I'm just going to do my thoughts on the game early today (1 Viewer)

[LSSpam]

*Fred Thomas.

1) First play FT was playing in and down, as if he expected safety help over the top from Bullocks. Bullocks pit hard on the playaction and was never in the play. No idea whose fault this is. Was FT expecting more S help then he should have? Did Bullocks blow his over-the-top responsibilities? Was it just a bad coverage call? No idea

2) Second time he got beat.

3) Third time he lost track of Chad Johnson when Carson scrambled out. It was his fault though. When Carson scrambled he should have know Chad would break down field.

*The whole "RUN THE BALL MORE" is overrated. I agree they should have ran more the first trip into the red zone when Brees threw an INT. But no one expects Brees to make that poor of a decision. At no other point in the game was it obvious we needed to run more.

*Defense played well. Cinncy was going to break some plays. Offense put to much pressure on Cincy. If we go into the 4th with a 24-10 lead we play a lot softer and Chad Johnson doesn't eat us deep so bad.

*We didn't deserve to win. The margin of error in the NFL is to narrow and we play way to far on the other side.

*This was a depressing loss. Not because of the 6-4 which doesn't bother me so much. But because I have flash backs of Haslett with the killer penalties and the turnovers.

*START DANNY CLARK. Whatever.

*CUT DEVERY HENDERSON. Doubt we'll see those threads. But everyone was willing to cut Copper last week. Henderson has 2 or 3 critical drops and a killer fumble, but it won't matter. Not that i'm in favor of cutting Henderson. Or Copper. That's my point.

*We really missed Colston. Not in terms of moving the ball, but in terms of clutch play. Particularly in the Red Zone. Colston is critical to our ability to throw in the Red Zone.


Anyways, blame this loss on the offense.

 

[boxerharley]

I dont care about Coppers TD.....He needs to go !!!! and NOW !!!!!

 

[Jazzbo]

A sober assessment of the game. I hope others will offer some, too.

 

[diehard]

I disagree. I think Coach has fallen into the trap of a young offensive coordinator airing it out too much now that he's the "man" and there's no HC to reign him in.

We are way, way too pass-happy. Why is Bush getting more carries than Deuce? It should be the other way around. Deuce should be wearing the opposing D down with Bush spelling him and offering a knockout changeup.

I lay this one on Payton 1st, Brees 2nd.

PS. How in the WORLD do you not roll over-the-top coverage to Chad Johnson's side all game? Make someone else beat you, but not Johnson. Where was the safeties?

 

[Random Fan]

*The whole "RUN THE BALL MORE" is overrated. I agree they should have ran more the first trip into the red zone when Brees threw an INT. But no one expects Brees to make that poor of a decision. At no other point in the game was it obvious we needed to run more.

The main reason I'm in favor of the run is that it keeps the mediocre defense off of the field so we don't have corners getting burned and opposing backs tripping forward for a five yard average.

Defense played well. Cinncy was going to break some plays. Offense put to much pressure on Cincy. If we go into the 4th with a 24-10 lead we play a lot softer and Chad Johnson doesn't eat us deep so bad.

Disagree. Defense was average at best. The offense has carried this defense for pretty much the whole season. I'll say the offense played worse today than the defense but the defense is still horrible.

 

[LSSpam]

The main reason I'm in favor of the run is that it keeps the mediocre defense off of the field so we don't have corners getting burned and opposing backs tripping forward for a five yard average.

We held the ball 33:33 minutes to Cinncy's 26:27.

And that stat is not unusual.

We lead the league in 10+ play drives.

We are a ball control offense.

 

[saintology1]

Good post. Right on target. People are way too quick to jump on Fred Thomas and want him out. For who? I thought on the ad lib play by Chad Johnson, Bullocks was caught playing too shallow again. Freddie had cut off his initial route.

We do need Colston back. Copper and Henderson drop too many passes. Colston is our only truly consistent reciever at this point. Joe is great, but he did drop a couple today, and could use some help. Colston, Brees, and Duece are the key cogs that make our offense go. Without any one of them, we lose a step.

Brees had an off game today, and made some terrible decisions. But, he shouldn't be relied on to throw as much as he did today. We need to get our balanced offense back on the field. Too many pass plays vs run plays today. Unless teams are completely selling out on the run, we need that balance to control the clock and run the PA pass.

 

[LSSpam]

Good post. Right on target. People are way too quick to jump on Fred Thomas and want him out. For who? I thought on the ad lib play by Chad Johnson, Bullocks was caught playing too shallow again. Freddie had cut off his initial route.

We do need Colston back. Copper and Henderson drop too many passes. Colston is our only truly consistent reciever at this point. Joe is great, but he did drop a couple today, and could use some help. Colston, Brees, and Duece are the key cogs that make our offense go. Without any one of them, we lose a step.

