Conventional wisdom says the quarterback competition is over and Tarvaris Jackson is The Man.
This conventional wisdom represents the consensus of team coaches, journalists, and most fans, according to online polls and postings.
Apparently, those people haven't been watching the same games I've been seeing.
Certainly, Jesus of Clemson did not light it up against Cleveland or in limited action last week.
In both games, our offense struggled as a whole. It's hard for any quarterback to shine when the line can't block, receivers can't catch, and penalties derail any hope of progress.
Carroll's decision to yank Whitehurst last week was puzzling. During his three series, the quarterback threw only one bad ball--one of those low-percentage bombs that our coaches insist on calling with disturbing frequency. All of Whitehurst's other passes were on-target, though his receivers dropped some of them. Poor pass protection, penalties, and our inability to run limited our offensive production, but on the second series, Seattle posted 3 points.
Enter Tarvaris Jackson. On his first series, a botched handoff to Marshawn Lynch led to a fumble, forfeiting possession to Cincinnati on our own 31-yard line. T-Jack's next drive ended in a punt.
On the final drive of the first half, made enough nice throws to compensate for a stupid penalty (rookie right guard John Moffitt lined up in the neutral zone), another pointless long-bomb heave, and a sack and a throwaway due to poor pass protection. Seattle found itself in unfamiliar territory: the red zone. However, poor coaching deprived us of points. Lacking a timeout, with only a few seconds on the clock, Carroll called a handoff to Lynch, allowing the Bengals defenders to drain the remaining time by taking their time untangling the ensuing pileup.
In the third quarter, T-Jack came out with our vaunted no-huddle offense. The result: punt, punt, field goal, a very nice drive culminating in a rushing touchdown, then a punt (returned for touchdown), a turnover on downs, and a pick six, followed by total surrender (running out the clock because the game was out of reach).
Jackson's game will not go down in the annals of quarterbacking greatness.
I'm not impressed that Jackson threw for more than 300 yards.
I'm distressed that our offense doesn't score enough points, no matter who runs the offense.
When you're playing from behind, it's easy to rack up passing yards. Putting points on the board is harder, and it's all that matters.
In the first quarter, Whitehurst posted 3 points. In the last three quarters, T-Jack posted 9. The rate of offensive production remained constant. Constantly anemic.
However, I argue that inserting Jackson actually retarded the offense's progress. Jackson has always been prone to the premature throwaway under pressure, but that tendency has increased now that he is banged up. Had Whitehurst stayed in, we would have probably completed a few more passes. Moreover, Jesus tends to show more discipline running through his progressions. For example, at the end of the first half, as Seattle neared the red zone, T-Jack ignored two wide-open receivers underneath to loft a longer pass to a covered receiver in the end zone. Result? Incompletion.
Postscript: Early in the game, I was ready to pronounce Jon Ryan an athlete when, after booming an epic punt, he compensated for poor coverage and prevented a touchdown by catching Bengals cornerback Adam Jones from behind and tackling him. However, Jones--once one of the league's most feared returners--had pulled a hamstring on the play, so we learned that the ghost with the golden toe can only outrun a hobbled Pacman. Moreover, Ryan looked very much like a punter when he whiffed on Brandon Tate during the latter's touchdown punt return.
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