34-78-83

Add in the fact that JP, though rushed at times, also had well more than 3 seconds to throw on many of the passing plays.

It's only a consolation, but if Spikes is anything like I think he is, he'll have so much game film study burned into his head over the next number of months that next year he'll be getting to the ball that much quicker, possibly off-setting any loss in speed. I don't see any quit in that guy.

Right those Rams and Seahawks who ALL had rated as better teams than us last year? Hindsight is 20/20. The same will happen this year with some of the coming games that we assume will be impossible to win.

Football 102... Then came the 46 defense based on 4 and 5 down linemen.

Point?

Eli's results from his 1st three starts are actually quite a bit worse than JP's. Look it up Thurman.

True. the world champions seem to rely on it quite frequently and it works for them. I still would like to see more of Willis in those situations though

I think considering the response it comes down to one of two things: 1- He is protecting some deficiency in Willis's game. 2- He and Clements are married to their substitution packages

Absolutely. Just the threat of him being in there will give us that much more room in the mid-range route areas, as well as the occasional draw vs. an upfield rush that gets him instantly out to the second level with some room to work. It's a damn shame. I realize he is not yet the best of blockers but is Shaud really that much better?

That's just the thing that bugs me most though because last year, on both sides of the ball with multiple games to use as examples, they DID make some really nice adjustments scheme-wise to take advantage of the opposition or atleast to prevent the areas they were getting attacked in.

Not really in the current landscape, but I do recall a high degree of success with a former Buffalo team not that I'm comparing. Although the chiefs are certainly built for power running if and when they choose to implore it...

True... I suppose that won't come until the game slows down for him.

I guess what I was getting at there is a slot WR with speed and a TE that can exploit creases in zone coverage and actually beat Lb's it may open up the outside a little bit, although in Everett's case he would obviously need to be able to block as well.

It indeed looks like your predictions have come to fruition so far, although I'm seeing it as more of a team thing on defense still than just one man (Edwards, who you accurately portrayed as a liability in run support). The whole front seven failed at different times yesterday in gap control for example. I feel nearly certain that it was addressed in-game by both Mularkey and the RB coach vs. Tampa. Also, I don't think I was the only one who noticed Willis running with much more decisiveness yesterday on his way to a career high. Looks like that worked out for Mularkey. I totally agree with every word of that. I was waiting for us to contain and make him feel "comfortable" in the pocket and drop into zones. Never happened. I can't argue with that at all either. I would, however, like to see what our offense looks like once Parish and Everett get going. Nice post AKC

Fine, just be assured that there's not a coach out there that would agree with you on this

Agreed on both counts.

The result is no different so in that you are correct, but gap discipline in my eyes is certainly different than getting physically pushed off of the LOS, which is what happened to them last week Either way , they didn't do their jobs well.

That really sucks man. I was holding onto that fraction of hope that it wasn't torn.

I agree with those that say he should be out there. I understand the value of "packages" but I don't think that Shaud offers anything that Willis does not. It's hard to tell if he is any better at blitz pickup than Willis but I doubt he is. Willis needs to be in there unless he's coming off a long run or something.

Posey was one of few on the defense who actually played a pretty good game yesterday although nobody is without blame. I thought Crowell accounted for himself nicely as well. Most of the big ATL runs came as result of gap control discipline (lack of) issues as a team unit. I didn't see as much getting "blown off the ball" as I did the week before. They would have the hole closed and leave the back side open on all of Dunn's successful runs. I think that happened like 4 times, but they were very long runs each time.

The first one IMO was neither late nor illegal, just a terrible call (after a 2nd review even). The 2nd one I can atleast understand why they called it.

Excellent post Mickey. I sure needed it too...

As I reluctantly replayed some of the plays from todays dissapointing game, I feel like the O-line run blocked extremely well today, and the man on man pass protection was quite a bit better than many of those who possibly were unable to see the game think. The real problem I am seeing with consistency is an inability to do well in blitz pickup. This involves the line of course, but also involves the TE's and RB's. There was a time or two as well when JP could have released the ball quicker whether it was a throw away or a hot read.

Yeah, looks like my comment is ancient history now.

The call was good, the block was there. Too bad Freddie couldn't hold up his end when he stumbled...