This team may not be very talented, but....

[phinfan2003]

the coaching staff is really getting the most out of the talent IMO. Here are some critical questions that I would love to be answered:

1. When your most talented players are your running backs and you're playing vs. the worst (or one of the worst) rushing defenses in the league, how can you only get them only 22 carries combined?

2. When you're quarterback is arguably your weakest link on offense, how can you put him in a position to greatly affect the outcome at the end of the game in the most crucial moments?

3. When you're defense is getting run ragged, why don't you protect them by running the ball (see #1)?

4. When you're quarterback is as ineffective as Gus Frerotte has been in his last 5 games (82/155, 889 Yards, 3 TD's, 6 INT's, and 4 fumbles lost), how can you not look to replace him?

You can give me all of the excuses you want.

1. These are all Wanny's players.
2. The talent pool is empty.
3. The guys are still learning.
4. Gus still gives us the best chance to win the game.

The truth of the matter is, the coaching staff (Saban included) are dropping the ball big time and they are not getting the job done. A good coach accentuates their strengths (the running game in our case) and protects the weakness (our passing game) and we're doing the opposite. I'm not expecting us to compete with the likes of the Colts but we have lost 2 games this year (Bills and Falcons) that should have been won and the games had very little to do with lack of talent.

 

[nick1]

do you have any idea why we run the ball with such effectness? because Linehan has given such commitment to trying to get the pass to work and because of that opposing defenses have to respect the pass therefore allowing running room

 

[dolphan117]

As too point nuber 1. We only passed 22 times as well, we just didnt have that many offensive plays. It wasnt a very pass happy game imo, nothing like some of the early games this year.

 

[Canadianfishfan]

Maybe we would've had more plays if we ran on 3 down more often!

 

[nick1]

see there you go, 22 passes and 22 rushes. an evenly balanced attack, good job by the coaching staff in my opinion. My only beef is with the last offensive play of the game for us, we definitely should've ran the ball or thrown a pass to McMichael in the endzone

 

[phinfan2003]

see there you go, 22 passes and 22 rushes. an evenly balanced attack, good job by the coaching staff in my opinion. My only beef is with the last offensive play of the game for us, we definitely should've ran the ball or thrown a pass to McMichael in the endzone

So I guess the Falcons did a horrible job with their offensive gameplan by throwing the ball only 31 times and running the ball 41 huh? Honestly, having an unbalanced attack is a good thing to have at times (like yesterday). Think about it, our biggest strength (Running game) is their biggest weekness (run defense). A good gameplan takes advantage of this especially when your QB is your biggest weakness and their pass defense is their biggest strength. The fact that our D was out there for 71 plays just tells you that the balanced attack didn't work because the passing offense is just horrendous. When you're averaging more YPC than you are YPP there is a big problem.

 

[phinfan2003]

As too point nuber 1. We only passed 22 times as well, we just didnt have that many offensive plays. It wasnt a very pass happy game imo, nothing like some of the early games this year.

We should have run the ball up to 40 times when you have 2 studs like Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams in the backfield.

 

[phinfan2003]

do you have any idea why we run the ball with such effectness? because Linehan has given such commitment to trying to get the pass to work and because of that opposing defenses have to respect the pass therefore allowing running room

Have you watched the games? If so, Do you really believe this? Why would any defense "respect" our passing game when Frerotte can't hit his targets and when our most successful passes are thrown within 5 yards of the LOS?

 

[nick1]

Have you watched the games? If so, Do you really believe this? Why would any defense "respect" our passing game when Frerotte can't hit his targets and when our most successful passes are thrown within 5 yards of the LOS?

they may not respect it but they certainly have to be guard thew pass because if they don't than any of our talented WRs could be gone for a TD

 

[phinfan2003]

they may not respect it but they certainly have to be guard thew pass because if they don't than any of our talented WRs could be gone for a TD

The bills respected our passing game so much, they put 8 men in the box and had one safety to cover the whole field. What good is it to have talented WR's that "could be gone for a TD" when your quarterback can't hit them when they're open. Our passing is inneffective because our QB is innaccurate.

 

[ohall]

I totally disagree. The talent level on this team is good. IMO the problem that is hurting this team the most is that both sides of the ball are learning and growing into TWO new schemes.

You can't just install TWO new schemes and expect the players to get it so to speak in a matter of 8 reg-season games. This is going to take some time and to be honest I am very proud of the players and coaches. They do not get physically dominated, and they have been in almost every game they have played. For a team that was 4-12 last season I think that is saying a whole lot!

 

[phinfan2003]

I totally disagree. The talent level on this team is good. IMO the problem that is hurting this team the most is that both sides of the ball are learning and growing into TWO new schemes.

You can't just install TWO new schemes and expect the players to get it so to speak in a matter of 8 reg-season games. This is going to take some time and to be honest I am very proud of the players and coaches. They do not get physically dominated, and they have been in almost every game they have played. For a team that was 4-12 last season I think that is saying a whole lot!

What do you think this offense would look like with a QB that could simply hit open receivers? That is our biggest problem IMO. Not our defense or anything else.

 

[McDolphins]

I have no problem with the balance of run-to-pass in yesterday's game, but I was a little irked to see 3 drives in Falcons territory (last drive included) stall because of plays that should never have been called. I have no problem with a pass play being called after 2 successful runs (hell, it makes sense) but a reverse? A pitch back to the QB? There was no reason to run trick plays like that when we had them committing to the run. A simple play-action could have done wonders, but instead we killed our own drives by giving them opportunities to knock us backwards. As for the game-ending interception, it was a pass that never should have been thrown on a play that never should have been called. I dont disagree with calling a pass play, but at least put it somewhere the defense wont already be committing to. You had the corners up and the safeties watching the run. Take a shot at the end zone, or at least a longer first down!
I have been on board with Saban and Linehan from day 1, and that doesnt change after yesterday, but I really do feel that this is the first game of the year where the coaches dropped the ball and lost it for us.

 

[dolphan117]

We should have run the ball up to 40 times when you have 2 studs like Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams in the backfield.

That would have meant 40 runs and 7 passes, we only had 47 offensive plays.

 

[jesusfreak26]

It is easy to second guess calls and circumstances. If Gus had completed that pass then it would have been a great call. You take chances you win some you loose some.