The QB Scho Show #32!

Week 1 of the 2019 NFL Season is in the books and Week 2 is fast approaching. Is it possible to look both back in time while also looking ahead? Of course, dummy. And it’s exactly what we did on The QB Scho Show #32 with Mark Schofield.

We reviewed Week 1 and previewed the quarterback duel between the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2. The following quotes are from my co-host Mark Schofield.

On Carson Wentz’s week 1 success…

“I think if you’re an Eagles fan, or a Carson Wentz fan, or a fan of quarterback play you have to be excited about what you saw from him… What impressed me the most about him… the calm in the cauldron kind of situations where he knows he’s getting pressured but he gets the ball out and he makes the right decisions.

But I think more than anything what impressed me was the timing. The timing and the rhythm to the offense. The throws that he was making on time, in rhythm, on schedule, getting the ball out as receivers were just getting into breaks let alone coming out of them.”

Per Pro Football Focus, Wentz got rid of the ball in an average time-to-throw of 2.44 seconds. That would tie for his second-fastest release in a game when compared to his 2018 numbers. Mark explained an example of Wentz executing a throw with good timing and anticipation with a breakdown of this 1st & 10 throw from Carson Wentz. In the clip below, instead of hitching, Wentz utilizes a “hit and throw”, which is used on one and three-step drops where timing is critical to the success of the play.

“It’s a blitz, he gets man coverage on the outside, he’s throwing the hitch. And he just times it up perfectly, the ball is getting out of his hands as the receiver is sinking his hips into that break… The timing, the rhythm, was a huge part of his development and we saw that on Sunday against Washington.”

On Matt Ryan Week 1 struggles…

“I think Matt Ryan gets a bit of a pass, because we’ve seen him put up MVP seasons before… I think the past couple years he kind of flew under the radar even though he was playing very well…

He made some mistakes under pressure. You look at the pick he threw in the direction of Julio, they blitzed him, I don’t know what he was thinking there… they basically double Julio, and he forces it in his general direction.”

“Sometimes when Matt Ryan gets pressured his go to Plan C maybe, because I think he’s better at getting through reads [than Mitchell Trubisky], is I’m going to force this throw in the general direction of Julio Jones and trust that he can make a play for me…

He seemed slower at times than he usually is. There were opportunities in the downfield passing game where he was slow to pull the trigger. And you almost sort of wonder if the pressure was messing with his processing a bit… the processing speed, he seemed a step slower.”

On The QB Show Show #32 we discuss those two with more depth and highlight Week 1 performances from Mitchell Trubisky, Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, and Garnder Minshew. You can listen to it on the media player below or click here if the player doesn’t load. New to podcasts?! Check out our guide on how to listen to BGN! FLY EAGLES FLY!