Game Rewatch Observations

[xerxes]

Figured I'd get the most out of the preseason live package, so I did a rewatch this morning.

 

I'll try to keep this somewhat organized, but it's mostly stream of consciousness observations.

 

Offense:

 

QB's - C+

 

Honestly semi-rough night for the group. Hard to tell as a lot of these issues could just as easily be on the receivers, but there was a ton of mis-communication out there. Lots of staring down of receivers. And they had plenty of time to throw the ball. I think Shula wanted to get a look at a few things and told them not to run through their full progressions. Is that even something a coach would do? Cause it really looked like they weren't seeing the whole field. 

 

I'm not worried at all though. We already know what we have with this group. Goal was no injuries. Mission accomplished. 

 

Standout - No-one really

 

WR's - B+

 

Everyone not named Ted Ginn looked great, but some of the communication issues mentioned above could be the WRs fault, so I can't give them an A.

 

Armanti Edwards looked solid out there. Gettis also did well, but AE was going against the 1st team defense and he found the holes in the zone for his catches. Gettis didn't get a lot of separation but made some solid catches. Armanti Also demonstrated chemistry with the 1st team on that TD to LaFell. Get ready to free AE people.

 

Ted Ginn looked terrible... no real separation, was not on the same page with any of the QBs. I didn't see him go deep at all really, which may have been by design, I'm guessing the coaches want to see how he does on other routes... not good so far.

 

Oh I don't even feel the need to talk about Smitty and LaFell 1 and 2, locks. I love the fact that we don't have a question mark at our number 2 WR spot for the first time since Moose left. 

 

Standout - AE

 

RB's - B+

 

If it weren't for the fumbles, I'd give this an A. Williams looked good out there, and I love Barner already. Has to cut down on the fumbles if he wants playing time, but he looks damn good. Decisive cuts, gets downfield fast and stays downfield. Gets small, gets low, gets yards. Armond Smith looked okay but didn't really do anything to stand out.

 

Standout - Barner

 

O-Line - A-

 

Excellent in pass protection (although Bell contributed to Cam's pick 6 by getting beat badly on that play) and solid run blocking (not great push, but opened up a few lanes). Only one sack for the night. Williams played well at RG. Honestly I was looking for mistakes from him, and I didn't see them.

 

My main area of concern, holy LT depth Batman. Bell played LT when Gross when out... he looked bad. If he was going against a legit DE, he would have gotten destroyed. Chandler played towards the end of the game and looked bad even against the Bears scrubs. 

 

I feel better about our starters, but we need some depth. Expect Gettleman to go bargain bin shopping after cuts.

 

Standout - Gary Williams (who knew?)

 

TE's - B

 

Didn't get a ton of looks that I saw or focused on. Olsen looked fine from what I could tell. Brandon Williams is the story. He looked lost at times (may have run short on DA's pick) but also flashed i.e. his big catch down the middle. I didn't focus on blocking with this group, so I may have to go and take a look later. I think we'll find a way to keep Brandon Williams around. Don't be surprised if he ends up on IR because I don't think they'll risk him on the PS.

 

Standout - Brandon Williams

 

Defense

 

DE's - A+

 

We have so much DE talent is almost unfair. CJ and Hardy are going to beast this year.

 

Frank Alexander didn't do anything to stand out, but I'm looking forward to see how he's developed since last year. Mario Addison is a guy to watch that strip sack was a thing of beauty. I think he's going to be a pleasant surprise this year as a situational pass rusher. 

 

Craig Roh and Louis Nzegwu both looked good in the 4th quarter. Possible PS contenders depending on what positions we want to carry on the PS.

 

Standout - Mario Addison

 

DT's - B

 

Nothing spectacular but Short and Star looked okay out there. Didn't see any obvious screw-ups. I'll go back later and look at them a bit more as I was distracted by the shiny DE's. I'll have to take a closer look at Cole and the others. 

 

One person I did focus on to see if he's made any progress was Fua. Short answer, no. If he makes the team, I'd be shocked. He didn't get push. When he was in a position to make a play, he didn't. Really I can't say anything good about him. It's sad how badly we missed on Mclain and Fua.

 

Standout - Fua (for being so bad)

 

LB's - A-

 

Looked good as a group out there. The only obvious screw-ups came late in the game with dudes I've never heard of. Couple nice blitz sacks from Blackburn and Jason Williams. Speaking of Blackburn, I love this pickup. He looked great out there. Solid tackling and technique. If we do have injuries, I think we've got good depth.

