Author Archives: The Chancellor of Football

The Lie Behind Quarterback Passer Rating & Several Useless Statistics

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The NFL’s quarterback rating system has been in place since 1973 but wasn’t a mainstay when it comes to statistics until the mid 1980s. Think about it, for the championship games and seasons of the 1960s and 70s you can’t think of the quarterback passer rating of any qb of the past. Yet you can rememeber the NFL record for TD passes with 36 (YA Tittle, George Blanda 1963) or the first 4,000 yard passer in Joe Namath in the AFL in 1968. Yet none of us old heads could tell you what Johnny Unitas Quarterback Rating was in any of his record breaking MVP seasons because it wasn’t around.

In reality new statistical data is created to prop up a player whose performance doesn’t match an evaluator’s appreciation. You should never have to invent a statistic to improve the view of a player you support but people do it all the time. Now with NextGenStats or PFF…sigh just stop it.

Lets face it these ratings are just another way for people to sound smart who can’t play football and show they have expertise. How many times have you asked yourself “Why is a perfect Quarterback Rating game 158.3?” What even makes up the current rating and how can you equate it to winning? The bottom line is you can’t. It’s as scientifically useless as analytics has been to NFL Head Coaches in recent years.

Sometime around Super Bowl XXVII I came across a statistic that ran true for every champion. Each had a quarterback who averaged 7-9 yards per pass attempt and from that moment on this became a go to measure that usually told you the fortunes of the football team as well. Take a look right now for the 2025 season:

All of these teams are in the playoff hunt. Mac Jones started 8 games for the 9-4 San Francisco 49ers and was 5-3 in those contests with several pundits saying he ran the 49ers offense better than incumbent Brock Purdy. You see last year’s MVP Josh Allen along with Drake Maye, Matthew Stafford, and Dak Prescott who have been discussed as this year’s frontrunners.

So let’s take a look at the bottom of this exact same list for 2025 for the worst rated quarterbacks (for record here is the complete list):

Now you might need a drink as everything you knew is about to be blown away. Dillon Gabriel is ranked 34th with 5.1 yards I gave you the link to see the entire list. Five of these quarterbacks have been benched with a 41 year old Joe Flacco being traded. Only Bo Nix and Baker Mayfield in a bad division are the only 2 in playoff contention. They’re tied for the NFC South lead with a 7-6 record and if they lose the division won’t make a wildcard.

Yet this doesn’t hold true when you plug in the NFL’s quarterbacks by because a benched Spencer Rattler who went 1-7 (78.9 passer rating) is just below Bo Nix (86.1 passer rating) & Trevor Lawrence  (90.1 passer rating) and only Lawrence (20th) made the NFL’s top 25. Where can you equate team success when Denver looks like they will have homefield advantage??

However statistics like this can be completely manipulated by scared quarterbacks who complete 4 yard passes on 3rd and 6. His team is punting but his QBR and completion percentage will go up. The Chancellor of Football has been arguing againt this with fans and lets show it to you.

Did you know if an NFL QB went 8 of 9 for 27 yards and 1 TD you’d have a 116.2 passer rating? Consequently if that same QB went 16 of 25 for 229 yards and an interception his rating would be 76.2. Yet this would be 7.75 yards per attempt and face it the additional 8 completions and 202 yards would gain how many 1st downs and put his team in scoring position how many more times?

So for my man Quincy Carter, my friends at Pro Football Reference has the NFL passer rating calculator for you to plug in numbers at your leisure. When you want to look at the quarterback and always go with their yards per attempt, yardage and touchdowns to interceptions. Toss the NFL passer rating away as its a useless stat to easily manipulated. Same with this current QBR that has been pushed lately.  The same with completion percentage as a quarterback can throw 10 bubble screens in a game and bloat their stats as well. Its all about yardage as this is the unit used to measure the NFL’s best defense, best offense, rushing champions, etc…

Keep all of this in mind when you hear the talking heads who just cite statistics without context to showcase they understand pro football.

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For the record… the great Chris Berman is NOT a talking head, he is the Walter Cronkite of football coverage and glad he and Booger McFarland are doing NFL Primetime on ESPN+.

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w/ Black Quarterbacks: Shedeur Sanders Take 3! Killing The Noise!

