Belated Atlanta rewatch thoughts

fivetwos

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Sorry this is late in the week and it should be Seattle time, but first shot I got at a rewatch and wanted all your thoughts....

--First, I'm no XO expert, but it sure does appear Nolan is running a 34 base, not a 43.

This is doing Lawrence no favors at all. He may have stunk it up last year but he is getting thrown around in this scheme.

Also Woods and Poe appear to be getting blown up routinely. I'm hoping they go back to more of a 43...and theres been talk of the personnel fitting that better. Yeah no kidding.

Maybe it's the unavailability of Lee and LVE, but this is a 43 team, and whole the different looks idea may have been a fun dream, but I'm not sure how realistic or effective that look can be, at least in 2020.


--Im shocked to say this, but the defense wasnt quite as bad as I thought. They were awful on the drive that made it 26-7, and disappointing to end the half, but the fumbles and ill advised first fake punt did them in more than anything. Decent job holding to FGs considering. Don't get me wrong, they aren't any good right now, just not as terrible as I thought on an emotional first watch.


--Connor Williams: As soon as I make note of how he seems to be holding his own at LG, he gets tossed aside for a TFL. He is more good than bad though. Not at all awful.


--Looks like we have a swing tackle in Knight. Him and Steele look to be about the same player, with one having been in an NFL strength program before and the other not. They each played better than I thought they may. I'll say this much....barring a bunch of injuries, the Cam Erving ERA in Dallas didnt last long.
 

mmohican29

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Thought the Run D was adequate.

The pass rush and secondary was horrific. Reminded of that Bears game in Chicago a few years ago we got destroyed in.

Also, I'm ready to start seeing what our LB's look like with more Gifford, Thomas and Bernard snaps. I'm over Van Jaylon.
 

Techsass

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Oh...knew I forgot something.

Xavier Woods makes NO plays...ever.

Zero.

I'd love to be told what Im missing w that guy.
Just watched a Mike Nolan vid. He calls him "X" & all the other Safeties are just rotational pieces.
 

Knotamus

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I just rewatched the condensed game tonight myself.. thanks to my father-n-laws NFL gamepass login:D

A few quick thoughts of my own:

-Joe Thomas was a tackling machine. Not to mention he was hitting folks hard. I’ve always respected his game, but his “play hard” attitude seems to energize others.

-No surprise here, but the Offensive Player of the week, Dak Prescott, played his arse off. I’m not sure what else he can do to prove to folks that he’s elite. At this point..his paycheck is only getting bigger. Those that thought Carson Wince is a better QB are only lying to themselves

- Brandon Knight can hold his own and would be starting on most teams.
-Terence Steele obviously needs work, but he’s a rookie. Several holding penalties, bull rushed, and can’t set his feet. He’s not ready. La’el godspeed, son.
- Didn’t realize we used Antwan Woods at FB on goal lines. Also didn’t see him get much push, but like the idea.
- Glad to hear Griffen and Lawrence are returning back to the 3point stance, bc they really looked awful. Hopefully they’ll look better when they aren’t defending short fields the whole game. Give them a lead, so they can pin their ears back and hunt
-Tristen Hill looks 100x better than last year. Now if he can start finishing more plays in the backfield, he will propel himself into a new caliper of player
- CeeDee Lamb is everything we thought he could be
-Gallup and Cooper are too. When La’el and TSmith come back to give Dak more time, this offense will be Explode.. as if 40 wasn’t enough.
- Zeke is just a human dump truck wrecking grown men’s lives. And it’s fn awesome to watch.
- I’m sorry.. but Conner Williams isn’t strong enough to be at LG. Swing tackle? Maybe. Hopefully, this coaching staff recognizes it before he gets Dak hurt. I realize they can’t do much ab it now with all the OL injuries..I just thought he would be more improved by now
-Our secondary really scares me, and that was before the injuries to Brown, Awuzie, and Diggs.. my god, I hope we can piece this together soon. That said, they were playing against Ridley, Jones, and Gage. That’s 3 very formidable WRs to defend.
 

