Is it fair to judge Geno Smith on this one game?

[rex-n-effect]

If you're going to give Geno credit for having come in rusty with no reps then you also have to discount that OAK came in prepared for a different QB and played half the game with a comfortable lead. Next week we'll see a sh*tty team prepared for Geno and see what Geno does.

This wasn't Geno's worse game but if you accept what Fitz detractors/Geno supporters have said for six weeks that the improved roster accounts for our offensive production then you can't take seriously some of these arguments that Geno put the offense on his back and overcame not having a run game. Geno just took advantage of better receivers and a defense playing soft against them.

This was the same Geno we've seen for the past couple years but with a different set of receivers. The offense looked unstable under his leadership. Stupid sacks for no reason. Unnecessary throws into double coverage and staring down the first read. His play was a little better when the team was deep in the hole and nobody expected a comeback. The closer the score and the higher the pressure the more old Geno flourished. These are all mental aspects that Geno should have dealt with in the offseason and while he was out injured. Even discounting the INT there were problems throughout the performance.

I want Geno to have a better performance. Maybe he comes out next week prepared and we see a different side. I'm just not going to hold my breath for it.

[Sperm Edwards]

Sorry, but you've got to be kidding. A third year NFL quarterback requires that level of hand-holding and instruction in real time? That's about as severe an indictment of Geno's unworthiness to be an NFL quarterback as one could make. He's just an imbecile when it comes to making decisions on the field. Fitzpatrick is an average QB, but he generally plays within his skill-set. Geno imagines himself to be Aaron Rodgers and immediately gets burned for his hubris. He's a bad QB. Bad QB's make good plays in the NFL occasionally. But that's the point. That's why they're bad. Next you'll be proposing a color-coded play scheme he can wear on his wrist. Geez.

First of all, Fitzpatrick does it as well, with his deep heaves into coverage and his throws to the middle of the field as time is running out. 

Next ,I'm not trying to make an excuse for Geno; he absolutely should know this stuff and he is not excused for not having this awareness.

That said, we were in the situation we were in, and Gailey can't stand there with his arms crossed and say, "Nope it's not my job. If Geno still doesn't understand the game situation on every single play then it's his problem not mine, and I absolve myself of helping him out." You do/say that as an adversary, or even as an (understandably) impatient fan; not as the OC. You give him all the help he needs, and if you're not going to then don't put him out there. But what you do NOT do is throw him out there, knowing this is a critical weakness of his, and pretend he doesn't have this flaw so one can say, "His fault, not my fault."

Hell, isn't that half the "genius" of Chip Kelly? That he minimizes the judgment calls of his dumb QBs by making them get to the line ultra-fast so he can have the eye in the sky tell him what to do? 

I don't care how it happens. If Geno's too stupid to be aware of the situation then tell him every single play while he's out there (or while such help is critical based on the scenario). He doesn't get extra points for doing it without this help. All that matters is putting points on the board and winning, not the style of winning.

[nyjunc]

it's not.  the difference is, fitz is an 11 year veteran who has maxed out a career being a student of the game, offering savvy and leadership and an understanding of the offense that resulted in a 4-2 start.  he's not someone the organization intends to build a team around, it's understood he's a stop gap qb and hopefully the bridge to a better qb.

 

geno looks as if he's never going to correct any of the mistakes he's made since his rookie year, and does not appear to be someone any organization would want to build a team around.  

saavy and leadership that has never led a team to more than 6 wins in a season. 

we were 4-1 and 4-2 mainly b/c of the D and Brandon marshall/Chris Ivory.  Fitz did a decent job(was actually very good the last 2 weeks) but this was mostly about D as was yesterday even though geno came in and gave us a chance.

He plays fine when the design of the play works and the first, maybe 2nd option are open.  He throws a good ball for sure.  But he has a 10 cent brain.  3 plays where he did the absolute unthinkable.  Id' have been more optimistic if he was off target with his throws but smart with the ball.  I could attribute that to rust.  But stupid is as stupid does, and man when plays break down just hold on to your hat because some bad sh*t is about to go down.

he made some mistakes, some frustrating mistakes but give the guy a chance.  we have no choice.

