You saw the answer today...

[kungfoodude]

I will be interested to see how quickly they abandon the "by committee" approach at RB against NE. I suspect we will see them abandon any notion of load distribution and watch CMC get 90+% of the snaps.

[BrianS]

40 minutes ago, Deuce_Deuce said:

God, you people are a broken record. You noticed that our O-line is a problem, good for you. We're not about to find 2 studs too take pressure off the guys blocking now. There is no way Sam Darnold leads this team to the promise land throwing the ball 35 times a game. Did y'all see the amount of sacks we gave up the last 4 games? We have to keep teams honest and protect the ball. Complain about the line call you want, but we're not winning anything with 3 turnovers a game and the backs getting less than 20 touches a game.

You're right, we're not.  But that doesn't mean run, run, pass, punt is going to fix our issues.  Over reliance on either the run OR the pass is going to make you an easy target for a good defense.  An unbalanced offense is simply not sustainable.

Our sack numbers aren't problematic over the last four games.  Our sack numbers are problematic over the entire season save the first two weeks.  Oddly enough, the last two full games CMC has played.

This is the part of CMC that a lot of people gloss over.  The guy is a complete back.  He brings balance to our offense.  Yes, 100%, he's a great player.  Can't argue that.  But what's more important is that with him on the field, you just don't know what the Panthers will do.  Run?  Pass?  Option?  That's the real value.

Unfortunately, while we have some good backs, none of them are the complete player that CMC is.  Our backups make us predictable.  And we've seen the results.

 

[45catfan]

Rhule saw what I saw yesterday with Ameer.  He had to throw a bone out there with some kudos to Royce and Chuba, but noticed the real stud yesterday was Abdullah.  I know it's hurtful to the coaches pride to start some FA off the streets over a draft pick they selected, but you go with the hot hand.   Here's what Rhule had to say about it:

“And it’s a shame that one third down that got called back, ’cause I think he’s got something to him. Even the third-down conversion. Those are the routes we usually run with Christian. And I think Sam’s developing a really nice rapport with Ameer. So whenever Christian comes back, he’s a premier talent to go along with a bunch of other guys who are figuring it out.”

Gushing over Ameer

Hubbard is still young and developing.  It's hard to say if he will ever get the burst, vision or hands to be a effective 3 down back.  Right now he looks to bounce it outside and hesitates while he looks for a lane inside.  We all know his hands are suspect. 

Rhule and Brady need to put their ego's aside and not only start Abdullah Sunday, but make him the bell cow for the entire game.  Sure, bring in Royce for short yardage and Chuba in to spell Ameer.   This is the winning formula until Christian returns and it appears we have even found a poor man's CMC with this dude.

[Deuce_Deuce]

2 hours ago, BrianS said:

You're right, we're not.  But that doesn't mean run, run, pass, punt is going to fix our issues.  Over reliance on either the run OR the pass is going to make you an easy target for a good defense.  An unbalanced offense is simply not sustainable.

Our sack numbers aren't problematic over the last four games.  Our sack numbers are problematic over the entire season save the first two weeks.  Oddly enough, the last two full games CMC has played.

This is the part of CMC that a lot of people gloss over.  The guy is a complete back.  He brings balance to our offense.  Yes, 100%, he's a great player.  Can't argue that.  But what's more important is that with him on the field, you just don't know what the Panthers will do.  Run?  Pass?  Option?  That's the real value.

Unfortunately, while we have some good backs, none of them are the complete player that CMC is.  Our backups make us predictable.  And we've seen the results.

 

I'm all for balance. All I'm asking for, is that we utilize these guys out of the backfield. Why press to get the ball down the field when we can check for 5 yards, steal some first downs, and gather some momentum and rhythm. I think Hubbard has shown some promise running the ball, and obviously CMC is an all pro talent rushing and receiving, and now with Abdullah we can pick up some chunk plays out of the backfield.

Darnold has to protect the ball. Point blank period. I don't care about the arm talent, if you're never on time, and consistently making poor decisions. If DJ wants big money, then step up. Tremble needs to be more involved, and hopefully Robby can get going on so double moves off of play action the second half of the season.

[thunderraiden]

15 hours ago, GoobyPls said:

Not gonna work vs good teams, the falcons are awful

Yeah but we would be 6-2 right now instead of 4-4 if we did it the last 4 weeks.

[kungfoodude]

7 minutes ago, thunderraiden said:

Yeah but we would be 6-2 right now instead of 4-4 if we did it the last 4 weeks.

[GoobyPls]

4 hours ago, thunderraiden said:

Yeah but we would be 6-2 right now instead of 4-4 if we did it the last 4 weeks.

Nope the Vikings were gonna score either way. And that’s hoping Darnold doesn’t implode 

[iamhubby1]

We did throw the ball 30 times. So it's not like we totally abandoned the running game.

 

Drops, and ill-timed penalties were huge.