JDSmith
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I finally got around to rewatching last week's game. These are just some impressions I got.
Special teams - one or two guys had chances to make plays and missed them. As a result the Chargers started with good field position when they didn't need to. On one runback Brett Pierce has a chance to make the tackle at around the 22, he never even puts his arm out (to actually make the tackle would likely have required a dive) and as a result the returner didn't even have to slow down. Had Pierce made the tackle we would have saved 28 yards of field position. Had he even slowed the returner we would have saved probably 15 yards, because someone else DID try the diving tackle and just missed. Another half second and the second guy probably would have gotten the returner on his attempt.
Patrick Crayton - geeze he just makes it look so easy. He's so smooth and his hands are so soft, and on top of it he seems to know where the first down marker is at all times. He's a real find. The fact that we grabbed him in the 7th round is amazing.
Drew Bledsoe - he's not remotely slow. He's also not all that immobile. On a few plays where he dropped straight back and hit a slant he got the ball out plenty quick. A 5 step drop required only 2.3 seconds from the time he got the ball to the time it left his hands. Bledsoe is not slow on his drop back or his release. He's simply so patient that I sometimes find myself screaming for him to throw the ball. He either doesn't have the internal clock or he chooses to ignore it. I think he ignores it because he wants to wait for guys to get open. He made at least 2 or 3 plays on Sunday because he held the ball and showed patience waiting for guys to break free. I just worry about that tendency against a team with a better pass rush. I think Payton and Parcells need to emphasize slants and quick timing throws or Bledsoe is going to take a beating.
Julius Jones - he ran really well (as usual), and if not for some bad blocking at times his numbers would have been really good. I saw at least two plays late where he ended up taking losses simply because guys blew their assignments. On one play Gurode allowed Williams to push right by him and make a diving tackle in the backfield, had Gurode done a marginally better job Julius would have likely picked up 4+ yards on the run (and with Julius, when you give him a chance to make positive yardage you never know if he'll break it open). Instead he lost 2 or 3 yards. On another Witten simply missed the OLB completely, the guy lined up outside him and Witten never got turned outside quickly enough to block him. He hit Julius just as he took the handoff. That was a 3 or 4 yard loss. If we can just stalemate guys at the line Julius' numbers will jump. We do a good job on some plays, then on others we'll allow multiple guys to penetrate the backfield. I don't know if it's scheme or what, but if we can fix it Julius is going to have a monster year. He needs to average 107 yards per game the rest of the way to make his goal for the season. On a somewhat related note Ladainian Tomlinson needs to average 142 yards per game to meet his goal - he's got his work cut out for him.
Demarcus Ware - he was really close a couple of times, and if we had any kind of push up the middle he likely would have gotten the sack on what ended up being a TD pass to McCardell. Ware dove and just missed because Brees had a ton of space in front of him and just stepped up and to the side as Ware dove for his arm. If we can shore up our middle rush Ware is going to start collecting a lot of sacks. He also did reasonably well preventing LT from getting outside of him after the first quarter. He blew containment a few times early, but then by the second quarter he seemed to settle into his role and didn't allow LT to get around him. Later in the game LT was having some success running left, but it was Ogbogu who was playing OLB at the time, and he allowed LT to get by on at least 2 or 3 plays down the stretch.
Rob Petitti - he held his own. On one play where we gave up a sack Petitti was actually the only offensive lineman to stop his guy. Everyone else on the line got beat to one degree or another, but Rob's guy never got anywhere. When you consider that he's a rookie (nevermind a 6th round draft pick) things are looking great for the RT position. I think this kid has the potential to be our RT for a long time. I know he'll struggle at times, especially against some of the guys he's going to have to face. But just the fact that he's been able to make the switch from LT to RT come into the pros and start right away is pretty mind boggling.
BTW, there was some talk in a few posts about the fact that on the final interception Glenn held the ball out and McCardell was trying to take it. There was speculation that if KM had done so AG would have been the biggest goat on the planet because the refs hadn't blown the play dead. If McCardell had taken the ball away they would have likely signalled TD, but it wouldn't have mattered because replay would have shown that Glenn was down by contact. Right after he intercepted the ball his knee hit the ground while his shoulder was touching the receiver who was the intended target of the pass. The refs should have blown the whistle at that point, why they didn't is beyond me.
