sdog1981":1lek76lo said:
I only say, Austin Davis, beacuse I'm still trying to recover from him going 17-20 2TD 0INT and beat a Superbowl bound Seahawks team in 2014.
THIS. Austin Davis can win real NFL games against even Super-Bowl-bound teams with elite defenses. Yes, with a game manager approach and an elite defense behind him, and with home field, but any Win in the NFL is a good Win. Pete Carroll knows he has a shot in any game if the defense plays well and the offense doesn't commit turnovers.
From a St. Louis Post-Dispatch recap of the game:
"It was do-or-die time for the Rams. And this time they did, marching 80 yards for a TD that gave them a 28-19 lead with 5:36 to play. Opening up their offense after a conservative approach for 3 1/2 quarters, Austin (Davis) completed five of six passes for 70 yards on the drive. The TD came on a 4-yard pass to Lance Kendricks, but the big play was a 30-yard completion on a deep crossing route to Chris Givens."
After that Rams win, I was like "who the FREAK is this Austin Davis guy, and how did our defense make him look like an All-Pro?
I trust Davis to read real NFL defenses and make good decisions with the ball. If he can do this against the #1 NFL scoring defense in a regular season game, he can do it against Hawks opponents in games that count. It seems Boykin gets confused by defenses and then makes poor decisions with the ball. Boykin does make some amazing and clutch plays at times, but the dumb, unnecessary turnovers (e.g., from misreads and throwing into triple coverage) make it hard to trust him. All that is based on on-field performance.
Factor in off-field potential issues and I see the Hawks releasing Boykin and keeping Davis. But that's not the basis for the decision I expect, on-field play is.