Quote Originally Posted by The Excellector View Post
This is true and it lends itself to the argument that I have been trying to make all season. The passing offense needs to be able to take better advantage of this, but it won't if it's put back in the closet after every little mistake or every bad game. They'll revert back to Rice, Rice will get stuffed in the playoffs and the passing offense will be asked to come out of the closet cold and win the game.
Where have I heard this before? ;)

Just kidding.

I agree wih your theory/suggestion up to a point. And that point is, we can experiment or "practice" stuff in regular season games only to the extent it does not significantly reduce our chances of winning the games. I vehemently disagree with the idea we should accept extra losses, even a single extra loss, during the season and thereby risk missing the playoffs at worst, or playing on the road (vs. at home) at best, just to "practice" our passing game. The same goes for giving young backups significant time. Sure Gradkowski would look better in 2014 if he starts playing now, but if playing him now makes our on-the-field team worse, then he waits. There is a reason why teams wait until their season is "lost" (regarding the playoffs) before starting young QBs and playing backups to evaluate for the future.