My concerns

[heir]

veryone has been talking or worried about Bledsoe after yesterday's game, and rightfully so. Obviously I am a bit too. The thing that struck me more is the Defense. If we are supposed to be the top D in the league, where was the pressure? Why couldn't we stop them we they were driving down the field? Where was the coverage? Turnovers? We did nothing on the defensive side of the ball. We have a long way to go.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

veryone has been talking or worried about Bledsoe after yesterday's game, and rightfully so. Obviously I am a bit too. The thing that struck me more is the Defense. If we are supposed to be the top D in the league, where was the pressure? Why couldn't we stop them we they were driving down the field? Where was the coverage? Turnovers? We did nothing on the defensive side of the ball. We have a long way to go.

Honestly, I think the fact that they enjoyed such an advantage in height at the WR position made the biggest difference. I don't know how many completions they had on balls thrown to the stop route shoulder of the WR. Our DBs played there WRs for the jump ball but they beat us time and again on the stop routes. Also, we could not effectively jam there slot guys. The other route that was very effective was the drag and/or the slant.


The timing of these routes was good. Not long developing routes so much so Lefty got the ball out relatively quickly and on time. Hard to get pressure in that situation. As the game went on, I could see the energy drain from our defense. It's hard to play in a 80 humidity climate and continue to rush the passer. Time of possesion killed us as much as anything. The fact that we did not make the Jags pay for playing there second string in the 1st half defensively took it's toll. In the second half, there starters were fresh. Ours were not. They did to us what we usually do to other teams. They controlled TOP and wore us down.

 

[fortdick]

I am starting to get the feeling that Parcells is not in touch with the modern game. He is still playing the 1980's style where defenses were dominant. His choice of QBs since he has been here has hurt, although Bledsoe is at least a capable starter.

The lack of focus on the offensive aspects are going to ruin this team's chances. Teams are capable of scoring faster thean 20 years ago. Bigger, faster, stronger WRs are the norm. Running the ball every second down won't get it done.

 

[mmohican29]

Our D stunk it up out there. Missed easy turnovers... drive extending penalites... poor man coverage.... soft underneath....

Who was saying we were Doomsday III? We have alot of work to do... once our energy wore off in the second quarter you could see Jax take over the game. No offense, this was a winnable game but we got whipped everywhere.

 

[Stautner]

I am starting to get the feeling that Parcells is not in touch with the modern game. He is still playing the 1980's style where defenses were dominant. His choice of QBs since he has been here has hurt, although Bledsoe is at least a capable starter.

The lack of focus on the offensive aspects are going to ruin this team's chances. Teams are capable of scoring faster thean 20 years ago. Bigger, faster, stronger WRs are the norm. Running the ball every second down won't get it done.

Parcells didn't choose Quincy - he inherited him - and he only brought in Vinny as last minute insurance because he didn't believe in Quincy, which proved to be a good instinct. Bledsoe was the first guy that Parcells really went after with the intent of being the starter in Dallas.

As for Parcells style of play, the Patriots, Panthers and Ravens have all won Super Bowls in recent years with defense oriented teams. That pattern still works, but it still takes all the necessary pieces being in place.

I don't think we have the O-line (and maybe not the RB's) to rely too heavily on the running game, although I agree that you can't abandon it either. As for the defense, so far we are full of potential, but there is no guarantee all the potential will result in the production we need. Spears, Canty, Ware, Watkins, James and others are still working on making their mark and we will have to see how that plays out.

 

[fortdick]

Parcells didn't choose Quincy - he inherited him - and he only brought in Vinny as last minute insurance because he didn't believe in Quincy, which proved to be a good instinct. Bledsoe was the first guy that Parcells really went after with the intent of being the starter in Dallas.

As for Parcells style of play, the Patriots, Panthers and Ravens have all won Super Bowls in recent years with defense oriented teams. That pattern still works, but it still takes all the necessary pieces being in place.

I don't think we have the O-line (and maybe not the RB's) to rely too heavily on the running game, although I agree that you can't abandon it either. As for the defense, so far we are full of potential, but there is no guarantee all the potential will result in the production we need. Spears, Canty, Ware, Watkins, James and others are still working on making their mark and we will have to see how that plays out.

Yeah, Parcells is an offensive genius.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I don't think we have the O-line (and maybe not the RB's) to rely too heavily on the running game, although I agree that you can't abandon it either.

At this point, I don't think we can determine what kind of running game we have. Could be we have the same kind we did last year, which is not very good IMO. Could be we are much improved but because we were playing a very good DT tandom in Jacksonville, results could be a bit scewed. Tough to say which is which in that situation, for me. I do agree with you thou. Can't give up on the run. Regardless of if it shows high dividend or not. It's the commitment to the run that makes our type of ball control offense effective.

 

[Stautner]

Yeah, Parcells is an offensive genius.

Thanks for the insightful commentary.