Why are we surprised?

[Mickey]

There has not yet been devised an offensive system that can succeed without blocking. We had arguably the worst offensive line in football last year and the only changes we made (besides McNally) were to exchange a once great aging vet for a never great aging vet and a no-talent nobody named Pucillo for a no talent nobody named Smith. Add in that our starting RT missed all the mini-camps, showed up for training camp an out-of-shape head case and spent a lot of time in camp nursing minor injuries and it should be no surprise that this line is still bad. Bad offensive line = bad offense and it doesn't matter who your QB is, who your starting RB is, whether you have a deep threat, whether you run a lot or throw a lot. None of it matters if you can't block.

 

I watched a little league game Saturday and in the entire game I only saw three effective blocks thrown. That's it, three. A touchdown was scored on all three of those plays. Football is essentially blocking and tackling. We tackle but we don't block and frankly, it is as simple as that.

 

On the good side:

 

Despite the ugliness, things actually aren't as ugly as they were last year. We are not turning the ball over anywhere near as much as we did and as a consequence, we were actually in both of these games right down to the wire. The offense doesn't have to get a lot better, just a littel better would do it. It think that the line will improve as the season goes along and McNally has more time with them.

 

Things we need to do more of:

 

Take a shot deep now and again on first down. Moulds and Evans are talents that are going to waste.

 

"quick openers": These are running plays that are straight ahead with straight ahead blocking, no pulling or trapping. Defenses are bringing run blitzes against us and getting penetration. We can exploit that by getting the ball to the line quicker, before the penetration happens. When defenses committ a lot of people on the line to stop the run, they can be very vulnerable to a quick hitter because once you get past the line of scrimmage, there is nobody back there. How often have you seen a long run on third and short because the back got through the first wave.

 

Our TE's are pretty bad. Let's play more 3 WR sets.

 

Special Teams follies: We have got some players on special teams, that much is clear. I have no problem spending even more time during the week working on returns, maybe even some flim-flammery like reverses and what not. They clearly have the potential to make big plays, lets invest a little more in them and see if it pays off.

 

Things we need to bury:

 

Rolling Drew out. He does not throw on the run very well and our line doesn't block any better on the run than it does trying to establish a "pocket".

 

WR Screens. Unless we can figure out how to run that play and when to call it, cut it out. If anything, try it to someone other than Moulds, defenses are expecting it.

 

Throwing on 3rd down when we are just in field goal position. Odds are we won't be after the play.

 

Penalties in the red zone. Moulds' 5 yard penalty on 2nd and goal from the 6 was inexcusable.

 

Putting in the third string safety on a critical play. If we are going with 7 defensive backs, those backs should be Reese, Wire (until Milloy is back), Vincent, Clements, Thomas, McGee and either Greer or Priloeau. Baker should not be on that list.

 

Wasting timeouts.

 

Starting our off season shopping trip a little early:

 

Offensive lineman

A TE that can block and catch

We still need a LB that can pressure the QB better on blitzes. Posey isn't getting it done.

[Rico]

Putting in the third string safety on a critical play. If we are going with 7 defensive backs, those backs should be Reese, Wire (until Milloy is back), Vincent, Clements, Thomas, McGee and either Greer or Priloeau. Baker should not be on that list.

Scratch Wire from the list as well.