[Augustiniak]

saavy and leadership that has never led a team to more than 6 wins in a season. 

we were 4-1 and 4-2 mainly b/c of the D and Brandon marshall/Chris Ivory.  Fitz did a decent job(was actually very good the last 2 weeks) but this was mostly about D as was yesterday even though geno came in and gave us a chance.

he made some mistakes, some frustrating mistakes but give the guy a chance.  we have no choice.

noone is blaming geno for the loss.  and we're rooting for him next week.  we just don't think he's the qb of the future for the jets, we believe there's enough evidence to feel this way, and therefore we don't want him in even though he's probably the best option next week.  

[nyjunc]

noone is blaming geno for the loss.  and we're rooting for him next week.  we just don't think he's the qb of the future for the jets, we believe there's enough evidence to feel this way, and therefore we don't want him in even though he's probably the best option next week.  

that's fair but right now he is all we have so I'm rooting for him. 

[cant wait]

noone is blaming geno for the loss.  and we're rooting for him next week.  we just don't think he's the qb of the future for the jets, we believe there's enough evidence to feel this way, and therefore we don't want him in even though he's probably the best option next week.  

he was the best option in training camp before the punch so let's see what he can do working as the starter again 

[Integrity28]

when Fitz was QB I was told his INts didn't hurt us so no big deal.  Geno's INT didn't hurt us.

when Fitz was QB I was told he was giving his WRs a chance to make a play when throwing up to double/triple coverage.  and he gave his WR a chance, I think Marshall got interfered w/ on that play.  he got the ball over the safety.

 

why is it different now?

I don't think Geno's INT killed us yesterday. It was the other stupid sh*t he did at the end of the game.

Let's be honest, the defense lost the game for us yesterday.... but getting to see Geno yesterday also puts "he's still horrible" in the mix of things that you should expect to see discussed. 

[Warfish]

Who is judging Geno by one game?  We have years of Geno Smith + 1 Game to form our opinions.

Geno started horrible yesterday, then played rather well (while down 14-21 and little to lose), then sh*t the bed at the end when it got a little bit close.  

Standard Geno Smith performance, same as the standard "blame everyone else" Geno Smith excuses here in this thread.  Geno shows just enough to give hope he might have figured it out (usually while down many points in proverbial garbage time) then when/if it gets close, same old Geno, retchingly bad decisions, taking multiple bad sacks, turnovers (thankfully not this time on that score late yesterday) and missed opportunities to get the game competitive.

I have no faith in Geno Smith at QB.  If Fitz is out long-term, we have serious problems.  And no, a mid-year trade for Glennon will not solve them.

[Ex-Rex]

Understood.  But those who support him feel he improved at the end of the year and now he has a real OC and real weapons to throw to.  Kind of a reborn again thing.

Dude, the guy goes brain dead at the worst possible moments. Twice he is rolling right has the option to run or throw and does NEITHER. He gets f-ing sacked. I never want to see that big nose m-f er in a Jets uniform ever again. I would rather pull a free agent off the street that give Geno Smith another game. He IS the definition of a bad quarterback.

[JiFtheOracle]

Why is everyone saying that its not easy to come into a blow out situation, yadayayda?.  Give Geno a break?!  He entered the game on the first series. He was basically the starting QB yesterday.

Geno is not a very good QB.  You dont need yesterdays performance to determine that, in fact, it just reinforced that he's a total bonehead.  He lacks situational awareness, pocket presence, his footwork is terrible and his inability to come off his primary read were on full display. 

Is it fair to determine whether all of that can or will change with weapons and new coaches based off yesterday?  No.  Given the situation, I dont think its fair.  However, he certainly didnt exactly do anything yesterday that made you feel like you were watching a different QB.  Looked like the same exact guy.

 

 

 

[Integrity28]

saavy and leadership that has never led a team to more than 6 wins in a season. 

we were 4-1 and 4-2 mainly b/c of the D and Brandon marshall/Chris Ivory.  Fitz did a decent job(was actually very good the last 2 weeks) but this was mostly about D as was yesterday even though geno came in and gave us a chance.

he made some mistakes, some frustrating mistakes but give the guy a chance.  we have no choice.

He made the same mistakes he made in the past. Marshall, Ivory, Decker and Gailey are not going to stop Geno from running backwards and taking sacks that screw us out of an offensive possession, instead of throwing the ******* ball away.

He's not a good QB, and he's a liability on the field. He proved this his first 2 years, and reminded us yesterday.

 

[cant wait]

Why is everyone saying that its not easy to come into a blow out situation, yadayayda?.  Give Geno a break?!  He entered the game on the first series. He was basically the starting QB yesterday.

