Something I noticed about JJ today.

[mally]

Today he did not run with both hands around the ball trying to protect it. He ran like normal. Holding the ball in one hand and leaving the other hand free for leverage. All along this year he has been running right into the pile with both arms around the ball. Today he did not do that and made all the cuts. Im clueless as to why it took this long. Perhaps the injury he had earlier finally stopped hurting as well ? Im still confused on it though.

 

[thssanders]

whatever it was, i want to see him do it more often. He looked a lot quicker than normal, and he also broke some tackles. I want to see him in a first round matchup against the bucs or whoever we would play.

 

[Paniolo22]

I loved how he actually made guys miss in the backfield today. It really was great to see him shake and bake and burst through holes again. Welcome back JJ.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I honestly did not see a different between the way he held onto the ball today compared to beforehand. I really believe that was blown out of proportion after Tony Dorsett mentioned that on sports radio, basically guessing at it.

And you can still cut hard with both hands on the ball. What you lose is top end speed. It also doesn't explain Julius ducking his head and pushing the defender or pile.

Rich.....

 

[mally]

The difference between today and the previous 14 games is that he always held on to the ball with both hands while running. If you have any of the games tivoed like I do go back and watch. You can tell the difference. Also I believe when you have both arms around the ball if affects your ability to make a good hard juke.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

yeah Rich, I don't know what holding the ball with 2 hands has anything to do with running into a pile or not

IMO, the difference was Julius feeling comfortable cutting, ankle being 100%

 

[Wood]

I didnt see the game...but several people commented that Jones didnt directly go down after initial impact....instead he started to run thru some tackles and this is where you can really pile up yards as a running back.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I think his ankle just made a quantum leap in its recovery...

 

[Reality]

Today he did not run with both hands around the ball trying to protect it. He ran like normal. Holding the ball in one hand and leaving the other hand free for leverage. All along this year he has been running right into the pile with both arms around the ball. Today he did not do that and made all the cuts. Im clueless as to why it took this long. Perhaps the injury he had earlier finally stopped hurting as well ? Im still confused on it though.

Yeah, I saw and thought the same thing. It's like Parcells told him that it's either now or never .. go for it and quit worrying about fumbling.

 

[Paniolo22]

I honestly did not see a different between the way he held onto the ball today compared to beforehand. I really believe that was blown out of proportion after Tony Dorsett mentioned that on sports radio, basically guessing at it.

And you can still cut hard with both hands on the ball. What you lose is top end speed. It also doesn't explain Julius ducking his head and pushing the defender or pile.

Rich.....

Maybe Rich, but your balance is pretty terrible with 2 hands on the ball. Especially when changing directions. Trust me. That would also explain him going down with arm tackles before today.

 

[braw]

The difference with this game is that the offense was more game planned for jujo. 3 wr sets, draws, and sweeps. When he got it going on sweeps and draws, it just snowballed. The defense was on their heels at that point.

Carolina came back, because we adjusted our offense and started running the pro style 2 wr set, Julius was stopped and he was starting to average about 3 yd a carry.

But then went back to what worked at the begining of the game. The line did not play better( false starts, holding calls, and even 5 sacks). Jujo did not have the negative plays where the Oline was in the backfield. On 1 occasion the right DE pinched in and Tucker was in the backfield, the lb was in the DE vacated spot stopping jujo for no gain. But most of all jujo burned the dline with his side moves setting up the blocks( in my opinion, something parcells does not like. He wants forward movement not dancing).

Today, Looks like jujo wanted to go out his way and his coached let him be him and put him in a position to do so.

 

[Novacek84]

The big difference today was that Julius moved forward for extra yardage after first contact, something he has not done all season long. I think that is why he was much more dominant today than the rest of the year. His cutting ability today tells me the ankle is now fully recovered. His performance today shows just how important he is to this team's offensive effectiveness. Welcome back JJ!

 

[cowboy4life]

High ankle sprains are no joke. It takes longer to come back from them. You think that Julius is licking his chops for the St. Louis defense?

 

[Chuck 54]

I don't believe his great performance today had anything to do with his ankle suddenly healing...that's BS...unless God healed him overnight. He ran very poorly last Sunday, as he has for most of the season...he had a short week to get ready for this game. It makes no sense to say his high ankle sprain suddenly got well today.

Nope, whatever it was, he was running with passion and abandon, hitting the holes harder and quicker than in weeks...his success lead to more confidence and better moves...nope, something was different today, but no way it was he had a sudden overnight healing of his ankle...it doesn't work that way.

 

[chinch]

high ankle sprains are tough and take time to get you back in condition.

anyone to dismiss this is completely uninformed.

 

[ddh33]

I keep thinking that holding on to the ball with two hands is just something that you do when you are surrounded by defenders...

Today, Julius was more in space. There was less of a need to hold the ball with two hands.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

I don't believe his great performance today had anything to do with his ankle suddenly healing...that's BS...unless God healed him overnight. He ran very poorly last Sunday, as he has for most of the season...he had a short week to get ready for this game. It makes no sense to say his high ankle sprain suddenly got well today.

Nope, whatever it was, he was running with passion and abandon, hitting the holes harder and quicker than in weeks...his success lead to more confidence and better moves...nope, something was different today, but no way it was he had a sudden overnight healing of his ankle...it doesn't work that way.

Couldnt he be gaining confidence "in" his ankle? I do agree as he started to make cutts the more he did it the more confident he was doing it, if that makes any sense. :

 

[burmafrd]

He decided that he was going to run his way today- not the way BP wanted him to- the way he had been running most of this season. When you have defenders in the backfield- like he did today- you have to put a move on them to be able to do anything. He was not doing that before. He ran the way he did last year- which is what BP SHOULD have had him doing ALL THIS YEAR. that and the ankle finally has healed enough so that he can juke with confidence.

 

[Sitting Bull]

JJ ran thru actual holes today thanks to dramtically improved o-line play. That's the key, IMO. His best cuts came past the line of scrimmage, in more open field.

Did anyone else think that Carolina's d-lineman were bunched in closer to the line than other teams? It really rattled Bledsoe on pass plays, but replaying some of JJ's runs, it looks like they set up well within the neutral zone, making it easier for our linemen to seal them.

 

[wileedog]

He decided that he was going to run his way today- not the way BP wanted him to- .

Link?