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One thing has jumped out with Shedeur Sanders play with the Cleveland Browns over the last few weeks, he has been their best quarterback all year. In yesterday’s 31-29 loss to Tennessee, Sanders’ threw for 364 yards 3TDs while rushing 3 times for 29 yards and another score. In doing so became the 2nd rookie QB in the Super Bowl era to throw for more than 350 yards 3TDs while galloping for another score since Joe Burrow in 2020. Thats it, just those two and ironically Burrow’s game came against the Cleveland Browns in a 37-34 shootout with Baker Mayfield.

He has passed the eyeball test and in his 3rd start has shown more than Bo Nix, Drake Maye and Jaxson Dart did in any of their games during their rookie campaigns. Analyzing the Browns, in their last 3 games with Dillon Gabriel the Browns averaged a paltry 148 yards passing. Its risen to 224 yards per game in Sanders 3… and remember Sanders has had 3 weeks of 1st team reps in practice where Gabriel had them in QB Camp, mini camp, preseason and 11 NFL regular season weeks.

We’re also fresh from the Tik Tok controversy of Gabriel’s fiance Zo Caswell claiming “Everyone in the building wants (Dillon) to play.” Oh really? When he had the lowest yards per attempt of every NFL quarterback by a full yard and worst since 1968 in the NFL! That Dillon Gabriel?

Pssst… Sanders has 769 yards on 103 throws for an average of 7.46 yards per attempt. As a measure… every Super Bowl winner has averaged 7-9 yards per attempt or he’d be 10th just behind Matthew Stafford & Dak Prescott with 7.5. Just last week several had Dak in the MVP race…right??Stafford??

This is what this has become as Black America sees Shedeur, one of our own, being dragged, nistreated and to see all the comments stifling black advancement from MAGA types who have made Dillon Gabriel the Anti-Shedeur. Yet have done so with total disregard to the x’s and o’s or onfield performance. Filling post after post about why he should be behind on the bench as the 144th selection completely remiss of football nuance and has been very racist in tone and spirit.

This has been the root of the problem when observing Head Coach Kevin Stefanski as well. Delivering racist tropes “Dillon is like a super computer processing information” which in turn suggests Shedeur doesn’t. It’s all smokescreen b.s. as Gabriel was overthrowing bubble screens and couldn’t produce 1 pass play of 30 yards or greater in all of his games. Neither did Flacco before being traded:

Yet Shedeur had 4 pass plays greater than 30 yards yesterday alone!! Pass plays of 58 to Judkins, 31 to Sampson, 35 to Fannin & the 60 yard TD strike to Jerry Jeudy. So that gives Sanders 8 pass plays over 30 yards and none for the other 2 QBS the Browns have started this entire season?? Then what are they evaluating and if this is what they observed Head Coach Kevin Stefanski should be fired due to incompetence evaluating and inability to coach improvement from any of his quarterbacks. Here is the gamelog of all plays

In Black circles we’ve observed Stefanski’s reluctance from saying Sanders name at earlier press conferences and his paltry post game locker room acknowledgment in Sanders’ first start against the Raiders when it was only their 2nd win in 7 weeks. Did you hear former Browns legend Hanford Dixon’s angry outburst on radio covering the team after that game??

His disregard has become apparent and he is having a hard time hiding behind a facade where many believe he has been sabotaging Sheduer Sanders. We know prejudice when we see it as we’ve all experienced it within our own personal working circles. We know exactly how it feels when dealing with a non-relatable boss at work. Especially from a cultural standpoint. When the one who reminds them of themselves are given favor or benefit of the doubt vs black contemporaries. All of us have lived it

So in reward for completing 23 of 42 for a career best 364 yds and throwing his 3rd TD with 1:03 to go what did Sanders get?? Replaced on a failed 2 point conversion that would have tied the game. Completely deflating everyone in the stadium. Diluting the excitement of the end of the game when their rookie showed he could play full dimention NFL quarterback.

