Cuz that man is the International House of Pancakes.
I came out with a thread reviewing Carey's performance against the Bears and Alex Brown, so I finally got my copy of the Jags game and took a look at Carey in this game too against Reggie Heyward.
I just want to start out by saying last week against Alex Brown, Carey looked like our best offensive lineman on the field. I had a big post about it. He got beat twice. One of the times he got beat, nobody noticed because it was a 3 step drop and Feeley completed the pass on a slant before Brown could make good on his beautiful outside-in move that left Carey grasping for air.
That stuff happens. If it were a 5 or 7 step drop, Carey gets a big fat 1.0 sacks allowed on his record. But, if everything in the NFL were 7 step drops, a whole lot of "quality" LTs all the sudden have a whole lot more big fat X's against their sack record. That's the way things go, it's not good that Carey got beat, but the team didn't pay for it.
The other bad play was the one John Madden commented that Carey screwed up and got Feeley sacked by Urlacher because he allowed Brown to force Feeley to step up and into Urlacher's green-dog blitz. Sorry, but I watched the tape and Feeley stepped up before he caught whiff of Alex Brown's body odor. That's what you do on a 7 step drop. You step back your steps, then step up one, especially when everyone is on a deep passrush and is being pushed (ideally) 3 yards behind you by your OL. The entire OL was pushing their DL past Feeley (Carey was no exception) and so he stepped up but never saw Brown. Carey screwed up because he let Brown get close enough to get a paw on Feeley's bicep, which is dangerous because you could allow a fumble to be forced. But in no way was the sack Carey's fault.
The very next play after that sack, by the way, Carey knocked Alex Brown into the ground on a passrush. People didn't notice because Brown popped back up in a jiff.
Enter Jaguars game. This should be a stiffer test for Carey. He's facing Reggie Hayward, the high priced free agent who got 10.5 sacks with the Denver Broncos last season. Alex Brown only got 6 sacks with the Bears.
So how many times did Carey screw up? None. Zero. Not one pass protection failure, not one screwup on run blocking. Nothing. He was the black hole at left tackle that swallowed Reggie Hayward and took him completely off the stat sheet. Not a single tackle, not a single sack, not a single pressure, hurry, pass deflection...NOTHING.
I know PhinKev and I disagreed last week about Carey. He brought you through a play by play, and so I guess I can do the same.
A word on this short notes grading system. You get an A if you fill your blocking assignment without trouble at all and your dude is nowhere to be seen on the play. You get an A+ if you did it blocking two successive guys or if you knocked your guy into the dirt. You get a D or F if your guy ended up making the play or you allowed the play to be made. A grade of C is somewhere between, like your guy COULD have made the play if it went a little different, etc etc.
1. Pass play. Two blocks, first Hayward, then stunting Henderson. Neither pushed IHOP significantly. A+
2. Rush play. IHOP's job is to keey Hayward away. Hayward begins an outside rush, IHOP stays with, Hayward never gets near play. A
3. Play-action Pass. Hayward lined wide. IHOP stepped out and pushed him like it was a run. Hayward not even close. A
4. Shotgun. Hayward another wide rush. IHOP didn't suck Hayward completely out of this play. I counted he gave Frerotte 5 seconds before Hayward closed in on Frerotte's position. Having seen what IHOP is capable of, he could have done better. But 5 seconds on a shotgun play on 3rd and 15 covering a double-digit sack guy like Hayward...calling this a "fail" would be pushing it, especially since Frerotte got pulverized by Stroud way before IHOP let his man go (Stroud took on Hadnot one-on-one and pounded him). I give it a straight C. You don't take 5 seconds to throw the ball on a shotgun play, unless it's a hail mary. C
5. Run play. IHOP doubles a DE with Donald Lee but Lee could have had him on his own. IHOP ends up falling as he pushes Hayward further from the play, hard to tell whether IHOP should have released out given that Lee had Hayward taken care of. Probably would have disengaged and released had he not fallen. C
6. Pass play. Relatively short drop. Hayward had not beaten IHOP by the time the play ended in any way. A
7. Run play. Lot of defenders on the LOS. I counted three defenders that IHOP had a hand in holding up on the left side (run was to the right). He doubled Henderson with Donald Lee, held up a linebacker, then released out on Hayward and would have taken him out except poor blocking on the play side meant the play was already over. A+
8. Pass play. Deep drop. Again got hands on Hayward, who stunted in, then doubled Henderson on the outside with Randy McMichael. Neither got any penetration whatsoever. A+
9. Pass play. Deep drop. Hayward outside rush, IHOP has him the whole way. If anything when Sammy Morris tried to chip on Hayward, he just got in IHOP's way. By the play's end, Hayward had not gotten position on IHOP. A
10. Reverse play. What a play-design. IHOP's job is to hold up Hayward a tiny bit at the LOS by pushing him outward, and let IHOP chase his own way out of the play. He did exactly that. If you don't know the play design, it looks like IHOP just let Hayward go and missed a block. But that's not the case. B
11. Toss run play. IHOP cut blocks into Henderson's knees and DOWN GOES FRAZIER! Beauty of a block. A+
12. Pass play. Deep drop. IHOP had a little trouble on the outside-in move, but again his recovery is awesome. Hayward went inside on IHOP and I bet he thought he had a clean shot at the QB coming. "Finally!!!" Hayward said. And the next thing Reggie knew, he had a mouth full of dirt as IHOP clubbed him into the turf for getting inside on him. Can't fault IHOP much when Hayward ends up face down in the dirt 4 yards in front of where Gus had set up in the pocket to throw. Frerotte was pressured out of the pocket from a different direction. This was the Circus Chambers catch. "WHAMMY!" says Mr. IHOP. A+ (for the pancake).
