DKphin
Active Roster
Now that the first game is over, What next? I have to admit that I was extremely upset viewing the ineptitude of our offense. I believe the defense played about as well as they could against the Falcons offense. If our offense would have been able to mount any sustained momentum, I think there would have been a far different outcome.
Some key things that were apparent:
Long vs. Abraham:Jake Long got absolutely schooled by Abraham in pass protection. Of the matchups between them, I would say that John won the majority of those contest. Jake has got to be more consistent in pass protection.
Pennington:I'm not here to bash Chad, but lack of arm strength is a major hindrance to this offense. I believe that his mind is among the best in the league, but his decision to throw a ball that flutters instead of using velocity on his throws is disturbing. I say it is a conscious decision because there were a few downfield throws that he did put strength behind his tosses. He still doesn't have a strong arm, but he used average velocity to get the rock to the receiver. But on most of his throws, for whatever reason, he makes the decision to lob the ball to his receivers. There was one throw in particular that stood out as an example of this. I think it was late in the 3rd qt and chad threw a screen to Ronnie Brown. On this play Chad merely moved his arm putting nothing on the throw. Now being a screen, I am not expecting a bullet but put something on the throw so RB has a chance to turn up field and make something additional. But as a result of this lob, the defenders closed quickly on RB and he achieved little if any YAC yards. If he would have put a little something behind the throw, I am confident RB could have gotten a extra 3 to 4 yds. Does not sound like much but through the course of a game it adds up.
3rd Down Defense:Our inability to stop the Falcons on third and long is a carry over from last year. I think we got better as the game went on, but it is painful to watch the other team be in 3rd and +7yds. to go and to consistently be able to pick up the 1st down.
Turnovers: I think most of the turnovers were very uncharacteristic of this team. Fasano giving up two inside of a 10 min. span is very unusual. The only thing I can say is they are going to have to focus on ball security when they get back home and try to make corrections. When you have 4 TOs in a game, the chance of you being able to win that contest is very small.
But it was not all bad:
Run defense: Our Run defense was exemplary. It was apparent that we were focused on not letting them dominate the running game and they didn't.
Some key things that were apparent:
Long vs. Abraham:Jake Long got absolutely schooled by Abraham in pass protection. Of the matchups between them, I would say that John won the majority of those contest. Jake has got to be more consistent in pass protection.
Pennington:I'm not here to bash Chad, but lack of arm strength is a major hindrance to this offense. I believe that his mind is among the best in the league, but his decision to throw a ball that flutters instead of using velocity on his throws is disturbing. I say it is a conscious decision because there were a few downfield throws that he did put strength behind his tosses. He still doesn't have a strong arm, but he used average velocity to get the rock to the receiver. But on most of his throws, for whatever reason, he makes the decision to lob the ball to his receivers. There was one throw in particular that stood out as an example of this. I think it was late in the 3rd qt and chad threw a screen to Ronnie Brown. On this play Chad merely moved his arm putting nothing on the throw. Now being a screen, I am not expecting a bullet but put something on the throw so RB has a chance to turn up field and make something additional. But as a result of this lob, the defenders closed quickly on RB and he achieved little if any YAC yards. If he would have put a little something behind the throw, I am confident RB could have gotten a extra 3 to 4 yds. Does not sound like much but through the course of a game it adds up.
3rd Down Defense:Our inability to stop the Falcons on third and long is a carry over from last year. I think we got better as the game went on, but it is painful to watch the other team be in 3rd and +7yds. to go and to consistently be able to pick up the 1st down.
Turnovers: I think most of the turnovers were very uncharacteristic of this team. Fasano giving up two inside of a 10 min. span is very unusual. The only thing I can say is they are going to have to focus on ball security when they get back home and try to make corrections. When you have 4 TOs in a game, the chance of you being able to win that contest is very small.
But it was not all bad:
Run defense: Our Run defense was exemplary. It was apparent that we were focused on not letting them dominate the running game and they didn't.
