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Somebody explain why Schaub had 11 plays?

Nighthawk

Nighthawk

Rookie
Here's a new QB who has never run this team, who is starting for the first time in his career, and we put him out there for 11 or 12 plays? Really, he needs at least twice that in three preseason games. It can't be they're afraid of him getting hurt, can it? If he's going down he can do it as easily in game 1 of the season as now.

Somebody explain this to me, please.
 
The main priority for the first two preseason games is to evaluate your lower string guys.

The first string positions, with a couple of exceptions (#2 WR, C, OLB, FS, KR, P) are already set.

The first stringers get a couple of series (a) to let the fans see them and (b) to confirm to the coaches that the performance that they've been showing in practice transfers to a real game.

Now the reason that the first string got so few reps is because they went 3 & out the first time they had the ball. Convert 3rd those downs, they would have earned more reps.
But 1st team only gets two series if the coaches are to have time to evaluate the 2nd & 3rd team guys. And even then, not all the 3rd/4th string guys saw action.

Look for more of the same next week.
 
We have 48 million reasons for him to play sparingly in the preseason. He is cemented as the starter and thus isn't fighting for a job.
 
Kubiak mentioned on 610 that the starters will be on a "play count" this week against the Cards, meaning he will make sure they're in for a certain number of plays. He said 30-35 plays.
I took his statement to mean that they weren't going by play count against the Bears, but were going by clock time instead... not sure why they did that, though...
 
michaelm said:
Kubiak mentioned on 610 that the starters will be on a "play count" this week against the Cards, meaning he will make sure they're in for a certain number of plays. He said 30-35 plays.
I took his statement to mean that they weren't going by play count against the Bears, but were going by clock time instead... not sure why they did that, though...
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Maybe because they wanted to make sure that had however much time for everyone else. This week, they want to get so many plays in for the starters, even if it takes some away from everybody else. I'm surprised they're going to really get THAT many plays in week 2, though.
 
michaelm said:
... not sure why they did that, though...
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It's called a Standard Operating Procedure, SOP for short, for preseason games that every NFL team goes by.

Game 1 - you play your starters in the 1st quarter. It would be nonsensical, and downright stupid to leave your starting quarterback in after sending in the 2nd team OL, receivers, and RBs. The main purpose of the game is to evaluate what players can make the team

Game 2 - use a play count for the starters. If you get in 30 -35 plays in the first quarter, then you only play the 1st quarter.

Game 3 - prepare as if it's regular season game. Starters play 3 quarters. 4th quarter, send in the rest.

Game 4 - Starters play one or two series at the most, save them for the season opener, then play the rest to see who makes the final cut.

Until they either increase, or decrease the number of preseason games, it's the way it's always done.
 
Marcus said:
Kubiak would deserve to be hung up by his thumbs if he gave the opening day opponent game film of his blitzing schemes.
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Right on!! Not only not show blitz packages, don't show your d-lines stunts either... Keep it very vanilla.
 
That seems a little different to usual. I wonder how much time he has planned for the guys next week? as its usually week three when the first teamers see the most snaps.
 
Texan_Bill said:
Right on!! Not only not show blitz packages, don't show your d-lines stunts either... Keep it very vanilla.
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I saw one stunt by Mario, and it was a wide stunt, against the Bears. I seem to recall it being his last play of the game.

He looked like he was a buffalo girl going waaay around the outside.
 
Texan_Bill said:
Right on!! Not only not show blitz packages, don't show your d-lines stunts either... Keep it very vanilla.
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And besides that . . . I'm not the least bit interested in winning any preseason games, I don't care if it's the Cowboys, or anyone else.

During preseason, what I AM interested in, is to see if that multimegabillion dollar defensive line can manage to generate pressure on the quarterback BY.THEM.SELVES.

I am NOT the least bit interested in pressure that has to be MANUFACTURED by a blitz. Until this basic hurdle is finally jumped over, this defense will continue to . . . SUCK!

I am so sick of people trashing the secondary, when they constantly are left hanging out to dry when they have to send the blitz because the front four can't get it done.

:rant:
 
Marcus said:
And besides that . . . I'm not the least bit interested in winning any preseason games, I don't care if it's the Cowboys, or anyone else.

During preseason, what I AM interested in, is to see if that multimegabillion dollar defensive line can manage to generate pressure on the quarterback BY.THEM.SELVES.

I am NOT the least bit interested in pressure that has to be MANUFACTURED by a blitz. Until this basic hurdle is finally jumped over, this defense will continue to . . . SUCK!

I am so sick of people trashing the secondary, when they constantly are left hanging out to dry when they have to send the blitz because the front four can't get it done.

:rant:
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I would not go as far to say suck! The last six games of the season last season once they began to gel they actually played well and were ranked as a top ten D during the final six games. Dont get me wrong there was still a definate lack of pass rush and still had coverage breakdowns but I would say suck is to harsh.
 
