dragon_mikal said:
Problems are as follows:
1) Offensive line play has gotten worse. They were doing a great job keeping Bledsoe on his feet until this week. Don't know what happened, but whatever it was needs to be addressed.
The run blocking has been suspect all 4 games, but the pass protection has been very good, especially the first 3 games. Yesterday it was not, but lets not panic until it becomes a trend. Did you expect Bledsoe to go untouched all year?
dragon_mikal said:
2) Running game is crap. I think it's play calling more than anything. Julius is a speed back, yet we are pounding him up the middle every play. Why? Use Anthony Thomas in those situations. Not Julius. Put Julius in situations where he can make a big play. Toss plays, off tackle plays, draw plays. And for the love of God don't throw to him. He can't catch.
Keep the faith, JJ will come around. While the running game has been suspect, we haven't had any 20 carry 35 yard games, which we've had in the past. So it could be worse. I'm not worried.
dragon_mikal said:
3) Play calling sucks. Bad. We aren't using our personel right. Bledsoe needs to be allowed to throw the ball deep. Julius needs to be used to attack the outside or the defensive line, not up the middle. Witten needs to be more involved. Anthony Thomas needs to be in the freakin' game, period. Price needs to be in there. We need to stretch the field in the first three quarters...not just in the 4th. We need to stop with the trick plays.
The trick plays will not stop. Parcell's has done this his whole career. We did seem to run JJ right up the middle against the huge Raiders front 7, not much outside running. Not sure why not trying the outside. I think Bledsoe wanted to throw deep a few more times, but the coverage was there as well as the pass rush. Just because there were not that many deep throws doesn't mean the plays weren't called, there's other factors involved.
dragon_mikal said:
4) Safeties are crap at coverage. We are weak over the top. We did well today considering who we played, but this needs to be addressed. We play zone too much for my tastes. We are weak in coverage, so make sure we put as much pressure on the opposing quarterback as possible. Giving him time won't help our defense.
We definitley need to improve our safety coverage. They played well today considering the circumstances. Let's see how the FS's improve, it's only been 4 games.
dragon_mikal said:
5) Special teams are unreliable. Our punter is great, but our FG kicker is crap. I don't trust him and we should never have signed him. We should have kept that Novak kid. He's going to be something special for years to come, and now the Commanders have him. (Thanks Parcells)
I'm not really worried about this. Our coverage units have been fine since the first week. Not worried about McBriar. Cortez has been fine. Missed 1 Fg, KO's have been better than last year, sticks his nose in there on KO coverage. Not great, but adequate. Get off the Novak kid. When John Hall is healthy, probably next week, Novak will be gone. If we want him back, we'll have the chance.
