Mistakes, Mistakes, Mistakes . . .

[Last Guy on the Bench]

-Ten penalties for 77 yards.

-Fumble at the two yard line.

-Give up a kickoff return (embarrassing leg breaking moment by safety coverage guy) for a TD.

-Let the other team's fastest receivers get behind our coverage TWICE for huge gainers.

-Let the freakin' PUNTER run for 37 yads on a botched snap.

-Waste a replay challenge on an obvious touchdown (if we don't get lucky later with a fumble through the endzone by their linebacker on a fumble return, we would have missed having that challenge available, since the original pass was incomplete, but we couldn't have done anything about it - so their ball at the one).

-Overthrows, underthrows, miscommunications.

 

Oh wait. That was the Patriots. I laugh every time I hear that we could win if we could only eliminate the mistakes. Um, yeah. The problem is, no team eliminates the mistakes. Look at ANY game, and you'll be able to list plenty of things that went wrong for ANY team. Many of them will be self-inflicted. So why do teams win? Because they make up for the mistakes with great plays and they tend to make big plays when it really counts.

 

Don't defend Bledsoe by saying that the mistakes aren't his fault. I want my QB to overcome mistakes (his and his teammates) and to make big plays when it matters. (He does throw a beautiful deep ball - I'll give you that.) Don't tell me about the false starts and missed blocks. Big deal. I bet there's a missed block on every single NFL play of some sort or another. Convert some freaking difficult third downs.

 

I'm not just blaming DB either. The whole team is like that. Here are the guys that feel like playmakers to me. McGee, Moorman, Sam and Pat (though not consistently enough), Nate (through rarely when you most need it), Moulds (ditto). So two of our best playmakers rarely do it when it counts, and most of our guys don't dream of making a big play. The idea that this will be a good team when we cut down on our mistakes is ludicrous. This will be a good team when we increase our ability to make big plays in a timely matter.

 

This team needs to be shaken up by a few good benchings, even if they ARE futile, knee-jerk reactions. Why are we so scared to make changes during the season? Does this come from TD. Other teams do it. Try a few different players (e.g., Baker and/or Prioleau, McGahee, Matthews?-gulp - Euhus (I HATE our tight ends - not personally, but as tight ends), start McGee over Vincent (injured anyway), give Hagen a chance maybe, whatever. Try some different guys for pity's sake. We've seen these guys for quite a while now. This isn't just disgruntled fan talk based on three difficult games. I agree this team isn't that far from being decent, but you have to spark them so DO SOMETHING to spark them.

 

Sorry. End of rant.

 

(Well, not quite. Does it worry anyone else how slow and inarticulate Mularkey sounds most of the time? I get Williams flashbacks. I want a smart coach. Being well-spoken does not mean you'll be a good coach, but most of the good coaches do sound reasonably articulate. This is the second TD hire in a row that just doesn't strike me as particularly bright when he talks. Maybe TD likes those slow talkers, but I don't. Still hope he'll turn out to be a good coach though. You never know.)