 

Standout - Chase Blackburn

 

CB's - B+

 

This was the Josh Norman show. Not only with the 2 picks, but he had some solid tackles on slant patterns to prevent YAC. He's got an eye for watching QB's. As a caution, he's going to make some great plays, and he's going to get burned. He's aggressive and trusts his instincts. A great QB or WR is going to make him pay for that at some point.

 

Captain got shown up on a couple slant patterns. Not sure if it was just the defensive scheme or what, but he seemed a bit out of position.

 

Dockery showed some solid tackling out there and seems to have a nose for the ball. Jury is still out on his coverage ability. Anderson Russel showed up with a few nice plays. Who's that guy?

 

Standout - Josh Norman

 

Safety's - B

 

Didn't really see much from this group, which honestly is a good thing. Melvin White made some nice tackles. Looks like it's Mitchel and Godfrey as the starters. We'll see how it goes in the rest of the preseason.

 

Standout - Melvin White

 

*Correction: Melvin White was playing CB not safety. I just thought he was at safety because he was all over the field!*

 

Special Teams - B

 

Gano looked good out there hitting a 50 yarder and was solid on kickoffs. Nortman didn't screw up by didn't really impress either. 

 

Return game was just meh. I'd like to see what Ted Ginn can do. Adams did have one nice return but that was greatly aided by an impressively bad angle by the Bears gunner. It's good to see Barner out there to get him some more touches in the game. Honestly Ted Ginn's job to lose though, and he didn't even touch the ball on special teams.

 

Team - A-

 

I realize it's way too early to tell, but we looked damn good out there. For better or worse this is a passing league now, and we protected the QB (only 1 sack) and we got to the other guy (7 sacks). If we keep this up, we just might have a special year on our hands.

[top dawg]

Figured I'd get the most out of the preseason live package, so I did a rewatch this morning.

 

I'll try to keep this somewhat organized, but it's mostly stream of consciousness observations.

 

Offense:

 

QB's - C+

 

Honestly semi-rough night for the group. Hard to tell as a lot of these issues could just as easily be on the receivers, but there was a ton of mis-communication out there. Lots of staring down of receivers. And they had plenty of time to throw the ball. I think Shula wanted to get a look at a few things and told them not to run through their full progressions. Is that even something a coach would do? Cause it really looked like they weren't seeing the whole field. 

 

I'm not worried at all though. We already know what we have with this group. Goal was no injuries. Mission accomplished. 

 

Standout - No-one really

 

WR's - B+

 

Everyone not named Ted Ginn looked great, but some of the communication issues mentioned above could be the WRs fault, so I can't give them an A.

 

Armanti Edwards looked solid out there. Gettis also did well, but AE was going against the 1st team defense and he found the holes in the zone for his catches. Gettis didn't get a lot of separation but made some solid catches. Armanti Also demonstrated chemistry with the 1st team on that TD to LaFell. Get ready to free AE people.

 

Ted Ginn looked terrible... no real separation, was not on the same page with any of the QBs. I didn't see him go deep at all really, which may have been by design, I'm guessing the coaches want to see how he does on other routes... not good so far.

 

Oh I don't even feel the need to talk about Smitty and LaFell 1 and 2, locks. I love the fact that we don't have a question mark at our number 2 WR spot for the first time since Moose left. 

 

Standout - AE

 

RB's - B+

 

If it weren't for the fumbles, I'd give this an A. Williams looked good out there, and I love Barner already. Has to cut down on the fumbles if he wants playing time, but he looks damn good. Decisive cuts, gets downfield fast and stays downfield. Gets small, gets low, gets yards. Armond Smith looked okay but didn't really do anything to stand out.

 

Standout - Barner

 

O-Line - A-

 

Excellent in pass protection (although Bell contributed to Cam's pick 6 by getting beat badly on that play) and solid run blocking (not great push, but opened up a few lanes). Only one sack for the night. Williams played well at RG. Honestly I was looking for mistakes from him, and I didn't see them.

 

My main area of concern, holy LT depth Batman. Bell played LT when Gross when out... he looked bad. If he was going against a legit DE, he would have gotten destroyed. Chandler played towards the end of the game and looked bad even against the Bears scrubs. 

 

I feel better about our starters, but we need some depth. Expect Gettleman to go bargain bin shopping after cuts.

 

Standout - Gary Williams (who knew?)