By the way Sanders did this missing 40% of his starting offensive linemen as well. Were you aware of that?? Mmmhmm… No more moving the goal post as this is your quarterback going forward and just needs the reps. Playing in the NFL at quarterback is the ability to get the job done on the field and infuse belief in your team. He’s done this at Jackson State then proved it at Colorado and yesterday made a league full of believers. If you don’t think so ask other teams if they would trade for him this offseason…

By the way…where was Dillon Gabriel & his “super computer processing” after his sixth college football season when Shedeur was accepting the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award??

Exactly…. GTFOH Time to draft some receivers… and fire that idiot coach Kevin Stefanski

 

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w Black Quarterbacks Vol 1 -Lamar Jackson 2018 NFL Draft

2020 NFL Draft: Wither Jalen Hurts – Shameful Impatience w Black QBs Take Two!

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w Black Quarterbacks: The Odyssey of Shedeur Sanders

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w/ Black Quarterbacks: Shedeur Sanders Named Starter v 49ers – Browns Should Fire Stefanski

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Patrick Mahomes Future

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Partrick Mahomes career mirrors Tom Brady’s with 3 Super Bowl wins in 4 seasons but there will be a difference. I’ve told folks #15 won’t stay for a 10 year drought between Super Bowls having piled up a $500 million dollar fortune and commercial success and iconic pop culture status. I see him walking away from the game to enjoy life with Britney and pursue business ventures and raise his girls.

Flashing back to 2005 Tom Brady was just a football player and clamoring for fame off the field. He wasn’t in a million commercials nor had hundreds of streaming services with documentaries and cameras in his face every minute off the field. When Brady and Belichick’s Patriots were trying to win 3 in a row very few were even talking about it outside of zealots.

I can see it in his eyes. Once this gets beaten out of the Chiefs a different clock will start ticking. Andy Reid is 67, Travis Kelce is 36 despite his antics off the field that is ancient for a TE and Mahomes?? Its fun and great being compared to the game’s greats while winning, he won’t have as much fun watching that fade when the Chiefs stop contending. He won’t have the stomach for it.

Patrick Mahomes will be a surprise retirement a few years from now. You heard it from The Chancellor of Football first.

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w/ Black Quarterbacks: Shedeur Sanders Named Starter v 49ers – Browns Should Fire Stefanski

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With the Browns naming Shedeur Sanders their starting QB for the week 13 battle with the 49ers, the time has come to let go of bumbling head coach Kevin Stefanski. Anyone who watched the Browns take on the Raiders in Las Vegas saw when Sanders came to the sideline he was being coached up by RB Coach Duce Staley and going over the  over X’s and O’s on tablet with injured QB DeShaun Watson who no doubt was discussing situations with OC Tommy Rees.

Sander has endured a baptism by fire which has included a Head Coach undermining his confidence. Never spoke his name at the podium while singing the praises of punters and clearly expressing the desire to fully develop 3rd round pick Dillon Gabriel. The 3rd round pick who by far had the lowest yardage passing per attempt in the NFL this season and had a 1-6 record. Look at this…

Keep in mind McCarthy & Cam Ward have their fans & media questioning if they’ll mature into what their franchises need. They’re #2 & #3. Kyler Murray is #4 and has been quietly fired (season ending IR) by the Arizona Cardinals going with backup Jacoby Brissett the rest of the year. #5 Joe Flacco started ahead of Sanders & Gabriel, been released and has a full yard better average than Gabriel. Do you realize how far back that is and Stefanski was trying to champion this anemic performer? Only a concussion and the medical staff holding Dillon out kept us from more of this nonsense Stefanski subjected Browns fans to.

In fact #4-7 have all been benched… Murray, Flacco, Justin Fields in New York, and Spencer Rattler for a rookie with the Saints. Now throw in #8 Bryce Young fresh off a poor performance in last night’s 20-9 loss and his situation has been tenuous and was benched last year. So in this sea of terrible quarterbacking Stefanski wanted to float Gabriel out there and sink the rest of the Browns franchise while harboring disdain for Sanders and continue these microaggressions.

After showing flashes in his 1st start, 11 of 20, 209 yards 1TD and 1 int. he made big plays and ignited his team and earned the respect of his opponent. He wowed his team with a 52 yard bomb to Isiah Bond early on and the team raised their level of play and handled the Raiders.  Stefanski was forced to announce on Monday he would be the starter going forward. Yet we didn’t see nor hear this in the locker room when he addressed the team after the game with the cameras rolling. A very lukewarm afterthought mention “first win by Shedeur Sanders” that had all former black players in an uproar. Most famously Michael Irvin.

