One key issue is an inexperienced, still learning qb going against a top defense.
A couple of ideas on where Davis needs to improve (and who knows how soon he will):
* the mobility idea aside, actually, running/mobile qbs get sacked more, not less. Numbers back that up. The way to beat the rush is to see where the pressure is coming from and get rid of the ball. Davis is not that good at that yet. He took sacks in both the Vikes game and Eagles game that an experienced qb wouldn’t, just simply by seeing where the pressure was going to come from and throwing out of trouble on the quick or by audibling out of the play.
* Related to that…Davis is not yet good enough when blitzed. His completion % etc. goes down.
* Davis needs to become more confident and settled down in clutch situations at the end of the game. He’s been in 3 such situations so far and twice threw drive-killing passes. Will that come with experience? Yes it could. But till you see it there’s no guarantee.
It IS true that Davis can trust his receivers more than Clemens or Bradford could so there are plays there to be made that weren;t there in previous years. That comes from Cook stepping up some, Quick stepping up a lot, and the addition of Britt.
BUT.
They don’t need Davis to be Andrew Luck to win. Cut way back on special teams mistakes and defensive mistakes, and Davis is in the role of contributing to a smart tough game, instead of having everything put on him. That’s the way it’s supposed to go. You’re not supposed to put the entire game on the back of a guy without experience, no matter how good he is or potentially is.
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