dbair1967 said:
probably my one and only post for a few days, as I'm heading to Vegas for the weekend...
very disappointing end to preseason...our 1st team got whooped physically on both lines tonight, cant really make excuses, they just got abused...OL was absolutely putrid...just awful...I know getting Adams back will help some, but he cant make the other 4 guys suddenly look good more often than not...we play alot of teams with good defensive fronts this yr and what I saw tonight wont hardly get it done against any of them
I have no doubt that you watched the game, but I have o wonder if you had any idea what you were actually seeing, and have any understanding of football. It is quite obviuos that you are just commenting on what you saw instead of looking at the game and tring to understand what was happening and why.
1) as mentioned, OL very poor in run and pass blocking...and it wasnt one guy either...all 5 starters got man-handled by the Vikes front 7, they looked like the 85 Bears against our offense in the first half, and they are NOT the 85 Bears...we either have a bunch of real stiffs on the OL or the worst OL coach in football...at this point I think it might be both
Yes, the OL had a terrible game run blocking, BUT we also kept running the ball right into 8 man fronts, even the announcers kept saying they had 8 men in the box. Heck, alot of the times they have 6 guys ON the line of scrimmage. Not very many teams are going to look anything other than terrible when they try and consistanly run the ball into 8 and 9 man fronts (there were times when Minnesota did put 9 men in the box even). Heck, in a regular season game, Parcells is not going to keep running the ball into 8 man fronts, he will let Bledsoe and company throw the ball. You also have to keep in mind that Minnesota 1st team D threw the entire house at our 1st team O. They were blitzing, and stunting and moving guys around left and right.
2) while alot of people have been singing the praises of the starting D, you might want to look at a few disturbing numbers...such as "0"...thats the number of sacks out starting D got in the last 3 preseason games...other than a couple plays our starting D got absolutely no pass rush whatsoever, and this is a 3 game thing now...seems we still have an issue trying to force turnovers as well...I think Henry has the only turnover forced by our starters
Once a again a case of not have any understanding of what you are seeing. Dallas has blitzed very very little this preseason. That is why the sacks have not been coming. And the part that really shows you are not understanding what you are saying is that you are leaving out that the 3-4 D's biggest strength, is the flexability that it GIVES you with blitzes. A 3-4 team that does not blitz is NOT going to consistantly get pressure on the QB, because very seldom are the DL on a 3-4 D good pass rushers. Look at Pittsburg for example. Their starting DL had only 9.5 sacks all last years, and this is on a team that got 44 sacks last year. The sacks come from all the different combinations of blitzes that you can throw at a team and while still only sending 5 guys to the QB.
3) what we saw tonight is a good case for why you dont sign old kickers...I dont care what his history was, he kicked poorly all of camp and he kicked awful tonight..he will lose games for us this yr, period. I think his issue at this point is more mental than physical
Kicker is a bit of a concern, but I have to believe that Venderjagt's biggest problem in his groin injury. They were saying that before the game he was consistanly making 45 yard FG's with ease, then after he kicks off, all of a sudden he starts missing again. I really wonder if his groin was not soar again. You don't going from hitting 92% of your FG's, and the most accurate kicker in NFL history to having mental issues over 1 kick. My ONLY concern with Vanderjagt is if his groin is going to be healthy enough to let him be the kicker that he was the last few years. Just looking at him on the sideline, you can see that it is not mental. Guys who let things get in their head don't walk around with smirks on their face when they miss a FG.
the above 3 reasons are why we've been mediocre for Parcell's 3 seasons here, and unless they are improved rather quickly we will be mediocre again...you cant win in this league if you cant block and rush the passer some, and we can do niether...it also doesnt help your cause when you cant find a kicker who can even make the gimmee's more often than not...we've now missed 3 fg's in the last two games, none were over 35 yds
If I were Parcells, Ireland and Jones I'd be working OT on the phones looking for OL help and a kicker...as I've said for a couple yrs now, the pass rush thing just isnt going to work out until someone else is designing the scheme so we will have to make do with what we have...but there are definite reasons for concern
David
No, the reasons you list below only show that while you watch the games you have no understanding of what you are actually seeing. The reason we have been mediocre the last three years is because the team that Parcells inherited when he took over was completely devoit of any real talent. Heck, only a VERY small handful of players from the team 3 years ago are still on the team. Parcells has had to completely rebuild this team from scratch. That is why we have been mediocre the last 3 years.
