dbair1967
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to say its a downer is an understatement, but the things I thought were reasons to be worried after the Vikes preseason game were things that stood out again today, and its the same 3 things that have basically stood out for a long time...no pass rush, bad OL play and bad kicker...
1) year seven people (this is Zimmers 7th)...still no pass rush...just how many good players does a coach need to generate some sort of even AVERAGE pass rush?...defense wilted again in a 2nd half and again the culprit is not doing anything to bother a QB...other than a few plays Leftwich was hardly touched, especially in the 2nd half...same thing every yr from Zimmer...doesnt matter how immobile, inexperienced or old the other QB is or or how poor the other teams OL is, he just doesnt know how to create pressure...
2) bad OL play...other than 4 or 5 plays no run blocking...pass blocking was so-so, but I downgrade the effort even more because the Jags front 7 was playing pretty crippled and lost their best pass rusher for most of the game
3) a 30-something yd fg is still an adventure
4) I was pretty pleased with Drew Bledsoe's play last yr and thought he played better at QB than anyone here since Aikman in 1999, but he stunk today and one has to be concerned that he just isnt going to get it done now...the game really turned on that drive where we were up 10-0 and Bledsoe missed a wide open Owens twice (once was flagged for PI, but a good throw nets 6 on that play...Owens might have scored on the later miss too, he was wide open down the middle and Bledsoe overthrew him badly), he then proceeded to throw a horrendous ball that should have been picked for a TD but was fortunately dropped..I think some coaches would have benched Bledsoe at halftime, and more than a few certainly would have benched him by the end of the 3rd quarter...Bledsoe just threw way too many bad balls, and he missed open receivers or made bad reads way more than I ever remember since he's been here...I dont know if Romo is the answer or not, but I am pretty sure that he wouldnt have played worse than Bledsoe today
5) not really sure what the deal was on some of the calls, but I dont see how that was PI on Witten on his TD after their WR wasnt flagged for PI on their first TD...Ware got held pretty blatantly on two or three plays as well, and I dont think it was called once...
6) Owens debut...pretty much what we all thought I guess...he's a great player on the field and made plays today...could have made alot more with better QB play today
I guess the optimist or the kool-aid drinker might say there are 15 games left and this is only one game...too that I'd counter that we played a mediocre at best offensive team today and gave up 300+ yds, allowed 24 pts, got only one sack and wilted in the 2nd half again, and since this has been pretty much a year in year out thing with Zimmer I dont see that changing as the season goes on this yr...I doubt Parcells will pull the plug on Bledsoe even if he does continue to play poorly...Rivera was a very poor free agent signing and while its only been one game, I dont think we "found" something with Kosier either...it appears any close game where we have to depend on a kicker will be a crap shoot again...I really thought this was a 10-11 win team this yr but after today I think its a 7 or 8 win team at best...
people dont like it to see someone say this, but I dont think Parcells will ever lead this team to a championship or even on a playoff run...I just dont think he has the same edge he had when he was a great coach with the Giants, and I think its blatantly obvious that we have one of the more mediocre coaching staffs in football, and thats his responsibility...he's done a great job in adding talent to the team (except OL) but he isnt doing a good job coaching it...
David
1) year seven people (this is Zimmers 7th)...still no pass rush...just how many good players does a coach need to generate some sort of even AVERAGE pass rush?...defense wilted again in a 2nd half and again the culprit is not doing anything to bother a QB...other than a few plays Leftwich was hardly touched, especially in the 2nd half...same thing every yr from Zimmer...doesnt matter how immobile, inexperienced or old the other QB is or or how poor the other teams OL is, he just doesnt know how to create pressure...
2) bad OL play...other than 4 or 5 plays no run blocking...pass blocking was so-so, but I downgrade the effort even more because the Jags front 7 was playing pretty crippled and lost their best pass rusher for most of the game
3) a 30-something yd fg is still an adventure
4) I was pretty pleased with Drew Bledsoe's play last yr and thought he played better at QB than anyone here since Aikman in 1999, but he stunk today and one has to be concerned that he just isnt going to get it done now...the game really turned on that drive where we were up 10-0 and Bledsoe missed a wide open Owens twice (once was flagged for PI, but a good throw nets 6 on that play...Owens might have scored on the later miss too, he was wide open down the middle and Bledsoe overthrew him badly), he then proceeded to throw a horrendous ball that should have been picked for a TD but was fortunately dropped..I think some coaches would have benched Bledsoe at halftime, and more than a few certainly would have benched him by the end of the 3rd quarter...Bledsoe just threw way too many bad balls, and he missed open receivers or made bad reads way more than I ever remember since he's been here...I dont know if Romo is the answer or not, but I am pretty sure that he wouldnt have played worse than Bledsoe today
5) not really sure what the deal was on some of the calls, but I dont see how that was PI on Witten on his TD after their WR wasnt flagged for PI on their first TD...Ware got held pretty blatantly on two or three plays as well, and I dont think it was called once...
6) Owens debut...pretty much what we all thought I guess...he's a great player on the field and made plays today...could have made alot more with better QB play today
I guess the optimist or the kool-aid drinker might say there are 15 games left and this is only one game...too that I'd counter that we played a mediocre at best offensive team today and gave up 300+ yds, allowed 24 pts, got only one sack and wilted in the 2nd half again, and since this has been pretty much a year in year out thing with Zimmer I dont see that changing as the season goes on this yr...I doubt Parcells will pull the plug on Bledsoe even if he does continue to play poorly...Rivera was a very poor free agent signing and while its only been one game, I dont think we "found" something with Kosier either...it appears any close game where we have to depend on a kicker will be a crap shoot again...I really thought this was a 10-11 win team this yr but after today I think its a 7 or 8 win team at best...
people dont like it to see someone say this, but I dont think Parcells will ever lead this team to a championship or even on a playoff run...I just dont think he has the same edge he had when he was a great coach with the Giants, and I think its blatantly obvious that we have one of the more mediocre coaching staffs in football, and thats his responsibility...he's done a great job in adding talent to the team (except OL) but he isnt doing a good job coaching it...
David
