My take on the offense

NewChief · 09-20-2004, 06:59 AM

I'll try not to add too much negativity to the board, but here's what I saw.

*Playcalling/scheming is atrocious (except for first series): The first series was great. They were obviously keying on stopping Priest, so we went elsewhere. We were determined, in that series, to make them respect our passing game. We achieved success through play action, exploiting the fact that they were keyed in on Priest. After that series, things fell apart. We never seemed to have any balance or "rhythm" (I hate the word, but anyway). I know that execution is a big part of playcalling, but I still didn't like what I was seeing. It seemed like we were running plays in bursts. 3 passes, 3 runs, 3 passes, 3 runs. No mix and match. No keeping the defense guessing.

*WRs are bad. I know, I know, it's been said before by others more eloquent than me, but it's the truth. It was never so apparent than toward the end of the game, in the series that Trent scrambled 10 yards for the first down. In that series there were 4 dropped passes in a row. Johnny 1, Smith 2, Dante 1. Then Trent threw the pick.

*Trent's not seeing the entire field. Maybe it's because he doesn't have confidence in Smith (see previous point), but Trent seemed to be focusing solely on Gonzo and Morton (once Eddie was out). Throwing to Gonzo and Johnny in triple and double coverage (albeit at times with success) when Smith is clearly open isn't a good thing. Now, you all know that I'm the biggest Trent homer out there, but things are looking reminiscent of his first year here. I always maintained that his performance in that first year was due to lack of confidence in his receivers. For whatever reason, I'm seeing many of the same symptoms again.

*Pass protection was better than last week, but still bad.

*Priest needs the ball more. Yes, I know that they stuffed him quite a few times, but that's the way the running game works. You keep going back to it, and eventually you break one. Saunders has a tendency to get stuffed on a running play, then totally neglect it for a while. You gotta hammer it down the throat, repeatedly.

*Somethings wrong with the chemistry. My wife kept saying, "How could they be this much worse, when they're playing with basically the same people." In all honesty, I can't answer the question. All I can do is chalk it up to chemistry. Yes, I know that defenses have made adjustments. Yes, I know that people are better able to scheme for us. However, that still doesn't account for the fact that our Offense put 10 points on the board yesterday. Something's wrong with this offense, and it's intangible. The good news is that they still have the physical pieces in place to return to their high-output ways. The bad news is that fixing the intangibles isn't that easy.

09-20-2004, 06:59 AM	Topic Starter
NewChief In Search of a Life Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Fayetteville, AR Casino cash: $9670204	My take on the offense I'll try not to add too much negativity to the board, but here's what I saw. Playcalling/scheming is atrocious (except for first series): The first series was great. They were obviously keying on stopping Priest, so we went elsewhere. We were determined, in that series, to make them respect our passing game. We achieved success through play action, exploiting the fact that they were keyed in on Priest. After that series, things fell apart. We never seemed to have any balance or "rhythm" (I hate the word, but anyway). I know that execution is a big part of playcalling, but I still didn't like what I was seeing. It seemed like we were running plays in bursts. 3 passes, 3 runs, 3 passes, 3 runs. No mix and match. No keeping the defense guessing. WRs are bad. I know, I know, it's been said before by others more eloquent than me, but it's the truth. It was never so apparent than toward the end of the game, in the series that Trent scrambled 10 yards for the first down. In that series there were 4 dropped passes in a row. Johnny 1, Smith 2, Dante 1. Then Trent threw the pick. Trent's not seeing the entire field. Maybe it's because he doesn't have confidence in Smith (see previous point), but Trent seemed to be focusing solely on Gonzo and Morton (once Eddie was out). Throwing to Gonzo and Johnny in triple and double coverage (albeit at times with success) when Smith is clearly open isn't a good thing. Now, you all know that I'm the biggest Trent homer out there, but things are looking reminiscent of his first year here. I always maintained that his performance in that first year was due to lack of confidence in his receivers. For whatever reason, I'm seeing many of the same symptoms again. Pass protection was better than last week, but still bad. Priest needs the ball more. Yes, I know that they stuffed him quite a few times, but that's the way the running game works. You keep going back to it, and eventually you break one. Saunders has a tendency to get stuffed on a running play, then totally neglect it for a while. You gotta hammer it down the throat, repeatedly. Somethings wrong with the chemistry. My wife kept saying, "How could they be this much worse, when they're playing with basically the same people." In all honesty, I can't answer the question. All I can do is chalk it up to chemistry. Yes, I know that defenses have made adjustments. Yes, I know that people are better able to scheme for us. However, that still doesn't account for the fact that our Offense put 10 points on the board yesterday. Something's wrong with this offense, and it's intangible. The good news is that they still have the physical pieces in place to return to their high-output ways. The bad news is that fixing the intangibles isn't that easy.
Posts: 21,760