Over the last several weeks the situation morphed into a cultural war where his coach had undermined his quarterback and I’m convinced it was his brash young black attitude. Funny thing is this exact swag is celebrated with Jaxson Dart in New York but used to villify Sanders. A racial trope that survives and has played out with fans and the coach has fed into it not breathing confidence in Sanders, not saying his name when media asked questions about his availability and chance to start. Stefanski fed into it over and over fueling these adversarial racial arguments with fans on social media. It was impossible to rule out the racial element as a part of his decision making handling Sanders.

Keep in mind fans buy the tickets and 2 weeks ago they had a league low offering of $6 tickets to go to see the Browns with Gabriel still starting… and Stefanski was still trying to sell him as a starting quarterback. Seriously? Lets be honest it seems Ownership forced his hand in naming Sanders the starter after his performance when…

  • Sanders became the 1st Browns rookie QB to win his debut since Eric Zeier in ’95.

1995? That is so long ago Bill Belichick was the Cleveland Browns coach at the time. We’re talking years before becoming head coach of the Jets and then Patriots. This was half a decade before that!! The graphic above only goes back to 1999 when the Browns franchise returned to the field after a 4 year hiatus.

What exactly does Stefanski do when the offense has been struggling mightily to come up with a cohesive attack all year. He doesn’t get involved with DC Jim Schwartz and the deployment of his top rated defense, so what does he really do?

For one he is a poor CEO of a football team and his blatant mismanagement of the quarterback situation should remove him immediately with not only Sanders’ success but that of original 2025 starter Joe Flacco. All of these mind games and his obvious dislike of Sanders over the last 12 weeks culminated Sunday Night in the bowels of Allegiant Stadium. He needs to go and allow Sanders and that team to fully develop allowing Sanders the chance to flourish with interim coach Duce Staley.

Time to allow Sanders the chance to finish this season and have the opportunity to become the quarterback he believes he can be. Jimmy Haslam you owe your fans this and you need to let Coach Kevin Stefanski the cancer go now! This is the 4th installment of The NFL’s Shameful Impatience with Black Quarterbacks (links to previous below)

Thanks for reading and Shedeur go do your thing! You’ve earned the respect of your team and opponents and Taylor Blitz salutes you being free to go fly!

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w Black Quarterbacks Vol 1 -Lamar Jackson 2018 NFL Draft

2020 NFL Draft: Wither Jalen Hurts – Shameful Impatience w Black QBs Take Two!

The NFL’s Shameful Impatience w Black Quarterbacks: The Odyssey of Shedeur Sanders

The Soul of The Game: Kenny Easley Remembered

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Originally Published 23, February 2013 w/ Postscript 16, November 2025

Some of the best players in NFL history are those who had their careers cut short due to injury. Yet they had great seasons that had them on the path to Canton. Such was the case with former Seattle Seahawk Kenny Easley. At 6’3 and 205 lbs, he was tall, fast, had range and could hit.

He was the team’s first true superstar, one that teammates looked up to for big hits, big plays, and leadership. Until the Seahawks drafted RB Curt Warner to be his offensive equal on the other side of the ball, never had a team followed the lead of a safety before. At his peak he may have been the best safety in the last 25 years of pro football.

In 1981 Seattle drafted Easley in the first round out of UCLA. He was one of the new breed of safety coming into the NFL. Everyone points to the new breed of linebacker that hit at the same time, but along with Easley came the Dennis Smiths, the Joey Browners, and the Todd Bells who were taller and more physical than the prior generation of NFL safeties. The game was evolving after the 1978 rule changes favoring the passing game. Teams were going to more multiple receiver sets and safeties were being asked to do more. Especially in the hey-day of the AFC West.

Kenny Easley was a ball hawk and a big hitter. A rarity among safeties.

Kenny Easley was a ball hawk and a big hitter. A rarity among safeties.

