The Big Cat

I'd be satisfied heading into the bye 5-3 with a 2-1 division record.

Re-tally those numbers taking away runs by AP, runs by Patterson and quarterback runs and I think you'll see that their actual run attack does not reflect those numbers.

Spikes provides a great boost to our run defense, something that won't be critical against Minnesota OR New York, two teams with, at best, a pedestrian running attack. That will give him two weeks plus the bye to heal the ribs that were CLEARLY aggravating him on Sunday. Every time the camera panned past him he was wincing and clutching his torso. I think we can get two wins and head into the bye at 5-3. I also think we can do this without Spikes. We need him more for the second-half-of-the-year playoff push a 5-3 record would set us for than we would for these two games. Just MO.

/thread?

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

Yeah, you know, or CJ could learn to hit the holes the offense is creating. I'm not saying your wrong, just like building a giant tower to the moon could have also been a means to reach it.

This is why you look at ypc and not total yards.

But Hackett sucks. His win loss ratio is the same as what we could have predicted his TD/INT to be, roughly 1:1.

That's a straw man.

It's as if nobody floating these hypotheses understands the concept of a "control group," in this case Fred.

Which achievement are you referring to?

Fine. But I stick to my original point: if a RB can't be relied on to run up the middle, then he's--at best--a gadget player. I wonder how Spiller's contract talks are going. I wonder where they'd be if we had been successful in trading up for Carlos Hyde.

So, in other words make space for CJ...just not between the guards. That's bad space.

What are you suggesting changed from years one to two for EJ and Woods? Where's the evidence that Woods' production has decreased, particularly now that EJ isn't the QB? Have you ever heard of the sophomore slump? What evidence is there that Fred is having a down year? Which Williams' performances from the last 14 months are you comparing his production in 2014? Are we conveniently forgetting that Sammy Watkins spent--at least--the first two weeks playing through a rib injury? And again, it's Hackett's fault that CJ can't distinguish a crease from the guard's backside? It's Hackett's fault he runs directly INTO his blockers? It's Hackett's fault when FJ and BD routinely pick up 3-5 yards on the exact same play calls while Spiller ranges from -5 to 2?

So...again...in order to get Spiller to successfully run up the !@#$ing middle of the field, we need to install a sub-offense to spread the defense out. And what do we expect the ends to be? 1800 yds from scrimmage? 12 TD's? At the expense of? Well, for four and a half years we've been watching what defenses do when we have to run sub-packages that establish Spiller as a one-dimensional threat. Have we not?

And I say it makes no sense whatsoever. Those who want to point to CJ's above average 2012 season miss the much larger point. To achieve those above average numbers, he was used as a counter measure while the rest of the offense was a set up. This is the "space" that everyone is clamoring for. It was produced by using everything else as a decoy. It worked brilliantly...resulting in above average production from Spiller. So let's go over how Hackett should "use" Spiller. He should set up an entire offense that's sole purpose is to setup using Spiller...on a limited basis...so he can put up above average numbers. Is that what posters want? Do people really think that makes sense?

Stop it with that.

If we're going to call running between the tackles a "round hole" let's at least acknowledge it's a round whole with a diameter of 20 feet, and--at worst--a square peg of an NFL running back should be a "square peg" with sides of 8 inches. I simply don't understand this analogy as it pertains to RUNNING UP THE MIDDLE OF THE !@#$ING FIELD. It's not like he's asking CJ to play left !@#$ing tackle. The so-called round hole is the most basic !@#$ing thing a square peg could possibly be asked to do.

I'm not buying it. Sorry, but your theory relies on the assumption that, as it is, something has to be schemed to open up the middle. By and large, this is not the case. I don't believe that all the jet sweeps in the world will help CJ suddenly find/hit a crease between the tackles.

So it goes when you inherit a specialty player leftover from a prior regime. But IMO, it's on Spiller to prove he's more than a speciality player and he simply hasn't. His skill set is far too narrow.

And I can't blame you for being reluctant to turn the page on a player oozing with potential. But that's what brings us back to the original argument: who's responsible for him not realizing his potential? Hackett? Or him?

To illustrate that you can't knock Spiller's sudden drop in stats as an indicator of poor scheme when two average-at-best QBs are doing just fine in it. You helped make my point. And to that point, we're not talking about a below average 3.5 ypc, we're talking about 1.7 ypc for Spiller over the last two games. Further, Jackson and Dixon ARE way more effective up the middle, and while Biscuit wants to argue stats (even though it's a worthless exercise he's bound to lose anyways), if you watch the games you'll see that Spiller is the same running back he's been since 2010: no vision, no patience, no clue how to set up and run off his blocks, just poor instincts. Back to stats: this rarely shows up on the sheet for him because every other game he'll bounce one outside for a huge gain, and it skews his numbers. I'd argue that more often than not those plays result from a defensive breakdown, without which, as has been the case the last two weeks, he's utterly worthless.

In a thread calling him a zero, contending otherwise is hardly calling him a hero. Resorting to straw men is never a good sign. Also, if you're going to gush about his above average 2012 (a delightful segment of the 1.5 above average years he's had in 4.5) the least you could do is acknowledge is 1.7 ypc over the last eight quarters.

Excellent point. Even "in space" he's shown, repeatedly, that he's lousy at setting up and following blocks. But seriously, let's just repeating this "get him in space" nonsense. I've been asking posters to define the concept in some way that didn't involve the spread which was equally disdained around here (how conveniently we forget). Usually the answer is "run screens," a reply which also conveniently ignores how !@#$ing deplorable our line has been at executing screens over the last 22 games.