Shadowfax
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 217
- Reaction score
- 357
Give the Saints credit tonight. They won the line of scrimmage. They did to us what we did to them last year. However, the Zeke fumble call was ridiculous as his arm was clearly down. I also thought the calls against Amari were poor. The 4 seconds that lasted about 6 seconds at the end of the half were a huge detriment. Any of these could make the difference in the game. Still, there were some things that should concern us all.
Zach Martin is clearly not himself. His back is making a huge difference in his effectiveness. Having had back issues myself, it is certainly understandable. I also don’t think Travis has all of his strength and form back yet and that hurt us tonight as well. Those two, coupled with Conner Williams really showed up tonight against a formidable DT group. What is scary is that we never were really able to take them out of two deep coverage because of how they dominated the line of scrimmage. I watched this carefully because Zeke was so ineffective and they were not really stacking the box most of the time (they had 7 men in the box on many of those stops). Two deep coverage made for a long night for Dak (which seems to be a big issue for him), especially with Gallup out. This doesn’t even address Tyron’s injury, which is Huge.
The other concern for me continues to be our DT’s inability to stop the run against good teams. There were some huge holes tonight, especially when Hill was in there.
Lastly, it is becoming a bit disconcerting to see the plays made on Chidobe when he is in very tight coverage. It reminds me of Terrance Newman. It seems teams go at him even if his coverage is tight, and it typically is. They seem to find success in these situations on too many occasions. I don’t think it kills us, and we certainly can win with him, but I wish he could make a few more of those plays.
In terms of solutions, I believe we should rest Zach for a few games, at least, to prepare him for the stretch run. I don’t see a way we don’t make the playoffs in the absence of more critical injuries, so I would rather give his back some time to heal. Travis should continue to get stronger as the season wears on, so we just have to let him work through it. Conner hasn’t played poorly, but I still don’t think, at least right now, he is able to move people off of the ball. He should continue to get stronger and improve as the year wears on too.
At DT, I would trade a valuable draft pick to get a war daddy from another team. I don’t think Woods is that man and I don’t see anyone on our roster who is, unless the light comes on for Hill as the year goes on. He would have to make a huge jump from where he is now for that to be the case. His playing time continues to increase so perhaps he will. If he doesn’t, and we don’t address this issue, I am not sure we can win in January or February.
I think we have a strong team overall and should continue to get better as the year goes on. I would prefer to have a healthier Zach, Travis, and Tyron, and a war daddy to stuff the run as we get into the playoffs. I am not sure we can truly win it all without these things.
Zach Martin is clearly not himself. His back is making a huge difference in his effectiveness. Having had back issues myself, it is certainly understandable. I also don’t think Travis has all of his strength and form back yet and that hurt us tonight as well. Those two, coupled with Conner Williams really showed up tonight against a formidable DT group. What is scary is that we never were really able to take them out of two deep coverage because of how they dominated the line of scrimmage. I watched this carefully because Zeke was so ineffective and they were not really stacking the box most of the time (they had 7 men in the box on many of those stops). Two deep coverage made for a long night for Dak (which seems to be a big issue for him), especially with Gallup out. This doesn’t even address Tyron’s injury, which is Huge.
The other concern for me continues to be our DT’s inability to stop the run against good teams. There were some huge holes tonight, especially when Hill was in there.
Lastly, it is becoming a bit disconcerting to see the plays made on Chidobe when he is in very tight coverage. It reminds me of Terrance Newman. It seems teams go at him even if his coverage is tight, and it typically is. They seem to find success in these situations on too many occasions. I don’t think it kills us, and we certainly can win with him, but I wish he could make a few more of those plays.
In terms of solutions, I believe we should rest Zach for a few games, at least, to prepare him for the stretch run. I don’t see a way we don’t make the playoffs in the absence of more critical injuries, so I would rather give his back some time to heal. Travis should continue to get stronger as the season wears on, so we just have to let him work through it. Conner hasn’t played poorly, but I still don’t think, at least right now, he is able to move people off of the ball. He should continue to get stronger and improve as the year wears on too.
At DT, I would trade a valuable draft pick to get a war daddy from another team. I don’t think Woods is that man and I don’t see anyone on our roster who is, unless the light comes on for Hill as the year goes on. He would have to make a huge jump from where he is now for that to be the case. His playing time continues to increase so perhaps he will. If he doesn’t, and we don’t address this issue, I am not sure we can win in January or February.
I think we have a strong team overall and should continue to get better as the year goes on. I would prefer to have a healthier Zach, Travis, and Tyron, and a war daddy to stuff the run as we get into the playoffs. I am not sure we can truly win it all without these things.