This was the time of “Air Coryell” with Dan Fouts, the defending NFL champion Raiders with they’re deep passing game, and the Denver Broncos would soon draft John Elway to add to the prowess throwing the football within the division. It was Easley that brought the team superior confidence with his strong hits and leadership that changed the culture of the organization. He started gaining notoriety when he picked off 4 passes and was named AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year. The following season saw him intercept 7 passes and 3 sacks as he made the Pro Bowl for the first time as well as making the All Pro team for the first of three times.

Before his arrival, the Seahawks hadn’t made the playoffs or even been competitive within the AFC West going back to their 1976 inception. Easley led Seattle to their first playoffs in his third year. Once there they topped rookie John Elway and the Broncos 31-7 at home in the wild card round. The following week Easley and the defense led the way in a 27-20 victory over rookie Dan Marino and the Dolphins in Miami. They fell to the eventual champion LA Raiders, whom they swept during the season, in the AFC Championship Game 31-14. Many experts believed Easley’s Seahawks were primed for a Super Bowl run with a healthy Curt Warner coming back.

Easley had his greatest season in 1984, picking off 10 passes returning those for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns on his way to NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors. Yet it was his thunderous hits and reckless play that set him apart. In most instances you have ball-hawks that are tacklers but not great hitters. Easley was both. Yet the 12-4 Seahawks lost the rematch to Miami in the AFC Divisional round 31-10, and wouldn’t get any closer for the rest of his career.

This video in microcosm showcases his great 1984 season.

As you look at the first 20 years of the Seattle Seahawks history (1976-1995) they didn’t make the NFL playoffs until Easley led them there in 1983. They were among the league’s elite for the next five years but couldn’t capitalize on the momentum of that first AFC Championship appearance. The Seahawks did make the playoffs in 1988, but would return to the playoffs only once in the next 18 years following his retirement.

Easley’s career was cut short due to kidney failure before the 1988 season. However he had left thunderous hits and many broken tackles and spirits along with 32 interceptions, returning 3 for scores.  He was a five time Pro Bowler and voted All Pro 3 times, yet is  he a Hall of Famer?? That’s a debate for another day and another article, for Kenny Easley was the prototype safety of the modern era. The skill-set and intensity that he brought to the secondary was equal to what Lawrence Taylor brought to the fore for outside linebackers.

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Epilogue – November 16, 2025: With Kenny’s passing yesterday we lost a true warrior who took years to get his due in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I wanted to write an article to advocate for him but time just didn’t permit. Thank God Ronnie Lott stepped up and advocated for the player he was compared to the most coming out of their 1981 NFL draft. However I wrote this article in 2013 as I was a huge fan and wanted something to showcase how great a player he was.

I was able to catch him in a game once in Ohio Stadium when his UCLA Bruins came in & faced the Ohio St Buckeyes while he was in college back in 1980. Was able to see Easley, Todd Bell, and Ray Ellis deliver big hits one glorious fall afternoon. I remember recalling the game with Easley’s late UCLA teammate Luis Sharpe who passed earlier this year. Undoubtedly Sharpe was there to greet him at the pearly gates. Ironically Ohio St hosted UCLA yesterday on the day he passed.

RIP Kenny Easley – Pro Football Hall of Famer. Thanks for the memories

New England Patriots Tony Collins (33) struggles for that extra yard despite the efforts of Seattle Seahawks Kenny Easley (45) and Keith Butler (53) during first quarter action at Sullivan Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., Sept. 21, 1986. (AP Photo/Mike Kullen)

 

AJ Brown Dilemma With Jalen Hurts

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Now before we start this off keep in mind Taylor Blitz Times has been advocating for Jalen Hurst since he came up for the NFL Draft in 2020. In Shameful Impatience With Black QBs Take Two, we let everyone know the values he would bring to his future team and maturity would make him a franchise QB. Or the article when The Chancellor called for Hurts to replace Carson Wentz and trying to pinpoint when the Eagles would make the move. It pains me to say Hurts hasn’t developed enough as an NFL quarterback.

