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Schofield's QB Camp: Joe Burrow and Taylor Heinicke lead the way in Week 4

Just like everyone predicted.

Four weeks into the 2021 NFL season and nothing is shaping up as we expected. The Arizona Cardinals are your last remaining undefeated team, after throttling the Los Angeles Rams in a battle of unbeatens. The Los Angeles Chargers sit atop the AFC West, while the Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in last place.

Then there is the unfolding Urban Meyer situation in Jacksonville. Which, well maybe we should have seen that one coming.

Now as we do each week here at Schofield’s QB Camp, we are going to highlight some of the best quarterback play from around the league. We’ll dive into Joe Burrow and Cincinnati’s win over those Jaguars, Taylor Heinicke in a comeback against Atlanta, Justin Fields and his first win as a starting quarterback, Dak Prescott toppling the unbeaten Panthers, and more.

Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals:

The week began with a showdown on Thursday night between two young passers, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals and Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars. While both impressed, it was Burrow and the Bengals who came out with the victory.

In this breakdown, we’ll dive into the cat-and-mouse game at the line of scrimmage, scramble drill moments, and how quarterbacks get to Plan B when things go awry:

Taylor Heinicke, Washington Football Team

(Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)

The Washington Football Team evened their record at 2-2, thanks to a comeback win in Atlanta over the Falcons. In that victory, Taylor Heinicke completed 23 of 33 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Football Team to the 34-30 road victory.

This breakdown gets into how torque is an essential component of the throwing motion, particularly when quarterbacks face pressure in the pocket and cannot step into throws. We’ll also highlight a hole shot touchdown to Terry McLaurin:

Daniel Jones, New York Giants

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Dare we say that Daniel Jones, Jason Garrett and the New York Giants offense have figured things out?

The third-year passer had perhaps the best game of his career, leading the Giants to a win in overtime against the New Orleans Saints. In the victory, Jones completed 28 of 40 passes for 402 yards and a pair of touchdowns, along with an interception. In this video, we will look at how Jones delivered a dig route into a secondary window, how well he read a post/over concept, and a touchdown strike to Saquon Barkley that reminded many of one of his best throws at Duke:

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

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The talk of the NFL world the past few weeks has been the defense in Carolina led by defensive coordinator Phil Snow. The Panthers, using a combination of scheme and talent, have been one of the more impressive defensive units this young season.

That came to a bit of a halt Sunday against the Cowboys. Dak Prescott did not have an overwhelming game in terms of production, completing 14 of 22 passes for 188 yards, but he did throw for four touchdowns. A focal point of this breakdown is how effective Prescott has become at manipulating defenders with his eyes and his mind:

Justin Fields, Chicago Bears

(Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports)

Thanks to Bill Lazor, we saw a flash of what Justin Fields can be in the NFL.

The rookie quarterback notched his first career win Sunday as the Chicago Bears topped the Detroit Lions at Solider Field. In the victory, Fields completed 11 of 17 passes for 209 yards and an interception. Impressive numbers? Not exactly. But some of the downfield throws Fields made in this game illustrate his strengths as a passer, and what this offense can be under his stewardship. Plus, Fields might have had the best throw of the week:

Zach Wilson, New York Jets

(Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

Head coach Robert Saleh said last week that soon enough, we would see what he sees in practice every day. The reasons that New York Jets made Zach Wilson the second-overall selection in the 2021 NFL draft.

We might have gotten a glimpse Sunday.

The Jets secured their first win of the season in overtime against the Tennessee Titans, and Wilson flashed his athleticism and arm talent throughout the game. We’ll dive into scramble drill situations, the Jets offense and the boot-action game, as well as Wilson taking advantage of leverage pre- and post-snap in a big spot during overtime:

Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Things sometimes get harder down in the red zone for a quarterback. Throwing lanes sometimes get constricted, you have the end line to contend with, almost as an extra defender, and things have to happen faster before windows get closed.

Unless, of course, you have an arm like Justin Herbert.

In Monday night’s victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, Herbert delivered three impressive touchdown strikes down in the red zone. Let’s dive into those throws and how well Herbert read each situation:

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