Geno is not a very good QB.  You dont need yesterdays performance to determine that, in fact, it just reinforced that he's a total bonehead.  He lacks situational awareness, pocket presence, his footwork is terrible and his inability to come off his primary read were on full display. 

Is it fair to determine whether all of that can or will change with weapons and new coaches based off yesterday?  No.  Given the situation, I dont think its fair.  However, he certainly didnt exactly do anything yesterday that made you feel like you were watching a different QB.  Looked like the same exact guy.

 

 

 

geno actually didn't play any worse than fitz has all year so I don't see what you're complaining about 

[Ex-Rex]

First of all, Fitzpatrick does it as well, with his deep heaves into coverage and his throws to the middle of the field as time is running out. 

Next ,I'm not trying to make an excuse for Geno; he absolutely should know this stuff and he is not excused for not having this awareness.

That said, we were in the situation we were in, and Gailey can't stand there with his arms crossed and say, "Nope it's not my job. If Geno still doesn't understand the game situation on every single play then it's his problem not mine, and I absolve myself of helping him out." You do/say that as an adversary, or even as an (understandably) impatient fan; not as the OC. You give him all the help he needs, and if you're not going to then don't put him out there. But what you do NOT do is throw him out there, knowing this is a critical weakness of his, and pretend he doesn't have this flaw so one can say, "His fault, not my fault."

Hell, isn't that half the "genius" of Chip Kelly? That he minimizes the judgment calls of his dumb QBs by making them get to the line ultra-fast so he can have the eye in the sky tell him what to do? 

I don't care how it happens. If Geno's too stupid to be aware of the situation then tell him every single play while he's out there (or while such help is critical based on the scenario). He doesn't get extra points for doing it without this help. All that matters is putting points on the board and winning, not the style of winning.

I don't think you can fix Geno's particular brand of stupid. The guy rolls right - not once but twice- and has the option to either run or throw and he allows himself to get sacked. Doesn't throw the ball away though he is clearly outside the box. He is unbelievably dumb. 

[shawn306]

I was going to actually say Geno did pretty well considering the circumstances but then he takes those two bonehead sacks late and I basically left the bar and said goodnight.

The guy can make the throws but he has the football awareness of a walnut and I don't know if that can be taught.

 

[New York Mick]

So you dont like Bryce Petty? 

No ******* clue, he needs to play first. I explained that in the post you quoted 

[nyjunc]

I don't think Geno's INT killed us yesterday. It was the other stupid sh*t he did at the end of the game.

Let's be honest, the defense lost the game for us yesterday.... but getting to see Geno yesterday also puts "he's still horrible" in the mix of things that you should expect to see discussed. 

Geno's late sacks hurt us no doubt but marshall was out and he panicked late knowing he had to be perfect.  The D obviously cost us the game and in close games if geno makes mistakes like those sacks that will kill us but the man has another shot- let's see what he can do w/ it.  he may suck again but I'm rooting for him as I was rooting for Fitz.

[nyjunc]

geno actually didn't play any worse than fitz has all year so I don't see what you're complaining about 

he played as well as Fitz pre Wash/NE game.  wash/NE Fitz was playing well and started off well yesterday.

[Jet Nut]

If you do not notice these flaws you simply do not understand the QB position at all. Im not going to argue the point further because the flaws I'm pointing out are Obvious they are not a matter of opinion because its right there on video for you to watch. If your going to deny whats obvious then I can't help you.

oh, I understand the position.  That you came up with that list based on emergency game action, based on all that also goes into what we saw yesterday says you don't.  

Yes rhose flaws, taking two sacks while trying to make something happen were obvious.  So? Would be nice if you applied the same heavy handed critic to your guy.  Not being able to throw deep, throwing roughly one INT to TD, getting far too many passes knocked down at the OL, throwing pick trying to hit open WRs, not sliding, throwing an INT to a OL.

those get overlooked, 60+ completion, 265, etc while tossed into emergency duty and the D puts you in a 3 TD hole isn't the bare minimum.  Double standard is obvious, give it another week instead of offering up lessons

[cant wait]

he played as well as Fitz pre Wash/NE game.  wash/NE Fitz was playing well and started off well yesterday.

fitz had 2 TD, one turnover and about 300 yards combined in each of those last two games, same as smith yesterday

[cant wait]

oh, I understand the position.  That you came up with that list based on emergency game action, based on all that also goes into what we saw yesterday says you don't.  