13. Play-action pass. Again, fake the handoff left, rollout right. Not that IHOP's assignment was tough, just push defenders in a direction they're already going because of the fake handoff. Still, no flaws. A
14. Run play. Misdirection, so IHOP's assignment is to plow defenders toward the right, while the toss goes left. He blocks Reggie Hayward east of the Atlantic ocean...and into the ground. A+ (pancake)
15. Shovel pass. Horrible play, really, but certainly not IHOP's fault. He took on Benard Thomas here who came in for Hayward, which is weird. Maybe Hayward got tired of going against IHOP. IHOP easily kept him blocked out. A
16. Play-action pass. Second string defense in. IHOP's going against I think it's Martin Chase now. Actually he released out while Jeno James took on Chase. IHOP didn't have anyone to block. Poor guy. Can't fault him though. A
17. Draw run play. I bet Martin Chase really thought he was getting his first NFL sack. Poor guy, the quarterback didn't have the ball doof! IHOP blocks him outside straight toward the QB. Problem is, that means he's 3 yards behind the runner and traveling in the opposite direction. Poor Martin... A
18. Run misdirection. IHOP release out on this fake run-toss play. This is the one where Ricky broke a few ankles multiple times. The linebacker nearest IHOP bit hard on the fake, so IHOP releases out and helps plow some DL further away from the play ensuring that all Ricky had to deal with was the corner and safety. No shame in his game. A
19. Pass play. DE goes outside rush, IHOP pours some strawberry maple syrup on his pancake and eats a good breakfast. Yum. A+ (pancake)
20. Run left. IHOP releases out while a tight end bliocks the DE. Poor Terry Cousin gets the unlucky duty of going against IHOP. Lucky for him, Morris decides to bounce out to the left which is Cousin's escape route from the clutches of IHOP. Unlucky for Cousin, IHOP was still hungry, and wanted to try the blueberry syrup this time as he mows Cousin down from behind. This one was vehicular homocide. Investigations are underway. A+ (pancake)
21. Shotgun pass. IHOP says "Damn Sammy, I was still hungry!" as Sammy Morris (rather unnecessarily) runs up and chips the heck out of IHOP's defensive end. IHOP never even needs to touch the dude. He still hasn't even gotten to IHOP by the time the ball is thrown. Can't fault IHOP for anything here. A (for his form, I guess)
22. Pass play. Deep drop. IHOP has no problems here. I can sense boredom in IHOP... A
23. Run play. Seriously IHOP is getting easy assignments. Maybe it comes with the territory at LT? This is a short pass to Boston, IHOP just has to seal the DL toward the middle, which he does admirably. Should I start being disappointed just because he didn't knock anyone to the ground? A
24. Run play. Is IHOP getting bored with the second stringers? He knocks a guy off the ball but doesn't seal him away from the play...he actually got the opportunity to dive at Ricky Williams and miss. It's not like he got into the backfield or anything, but you know IHOP can do better. C
25. Pass play. IHOP blocks his DE so far downfield past the quarterback I think he ended up in Panama. A
26. Shotgun. This is the weird play where the snap came earlier than everyone expected. Everyone except IHOP, I guess, who was looking at the ball and so he got off the ball well, and of course handled his guy in passrush. Anyone noticing a damn theme here? A
That marks the end of Carey's line play. 15 pass plays, 11 run plays. Four pancakes. 8 A+'s, 14 A's, 1 B, 3 C's. No failing grades...because, nobody he blocked made the tackle on a run, or even really pressured the QB on a pass.
Like I said. THE BLACK HOLE
