Ah, so that's the rub.
I won't excuse it, he missed some throws he should make. He made some sloppy interceptions, too. Those hurt us, especially early in the season where we lost some winnable games.
However, he did play markedly better down the stretch. From Week 9 (Thursday vs Cleveland) to the penultimate Pittsburgh game, through those 7 weeks, he put up 14 TDs to 7 INTs, 280+ yds/game, a 94.7 passer rating, and his 6.9 yards/attempt was at his career average. Through those 7 weeks, we also won 4, losing to Dallas, New England, and Pittsburgh. That's respectable but the teams' and his floundering in the middle of the season kept us from the playoffs.