 

TE's - B

 

Didn't get a ton of looks that I saw or focused on. Olsen looked fine from what I could tell. Brandon Williams is the story. He looked lost at times (may have run short on DA's pick) but also flashed i.e. his big catch down the middle. I didn't focus on blocking with this group, so I may have to go and take a look later. I think we'll find a way to keep Brandon Williams around. Don't be surprised if he ends up on IR because I don't think they'll risk him on the PS.

 

Standout - Brandon Williams

 

Defense

 

DE's - A+

 

We have so much DE talent is almost unfair. CJ and Hardy are going to beast this year.

 

Frank Alexander didn't do anything to stand out, but I'm looking forward to see how he's developed since last year. Mario Addison is a guy to watch that strip sack was a thing of beauty. I think he's going to be a pleasant surprise this year as a situational pass rusher. 

 

Craig Roh and Louis Nzegwu both looked good in the 4th quarter. Possible PS contenders depending on what positions we want to carry on the PS.

 

Standout - Mario Addison

 

DT's - B

 

Nothing spectacular but Short and Star looked okay out there. Didn't see any obvious screw-ups. I'll go back later and look at them a bit more as I was distracted by the shiny DE's. I'll have to take a closer look at Cole and the others. 

 

One person I did focus on to see if he's made any progress was Fua. Short answer, no. If he makes the team, I'd be shocked. He didn't get push. When he was in a position to make a play, he didn't. Really I can't say anything good about him. It's sad how badly we missed on Mclain and Fua.

 

Standout - Fua (for being so bad)

 

LB's - A-

 

Looked good as a group out there. The only obvious screw-ups came late in the game with dudes I've never heard of. Couple nice blitz sacks from Blackburn and Jason Williams. Speaking of Blackburn, I love this pickup. He looked great out there. Solid tackling and technique. If we do have injuries, I think we've got good depth.

 

Standout - Chase Blackburn

 

CB's - B+

 

This was the Josh Norman show. Not only with the 2 picks, but he had some solid tackles on slant patterns to prevent YAC. He's got an eye for watching QB's. As a caution, he's going to make some great plays, and he's going to get burned. He's aggressive and trusts his instincts. A great QB or WR is going to make him pay for that at some point.

 

Captain got shown up on a couple slant patterns. Not sure if it was just the defensive scheme or what, but he seemed a bit out of position.

 

Dockery showed some solid tackling out there and seems to have a nose for the ball. Jury is still out on his coverage ability. Anderson Russel showed up with a few nice plays. Who's that guy?

 

Standout - Josh Norman

 

Safety's - B

 

Didn't really see much from this group, which honestly is a good thing. Melvin White made some nice tackles. Looks like it's Mitchel and Godfrey as the starters. We'll see how it goes in the rest of the preseason.

 

Standout - Melvin White

 

Special Teams - B

 

Gano looked good out there hitting a 50 yarder and was solid on kickoffs. Nortman didn't screw up by didn't really impress either. 

 

Return game was just meh. I'd like to see what Ted Ginn can do. Adams did have one nice return but that was greatly aided by an impressively bad angle by the Bears gunner. It's good to see Barner out there to get him some more touches in the game. Honestly Ted Ginn's job to lose though, and he didn't even touch the ball on special teams.

 

Team - A-

 

I realize it's way too early to tell, but we looked damn good out there. For better or worse this is a passing league now, and we protected the QB (only 1 sack) and we got to the other guy (7 sacks). If we keep this up, we just might have a special year on our hands.

 

Pretty astute observations, though no way I'm giving the team an A- with all those turnovers. I'll give them a B, especially for the first preseason game.  The miscommunication and staring down of the WRs is concerning, but not disconcerting at this point. The lack of efficiency at handling the slant pattern and/or those underneath passes needs to certainly be addressed, and the D-line did not get enough push up the middle on run plays to my liking. And, the O-line still was a bit sketchy (or, perhaps it seemed that way because QBs were holding on to the ball just a tad to long while having tunnel vision).  

 

 

May I add a request (if you get the chance)?  Everyone is talking about Gettis and body catching. I would like to know if you think that he actually caught the balls against his body, and if he did so out of necessity, or because he was being tightly covered. 

[Snake]

Honestly we went up against a good bears defence and only gave up one sack. Now on the other side of the ball it looks like Cutler will be running for his life again. I expect the offence to progress next week and to see more coheasion in week 2.