ObsiWan said:
The main priority for the first two preseason games is to evaluate your lower string guys.
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That's what Kubes said. Maybe he wished Schaub had 4-5 more reps, but they wanted to stick by their goal to evaluate our newer and/or younger talent.
 
Marcus said:
Blitz packages in a preseason game?

lol:
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I used to think that you didn't blitz hardly at all in the first game. BUT...

The Bears were blitzing us and we weren't blitzing them until the middle of the 2nd quarter. I think the Bears were expecting us to blitz and were keeping more guys in to block but I'd need to go back and check that.

I was watching the Eagles/Ravens game and it was blitz, blitz, blitz.
 
The Pencil Neck said:
I used to think that you didn't blitz hardly at all in the first game. BUT...

The Bears were blitzing us and we weren't blitzing them until the middle of the 2nd quarter. I think the Bears were expecting us to blitz and were keeping more guys in to block but I'd need to go back and check that.

I was watching the Eagles/Ravens game and it was blitz, blitz, blitz.
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The Steelers blitzed the heck out of the Saints and that was the HOF game. The Saints were complaining afterwards about not expecting all the blitzing brought on by the Steelers.

So yes, several teams blitz during pre-season. Personally I don't care if we do or not. I just want our front 4 to deliver some pressure.:)
 
The Pencil Neck said:
I used to think that you didn't blitz hardly at all in the first game. BUT...

The Bears were blitzing us and we weren't blitzing them until the middle of the 2nd quarter. I think the Bears were expecting us to blitz and were keeping more guys in to block but I'd need to go back and check that.

I was watching the Eagles/Ravens game and it was blitz, blitz, blitz.
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All blitz-heavy teams, especially Philly & chicago. It's just differences in coach philosophy regarding what should be done for a 1st preseason game.
 
If you go to a drag race, the drivers will do a couple of burnouts before they set the cars in place for the actual race.

Pre-season is nothing but a few burnouts for NFL teams.

I agree with Marcus' many statements above. Don't give our regular season opponents anything to study. I could care less if we go 0-4 in the pre-season if we're 2-0 at the start of the REAL season.
 
If I remember right, the Bears switched from Grossman to Griese before we switched from Schaub to Rosenfels. Maybe the coaches took it as a sign that our first team wasn't going to be seeing the Bears first team anymore and went with the second team.
 
Nighthawk said:
Here's a new QB who has never run this team, who is starting for the first time in his career, and we put him out there for 11 or 12 plays? Really, he needs at least twice that in three preseason games. It can't be they're afraid of him getting hurt, can it? If he's going down he can do it as easily in game 1 of the season as now.

Somebody explain this to me, please.
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I'm with nighthawk on this one regardless of "SOP". Schaub needs reps against real defenses. At least one more series would have been nice since the first series was 3 and out. It is better to have him in for a certain number of plays than a certain number of series. I think both first string lines could have used the extra plays also.
 
bckey said:
I'm with nighthawk on this one regardless of "SOP". Schaub needs reps against real defenses. At least one more series would have been nice since the first series was 3 and out. It is better to have him in for a certain number of plays than a certain number of series. I think both first string lines could have used the extra plays also.
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Nice and all but everyone would be calling Kubiak stupid if Dre got injured. Earl barely made 15 plays and is out for the season. I'd rather have a healthy team.
 
Nighthawk said:
Here's a new QB who has never run this team, who is starting for the first time in his career, and we put him out there for 11 or 12 plays? Really, he needs at least twice that in three preseason games. It can't be they're afraid of him getting hurt, can it? If he's going down he can do it as easily in game 1 of the season as now.

Somebody explain this to me, please.
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the team gets 16 quarters to get ready for the regular season. We have 12 left and the first game is really the best game to play the guys who won't make the team or will be primary back ups since it is the furthest from the regular season...no reason to panic.
 
Htownsportsfan said:
I would not go as far to say suck! The last six games of the season last season once they began to gel they actually played well and were ranked as a top ten D during the final six games. Dont get me wrong there was still a definate lack of pass rush and still had coverage breakdowns but I would say suck is to harsh.
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Actually Top 10 over the last 10 games of the season, but our front 4 still needs to create more pressure without the blitz.
 
dtran04 said:
Nice and all but everyone would be calling Kubiak stupid if Dre got injured. Earl barely made 15 plays and is out for the season. I'd rather have a healthy team.
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Injuries are part of the game. They can happen if you are in for just one play or the whole game. Completely unpredictable. Coddling should have ended when Carr left.
 
bckey said:
Injuries are part of the game. They can happen if you are in for just one play or the whole game. Completely unpredictable. Coddling should have ended when Carr left.
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No one is being coddled, I am not sure how many players are in camp but you have to evaluate all of them, For examble Van Pelt was evaluated and he is trying get bus fair so he does not have to hitchhike out of town.
 
bckey said:
Injuries are part of the game. They can happen if you are in for just one play or the whole game. Completely unpredictable. Coddling should have ended when Carr left.
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Noone is coddling, It's not like the guy hasn't seen NFL defenses before. His best game was against 1 of the best (NE) when he was in atlanta. This is one of the reasons Kubes & company wanted him instead of drafting & waiting on the development of a younger guy.

