Ralonzo Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 A thought occurred to me while watching the Niners-Cardinals game (the second half at least - I missed the first although by all accounts I didn't miss much): What did Josh McCown or Alex Smith (when he was put in) have that J.P. Losman doesn't? It's not the arm, or the mobility. It's accuracy and rhythm. That comes from playcalling. In both cases, they had some throws that were a little squirrelly off the bat, but the coaches came back to the simple throws, got them in a groove, and progressed from there. McCown went on from there, and just got into a silly zone. In Smith's case, the Cards were bringing the house so the staff protected him by calling flare throws until it became obvious he was going to complete those, and then turned to the deeper slants and outs. It was like night and day, watching the Niner coaches put Smith in a position to succeed, versus what the Bills seem to be doing. With a gun like JP, you can pressure the areas of the field that guys like Holcomb and Matthews can't, i.e., the deep seam, the 15-yard out. I'm not even talking about the homerun ball. McCown and Smith both got their opportunities, and made those throws look easy. There's no reason JP can't. If it's mechanics, fix it. If there's DBs squatting on those routes and the WRs can't get a look, change the plays, or the playcalling. That's not on the QB, that's on the coaches. Apparently other coaches in the league are able to design plays to get guys open. If the goal - as it appears it's going to be with the current state of the defense - has to change from "JP don't lose the game" to "JP make a play", then get this guy game experience, now, but do it running the kind of plays that'll benefit the club down the road. QB draw is all well and good, but JP will not morph into LaDanian Thomlinson anytime soon. Run the kind of plays that McCown and Smith were allowed to run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puhonix Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Talent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VABills Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Good footwork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTS Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 A thought occurred to me while watching the Niners-Cardinals game (the second half at least - I missed the first although by all accounts I didn't miss much): What did Josh McCown or Alex Smith (when he was put in) have that J.P. Losman doesn't? 462776[/snapback] The most important thing a QB needs, awareness on the field. JP has zilch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralonzo Posted October 3, 2005 Author Share Posted October 3, 2005 Talent? 462778[/snapback] Neither has done anything that I haven't seen J.P. do at some point in time. Good footwork. 462781[/snapback] Coaching. Or perhaps the DLinemen getting back in the pocket as fast as he is. The most important thing a QB needs, awareness on the field. JP has zilch. 462786[/snapback] If you mean field awareness, I disagree. He's a friggin' savant feeling the rush compared to the previous job occupant. Trouble is, the spidey sense is tingling after 1.8 seconds. If you mean game awareness, I agree, but so do most QB's at the outset of their starting career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDH Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 You can't even begin to compare what Alex Smith did last night to what he'd face if he started. He was put in with his team behind by three scores and faced a D that was in prevent mode, giving him the short stuff. The one time they blitzed he was eaten alive by it and sacked. As for Josh McCown, the guy has struggled in plenty of starts before (and he'll struggle again). You can't just watch a single game (or a half a game as it is) and make a determination. What if the only half of football you've seen JP play this year was the first half of the Houston game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobody Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Experience. And a little protection from the OL so he isn't forced out of the play so quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puhonix Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Alright, for a more serious answer to this, Alex Smith has done nothing yet, so you cant put him in this list. McCown has a mentor (even a washed up one) in Warner to watch, learn from, and build on. He's also got two top receivers that can go up and get the ball, or give up the body to get the ball, and a coach that is known for offensive firepower. That being said, I'm still not sold on McCown either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDH Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 The most important thing a QB needs, awareness on the field. JP has zilch. 462786[/snapback] JP has plenty of pocket awareness. I've seen him sense the rush from the backside and spin out of it on numerous occasions (or try to spin out of it when he should simply throw the ball away). I’ve yet to see him take a shot that he didn’t know was coming. However he isn't pulling the trigger fast enough on passes because he's (not surprisingly) confused. Just saying “he has no field awareness” doesn’t even mean anything. What are you talking about, coverage’s? Pass rush? Where his WRs should be? There’s only one of those things that can’t be taught, pocket awareness, and (as I’ve stated) he most definitely has that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 This shows how short people's memories are around here. Remember the Arizona game at RWS last year? Remember how Josh McClown played in that game? (People were calling him Josh McCLOWN) He made JP look like Joe Montana by comparison. So now Josh McCown has one good game against probably the only NFL defense worse than the Bills right now, and some poster are in love with this guy? Oh and Alex Smith...yeah, he looked terrific...against the prevent in garbage time. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drnykterstein Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 McCown had: - 1 year of starting experience - A terrible defense opposite him Smith had: - nothing (are you serious?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garranimal Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Watch the first half again...McCown missed wide open guys all over the field. One TE right down the seam for a sure TD and Boldin on a corner route for another. He didn't look a whole lot different than JP. difference is, his coach didn't pull him when they were down by two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zow2 Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 JP is getting plenty of so-called "simple throws" from the coaching staff. He isn't completing most of them, plain and simple. You can't blame the staff for everything the kid does wrong?!? McCown looked a lot more accurate than JP ever has in that 2nd half. JP made one correction yesterday. He threw a few balls to WR's that were not wide open. He trusted his WR's to make a play and they did on a few occasions. Up until then, he only seemed to be throwing (overthrowing?) to wide open guys and that doesn't happen too often in the NFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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