The NFL‘s Week 4 is here and we’ve got questions that need to be answered.
Each week we think we know what’s going on, only to have our illusions shattered by the games on Sunday. Teams or players we expect to dominate fall apart while teams and players we thought were going to disappoint for sure turn in stellar performances.
This week it’s all about quarterbacks. We’ve got guys we don’t know yet, guys who should know better and guys we don’t seem to know anymore.
Hopefully the Week 4 slate of games will clear things up but if we’ve had one thing drilled into our heads this year it’s that nothing really goes according to plan.
What’s going on with Tom Brady?
Last year, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady started out slowly, something we attributed to a wealth of injuries and a lack of seasons receivers. He eventually rebounded to a strong season, if never to a normal one.
This year, Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola are healthy, the unseasoned receivers have a year under their belt and Brady should be back to his usual great self.
But he isn’t and why is a hard thing to nail down.
Brady has completed just 58.8 percent of his passes per NFL.com and has thrown for just three touchdowns. More importantly he just doesn’t look like himself.
He faces a Kansas City Chiefs team which is currently 10th in the NFL against the pass (NFL.com), so this won’t be an easier Monday night.
Is it the offensive line? Are his receivers still letting him down? Or is Brady just getting old?
All questions we’d like answers to.
Are Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles ready?
The Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars both had the same idea—let their rookies sit on the bench for a year and roll with their veteran options.
An injury to Matt Cassel foiled the Vikings’ plan while Chad Henne being….. well, Chad Henne messed it up for the Jaguars.
Both quarterbacks did reasonably well when they arrived mid-game for their respective teams, especially considering that as a backup neither player got more than a handful of reps with the starters the week before the game.
That’s not the case this week, as both players were poised to start this week. Bortles gets a tough San Diego Chargers defense while Bridgewater takes on an Atlanta Falcons team you can throw on (ranked No, 24 against the pass) but embarrassed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3.
These are rookies, so we expect to see the up and down play that comes with that. Bridgewater was poised and smart with the football last week, though he made a few poor throws. Bortles was aggressive under center which led to some big plays as well as two interceptions.
Will a week practicing full time with the starters help? Will Bortles and Bridgewater find a way to snag a victory this weekend?
It’s going to be fun to find out.
Can Aaron Rodgers get his offense moving?
As with Tom Brady, we can’t quite pin down what is going on with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and his offense.
On the one hand, the Packers offense seems to have started slowly the last two years. On the other, it’s not like this is a brand new offense. Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb are back, Eddie Lacy is in his second season and Rodgers has the exact same calls and reads he has had virtually his whole career.
So why is this offense so inconsistent? And why does Rodgers look out of sync with his receivers?
It could be the offensive line, which was banged up coming into the season and features a rookie center. It might also be that the team lacks depth at the receiver and tight end spot. Jarrett Boykin has been underwhelming and Davante Adams is a rookie who needed time to develop and still does.
There’s no real tight end option here, though Andrew Quarless has been serviceable.
Perhaps all these different problems have wrapped up into more than Rodgers and the offense can handle. Or maybe it’s the defenses they have faced—the Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets and Detroit Lions have incredibly tough front sevens and are all difficult to pass on.
Or is more going on?
It won’t get any easier against an opportunistic Chicago Bears defense this week.
Can Geno Smith stop the turnovers?
There are a lot of reasons why the Jets have dropped two games in a row, but certainly a major piece of the losses has been the interceptions quarterback Geno Smith has thrown.
None were as soul-killing as the pick-six he threw to start the game against the Chicago Bears on Monday night, though his interception in the end zone later that game was close.
That he is turning the ball over in the red zone either by fumble or interception is a huge issue and simply something that cannot be done if you are to remain a starting quarterback in the NFL. While some are calling for him to be replaced by backup Michael Vick, that’s just showing you that whomever is making that request doesn’t remember how bad Vick is at protecting the football himself.
The Jets could have won both the game against the Green Bay Packers and the one against the Chicago Bears. In fact, they were in position to at least tie them at the end of both games.
They were there because Geno Smith got them there (and in one case, threw a perfect touchdown, wiped out by his own offensive coordinator). So we know Smith can get the job done.
He needs to protect the ball better though, because right now he reminds Jets fans a little too much of Mark Sanchez, who couldn’t read a defense to save his life during his time as a Jet, and threw some mind-boggling interceptions in key moments.
Smith has to get his act together. The question is, can he?
Will Mike Glennon prove Lovie Smith wrong?
From the moment Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith had the team sign quarterback Josh McCown, he told everyone McCown was his starter (per ProFootballTalk.com).
It was baffling to many analysts and fans as McCown had produced just one solid season while Mike Glennon had played well under tough circumstances during his rookie year.
Smith and offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford saw something they didn’t like in Glennon though, so that was that. Even when McCown looked exactly as poor as everyone thought he would, Smith stuck with him.
It took an injury to his thumb during the Thursday night debacle against the Atlanta Falcons for McCown to go out and Glennon to get snaps. Glennon struggled—how could he not coming in when he was down an epic amount of points and had received few snaps with the starters the previous short week?—but he was serviceable.
According to Tampa Bay Times reporter Rick Stroud, Smith insists that McCown will remain the starter when he is healthy.
In the intervening weeks though, Glennon has a chance to show that this is wrong choice—that he should get the nod as starter.
Can he do it? Will he show enough to get Smith to alter his course?
We’ll see what he can muster up this week against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
More from FanSided.com
NFL Power Rankings Week 3: Seahawks, Broncos flip-flop; Cardinals crack top 5
College Basketball: Preseason AAC power rankings
NBA: 7 players with the most to lose in 2014-15
College Football Player Rankings: Week 4
All 30 NHL franchises ranked by all-time greatness