Week 15 recap

19 Dec 2006


week 15 recap
Category: Sports

I know I said I wasn't going to recap games anymore but I can't pass this one up.
Before we get to my weekly rant about blitzing, let's first address the offense.
Bratkowski had called some good games recently and has done a good job of taking some pressure off Palmer. Last night, he got "cutesy" on us again. How many yards have we accumulated on the numerous reverses or end-arounds this season? Like 42 yds. on 18 attempts? And if you're gonna try one, why use Chad Johnson? He's never been great in open field and he's easy to tackle once you get a hand on him. I'd rather see Glen Holt take reverse than Chad. The same goes for the pitches to Rudi. They dont really do anything. It doesn't ware down a defense, he doesn't have the speed to beat people to the outside, and he too is not an open field runner. It might be okay to try these plays at some point of the game, but I hate to see these plays on first down in the first half. It's a guaranteed second and eight that follows. I'd much rather see Rudi get stuck at the line for no gain than to watch him be forced out of bounds for the same result. Rudi isn't a guy whose role should be broadened. He's a smasher and a damn good one. Just stick to that.
I thought Carson played okay. The balls he got off in rythem looked like they were put in some good spots. Chad drops passes which is why, to me, Marvin Harrison is still better. Chris Henry is officially a bitch when going after pasases. He reluctantly flails one hand in the direction of the pass and gives up on it when contact seems imminent. Ever since Pittsburgh smashed him across the middle, he's looked sheepish when trying to make downfield catches. The blocking was victimized by a very fast defensive front line. Whitworth finally looked slow and lumbering but he was going against a physical freakazoid in Freeny. Stacy Andrews inexperience becomes a lot more noticable at tackle compared to guard. I sure hope Willie is okay because we have some blitz happy teams on the horizon who are surely licking their chops at the thought of rushing rookie tackles. Kenny Watson has become a very good specialist and that screen play to him looked just as good as the same play to Chris Perry. He even kinda looks like Perry. He's a lot more valuable to our offense than people realize.
Should I even write about what went wrong on defense? Have I not reinforced the importance of a pass rush enough to you readers? Why let Payton Manning calmly drop back, survey his surroundings, probably go over his Christmas list, diagnose our defense, then dump it off for six yards for a first down? If he's going to beat you, at least make him beat you while being hurried. You might give up a big play, and I know Marvin has a major phobia of big plays, but the zone philosophy has proven time and again to be fataly flawed. Marvin likes to blame missed tackles for one first down after the next and there was plenty of that going on, but making those tackles wouldn't have forced any fourth downs. Our tacklers have hard time changing directions and not over pursuing, and that's even more of a reason to not read and react as opposed to blitzing and forcing the issue. Our veteran corners look awful right now. O' Neil is getting that Lewis Billups feel of talent fading fast. Joseph is still allowing too many catches in front of him, but at least the kid can make decent open field tackles. Tori James is utterly useless and I dont wanna see him anywhere near Georgetown, KY next summer. I didn't notice Caleb Miller, or Jeanty once last night. If those guys aren't doing anything, why not send them up the gut on a blitz? Fanane looked good.

Our coaches looked unprepared for Indy. I'm not okay with Marvin taking a timeout after it looked like Chad caught a first down. Why do that? You're giving Indy extra time to check the replay and challenge the play. I dont care if Chad bumped his wrist or whatever. Take him out a play, get up to the line and snap the damn ball. Big mistake. I also dont like Carson playing the last minutes of a loss. We're down three possesions, the o-line has played terrible, dont put the future of our franchise out there to get his arm caught mid-throw and tear his labrum or something. Chalk it up and prepare for next week with healthy starters.
Indianapolis was clearly the better team last night, but the coaches did a poor job of play calling and Marv is to blame on some key decisions like kicking inside the ten when your down eighteen and your defense looks like scared little kids. I expect total focus and execution next week but I'll address the upcoming game later this week. Keep your heads up, folks. There's still plenty of season.

Mojokong - really sick of always playing it safe.