Exactly what I was afraid of

The Philly game certainly lends credence to your theory of preferring sacks to INTs. We had what, 9 sacks that day? Yet hung in there because we didnt compromise our self field position wise.

A key to quick passing is that you have more choices than the D can cover. The QB needs to read the D and go to the open man. Ben did pretty well with that most of the game. IMO, the first INT was all Ben, but the second was as much on Holmes as Ben. Holmes didn’t fight for the ball at all, and it really looked like he stopped his route short instead of continuing his pattern across the field. And, the first INT was not a short pass. Ben took a chance down the field, and it was underthrown. With both of those, we were still in great shape until Starks held in the last drive, followed by his giving up the sack, which completely killed us.

Ben is playing subpar. There is not much argument about that. But he does not deserve all of the blame. Santonio Holmes has not learned to play wideout in the NFL. A disproportionate number of picks are thrown in Santonio’s direction. Ben and him are not on the same page, although we can not know whose fault that is without knowing what plays are called. It is obvious when this contributes to INTs, but less obvious is how it contributes to the sacks.

When Santonio is not where Ben expects, it takes away a read. I don’t have a copy of BA’s playbook, but I’m guessing Santonio is either the first or second read on a majority of the passing plays. When a QB looks for a read and doesn’t find him where he expects, it is very disruptive. In fact, it is worse than the receiver being covered in the spot he should be. When the receiver is not where he’s supposed to be, the QB’s natural tendency is to look for the receiver rather than progress to the next read. When the receiver is there but covered, it is easier for the QB to recognize it and make a decision. These two are not reading defenses the same and are not in sync. This probably contributes to picks thrown toward other receivers too because those throws might not be made if Santonio and Ben are on the same page.

On the second pick, Santonio didn’t fight for the ball because he stopped to sit in a zone while Ben expected him to keep going. When the pick was thrown there was not much Tone could do because he had stopped to a standstill about a yard and half away from the spot where the ball was thrown. This is just one example of the two not being on the same page.

a qb is brought in to make passes. short, medium, long. i can’t believe people call for a qb to not throw a short pass LOL. it requires super human ability to throw a short pass : )
bens hurt and hurting the team..sit him for 2-3 weeks for the final push or keep going at an average clip.

Ben is hurt physically and its affecting his game for sure, but I think more than anything, like 703 said earlier, that the lack of practice may be the main problem for him. He said himself that he and Santonio werent on the same page on that second pick. I think the Big Fella should be taking off and running with the ball considering he’s beat up enough already though.