Yes rhose flaws, taking two sacks while trying to make something happen were obvious.  So? Would be nice if you applied the same heavy handed critic to your guy.  Not being able to throw deep, throwing roughly one INT to TD, getting far too many passes knocked down at the OL, throwing pick trying to hit open WRs, not sliding, throwing an INT to a OL.

those get overlooked, 60+ completion, 265, etc while tossed into emergency duty aren't the bare minimum.  Double standard is obvious, give it another week.

but fitz just "looks smarter" when he makes his bonehead mistakes

[Snell41]

First of all, Fitzpatrick does it as well, with his deep heaves into coverage and his throws to the middle of the field as time is running out. 

Next ,I'm not trying to make an excuse for Geno; he absolutely should know this stuff and he is not excused for not having this awareness.

That said, we were in the situation we were in, and Gailey can't stand there with his arms crossed and say, "Nope it's not my job. If Geno still doesn't understand the game situation on every single play then it's his problem not mine, and I absolve myself of helping him out." You do/say that as an adversary, or even as an (understandably) impatient fan; not as the OC. You give him all the help he needs, and if you're not going to then don't put him out there. But what you do NOT do is throw him out there, knowing this is a critical weakness of his, and pretend he doesn't have this flaw so one can say, "His fault, not my fault."

Hell, isn't that half the "genius" of Chip Kelly? That he minimizes the judgment calls of his dumb QBs by making them get to the line ultra-fast so he can have the eye in the sky tell him what to do? 

I don't care how it happens. If Geno's too stupid to be aware of the situation then tell him every single play while he's out there (or while such help is critical based on the scenario). He doesn't get extra points for doing it without this help. All that matters is putting points on the board and winning, not the style of winning.

The deep heaves were fine.  He was jacked, and he was trying to do too much.  And look, with a receiver like Marshall deep heaves into double covg are not such a bad thing.  The propensity for him to catch it or draw a PI call are good, and if worst case scenario it's picked then it's a glorified punt.  Those are fine in my eyes.  It's his awareness that's awful.  You can't possibly excuse him for giving up the sack the first time, besides giving up the sack he gave up even trying to run out of bounds which kept the clock rolling.  And worse than that is he had no idea at the time.  QB 101, throw that ball away.  You're outside the tackles, throw it away and stop the clock.  He went running to the sidelines because he was trying to stop the clock.  And he had no idea he could be pushed back and given forward progression in bounds.  It's inexcusable.  And to take the sack again in the same situation outside the tackle the very next drive!?!?! 

Here's the difference in a nutshell Sperm-Both Geno and Fitz give some decent avg QB play overall when it comes to numbers and points on the board.  But when it comes to awareness on the plays that break down, Fitz will do the right thing 9 times out of 10.  Geno will do the wrong thing 9 times out of 10, and it is going to kill us.  But hey, I don't think we're going to have a choice because Fitz is gonna be out for quite some time IMO. 

[Integrity28]

Geno's late sacks hurt us no doubt but marshall was out and he panicked late knowing he had to be perfect.  The D obviously cost us the game and in close games if geno makes mistakes like those sacks that will kill us but the man has another shot- let's see what he can do w/ it.  he may suck again but I'm rooting for him as I was rooting for Fitz.

Yea, I get the whole "let's hope for the best and root for him to do well thing", I am too.

That doesn't preclude me from talking about what he doesn't do well. I could buy the "he panicked" line if it applied just to yesterday's game, but it doesn't. This is just what he does. It doesn't matter who the receivers are. If his first read isn't open, he either forces the ball to them, throws it errantly, or holds it and runs backwards. The synapses don't fire quick enough in this guy... going to have to hope we can hide his flaws like we did with Fitz. More importantly, going to have to hope the team rally's around him the way they did with Fitz.

[JiFtheOracle]

geno actually didn't play any worse than fitz has all year so I don't see what you're complaining about 

Sure he did.  You never see Fitz taking terrible sacks like that and just being an absolute moron in the given situation.  

And I'm not complaining.  Just giving the assessment of the situation.

If it's Geno.  Great!  Lets do this!  Lets hope he can develop.  If it someone else, cool.  Lets do this!!!  

 

[nyjunc]

fitz had 2 TD, one turnover and about 300 yards combined in each of those last two games, same as smith yesterday

Fitz played realty well vs. wash/at NE.  #s never tell the whole story.  the rest of the year, despite good #s, he was mediocre at best and geno yesterday was every bit as good.

[nyjunc]

Yea, I get the whole "let's hope for the best and root for him to do well thing", I am too.

