My assessment of Week 3

[Stevendinho]

First of all, I'm curious how many people are going to read this because I wrote it, or are just casual readers.

First off, as one of the bigget Daunte detractors, let me say, he's showing improvement.

With that said, I still don't believe he played WELL. A lot of our long gains on third down were thanks to our wide receivers stepping up, catching four yard route passes on 3rd and 7 and running for the first (a Chris Chambers play early in the game comes to mind).

Our offensive line is TERRIBLE. However, with that said, Culpepper has ZERO mobility. There was a play where Albert Haynesworth (6'5 300 lbs) came through the middle and was able to run down CPep while he was scrambling away. There's no reason a man the size of Haynesworth's size, who I bet can't run a 5.0 40, should catch up to a QB not named Drew Bledsoe.

Ronnie Brown looked good this week. He played like a bulldog.

One assessment by the play-by-play guy really upset me, and if you were at Miami Mike's, you would've heard my reaction.

PBP Announcer: "Look at a play like this. You can't say Jason Taylor doesn't care. He's lining up on special teams to t ry and give his team a chance to win."

ME: "GOD FORBID SOMEONE ON THAT TEAM ACTS LIKE THEY GIVE A FLYING F*CK!"

Is this an assessment by announcers that, if you're last name isnt Thomas or Taylor on our defense you don't care?

Continuing on, I firmly believe it is time to PANIC!

Yes, we won. We're 1-2.

We had NO BUSINESS winning this game. If the TE for Tennessee doesn't fumble with about three minutes left in the second quarter on the 3-yard line, we go into the half down 14-3.

I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT IF WE WERE DOWN 14-3 AT THE HALF, JOEY WOULD'VE COME OUT IN THE SECOND HALF. I SAID THIS AS LOUD AS I COULD. SLAPPY CAN BE MY WITNESS.

14 would be more than the 13 we scored. There were also SEVERAL plays where Collins was looking for Drew Bennett and only overthrew him by a few feet. These were 20 yard passes, all of which would've continued long drives.

I also noticed something in Collins that I can only wish we had in CPep, and I haven't seen in the teal since #13. Under pressure, he never panics. He just steps up and throws the ball, completely calm. This is something Daunte severely lacks.

I know what youll say. "But he's not getting time in the pocket". Why not try some play action passes? Why not some three step drops to passing routes?

I also noticed the split screen shown yesterday concerning Daunte's mechanics, where he's not stepping through the ball anymore, which is causing short, inaccurate passes.

With all this said, I want to sum up and ask questions.

Did anyone else think (especially without Roethlisberger starting week 1) that they was any reason we wouldn't start this season 4-0? I thought we would.

If we continue to struggle, and Daunte doesn't return to form, what do we do? When do we say "We have to change QBs because we want to win this year" or do we say "(Guy X) is going to be our guy next year, let's give him a chance to run our system." When do we decide the season is salvagable and swap QBs, or when do we close shop and rebuild to 07?

Am I the only one who was pissed we finished 9-7 last year? We were not, and are not, 9-7 talent.

If anyone wants to talk football ANYTIME, IM me on AOL -- sgugs9.

-Steve

 

[Dolphins=LIFE]

re:

Harrington, I firmly believe, is a QB who can succeed in Mularky's offense. He's a pocket passer. Daunte isn't.

I agree about his mobility. He's running like The Tin Man. His confidence is non-existant.

There's no reason the game should have been won by MIA. No reason at all. Everyone (Minus Welker, occassionally others) look so lethargic. The only reason we won is because Tennessee is one of the 3 or 4 worst teams in the NFL, and the more of less handed it.

They play like that against the Texans, they'll lose. If they would have played like that against the Steelers, they would have got BLOWN OUT. And that's sad. Because there's a lot of potential on the team. Problem is, it's #2 on the Depth Chart at the most important position.

 

[malzj]

I'm watching Vick play tonight. He just got ran down by a linebacker or an end, he must be having leg injuries and isn't as mobile as last wk. I don't care how fast you are, if someone is at full speed and your just beginning to accelerate, ur going to get run down. I remember that exact play by which you were talking about and the announcers said the same thing you just did. There's no doubt Pep is not at full speed and his mobility is limited, but alot of it is in our heads because we know he had an injury. Alot of it can be chalked up as the guy just got the beat on Pep. I gurantee that Pep and that lineman that chased him down were to race, pep would smoke him, bad leg and all.

I do agree w/ alot of what you said. But if Big Ben played against us, we may have won it because he's not playing very well either. But these hypothetical situations where if someone played instead of some other person is pointless to even think about. Anyone can play good/bad on any given day. We WERE lucky to win the game but our defense stepped up and got some key turnovers. But that's what football is about, most games are won and lost on those types of playes. You can count the amount of games on won hand where one team didn't "hand" the game to the other.