Will this team be peaking at the right moment?

[Ivan The Awesome]

This season has been on and off. Full of good and bad times. Winning huge road games at Detroit and Foxborough,  then losing at Chicago and giving the game away to Philly. The true constant have been the defense and the special teams somewhat. If you ask anyone here,  I think it would be almost unanimous that the offense is what is holding us back. 

 

Recent trade still in memory, I'll go on record of not being a fan of it, albeit it is one game post the KB trade. This offense looked a little more alive. Mind you, this game was a classic "Cam putting this team on his back." to a degree. I liked seeing more gadget plays called, really enjoyed seeing this team handle a 10 point deficit. Basically fighting back. They have fight. They're making it work. The playbook did open up a bit more but there is still inexperience on the field and it showed. Samuel definite does have potential. Cam needs to make the right reads but I'm sure that he'll see all that on tape. 

This team isn't peaking yet. The offense is warming up, by the time Olsen and Byrd come back I expect this team to look completely different.  Especially with Olsen. Olsen in the middle of the field. That will open up so much more. Even the offensive line looked solid yesterday. If things progress like they are now, on a steady but upward trend. This team can definitely get in the playoffs. 

 

On a personal note I hope we travel to Philly. I'd love to stick it to them at their home field. As of right now this team is better on the road. That's always a good thing.

[ecu88]

Hell yes we will. We are about 80% on all cyclinders. Olsen, Byrd, running game consistency, tighting up the secondary, Ron finding his balls, Shula keeps making better designed plays, and few small other things we will be a monster by playoffs. 

[Ace_Aladdin]

Byrd can have huge impact as well, I would rather have him on the field than Shepard.

[MikeD83]

I agree. If things get going on the offensive side of the ball, watch out. I think we will be hot as hell in December. 

[Davidson Deac II]

We won and I am happy about it.  But the offense didn't really look much better than it has in games past.  Cam was still the primary threat running the ball, and Atlanta got burned for a few long ones by him.  CMC did run better.  But the offense only drove the ball once for a td.  The other was due to a short field after an int. And we still showed little to no ability to stretch the field.  The offense disappeared near the end.  Two first downs and zero points in the entire 4th qtr.

 

I do hope we start getting better as the season goes along.

[GoobyPls]

Our offense has been way to inconsistent to say it’s clicking.

 

[DaveThePanther2008]

I agree with most here, if we can keep this going and get Olsen back after the bye and be 7-3 we could really make a run at this.  The defense is playing lights out.   

Our biggest tests will be New Orleans and Atlanta in there house.   Minnesota will also be a challenge but I think we'll be better suited to beat them with Olsen.

[d-dave]

They COULD.  What we've seen this season is a maddening inconsistency.  One week, look like world beaters, the next week, we lose to da BEARS!  We'll have moments of brilliance on offense, but then 14 3 and outs in a row.  It's crazy.

My rose colored glasses agree that we will get things squared away for the second half of the season.  Our defense is playing SO WELL, and I'd hate to waste that effort with a piss poor offense that can't score 20 points by itself a game.  With the departure of KB, we need guys to step up and make plays.  Funchess looked quite good, hopefully there's more there.  

[Seltzer]

To be 6-3 at this point in the season with all the issues we've had on offense is remarkable, and is a testament to how good our defense has been.

I hope today was a turning point with the offensive line in terms on run blocking.  It can't be overstated how important running the ball will be towards our success this year.  I think the passing game will continue to progress if we can run, especially with the young guys getting more experience and Olsen/Byrd returning.

This team has definitely not peaked yet, which is a good thing, because even though we have a good team, we don't look to have the offensive firepower yet to compete with the Eagles or unfortunately even the Saints, Rams, or Cowboys.  

But, it's not about Week 9, it's about how we are going into Week 17+.  Most of the time the teams that look the best midway through the season don't enter the playoffs that way, which is a good thing for us at this point.

To me, this team has much more of a 2013 feel than a 2015 feel in that the defense is borderline dominant and the offense does just enough.  That was enough to get into the playoffs, but not advance.

We still need more from the offense.

[CPcavedweller]

One game at a time.

Note: I have two tickets for section 319 for Week 10 available for face value. PM for deets. 

[Smithers]

1 hour ago, sanjay_rajput said:

Byrd can have huge impact as well, I would rather have him on the field than Shepard.

I somewhat agree...but I will have to give Shepard some props.  His blocking was great yesterday.  Our WR's as a whole did a great job blocking and sealing the edges.  KB was always a lazy blocker, and seemed to always get called for holding.  

[Ivan The Awesome]

Stewart has been awful this season.  Not gonna lie. Not sure if it's him or the O line or the offense or play calling not being favorable or a combination of all things.. He's just not playing to his potential. 

[Smithers]

Just now, stbugs said:

Please stop. I don’t recall KB being called out for blocking at all this year. He’s gone, no need to trash him when Igo has posted many run plays where Funchess completely whiffed and barely have an effort to block. I’m willing to concede that they all did better yesterday although I think we seemed to approach OL blocking a bit better, simpler unlike some of the plays Igo posted where the entire OL looked lost as if they were blocking a screen and not a run.

Anyway, KB blocked fine this year and from what I saw personally and in replays was not the lazy blocker. Shepard is likely a good blocker because guys who are STers do stuff like that to stay on the team.

I will also repeat that the catch Shepard didn’t make on the sideline is a catch KB makes so we lost some things with him gone. I’m trying not to dwell because I don’t see why the coaches can’t handle the personnel and have KB for plays like that catch and maybe, just maybe stop putting Stewart out there. Amazing to me we barely threw deep at all yesterday but we had to throw deep with Funchess and KB (Fun got as many or more deep shots). Why you wouldn’t use players to their strengths is beyond me? Still tossing to Stewart to keep the Falcons in the game. SMH. 

Please stop what?  I was simply stating my opinion based on observations.  That is what a message board is for, you know?

But since you asked...in 2016 KB had 6 penalties for holding/illegal blocks.  He had 1 holding penalty a few weeks ago this year, but it was declined by the defense as the play resulted in a loss of yards anyways. 

Stop getting so butt hurt just because we don't share the same opinion.  

Side note...I wasn't sticking up for Shepard's pass catching ability.  He has not shown anything in that area.  I was simply stating that he blocked well yesterday, and it is yet to be seen if Byrd will be able to block as well.  

[Udogg]

Shepard has a lot of very good run blocks yesterday.  It's said the difference between a good run or a great one is usually the blocking of the WR's.   

Stewart issues has mainly been with the offensive line.  However yesterday it was combination of his bad play and Neal's good play.  We are starting to open up some holes.  As Igo and others have stated, the simpler the blocking scheme seems to have better results for us. 

If we can improve, and as Cam has said when he gets his Dawg back, I can see us coming into form near the end of the season.  

Especially if we can go 2-0 the next 2 games.