Drew Struggling, But No One Wins The Blame Game

This is not Drew Bledsoe’s fault.

Repeat:

This is not Bledsoe’s fault.

Because it’s starting, as sure as you can say Jim Plunkett. You remember Plunkett, of course. He was the young Pats quarterback with the golden future who was run out of town by the Foxboro boo-birds back in the mid-70s, the designated scapegoat. The same Jim Plunkett who went on to find his golden future with the Raiders after he had put Foxboro in his rear-view mirror.

Now it seems like Drew Bledsoe has become one of the scapegoats for this Patriots season that’s now turned as sour as old milk.

Not that he’s the only one, certainly. But he’s an obvious one.

He agreed to a $42 million contract before the season started. He is the franchise quarterback. He is one of the top young talents in the National Football League, one of the league’s emerging glamour players. He is the one with the endorsements. He is the star, pure and simple, and when the Patriots underachieve, a lot of the fans’ frustration starts raining down on his shoulders. It comes with the territory.

But it’s misguided.

Yes, he hasn’t played as well as he did a year ago. Yes, he’s had some Sundays when you figure he’s regressed in his development. Yes, his completion percentage has dropped roughly seven points from a year ago. Yes, he’s the 17th-ranked quarterback in the AFC, with only four QBs rated lower than him. Yes, he threw a real stinkeroo at a bad time Sunday, an extremely bad decision at an inopportune time.

Yet there are extenuating circumstances, too. Earlier in the season he was hurt, an injury that caused a certain crisis in confidence. He’s also not exactly had wide receivers who can make a quarterback look good, like the ones who always have surrounded Dan Marino in Miami, for example. He’s never had the luxury of playing with a world-class wideout. And this year he didn’t even have Kevin Turner.

All season long, both the Pats and Bledsoe have been plagued by an inordinate amount of dropped passes. From the opening game of the year, when Vincent Brisby dropped a potential touchdown pass in the end zone, to the Bills game two weeks ago when both Sam Gash and Dave Meggett dropped balls that could have been scores, the former Washington State star could sue his receivers for non-support. We all know that great receivers can make average quarterbacks look good. This has been the flip side.

Then there’s the Ben Coates factor. Last year, Coates was a virtual unknown, someone who snuck up on people. This year he’s one of the focal points of opposing defenses. Add the fact he’s also been slowed with nagging little injuries much of the year, and he hasn’t been the same player he was a year ago.

All of which has put more pressure on Bledsoe.

Which is not to absolve Bledsoe of all blame here.

Parcells has been saying all season that the Pats lack a leader, that they’re an immature team, a team that lacks the consistent effort it takes to win. And while Parcells has never singled Bledsoe out, the implication is there: Bledsoe should be one of the leaders, right? As Marino is in Miami, as John Elway is in Denver, for the simple reason that it comes with the territory.

He is not.

Maybe it’s his age, still only 23. Maybe it’s his personality, the fact he’s as laid back as some kid hanging out in the mall, a far cry from the fiery quarterbacks of legend. Maybe it’s a combination of both. Maybe he’ll never be the kind of leader the Patriots need.

But that doesn’t mean Bledsoe is not the quarterback to lead the Patriots into the future. Last year proved that. And when a quarterback is moving a team down the field as if it’s some flag football game on Sunday morning, no one cares if he’s not Bobby Layne in the locker room.

The important thing is that Bledsoe can learn some lessons from this. Learn from this and be better next year because of it.

One day last summer, while doing a profile on the football education of Bledsoe for a football magazine, I asked Colts coach Ted Marchibroda and Dolphins defensive coordinator Tom Olivadotti for their assessment on Bledsoe’s development. Both said they no longer considered Bledsoe a young quarterback, that he’d already proved he could read defenses and make correct reads and take his team down the field. Already had proven he was a veteran.

This year he hasn’t always performed like one.

But to blame him for the demise of this Patriots season is both wrong and short-sighted. Criticize him all you want. Say he’s overpaid. Say he hasn’t progressed this year. Say he’s got to become more of a leader. Say anything. Then, when you’re done, remember he’s still the franchise. He’s still the main reason why the Patriots have a future, regardless of how disappointing this season has been.

And also remember that making a young quarterback the scapegoat for a season going sour is not exactly going to do anybody any good.

The Jim Plunkett saga tells us that.