That doesn't preclude me from talking about what he doesn't do well. I could buy the "he panicked" line if it applied just to yesterday's game, but it doesn't. This is just what he does. It doesn't matter who the receivers are. If his first read isn't open, he either forces the ball to them, throws it errantly, or holds it and runs backwards. The synapses don't fire quick enough in this guy... going to have to hope we can hide his flaws like we did with Fitz. More importantly, going to have to hope the team rally's around him the way they did with Fitz.

That is what he does but give him a full week of practice where the can craft the gameplan around him, let's get Ivory going again and let's not play from behind all game and see what he can do.

[ljr]

First of all, Fitzpatrick does it as well, with his deep heaves into coverage and his throws to the middle of the field as time is running out. 

Next ,I'm not trying to make an excuse for Geno; he absolutely should know this stuff and he is not excused for not having this awareness.

That said, we were in the situation we were in, and Gailey can't stand there with his arms crossed and say, "Nope it's not my job. If Geno still doesn't understand the game situation on every single play then it's his problem not mine, and I absolve myself of helping him out." You do/say that as an adversary, or even as an (understandably) impatient fan; not as the OC. You give him all the help he needs, and if you're not going to then don't put him out there. But what you do NOT do is throw him out there, knowing this is a critical weakness of his, and pretend he doesn't have this flaw so one can say, "His fault, not my fault."

Hell, isn't that half the "genius" of Chip Kelly? That he minimizes the judgment calls of his dumb QBs by making them get to the line ultra-fast so he can have the eye in the sky tell him what to do? 

I don't care how it happens. If Geno's too stupid to be aware of the situation then tell him every single play while he's out there (or while such help is critical based on the scenario). He doesn't get extra points for doing it without this help. All that matters is putting points on the board and winning, not the style of winning.

regardless of who told him the play or how quickly he gets to the line... Geno's biggest weakness IMO is $h*tting his pants and making the worst decisions possible when the play is live and the pressure inevitably increases.  Chan (who most Geno fans have been saying they couldn't wait to see be Geno's OC ) can't hold his hand on the field once the ball is hiked

[shuler82]

 I was a Geno supporter this training camp. I thought maybe he'd correct some of his mistakes. I was wrong.

Yes, he threw the ball better. Yes, it seemed like he wasn't just the first read and panic QB we've seen in the past.. But the book has been written on Geno - get a little pressure in his face, and the guy will back pedal and throw off his back foot. And the roll outs where he took the sack and ran out of bounds? Are you kidding me? You'd have thought the Jets grabbed some guy who never played a game in his life and didn't know the game, and threw him in there.

The Jets certainly didn't lose this game because of Geno, but I didn't see anything that should inspire any fan of this team.

[cant wait]

Fitz played realty well vs. wash/at NE.  #s never tell the whole story.  the rest of the year, despite good #s, he was mediocre at best and geno yesterday was every bit as good.

without mangold to boot. We better hope to get him back soon

[JiFtheOracle]

I don't think you can fix Geno's particular brand of stupid. The guy rolls right - not once but twice- and has the option to either run or throw and he allows himself to get sacked. Doesn't throw the ball away though he is clearly outside the box. He is unbelievably dumb. 

Yep!  He's been playing QB for how long?  You dont need to be hand holding your QB through stupid sh*t like that.  It's elementary sh*t and he cant figure it out 3 years into the league.

Oh well! Maybe it was rust.

[Snell41]

saavy and leadership that has never led a team to more than 6 wins in a season. 

we were 4-1 and 4-2 mainly b/c of the D and Brandon marshall/Chris Ivory.  Fitz did a decent job(was actually very good the last 2 weeks) but this was mostly about D as was yesterday even though geno came in and gave us a chance.

he made some mistakes, some frustrating mistakes but give the guy a chance.  we have no choice.

You're right we have no choice.  But you're bashing Fitz when Fitz and Geno are essentially the same player when the play develops and things are going as planned.  Geno has a stronger arm for sure, but they're both going to make the play when option 1, maybe 2 is open.  But when the play breaks down Fitz is going to do the right thing when we need to give the play up and live to see another down.  Geno is going to make some unthinkable decisions that are going to continuously cost us.  3 mistakes he made that were junior high school levels of dumb, and he's been in the league for 3 years. 

