honyock
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I finally had the chance to watch a full replay. Here are my thoughts on the line, some which have already been discussed in other threads.
First, the starting line of Smith-Leary-Fred-Bern-Free played the entire first half. Starting in the third quarter, we saw a new combination on the inside: Fred slid to RG again, Costa at center, with Arkin at LG, and Weems and Coughlin at tackles. This group played until about halfway through the 4th quarter.
At this point, Arkin was replaced by Dennis Godfrey at LG. The next series, Fred was replaced by Coughlin, who slid from right tackle to right guard, with James Nelson in at right tackle.
And at any and every point in this, feel free to insert "Again, it's only the Raiders", or Again, it's only the Raiders' backups". But you can only block the guys out there on the field, so until we see the more formidable d-lines of Arizona and Cincy the next two weeks, this is what we have to go on.
Fred and Leary were very solid again. For Leary, it was easy enough that I'm looking forward to seeing him in some one-on-one matchups with Calais Campbell and Geno Atkins, to get a sense of how he fares against some true NFL studs. For the second game in a row, I don't remember any pressures he gave up, and he was solid and strong in the run game.
Fred, pretty much the same story. He looked in charge at center and didnt have many challenges in the first half. And I thought he struggled a bit again at RG in the second half, although he did look a little better than last week. He ended up on the ground a couple of times and looked again like he's more susceptible to quickness at guard than he is at center.
Bernardeau - He was pretty good and I thought he was an upgrade from Arkin, although not a huge upgrade. He got bulled back in pass protection a couple of times, and it looked like he missed an assignment in pass protection once that resulted in a hit on Romo. He looked stronger than Arkin, but like Arkin last week, he looked to be the weakest link on the line. I can see him being serviceable as a starter, but I can understand the teams desire to upgrade this position.
Free and Smith had solid games. Smith in particular has looked very good in run blocking in both games. I'm really looking forward to that Fred-Leary-Smith left side, to see if they can keep up the road grading against some stiffer competition. Free had a workmanlike and effective half.
There was one play in particular that stood out for me, I think it was Romo's second possession, on the third down before the field goal. He went back to pass, and both Smith and Free's men provided a little outside pressure. The both got driven deep, and the inside of the line had the interior walled off to his right. It gave him a lane to move up and slide left, where he hit the running back for nearly a first down. I mention this because I don't remember many times last year being able to type the words "the inside of the line had the interior walled off". (And yes, you can insert something about the Raiders here and I'll have no argument).
Arkin played about a quarter and a half. He was okay...I didn't see him get bulled back at all either in protection or in the run game. However, he didn't look as effective on the move this game. He missed some blocks either pulling or on the second level, and nothing really stood out about him. Much as I've been rooting for him, he looked like a backup playing against backups.
Costa - I'll just repeat what I said last week. He looks like a perfectly fine backup center. He got beat badly on one running play, his guy outquicked him at the snap and blew up the play in the backfield. Otherwise, he was okay - just doens't look as strong in the running game or as solid in walling off in the passing game as Fred. In general, the Arkin-Costa-Fred combination looked disjointed. They has some nice plays, and in general were pretty good in protection, but in the running game, someone seemed to be either missing a block or on the ground or getting beat at the point of attack pretty often.
The backup tackles - Weems may be worth stashing on the practice squad. He may have a little something, although he's doesn't appear to be in the same zip code of contributing anytime soon.
Can't wait for Calais Campbell and Darnell Dockett this weekend. Can't wait for Geno Atkins next weekend, although I still have flashbacks of Nate Livings having maybe the worst game I've ever seen a guard have against Atkins last year.
First, the starting line of Smith-Leary-Fred-Bern-Free played the entire first half. Starting in the third quarter, we saw a new combination on the inside: Fred slid to RG again, Costa at center, with Arkin at LG, and Weems and Coughlin at tackles. This group played until about halfway through the 4th quarter.
At this point, Arkin was replaced by Dennis Godfrey at LG. The next series, Fred was replaced by Coughlin, who slid from right tackle to right guard, with James Nelson in at right tackle.
And at any and every point in this, feel free to insert "Again, it's only the Raiders", or Again, it's only the Raiders' backups". But you can only block the guys out there on the field, so until we see the more formidable d-lines of Arizona and Cincy the next two weeks, this is what we have to go on.
Fred and Leary were very solid again. For Leary, it was easy enough that I'm looking forward to seeing him in some one-on-one matchups with Calais Campbell and Geno Atkins, to get a sense of how he fares against some true NFL studs. For the second game in a row, I don't remember any pressures he gave up, and he was solid and strong in the run game.
Fred, pretty much the same story. He looked in charge at center and didnt have many challenges in the first half. And I thought he struggled a bit again at RG in the second half, although he did look a little better than last week. He ended up on the ground a couple of times and looked again like he's more susceptible to quickness at guard than he is at center.
Bernardeau - He was pretty good and I thought he was an upgrade from Arkin, although not a huge upgrade. He got bulled back in pass protection a couple of times, and it looked like he missed an assignment in pass protection once that resulted in a hit on Romo. He looked stronger than Arkin, but like Arkin last week, he looked to be the weakest link on the line. I can see him being serviceable as a starter, but I can understand the teams desire to upgrade this position.
Free and Smith had solid games. Smith in particular has looked very good in run blocking in both games. I'm really looking forward to that Fred-Leary-Smith left side, to see if they can keep up the road grading against some stiffer competition. Free had a workmanlike and effective half.
There was one play in particular that stood out for me, I think it was Romo's second possession, on the third down before the field goal. He went back to pass, and both Smith and Free's men provided a little outside pressure. The both got driven deep, and the inside of the line had the interior walled off to his right. It gave him a lane to move up and slide left, where he hit the running back for nearly a first down. I mention this because I don't remember many times last year being able to type the words "the inside of the line had the interior walled off". (And yes, you can insert something about the Raiders here and I'll have no argument).
Arkin played about a quarter and a half. He was okay...I didn't see him get bulled back at all either in protection or in the run game. However, he didn't look as effective on the move this game. He missed some blocks either pulling or on the second level, and nothing really stood out about him. Much as I've been rooting for him, he looked like a backup playing against backups.
Costa - I'll just repeat what I said last week. He looks like a perfectly fine backup center. He got beat badly on one running play, his guy outquicked him at the snap and blew up the play in the backfield. Otherwise, he was okay - just doens't look as strong in the running game or as solid in walling off in the passing game as Fred. In general, the Arkin-Costa-Fred combination looked disjointed. They has some nice plays, and in general were pretty good in protection, but in the running game, someone seemed to be either missing a block or on the ground or getting beat at the point of attack pretty often.
The backup tackles - Weems may be worth stashing on the practice squad. He may have a little something, although he's doesn't appear to be in the same zip code of contributing anytime soon.
Can't wait for Calais Campbell and Darnell Dockett this weekend. Can't wait for Geno Atkins next weekend, although I still have flashbacks of Nate Livings having maybe the worst game I've ever seen a guard have against Atkins last year.