All the potential right away minus the rookie learning curve. & in that regard he can be treated like an incumbent starter instead of a young rookie just trying to learn the in & outs of the NFL.
 
bckey said:
Injuries are part of the game. They can happen if you are in for just one play or the whole game. Completely unpredictable. Coddling should have ended when Carr left.
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I didn't need Schaub to play anymore downs to tell me that he showed poise, pocket presence, a lack of happy feet, and a display of field vision that enabled the proper throw to the correct receiver. Yeah, two of the balls weren't caught, but they weren't bad throws, and I certainly didn't see any bone-headed decisions.

I saw enough.
 
Apparently each team handles the pre-season games differently. I was watching the Titans game as well as the Texans. It looked to me like the Titans left many if not most of their starters in for the entire first half. I'm not all that familair with them, so they may have slipped in a few subs that I missed. I saw some second stringers enter with three minutes left in the half. Of course, this excluded the first string QB.
 
dtran04 said:
Nice and all but everyone would be calling Kubiak stupid if Dre got injured. Earl barely made 15 plays and is out for the season. I'd rather have a healthy team.
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What diff does it make if Earl goes out for the season yesterday or the first reg season game? None.
 
I don't want to see Schaub, I want Schaub to have a chance to go full speed against a real defense for a reasonable period of time. Just to get his chops up in the real world instead of the practice world.

Maybe next week.
 
One of the few things we will have going for us early in the season is the element of surprise. Whether it pertains to the offense or the defense, nobody really knows what to expect. If you are an offensive powerhouse like the colts, everyone knows what you're going to do, you've been doing it better than 90% of the league for the last 5 years, just get your reps in and get done with it. No need to "hide" what you're doing. Same on defense. If you're the Ravens, Bears etc, teams know what you're going to do. We're in a different boat. We have alot of new faces, especially on offense. Just run vanilla and open up both books on game day.

Mike
 
Texanmike said:
One of the few things we will have going for us early in the season is the element of surprise. Whether it pertains to the offense or the defense, nobody really knows what to expect. If you are an offensive powerhouse like the colts, everyone knows what you're going to do, you've been doing it better than 90% of the league for the last 5 years, just get your reps in and get done with it. No need to "hide" what you're doing. Same on defense. If you're the Ravens, Bears etc, teams know what you're going to do. We're in a different boat. We have alot of new faces, especially on offense. Just run vanilla and open up both books on game day.

Mike
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good read btw, but yea thats what i love about the texans, as an example who knew(the colts for sure did not) that ron dayne was going to come out of no where and kick arse in the running game!! i mean come on! GO TEXANS BABY! :fans:
 
I am curious why they never flip the roles of starters and reserves. Maybe let the backups play the 1st 2.5 quarters and bring the starters in for the rest. The starters would be put in unique situations to get out of. It would sure make watching the preseason bearable.
 
dtran04 said:
I am curious why they never flip the roles of starters and reserves. Maybe let the backups play the 1st 2.5 quarters and bring the starters in for the rest. The starters would be put in unique situations to get out of. It would sure make watching the preseason bearable.
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the nfl has its weird ways and i dont think they are going to change any time soon...
 
Texanmike said:
One of the few things we will have going for us early in the season is the element of surprise. Whether it pertains to the offense or the defense, nobody really knows what to expect. If you are an offensive powerhouse like the colts, everyone knows what you're going to do, you've been doing it better than 90% of the league for the last 5 years, just get your reps in and get done with it. No need to "hide" what you're doing. Same on defense. If you're the Ravens, Bears etc, teams know what you're going to do. We're in a different boat. We have alot of new faces, especially on offense. Just run vanilla and open up both books on game day.

Mike
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I think the whole running vanilla plays in preseason because you don't want to tip your hand is kind of silly. You are only talking about tipping your hand to KC because the other 15 opponents will have tape of that game and on depending on when they play us. The 2nd and 3rd stringers might need to run vanilla simply because they are only being evaluated to make the team or get cut and some don't know much of the playbook.

As far as coddling goes I didn't mean to imply that Kubiak is coddling Schaub only making a statement that that sort of treatment should have left with Carr. I hope it did. I am very happy with Schaub. Just 1 more series would have been nice. The guy is basically a rookie for our team with 2 starts in the regular season with the Falcons. Kubiak already stated he will play more againt Arizona and we all know he will play alot against Dallas.
 
bckey said:
I'm with nighthawk on this one regardless of "SOP". Schaub needs reps against real defenses. At least one more series would have been nice since the first series was 3 and out. It is better to have him in for a certain number of plays than a certain number of series. I think both first string lines could have used the extra plays also.
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I really don't think pre-season is for reps(that's what TC is for, IMO).I don't really see it as a means of improving.I see it as mainly just to showcase your skills in a game type atmosphere.But that's just me. But I would like to see Schaub play more though.
 
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