Jordan Love, Gabe Davis, Making The Case For a 6-6 Team and Referee Accountability | December 10th, 2023 Mailbox

From @squidcentauri

"Would Gabe Davis be a WR1 or WR2 on any team other than the Buffalo Bills? Should Shakir get his snaps because Davis is a bust?"

I really hope the reader doesn't take the second part of the question too seriously, lots of people on the internet somehow haven't heard of sarcasm. I was looking for some stats for Stefon Diggs and the guy just doesn't miss games, he is just a tough motherfucker. It's tough to say exactly how much Gabe Davis is losing out on because of Diggs because they are so different. Diggs is much more of a quick and explosive style of player who can play well in the slot but he can also make plays down the middle of the field but his deep threat isn't close to Davis' ability down the field. Gabe Davis is much more of a deep threat and on the outsides, that limited skill set just isn't good enough for a #1 wide receiver on a good football team. Every #1 should have a deep threat, be able to play sideline to sideline and be a threat over the middle. So, no, he wouldn't be a #1 on another team but I think he is perfect for Josh Allen.

At the start of Week 14 the Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons were all 6-6.

Before play even started this week, I think you could eliminate Denver, Minnesota, Seattle, Los Angeles and Atlanta already, when you watch those teams play, you just know they aren't real and yes, even Denver, I know I know but we have seen them play, they play good defense but their offense struggles consistently and in this day and age, your offense needs to be average. That leaves 2 teams, Cincinnati and Buffalo. Cincy has looked about as good as they looked with Burrow but their defense is going to be the bane of their existence. Although Browning is playing well, his ceiling isn't anywhere close to Burrow and the Bengals have made their runs because Burrow has been able to reach his ceiling. By default, the Bills are there, Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs could do it but the biggest issue they have is running the ball and an underwhelming pass rush and it's possible they could lose Von Miller with his legal trouble. It's not surprising, but running the football and winning in the trenches is wildly important in January and February, which has been a struggle for Buffalo. So, if we only let 6-6 teams into the playoffs, the Buffalo Bills would be Super Bowl Champions.

From @thehellgoingonblog

"A 6-6 team will win the Super Bowl. Who is it?"

From @ledatru

"Should NFL officials be held accountable for bad officiating?"

The real question should be, how have we not? We hold coaches, players, owners and commissioners accountable, as a former ref, how are we not? MLB umpires have grading systems, why can't the NFL have grades on their guys? Missed calls, how many times a crew has had a call overturned, home vs away bias, certain bias for teams, this is so damn easy, now I'm not sure about how it will actually improve things in the short term but it could easily get rid of some of these bad refs in the long term. Their pay should also be in relation to their performance and their tenure in the NFL. If you work at a job for 6 months and your work is noticeably shotty, where the bosses and coworkers complain about it, you're getting at best a strong talking to if not fired, it's very simple, why do they get held to such different standards? Oh yeah, we NEED them to speak to the media, maybe only have the head ref speak to the media, but they need to answer to their mistakes. Now, we need to remember how tough this job truly is, they almost never get props for a well called game because the game seems normal, they only get criticism, so find ways to reward great refs with pay increases, the NFL should release reports on each ref at the end of the week, honoring the highest graded refs. These guys are human and still deserve their flowers just as much as they deserve criticism.

From @3thehardwaysports

"Is Jordan Love the answer in GB? Will a backup QB win the Super Bowl this year?"

I'm going to go in reverse here and answer the second question. No, a backup won't win a Super Bowl, what teams are starting their backups? None of the top 4 seeds in each conference, the highest seed in each conference to have their backup in for the rest of the season would be the Cleveland Browns and they are not winning the Super Bowl, they just can't move the ball.

Now, to address Jordan Love, the Packers are a well run organization and well run teams just win, no matter what, they always find ways to win. I also think a lot of QB's really do take time to adjust and settle into a starting spot, especially in in a city like Green Bay where the town is so small and used to success. Jordan Love is actually playing up to par with Farve and Rodgers based on their first seasons, which should be very promising for Packer fans. What I am afraid of, is the regression of quarterback play that is coming. We will NEVER see an era like we saw in the 2000's and early-mid 2010's and that is going to skew how we view QB's in the NFL. Average quarterbacks are going to be much more common in the next 10-20 years, if you throw prime Eli Manning into the mix now, he would probably sit in the top 10 of QB's right now. Love seems like the safe option right now and that's what Green Bay should work towards now, build around Love with strong weapons and a dominant defense. I see him on the Rivers or Manning level of success, an above average QB with a high ceiling and a very low floor hopefully surrounded by weapons. So yes, he will be the answer, but the "answer" needs to be redefined in this new era.

Alex Boyajian is the CEO of Chaotically Intolerant Multi Media Productions, Host of the Chaotically Intolerant Podcast, Commissioner of Chaotically Intolerant Table Tennis and the biggest Colts fan at Chaotically Intolerant