Brees had an off game today, and made some terrible decisions. But, he shouldn't be relied on to throw as much as he did today. We need to get our balanced offense back on the field. Too many pass plays vs run plays today. Unless teams are completely selling out on the run, we need that balance to control the clock and run the PA pass.

Bullocks coming up on Palmers scramble was ok. Freddie T should have been more aware where Chad was. Freddie T jumped the hitch which forced Palmer to pull the ball down and almost get sacked, which was good. But having done that Freddie T needed to be aware of Chad and realize Chad would break deep.

An understandable mistake, these things happen, but critical and his fault nonetheless.

 

[diehard]

We held the ball 33:33 minutes to Cinncy's 26:27.

And that stat is not unusual.

We lead the league in 10+ play drives.

We are a ball control offense.

Look, its the old adage: There's three things that can happen when you pass the ball and two of them are bad.

Drew was hot, Colston was hot, team's didn't know what to expect, all that covered up the run/pass imbalance, but we were on borrowed time as Coach likes to say.

I just think we'd be a lot more solid with Deuce getting about 10 more carries/game, but hey, that's just me.

 

[meily]

well you cant really lay the lose on one guy, cause one guy cant win you the game, so how can one guy lose you the game, there were many things that happened in this game that resulted in us losing, Interceptions, Fumbles, False Starts and Blown Assignments, sounds to me like a collective team lose, Fact of the matter is we cant win if we turn the ball over and we cant win if we turn the ball over in the redzone, you shouldnt rain in the playcalling but you do have to be more smart passing the ball from the 7yrd line, is a good choice if you score, but is it smart? no, you should run the ball in and if you do pass, do it off a playaction, sure we burn them with the pass but passing the ball is easy to defend when the team knows your tendancy's and our tendancy is we like to pass, brees can throw for 500yrds, but only have 2tds? thats not affective passing, how do you throw for 500yrds and score 16points?

 

[ULSaint]

I pretty much agree with everything LSSpam said. I don't think the playcalling was bad at all.

I have a feeling Bullocks is at least as much to blame as Thomas is for some of those big gainers. Bullocks seems to have regressed from last season. He hasn't made a play since the first game or so.

Other thoughts. Brees makes our WRs look incredible and always seems to find the open man. Yes, he threw a few bad passes on the picks but he throws a beautiful ball.

Henderson is what he is. He's a big play guy that's going to drop some gimmes. Copper has represented himself well but must work on ball control.

Bush has turned the corner. He has learned to be patient. It's only a matter of time now before he tears one for a long gain.

Our biggst need at this point, imo, is CB followed closely by FS and DT. Thomas is a beast and Young is a good rotational guy, but I would like better depth there.

This team is in good position. This is a very young team. The best days are yet to come.

 

[saintology1]

Bullocks coming up on Palmers scramble was ok. Freddie T should have been more aware where Chad was. Freddie T jumped the hitch which forced Palmer to pull the ball down and almost get sacked, which was good. But having done that Freddie T needed to be aware of Chad and realize Chad would break deep.

An understandable mistake, these things happen, but critical and his fault nonetheless.

I don't know. I'll have to look at that play again, but if I remember right Bullocks was playing shallow from the snap. Before Palmer was flushed out, Bullocks was already in "no mans land" 10yds from any given reciever.

 

[Random Fan]

We held the ball 33:33 minutes to Cinncy's 26:27.

And that stat is not unusual.

We lead the league in 10+ play drives.

We are a ball control offense.

Point taken... although I guess it doesn't work so hot when you get picked off three times. Wasn't it Bum Phillips who said: "Three things can happen when you pass... and two of them are bad."

Edit: Bah, someone beat me to it.

 

[airbornesaintfan]

our defence as a whole did a good job today..w/out the ints. in the ENDZONE and the other for 6 we win the game..everyone new chad was going to eat freddy's lunch but our offence just didnt do its job and protect the ball...defence did good take away the screwups by brees and we win

 

[dat dam dog]

Most of what you folks say is true.

But I don't blame the 'D' so much. I was concerned with our offense.

I fear we are thinner at WR than we think. Horn and Henderson with earlier injuries (and maybe still lingering injuries), now Colston lost early in the game.

The INTs are bad, but two in the endzone is borderline unheard of. The one on the throw to Campbell seemed to me could have been intercepted by any one of several Bengals (or batted down).

Thomas got killed out there. Where were Bullocks and Stoutmire?

It just seems that we needed some points to stay in this, and the offense kept screwing our chances up.

I almost think we have to throw from the 20 yd line or so, or else run run run when we get inside the 5. Passes that close seem to me are easily defended by the opponent.

Rambling a bit here, so I'll stop.


ddd