Special teams - one or two guys had chances to make plays and missed them. As a result the Chargers started with good field position when they didn't need to. On one runback Brett Pierce has a chance to make the tackle at around the 22, he never even puts his arm out (to actually make the tackle would likely have required a dive) and as a result the returner didn't even have to slow down. Had Pierce made the tackle we would have saved 28 yards of field position. Had he even slowed the returner we would have saved probably 15 yards, because someone else DID try the diving tackle and just missed. Another half second and the second guy probably would have gotten the returner on his attempt.
Patrick Crayton - geeze he just makes it look so easy. He's so smooth and his hands are so soft, and on top of it he seems to know where the first down marker is at all times. He's a real find. The fact that we grabbed him in the 7th round is amazing.
Drew Bledsoe - he's not remotely slow. He's also not all that immobile. On a few plays where he dropped straight back and hit a slant he got the ball out plenty quick. A 5 step drop required only 2.3 seconds from the time he got the ball to the time it left his hands. Bledsoe is not slow on his drop back or his release. He's simply so patient that I sometimes find myself screaming for him to throw the ball. He either doesn't have the internal clock or he chooses to ignore it. I think he ignores it because he wants to wait for guys to get open. He made at least 2 or 3 plays on Sunday because he held the ball and showed patience waiting for guys to break free. I just worry about that tendency against a team with a better pass rush. I think Payton and Parcells need to emphasize slants and quick timing throws or Bledsoe is going to take a beating.
Julius Jones - he ran really well (as usual), and if not for some bad blocking at times his numbers would have been really good. I saw at least two plays late where he ended up taking losses simply because guys blew their assignments. On one play Gurode allowed Williams to push right by him and make a diving tackle in the backfield, had Gurode done a marginally better job Julius would have likely picked up 4+ yards on the run (and with Julius, when you give him a chance to make positive yardage you never know if he'll break it open). Instead he lost 2 or 3 yards. On another Witten simply missed the OLB completely, the guy lined up outside him and Witten never got turned outside quickly enough to block him. He hit Julius just as he took the handoff. That was a 3 or 4 yard loss. If we can just stalemate guys at the line Julius' numbers will jump. We do a good job on some plays, then on others we'll allow multiple guys to penetrate the backfield. I don't know if it's scheme or what, but if we can fix it Julius is going to have a monster year. He needs to average 107 yards per game the rest of the way to make his goal for the season. On a somewhat related note Ladainian Tomlinson needs to average 142 yards per game to meet his goal - he's got his work cut out for him.
Demarcus Ware - he was really close a couple of times, and if we had any kind of push up the middle he likely would have gotten the sack on what ended up being a TD pass to McCardell. Ware dove and just missed because Brees had a ton of space in front of him and just stepped up and to the side as Ware dove for his arm. If we can shore up our middle rush Ware is going to start collecting a lot of sacks. He also did reasonably well preventing LT from getting outside of him after the first quarter. He blew containment a few times early, but then by the second quarter he seemed to settle into his role and didn't allow LT to get around him. Later in the game LT was having some success running left, but it was Ogbogu who was playing OLB at the time, and he allowed LT to get by on at least 2 or 3 plays down the stretch.
Rob Petitti - he held his own. On one play where we gave up a sack Petitti was actually the only offensive lineman to stop his guy. Everyone else on the line got beat to one degree or another, but Rob's guy never got anywhere. When you consider that he's a rookie (nevermind a 6th round draft pick) things are looking great for the RT position. I think this kid has the potential to be our RT for a long time. I know he'll struggle at times, especially against some of the guys he's going to have to face. But just the fact that he's been able to make the switch from LT to RT come into the pros and start right away is pretty mind boggling.
BTW, there was some talk in a few posts about the fact that on the final interception Glenn held the ball out and McCardell was trying to take it. There was speculation that if KM had done so AG would have been the biggest goat on the planet because the refs hadn't blown the play dead. If McCardell had taken the ball away they would have likely signalled TD, but it wouldn't have mattered because replay would have shown that Glenn was down by contact. Right after he intercepted the ball his knee hit the ground while his shoulder was touching the receiver who was the intended target of the pass. The refs should have blown the whistle at that point, why they didn't is beyond me.
