Chuck 54
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 20,942
- Reaction score
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The Good
1. Bledsoe played great...not perfect, but he has definitely made me a believer...anything short of a winning record won't be blamed on him if he keeps this up. OL pass blocking was good. Defense was good for most of the game.
2. The Commanders defense...those who claimed they were overrated are full of horse crap. They were totally dominant...we scored 1 td on a trick play. Despite feasting on better field position and turnovers and a number of 3 and outs, they totally controlled our running game and severely limited the passing game. Even on a play in the red zone when it looked like Keyshaun was overthrown, the other DB was coming over fast and forced the deep throw because he'd have made an easy int had Bledsoe not read the defense correctly. They surprised us by playing coverage instead of coming with the blitz for most of the night, and then when we had 3rd and 4th and 4, nearing FG range, they blitzed heavy and made us throw short...Williams is a great DC. Gibbs should thank God every night for him...so far that hire is probably the only truly successful thing this coach has done.
The Bad
1. Sean Payton's conservative play calling. Yes, I know there was a reason, but some of his calls were dubious at best. ON 3rd and 1, you bang JJ behind Adams and LA with a lead blocker...you don't run that stupid delayed handoff with a pulling guard, leaving a hole for any blitzer to come through and try to run off tackle...insane. There also seemed times that we were so determined to get the ball to Witten that we called plays that forced passes that were shorter than what we needed.
I don't think Payton ever adjusted to the fact that Washington had crossed him up by not using the blitz much...he just kept throwing those short swing passes and screens to the WR's in hopes of catching them in a blitz...it never happened, and our guys were getting killed all night. His playcalling on the final series after the great KO return looked like it would save our bacon was also shocking. How many players were covering our WR, especially our possesson guy, Keyshaun? Seemed we didn't even look the big guy's way. Williams spanked Payton by finally bringing the blitz on the last 2 plays, forcing Bledsoe to throw short to avoid a sack.
2. The Washington offense for most of the game...Brunnell looked confused and out of sync...the running game was nonexistant...our secondary was killing people, and their OL couldn't hold us back.
Sadly, they started picking up the blitz in the 4th quarter, and it seemed like that long run by Brunnell got him stoked...suddenly he was throwing the freakin' ball like Broadway Joe, even with guys hanging all around him...go figure.
The Ugly
1. Roy Williams in pass coverage. I'm willing to bet when it all shakes out, it will be evident to everyone that both TD's were definitely his. Glenn was clearly playing the deep 1/4, watching Moss, but carefully making sure he didn't follow him inside where he'd be burned on the Corner route with no help from the Safety....Glenn played it correctly, reacted to the pass, and still almost got there in time twice. But it was Roy playing his deep 1/4 in the middle who screwed up...twice...it's an old little league saying for a safety, "Deeper than their deepest"...Not last night...Roy killed us both times.
He's a great SS...he played an incredible game...the irony is that they had just played his game highlights before the meltdowns...he was sacking the QB, killing the runner, jarring the WR's, causing fumbles and Incompletions, but that was playing up where he belongs. Once again we learned of his serious deficiencies in pass coverage...I put the blame on the design...put someone else back in the deep zone when playing nickel or prevent...keep Roy up where he belongs, on TE's, running backs, short middle, or blitzing...the man just wasn't intended to patrol the deep zone. He was a super hero last night...until we asked him to play with kryptonite.
Two Plays....4th and 15....and a 70 yard TD bomb, both when we knew they had to do the desperate...go figure...I'd rather they had dominated the 2nd half...to lose the way we did is as ugly as it gets...we gave it away.
Time to refocus on SF....but I live in VA, so the Commanders, who didn't score a TD for the first 7 3/4's quarters of the season, are sitting at the top at 2-0. That makes me sick.
1. Bledsoe played great...not perfect, but he has definitely made me a believer...anything short of a winning record won't be blamed on him if he keeps this up. OL pass blocking was good. Defense was good for most of the game.
2. The Commanders defense...those who claimed they were overrated are full of horse crap. They were totally dominant...we scored 1 td on a trick play. Despite feasting on better field position and turnovers and a number of 3 and outs, they totally controlled our running game and severely limited the passing game. Even on a play in the red zone when it looked like Keyshaun was overthrown, the other DB was coming over fast and forced the deep throw because he'd have made an easy int had Bledsoe not read the defense correctly. They surprised us by playing coverage instead of coming with the blitz for most of the night, and then when we had 3rd and 4th and 4, nearing FG range, they blitzed heavy and made us throw short...Williams is a great DC. Gibbs should thank God every night for him...so far that hire is probably the only truly successful thing this coach has done.
The Bad
1. Sean Payton's conservative play calling. Yes, I know there was a reason, but some of his calls were dubious at best. ON 3rd and 1, you bang JJ behind Adams and LA with a lead blocker...you don't run that stupid delayed handoff with a pulling guard, leaving a hole for any blitzer to come through and try to run off tackle...insane. There also seemed times that we were so determined to get the ball to Witten that we called plays that forced passes that were shorter than what we needed.
I don't think Payton ever adjusted to the fact that Washington had crossed him up by not using the blitz much...he just kept throwing those short swing passes and screens to the WR's in hopes of catching them in a blitz...it never happened, and our guys were getting killed all night. His playcalling on the final series after the great KO return looked like it would save our bacon was also shocking. How many players were covering our WR, especially our possesson guy, Keyshaun? Seemed we didn't even look the big guy's way. Williams spanked Payton by finally bringing the blitz on the last 2 plays, forcing Bledsoe to throw short to avoid a sack.
2. The Washington offense for most of the game...Brunnell looked confused and out of sync...the running game was nonexistant...our secondary was killing people, and their OL couldn't hold us back.
Sadly, they started picking up the blitz in the 4th quarter, and it seemed like that long run by Brunnell got him stoked...suddenly he was throwing the freakin' ball like Broadway Joe, even with guys hanging all around him...go figure.
The Ugly
1. Roy Williams in pass coverage. I'm willing to bet when it all shakes out, it will be evident to everyone that both TD's were definitely his. Glenn was clearly playing the deep 1/4, watching Moss, but carefully making sure he didn't follow him inside where he'd be burned on the Corner route with no help from the Safety....Glenn played it correctly, reacted to the pass, and still almost got there in time twice. But it was Roy playing his deep 1/4 in the middle who screwed up...twice...it's an old little league saying for a safety, "Deeper than their deepest"...Not last night...Roy killed us both times.
He's a great SS...he played an incredible game...the irony is that they had just played his game highlights before the meltdowns...he was sacking the QB, killing the runner, jarring the WR's, causing fumbles and Incompletions, but that was playing up where he belongs. Once again we learned of his serious deficiencies in pass coverage...I put the blame on the design...put someone else back in the deep zone when playing nickel or prevent...keep Roy up where he belongs, on TE's, running backs, short middle, or blitzing...the man just wasn't intended to patrol the deep zone. He was a super hero last night...until we asked him to play with kryptonite.
Two Plays....4th and 15....and a 70 yard TD bomb, both when we knew they had to do the desperate...go figure...I'd rather they had dominated the 2nd half...to lose the way we did is as ugly as it gets...we gave it away.
Time to refocus on SF....but I live in VA, so the Commanders, who didn't score a TD for the first 7 3/4's quarters of the season, are sitting at the top at 2-0. That makes me sick.