Rockport

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Sorry this is late in the week and it should be Seattle time, but first shot I got at a rewatch and wanted all your thoughts....

--First, I'm no XO expert, but it sure does appear Nolan is running a 34 base, not a 43.

This is doing Lawrence no favors at all. He may have stunk it up last year but he is getting thrown around in this scheme.

Also Woods and Poe appear to be getting blown up routinely. I'm hoping they go back to more of a 43...and theres been talk of the personnel fitting that better. Yeah no kidding.

Maybe it's the unavailability of Lee and LVE, but this is a 43 team, and whole the different looks idea may have been a fun dream, but I'm not sure how realistic or effective that look can be, at least in 2020.


--Im shocked to say this, but the defense wasnt quite as bad as I thought. They were awful on the drive that made it 26-7, and disappointing to end the half, but the fumbles and ill advised first fake punt did them in more than anything. Decent job holding to FGs considering. Don't get me wrong, they aren't any good right now, just not as terrible as I thought on an emotional first watch.


--Connor Williams: As soon as I make note of how he seems to be holding his own at LG, he gets tossed aside for a TFL. He is more good than bad though. Not at all awful.


--Looks like we have a swing tackle in Knight. Him and Steele look to be about the same player, with one having been in an NFL strength program before and the other not. They each played better than I thought they may. I'll say this much....barring a bunch of injuries, the Cam Erving ERA in Dallas didnt last long.
How about an original thought? This is regurgitation from local, national media and CZ posters.
 

CowboyRoy

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Sorry this is late in the week and it should be Seattle time, but first shot I got at a rewatch and wanted all your thoughts....

--First, I'm no XO expert, but it sure does appear Nolan is running a 34 base, not a 43.

This is doing Lawrence no favors at all. He may have stunk it up last year but he is getting thrown around in this scheme.

Also Woods and Poe appear to be getting blown up routinely. I'm hoping they go back to more of a 43...and theres been talk of the personnel fitting that better. Yeah no kidding.

Maybe it's the unavailability of Lee and LVE, but this is a 43 team, and whole the different looks idea may have been a fun dream, but I'm not sure how realistic or effective that look can be, at least in 2020.


--Im shocked to say this, but the defense wasnt quite as bad as I thought. They were awful on the drive that made it 26-7, and disappointing to end the half, but the fumbles and ill advised first fake punt did them in more than anything. Decent job holding to FGs considering. Don't get me wrong, they aren't any good right now, just not as terrible as I thought on an emotional first watch.


--Connor Williams: As soon as I make note of how he seems to be holding his own at LG, he gets tossed aside for a TFL. He is more good than bad though. Not at all awful.


--Looks like we have a swing tackle in Knight. Him and Steele look to be about the same player, with one having been in an NFL strength program before and the other not. They each played better than I thought they may. I'll say this much....barring a bunch of injuries, the Cam Erving ERA in Dallas didnt last long.

This could be the ONLY shred of hope for the Dline is that this 3-4 tweaking, standup DE things is just not working out. I think clearly Nolan likes the 3-4 defense and we just don't have the personnel for it. Hopefully he wakes up and just accepts that this is a 4-3 team for now. If you want to blow it up in the offseason so be it, but for this year, I don't see the 3-4 working.

There were actually plenty of occasions where you could see that Ryan had no where to go with the ball. But the pass rush just never got there and he was able to sit there forever.
 

fivetwos

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Just watched a Mike Nolan vid. He calls him "X" & all the other Safeties are just rotational pieces.
The valedictorian of the special ed class.

He did have one TFL on an obvious run play late in the game while Atlanta was doing all they could to blow it.
 

fivetwos

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I just rewatched the condensed game tonight myself.. thanks to my father-n-laws NFL gamepass login:D

A few quick thoughts of my own:

-Joe Thomas was a tackling machine. Not to mention he was hitting folks hard. I’ve always respected his game, but his “play hard” attitude seems to energize others.

