- Moderator
- #1
- Joined
- Aug 8, 1997
- Messages
- 13,746
- Reaction score
- 17,565
- Age
- 58
Offline
I know people are on a bad mood because of the defeat. We wasted a master piece by our quarterback and lost the game on the same manner we have done so many times in the recent past.
There are common trends on these kind of defeats : Missing one or two starting cornerbacks at the beginning of the season (leaving to go ahead with inexperienced rookies), a big run play right at the middle of the defensive line, a questionable call on the part of our coaches and/or a painful turnover.
These things have to be worked week by week, off-season by off-season. I love how aggressive both Mickey and Sean are, but there has to be a limit on the aggressiveness. Patience is also a virtue.
And from there, I have to say that after the raiders game I am very optimistic about where our team is developing. I see what we may consider small steps but what will make a difference in the short term on building a winner.
Let’s start with the offence. It is true our offence didn’t look as good as it has been, but look at the last 3 years and there is quiet a difference in our passing game. The biggest one right now is that we don’t rely on one target in order to make our passing game produce. We grew to be frankly too dependent on Jimmy Graham, now we have Cooks, Snead and Thomas to spread the goods. By the time we will be able to get Fleener and Spiller (or any other 3rd down back) in our game and we will be closer to have the air attack we had on our Super Bowl year. The good thing is that we don’t need Fleener to be Graham or Spiller to be Reggie/Sproles, we need some contribution, and that will be enough.
On the offensive line, it seems that Peat has found a home at left guard, I hope we keep him there. The protection was better and we saw some pulls and traps that open good holes on Ingram. I think the more we run, the more effective we will be. It takes normally for our line around 5 games to play up to potential, I am confident this will take less. I am still very worried on how think we are on depth here, but we can delay to get new right guards and tackles for next year.
Now on defence. I think we are on the correct track on defending the run, and I think in some time we finally we will start to see some pressure from the tackles on the pass game. For the first time in years I saw some gang-tackling on the run game, and yes, we allowed a big run, but to me, that is more on the safety then even on our line. Once that the middle of the line is set, and the run defence is improved, then we will start seeing a more effective pass rush. I just hope it will take not a lot of time.
Once again we are left to play with unexperienced, below average corners. The lack of depth is consequence of dead money, poor drafting and limited resources. I hope Payton and Loomis understand that this is the 3rd year this happens, and that rather to spend on a superstar, we need to build depth, a third and fourth corner that can play at least to average performance.
There is no doubt we are better on linebacker play and coverage, Vaccaro played lights out, but we have a problem with the free safety. I am not sure if it is scheme or player, but I don’t see Byrd keeping his job by the bye week if he does not start making plays.
Finally, special teams. Yep, Lutz missed two field goals, but frankly, I think Payton made a mistake calling to attempt the 50 yarder with a rookie kicker on his first game. The game was calling to play field position more then score. The 61 field goal would have been good at 55 yards, and that is what we need. If Lutz can show some consistency, then we have kicker for years to come.
I am not expecting to make the playoffs this year, I am even questioning we will have a positive record, but there are ways to lose, and also ways to see if your team is improving.
We are not that far, we need depth, experience and patience, but after Sunday, I do think we are on the right track.
There are common trends on these kind of defeats : Missing one or two starting cornerbacks at the beginning of the season (leaving to go ahead with inexperienced rookies), a big run play right at the middle of the defensive line, a questionable call on the part of our coaches and/or a painful turnover.
These things have to be worked week by week, off-season by off-season. I love how aggressive both Mickey and Sean are, but there has to be a limit on the aggressiveness. Patience is also a virtue.
And from there, I have to say that after the raiders game I am very optimistic about where our team is developing. I see what we may consider small steps but what will make a difference in the short term on building a winner.
Let’s start with the offence. It is true our offence didn’t look as good as it has been, but look at the last 3 years and there is quiet a difference in our passing game. The biggest one right now is that we don’t rely on one target in order to make our passing game produce. We grew to be frankly too dependent on Jimmy Graham, now we have Cooks, Snead and Thomas to spread the goods. By the time we will be able to get Fleener and Spiller (or any other 3rd down back) in our game and we will be closer to have the air attack we had on our Super Bowl year. The good thing is that we don’t need Fleener to be Graham or Spiller to be Reggie/Sproles, we need some contribution, and that will be enough.
On the offensive line, it seems that Peat has found a home at left guard, I hope we keep him there. The protection was better and we saw some pulls and traps that open good holes on Ingram. I think the more we run, the more effective we will be. It takes normally for our line around 5 games to play up to potential, I am confident this will take less. I am still very worried on how think we are on depth here, but we can delay to get new right guards and tackles for next year.
Now on defence. I think we are on the correct track on defending the run, and I think in some time we finally we will start to see some pressure from the tackles on the pass game. For the first time in years I saw some gang-tackling on the run game, and yes, we allowed a big run, but to me, that is more on the safety then even on our line. Once that the middle of the line is set, and the run defence is improved, then we will start seeing a more effective pass rush. I just hope it will take not a lot of time.
Once again we are left to play with unexperienced, below average corners. The lack of depth is consequence of dead money, poor drafting and limited resources. I hope Payton and Loomis understand that this is the 3rd year this happens, and that rather to spend on a superstar, we need to build depth, a third and fourth corner that can play at least to average performance.
There is no doubt we are better on linebacker play and coverage, Vaccaro played lights out, but we have a problem with the free safety. I am not sure if it is scheme or player, but I don’t see Byrd keeping his job by the bye week if he does not start making plays.
Finally, special teams. Yep, Lutz missed two field goals, but frankly, I think Payton made a mistake calling to attempt the 50 yarder with a rookie kicker on his first game. The game was calling to play field position more then score. The 61 field goal would have been good at 55 yards, and that is what we need. If Lutz can show some consistency, then we have kicker for years to come.
I am not expecting to make the playoffs this year, I am even questioning we will have a positive record, but there are ways to lose, and also ways to see if your team is improving.
We are not that far, we need depth, experience and patience, but after Sunday, I do think we are on the right track.
