Earl Thomas can't believe Seahawks lost to 'subpar quarterback' Blake Bortles
The Seahawks were not impressed with Blake Bortles, even though the 2014 third-overall pick has played the best football of his life this season, most recently on Sunday when he was an efficient 18 of 27 for 268 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and played a big part in Jacksonville's 30-24 victory.
Seattle safety Earl Thomas wasn't impressed.
"... [Y]ou know, that was a subpar quarterback," he told reporters after the game, according to the Seattle Times' Sean Quinton, adding: "They had a great game plan. They out-executed us, which can't happen. You've gotta take advantage of these things."
Bortles, who has been heavily criticized for much of his NFL career, seems to be enjoying his newfound success.
Blake Bortles on recent games being chippy.
“Teams aren’t used to getting beat by the Jags. We beat the crap out of them for 60 minutes.” #Jaguars — Brian Chojnacki (@BroadcastingBri) December 11, 2017
Rookie running back Leonard Fournette went so far as to call Bortles a "top-5 quarterback," defensive end Calais Campbell took it a few steps further.
"These last couple of games he's playing amazing," Campbell said, via ESPN.com. "He looks like Tom Brady these last couple games. I know Tom Brady does it all the time, but these last couple games, Blake was out there leading the team, playing confident and having fun."
Cornerback Jalen Ramsey added: "Blake is balling. We know who our quarterback is, and we know what he's been doing, week in and week out, helping us get victories."
While Bortles has been better this season, he ranks 19th in value per play among all quarterbacks, according to Football Outsiders' metrics. That's just ahead of Andy Dalton, Cam Newton and Marcus Mariota, but behind Jameis Winston and Josh McCown. The good news is that the Jaguars, who have an impressive running game and the league's best defense, don't need Tom Brady. Bortles is doing exactly what he needs to do. And at 9-4, not only are the Jags are headed back to the playoffs for the first time since 2007, they're capable of a Super Bowl run.
Meanwhile, Russell Wilson, an MVP candidate coming into Sunday's game, looked out of sorts for much of the aftenroon. He finished 17 of 31 for 271 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. The loss dropped the Seahawks to 8-5 and momentarily out of the final wild-card berth, though with games against the Rams, Cowboys and Cardinals, they continue to control their playoff destiny.