[cant wait]

regardless of who told him the play or how quickly he gets to the line... Geno's biggest weakness IMO is $h*tting his pants and making the worst decisions possible when the play is live and the pressure inevitably increases.  Chan (who most Geno fans have been saying they couldn't wait to see be Geno's OC ) can't hold his hand on the field once the ball is hiked

interesting you bring that up, since geno was the backup yesterday he didn't have the headset in his helmet so plays had to be relayed to the sideline from chan in the booth. Not an ideal situation on the road in a tough game

[Integrity28]

That is what he does but give him a full week of practice where the can craft the gameplan around him, let's get Ivory going again and let's not play from behind all game and see what he can do.

Why do you keep saying "give him..."? 

We have no choice but to start him versus Jax. Hopefully he helps us towards a win. If Gailey could get good QB play out of Tyler Thigpen, then I'd hope he can do something with Geno. That said, the things out of the coaches control are the mental mistakes. That's what scares me with this guy. It's not like he's forcing a ball because he thinks he can squeeze it in, he's running backwards and doing boneheaded things that make me sick to my stomach.

[nyjunc]

You're right we have no choice.  But you're bashing Fitz when Fitz and Geno are essentially the same player when the play develops and things are going as planned.  Geno has a stronger arm for sure, but they're both going to make the play when option 1, maybe 2 is open.  But when the play breaks down Fitz is going to do the right thing when we need to give the play up and live to see another down.  Geno is going to make some unthinkable decisions that are going to continuously cost us.  3 mistakes he made that were junior high school levels of dumb, and he's been in the league for 3 years. 

I am not bashing Fitz, I didn't ant Fitz to get hurt but I knew it was coming eventually.  Fitz had finally been playing really well.

[ljr]

interesting you bring that up, since geno was the backup yesterday he didn't have the headset in his helmet so plays had to be relayed to the sideline from chan in the booth. Not an ideal situation on the road in a tough game

I bring it up because that is not where the problems arise from.  They happened after the ball was hiked 

[Sperm Edwards]

The deep heaves were fine.  He was jacked, and he was trying to do too much.  And look, with a receiver like Marshall deep heaves into double covg are not such a bad thing.  The propensity for him to catch it or draw a PI call are good, and if worst case scenario it's picked then it's a glorified punt.  Those are fine in my eyes.  It's his awareness that's awful.  You can't possibly excuse him for giving up the sack the first time, besides giving up the sack he gave up even trying to run out of bounds which kept the clock rolling.  And worse than that is he had no idea at the time.  QB 101, throw that ball away.  You're outside the tackles, throw it away and stop the clock.  He went running to the sidelines because he was trying to stop the clock.  And he had no idea he could be pushed back and given forward progression in bounds.  It's inexcusable.  And to take the sack again in the same situation outside the tackle the very next drive!?!?! 

Here's the difference in a nutshell Sperm-Both Geno and Fitz give some decent avg QB play overall when it comes to numbers and points on the board.  But when it comes to awareness on the plays that break down, Fitz will do the right thing 9 times out of 10.  Geno will do the wrong thing 9 times out of 10, and it is going to kill us.  But hey, I don't think we're going to have a choice because Fitz is gonna be out for quite some time IMO. 

So I write "he is not excused for not having this awareness," and your counter-response to that post is, "It's his awareness that's awful. You can't possibly excuse him."

The deep heaves were not fine. You don't put in a QB cold - a bad QB in cold, in his first live action since 2014 including the preseason, and tell him to go deep on 3rd & 3. You try to get him into a rhythm, to whatever extent he's able to. And your exaggerations are absurd. Fitz does not do the right thing 9 out of 10 times any more than Geno does the wrong thing 9 out of 10 times.

Both are dumb QBs on the field. Fitz is less dumb because he has over a decade of experience and I'm sure he has a higher IQ in general. But his instincts in non-planned/panic mode are bad as well. It's why he doesn't slide past the first down marker when he should; it's why he throws to the middle of the field when we're running out of time and can't stop the clock; it's why he locks in on 1 receiver and it's easy to read his eyes so he gets batted passes; it's why he is more or less incapable of going through WR progressions and still fires a deep incompletion when an easy first down pass is right in front of his face; it's why he does a lot of things that are visually contrary to his obvious paper-smarts.

My entire point was related to your last sentence. This is the QB out there. So knowing this person is going to be the QB, you either do everything you can to get past his mental handicaps or you do not do everything you can an make "excuses" for the OC. It isn't making excuses for Geno. It's trying to make the best of what he does and doesn't bring to the table, and Gailey isn't making the best of it. He ought to know better than to assume Geno knows to throw it away.