. In Zappe’s two games leading the Patriots, he’s thrown two touchdowns, one interception, and lost one fumble. The Patriots are 1–1 under Zappe, pushing the Packers to the brink before eventually falling to them in overtime, then methodically beating the life out of the Detroit Lions in his first home game.

What’s been most impressive throughout Zappe’s tenure behind center hasn’t been anything he’s done, but what he hasn’t done. He hasn’t made a game-changing throw for the good or the bad. His one interception should’ve been a completion, as he hit Nelson Agholor over the middle in stride, but in natural Agholor fashion, he bobbled it right into the oncoming safety’s hands. What we’re seeing out of Zappe isn’t so different from what Patriots fans saw out of Brady in his first few starts.

Please don’t interpret this as some sort of foreshadowing prediction that Bailey Zappe will turn into anything resembling the likes of the greatest Quarterback of all time, as that’s not the point of this article at all. The point is that oftentimes, NFL games aren’t won at all, they’re lost. Bailey Zappe is doing his best to not lose to Football games by mitigating any potential errors in favor of living to see another down. This is a testament to both the Patriots coaching staff and complimentary players, as well as Zappe’s coachability.

This also isn’t a Mac Jones hit piece by any means. Rather, it’s relatively clear that one of two things is happening in the early stages of his second year — either 1: He’s been advised by coaches to take more risks downfield, translating into more jump balls, where three of his five interceptions have come to date, or 2: He feels as if the team needs him to play hero ball in order for them to have a chance to win. It’s also possible that it’s a combination of these two things. Regardless, it’s imperative that Jones take notes on Bailey Zappe’s time leading the Patriots, and that the Patriots coaching staff do the same.

There’s not much of a debate on who’s the more talented Quarterback at this point, and it’d be a bit of a leapto call the competition between the two a Quarterback controversy or dilemma. Jones will be the starter when he’s returned to full health and is ready to go. He’s the best Quarterback on the team, a team captain, and a proven leader and talented player.

It’s possible that the drop in talent and perceived ability from Jones to Zappe has also helped offensive play-caller, Matt Patricia, as his hand’s been forced into a more rigid, conservative gameplan. Having a Quarterback who not only has a wide range of abilities but is someone who the team is prioritizing the further development of can result in some setbacks. Think of it as a stress test — or like a Peyton Manning/Tom Brady early career scenario. Manning threw 43 interceptions in his first two seasons as an NFL Quarterback, whereas Brady only threw 26. Yet, in 2003, there was no debate on who any team would rather have on their roster — all 30 General Managers would’ve picked Manning in a heartbeat.

Sometimes teams will push their players further than they can actually go to find their limits and adjust their strategies accordingly. This may be happening with Mac Jones right now. Jones is regarded highly by his teammates and coaches, so it’s to be expected that when he returns to the field, he’ll have a firm understanding of what he needs to do, and more importantly what not to do.