Yes he has gone to 2 Super Bowls and was the MVP in LIX but the nuance of playing QB in the NFL goes beyond The Pistol read option, single high throw deep play we see in Philadelphia. Where are the back shoulder throws Aaron Rodgers & Peyton Manning have built Hall of Fame careers on? Where are the slants or hot routes that come from Hurts recognizing a defense pre-snap that puts AJ Brown in a situation where he will win off the line?? So lets reword that… Nick Siriani and the Eagles Coaching Staff hasn’t developed Hurts enough as an NFL quarterback. Madden Coaches.

Caught in this vice is All Pro Receiver AJ Brown having a down year for the 2nd straight year in the middle of a possible Hall of Fame career. In ’22 & ’23 Brown had 1,496 and 1,456 yards on 88 & 106 receptions respectively, he is on pace to have 65 receptions with 867 yards. His frustrations are warranted as the Eagles can’t adjust the game plan to include one of the best receivers in football. He has a right to want to produce and make the stats, accolades, and maximize his chance at the Hall of Fame. Its not selfish… If his stats stay low, you can bet the Eagles will come back and want to rework his contract…. guaranteed.

One aspect of his game is he isn’t a total burner on the outside but he does make contested catches against close guarding corners. Hurts has to let the ball go and develop the trust that seems to be lacking. A few years back he gave AJ those chances so what’s happened??

Well here we are with another supposed set of coaching gurus who can’t scheme their top passing weapon open. I’ve never heard something so pathetic in my life. Jerry Rice’s whole career the 49ers would have 5 plays within their first 15 to get the ball to him. They’d move him in formation as well as have him in motion. It is not that hard.

Y0u can’t move him inside and isolate him on an OLB when the team is in a predictable zone alignment?? What are you watching game film for?? Well here lets give you Madden Coaches a quick example if you want to stay with simplified reads and play calls … sigh.

 

Line up in this formation and just run double slants with Jalen Hurts under center. Get out of the Pistol as it limits linebacker influence and do this on a play where you expect zone coverage. Have Brown as the “X” and Smith “Z”… If it’s Cover 3, Hurts throws it right on his 5th step to Brown right as he’s breaking with a low trajectory throw. If they run Cover 2 just hit Smitty  on the post.

You can do it with a FB in the game or do it from a 2 TE alignment with the second TE lining up in the FB position. Hurts…no dancing around you throw it right when your 5th step plants whether going “X” Brown or “Z” Smitty. Make sure your eyes are on that Free Safety to not tip off the MLB in case their running a “Tampa Cover 2.” 5th step…turn and fire.

Here is the practical application on 1st down by one of the greatest passing teams in history with The Greatest Show on Turf so don’t tell me it doesn’t work:

Ok… they threw it to Smitty who was in place of where HOF Isaac Bruce was but I promise you any defense will adjust to their FS in the middle and open up this same play for Brown on his post. This play has been in the NFL for 50 plus years and Brown can muscle through any CB trying to jam him so this is a fool proof play. Get out of that jackass Pistol and open up the passing lanes by holding the linebackers.

Truth of the matter is the Eagles haven’t developed the nuances of playing QB with Jalen Hurts and its shown. Any Madden Coach can have 200 plays but if they don’t tailor it to the personnel they have its useless. More important if the plays don’t have progression / priority changes based on the possible defense from the exact same look, its also worthless.

Beyond that, skillful play selection should culminate in moving or influencing a specific defensive player to react in a way to attack him later in the game. Same look, same formation, same down and distance and make adjustments to what he’ll cheat on when he sees the formation set up for the 3rd, 4th or 5th time in the game.

To play for another Lombardi you have to get the ball to AJ Brown.

The Eagles have kept it simple and not worked on holding the safeties with your eyes and throwing on time to a spot on the field. Throw your receivers open. Teach / Coach the full nuance of an NFL quarterback. This was something I warned in my original article “The NFL’s Shameful Impatience With Black Quarterbacks” and its time to develop the full arsenal of Jalen Hurts.

Get the ball to AJ Brown… sigh. There should be no less 8-10 throws to him per game and get him engaged early. Its no secret the game doesn’t begin in a receiver’s mind until that first catch and he gets hit. Every conversation the best receivers always admit this so why not get the ball to Brown 2 or 3 times on the first drive alone? Hurts has to pull the trigger and throw it to him and quit playing in fear of throwing an interception.

The psyche of this offense and their ability to defend their Super Bowl championship depends on it.

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