-No surprise here, but the Offensive Player of the week, Dak Prescott, played his arse off. I’m not sure what else he can do to prove to folks that he’s elite. At this point..his paycheck is only getting bigger. Those that thought Carson Wince is a better QB are only lying to themselves

- Brandon Knight can hold his own and would be starting on most teams.
-Terence Steele obviously needs work, but he’s a rookie. Several holding penalties, bull rushed, and can’t set his feet. He’s not ready. La’el godspeed, son.
- Didn’t realize we used Antwan Woods at FB on goal lines. Also didn’t see him get much push, but like the idea.
- Glad to hear Griffen and Lawrence are returning back to the 3point stance, bc they really looked awful. Hopefully they’ll look better when they aren’t defending short fields the whole game. Give them a lead, so they can pin their ears back and hunt
-Tristen Hill looks 100x better than last year. Now if he can start finishing more plays in the backfield, he will propel himself into a new caliper of player
- CeeDee Lamb is everything we thought he could be
-Gallup and Cooper are too. When La’el and TSmith come back to give Dak more time, this offense will be Explode.. as if 40 wasn’t enough.
- Zeke is just a human dump truck wrecking grown men’s lives. And it’s fn awesome to watch.
- I’m sorry.. but Conner Williams isn’t strong enough to be at LG. Swing tackle? Maybe. Hopefully, this coaching staff recognizes it before he gets Dak hurt. I realize they can’t do much ab it now with all the OL injuries..I just thought he would be more improved by now
-Our secondary really scares me, and that was before the injuries to Brown, Awuzie, and Diggs.. my god, I hope we can piece this together soon. That said, they were playing against Ridley, Jones, and Gage. That’s 3 very formidable WRs to defend.
On Steele, yes on the feet. Needs to hit the squat rack.

As far as Williams, I'm a huge fan of no second contract there, so I want to see McG on the field yesterday. There are times when he moves his man right out of the play and 21 makes a nice gain, then others where he is bull rushed backward. In this game I thought he was more and than good.
 

fivetwos

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This could be the ONLY shred of hope for the Dline is that this 3-4 tweaking, standup DE things is just not working out. I think clearly Nolan likes the 3-4 defense and we just don't have the personnel for it. Hopefully he wakes up and just accepts that this is a 4-3 team for now. If you want to blow it up in the offseason so be it, but for this year, I don't see the 3-4 working.

There were actually plenty of occasions where you could see that Ryan had no where to go with the ball. But the pass rush just never got there and he was able to sit there forever.
Couldnt agree more.
 

fivetwos

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How about an original thought? This is regurgitation from local, national media and CZ posters.
Really? So you think I wasted my time collecting the thoughts of others?

No one asked you to read it.

Did it make you feel better to say that?

Sorry it was so disappointing for you, but then again I dont recall ever being especially enlightened with anything you've ever written here.
 

Techsass

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The valedictorian of the special ed class.

He did have one TFL on an obvious run play late in the game while Atlanta was doing all they could to blow it.
???
I'm assuming you're talking about Nolan & not Woods on the valedictorian part, but maybe not.
 

fivetwos

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???
I'm assuming you're talking about Nolan & not Woods on the valedictorian part, but maybe not.
Meant Woods. Seemed like you said Nolan referred to Woods as his one reliable piece at S and the rest were just there.
 

Techsass

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Gotcha.

I'm just not a fan. I think a big part of upgrading the defense is upgrading from him.

He got upset at the Adams trade talk last October, and responded by being exactly what he is...not much.
Another Heath, without any highlights.
 

ConstantReboot

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I wanted to give Nolan the benefit of the doubt. But he really needs to just drop the 3-4 concept this year. We don't have the personnel and the training for it.

I'm glad that they finally decided to let Griffen and Tank on a 3 point stance. That's what they do best and that should have never been changed from the beginning.
 
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