5 things that are still driving me nuts even at 8-1?
1. Poor tackling: In the words of Vince Lombardi: "It's all grab, grab, grab out there!". I hate seeing guys slip through one tackle after another, especially when we have them stopped short only to see them break through a sorry attempt and get the needed yardage. The guys are in the right position, reading the play correctly but not making the tackle. This has got to improve if we want to win the big one.
2. Stupid penalties: I can understand some of the holding calls, false starts, offsides, and that sort of thing as they are part of the game as guys try to do their job. It is the dumb ones like Burnett's taunting call or Owens' numerous stupid calls (although a couple of the delays for spiking were total BS). These things just give the other team yardage and points when they didn't earn them.
3. Dropped passes: Whether by the WRs or DBs every opportunity to catch a pass is a potential big play for us. INTs are game-changers and we have to get better at hanging onto them.
4. Run blocking: Our pass protection is excellent but we are not opening many holes for our RBs. We could be totally dominating our opponents if we could mount a more consistent running game early on. We have good RBs but they need some room to run. With the size of our OLs I expected them to be better at it than they are.
5. Special Teams/Return game: Both the returns and the coverage teams are not producing like they could be. I can't remember a single forced fumble by our coverage units so far this year and we tend to give up pretty good field position most of the time, particularly on kickoffs. Crayton is not a good return man and is most likely to fair-catch the ball even with a lot of room to run. I was excited seeing Stanback out there as he has some guts and quickness. I'm looking forward to his return
. Our kickers are doing a great job but the coverage teams are not and our returns are less than spectacular.
I am very happy with how the team is playing but there is always room for improvement.