[top dawg]

Honestly we went up against a good bears defence and only gave up one sack. Now on the other side of the ball it looks like Cutler will be running for his life again. I expect the offence to progress next week and to see more coheasion in week 2.

 

The offense will progress leaps and bounds if Cam learns to consistently go through his progressions.  

 

 

 

 

 

On an off note, DA needs to get his act together also. I am not blaming sketchy passes all on Ginn.  We need Cam's back-up to put in a little more solid work than that.

[Dash Global]

Short played well and def flashed

[MasterAwesome]

Pretty astute observations, though no way I'm giving the team an A- with all those turnovers. I'll give them a B, especially for the first preseason game. The miscommunication and staring down of the WRs is concerning, but not disconcerting at this point. The lack of efficiency at handling the slant pattern and/or those underneath passes needs to certainly be addressed, and the D-line did not get enough push up the middle on run plays to my liking. And, the O-line still was a bit sketchy (or, perhaps it seemed that way because QBs were holding on to the ball just a tad to long while having tunnel vision).

May I add a request (if you get the chance)? Everyone is talking about Gettis and body catching. I would like to know if you think that he actually caught the balls against his body, and if he did so out of necessity, or because he was being tightly covered.

I only watched the game once, but yeah those looked like body catches to me at the time. So many people were talking about how amazing Gettis's catches were...it came off as slightly homerish to me...

[Happy Panther]

The fumbles are unacceptable from Barner. Not sure how quickly he goes in the doghouse for that but he did look scrappy and fun to watch.

[xerxes]

Pretty astute observations, though no way I'm giving the team an A- with all those turnovers. I'll give them a B, especially for the first preseason game.  The miscommunication and staring down of the WRs is concerning, but not disconcerting at this point. The lack of efficiency at handling the slant pattern and/or those underneath passes needs to certainly be addressed, and the D-line did not get enough push up the middle on run plays to my liking. And, the O-line still was a bit sketchy (or, perhaps it seemed that way because QBs were holding on to the ball just a tad to long while having tunnel vision).  

 

 

May I add a request (if you get the chance)?  Everyone is talking about Gettis and body catching. I would like to know if you think that he actually caught the balls against his body, and if he did so out of necessity, or because he was being tightly covered. 

Sure. 

 

Gettis had three catches. Two during the two-minute drill at the end of the half, and one at 11:37 in the 4th quarter.

 

They were all body catches and they all hit him in the numbers. They looked basically the same. Good throws over the middle from DA and Clausen. Gettis ran good routes, but he didn't exactly have to make spectacular catches.

[Panther4lyfe]

I think everything that was in question got answered.... and in a positive way. Our rookie DT played extremely well. If you go back and look at the game those guys were in the backfield a lot, maybe not getting the sack, but definetly collapsing the pocket. I think Star showed out in the running game. And Barner played great besides the one fumble.

[mbarbour21]

Well, in the case of Gettis, at least he catches it. At least he gets open. Being possibly fifth string or so, the only question we gotta ask is "do you believe he is better at actual receiver than the others at the bottom?" I would say yes. We don't need 4 return specialist. After the next two games we will hav a better picture tho.

[Panther4lyfe]

I only watched the game once, but yeah those looked like body catches to me at the time. So many people were talking about how amazing Gettis's catches were...it came off as slightly homerish to me...

Yes thy weren't spectacular, but why do they have be spectacular to be a good catches. I don't understand why people think body catches are bad. If he would have caught those balls with his hands there's a bigger chance of it being stripped. Body catches are the ideal cath if it over the middle were ure about to get hit.

Gettis had a good and I believe he led the team in receiving yards. He ran good routes and made the ideal catches.

[Happy Panther]

I think everything that was in question got answered.... and in a positive way. Our rookie DT played extremely well. If you go back and look at the game those guys were in the backfield a lot, maybe not getting the sack, but definetly collapsing the pocket. I think Star showed out in the running game. And Barner played great besides the one fumble.

 

Oh I thought Barner had two fumbles. That is better.

[PanthersAlv]

Oh I thought Barner had two fumbles. That is better.

 

Looks like the credited Clausen with the fumble on the handoff. (-2 yards)

[Razeyfingers]

Im too tired and hungover to rewatch right now but Im pretty sure Gettis made the most out of space on his catches. If the route says run here to this space then thats all you can do.

 

Hmm maybe Hixon is a little smarter than Ginn. He's sitting there watching and learning what not to do. We'll see where we're at on game 3.