Brandon Brooks

[76Texan]

I noted that he played in 4 series, one of them resulted in a TD.

He had 4 or 5 take_down blocks; they are so fun to watch.
Granted, he had a little initial help on all but one; but you rarely see that with our other Guards, let alone that many in fewer than 20 snaps.

[Wolf6151]

I didn't get to see much of the Tenn. game so thanks for the info. I've been wondering when he might get in a game and how he'd do. That's good to hear. Anyone else care to critique Brooks performance.

[Scooter]

76 do you have the timeline for the drives that brooks was in?

[beerlover]

I like pancakes not exactly cut blocks now are they but effective, like throwing a change-up to keep a hitter off balance. Thanks for the heads-up 76

[Honoring Earl 34]

He's in on the series with the Casey td .

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-h...ans-highlights

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Honoring Earl 34

He's in on the series with the Casey td .

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-h...ans-highlights

That's the first time he came in.
Fourth series of the game, toward the end of the first quarter.
On the first play, Foster ran left.
Brooks pushed his guy into D. Brown's guy, causing them both to fall.
Brown then pancaked them both, LOL!

BTW, when Brown got hurt, Gardner went in for 3 snaps in that series, and did well enough.

On fourth and one, Brooks was pulling his man down when Harris came over to help.
Looks like Harris slipped and caused the DE to lose balance.
Brooks took him down, not quite flat on his face, but pretty close enough to make me smile.

He came back in the next series, which was in the second quarter, around the 13:40 mark, on first down.
Brooks was pushing his guy when Myers helped him by nudging the guy a bit before releasing onto the second level.
Brooks put the guy on his back by rolling him over.
He would have been on top of the guy on the ground, except the momentum caused him to roll off the body of the dead.

In the third quarter, he came in around the 9:40 mark.
On second down, Brooks went to the second level.
The safety was able to avoid him.
Brooks, came back and pancaked him.
He might have gotten away with blocking in the back, but the safety helped him out by trying to turn around to reach the runner.
He was squatted like a bug.
Look at the angle of the last two replays.

On the next series, near the 5 sec mark.
On the first play of the drive, he simply pushed his guy backward and pancaked him, LOL!

Those are all the series he played in.
15 snaps, 8 running plays.

[TimeKiller]

Between he and Ben Jones....I don't think Caldwell is getting his spot back. We'll see how long Wade Smith can hang on, I think we're gonna see another few OL picks next year too. The Texans game depends wayyyyyyy too much on the OL's ability to not continue the rebuild until....well....until we have 5 HOF backing up 5 HOFs. Foster's numbers have taken a hit in the wake of last year's exodus. Newton, Butler and Caldwell all performed admirably but not well enough to consider them as players to hang onto moving forward. I will say that the pass protection has been about the same, if not slightly better but that's not what this offense is about.

[DocBar]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Between he and Ben Jones....I don't think Caldwell is getting his spot back. We'll see how long Wade Smith can hang on, I think we're gonna see another few OL picks next year too. The Texans game depends wayyyyyyy too much on the OL's ability to not continue the rebuild until....well....until we have 5 HOF backing up 5 HOFs. Foster's numbers have taken a hit in the wake of last year's exodus. Newton, Butler and Caldwell all performed admirably but not well enough to consider them as players to hang onto moving forward. I will say that the pass protection has been about the same, if not slightly better but that's not what this offense is about.

Foster's numbers have taken a hit because the ankle tackles he used to go right through are now tripping him up. He's had several big play opportunities go down the drain because someone grabbed his shoelace. Personally, I blame the vegan thing for that.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Between he and Ben Jones....I don't think Caldwell is getting his spot back. We'll see how long Wade Smith can hang on, I think we're gonna see another few OL picks next year too. The Texans game depends wayyyyyyy too much on the OL's ability to not continue the rebuild until....well....until we have 5 HOF backing up 5 HOFs. Foster's numbers have taken a hit in the wake of last year's exodus. Newton, Butler and Caldwell all performed admirably but not well enough to consider them as players to hang onto moving forward. I will say that the pass protection has been about the same, if not slightly better but that's not what this offense is about.

How about Tate and Forsett?

They have the same O-line blocking.

Like I said, We're using Foster more in short yardage situation and that screw up the number.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by DocBar

Foster's numbers have taken a hit because the ankle tackles he used to go right through are now tripping him up. He's had several big play opportunities go down the drain because someone grabbed his shoelace. Personally, I blame the vegan thing for that.

I agree for the most part that it does appear to be Foster related. Earlier in the season it didn't appear as such, because nobody but Foster was making any gains. He also had the most opportunity.

But recently, the other guys are being more productive on less carries. Can't remember Forsett's first game, but I thought his success there was that the defense must have believed we were passing since Foster wasn't in the game. But we've seen several games now where Forsett is still gaining yards & teams should know & be prepared for it now.

Between his slipping & going down on contact, Foster isn't as productive as he used to be. Maybe he's saving himself, going for longevity.

[76Texan]

Nah, there's a feature on Profootball reference.com called Play Finder.

You can search for all the plays there with the criteria you provide.

Check out the number of times we used Foster near our goal line or close to the opponent end zone, say ten yards in.

Check out the number we use him on third or fourth and short (less than 3 yards for example.)

Check out the number of times we used him to end the half and to end the game.

Compare them with Tate and Forsett.

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

How about Tate and Forsett?

They have the same O-line blocking.

Like I said, We're using Foster more in short yardage situation and that screw up the number.

What about them? Foster's use in situational football is nothing different than it was last year. The difference I see is less cutback lanes which means less of him blasting a D straight up the middle for 5+ every time. He'll get a good run to the edges now and again but the homeruns are gone. To me, he's running like a guy who knows the holes aren't going to be there.

[GP]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

BTW, when Brown got hurt, Gardner went in for 3 snaps in that series, and did well enough.

You guys need to go back and watch that very first Gardner snap...

Look at his face and body language as he's coming back from out-of-bounds (right after the play was over), coming back to the huddle, he had this look on his face like "Holy crap, I'm playing in the game! I'm. In. The. Game."

It was pure awesomeness, folks. He looked as proud as a peacock out there.

It's stuff like that that makes gives me goose bumps.

[badboy]

Originally Posted by GP

You guys need to go back and watch that very first Gardner snap...

Look at his face and body language as he's coming back from out-of-bounds (right after the play was over), coming back to the huddle, he had this look on his face like "Holy crap, I'm playing in the game! I'm. In. The. Game."

It was pure awesomeness, folks. He looked as proud as a peacock out there.

It's stuff like that that makes gives me goose bumps.

He was hearing Karen Carpenter's song "We've only just begun." I think Brooks will be all right but still adjusting to NFL. Not too many games barring injuries where rookie backups can get in.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

What about them? Foster's use in situational football is nothing different than it was last year. The difference I see is less cutback lanes which means less of him blasting a D straight up the middle for 5+ every time. He'll get a good run to the edges now and again but the homeruns are gone. To me, he's running like a guy who knows the holes aren't going to be there.

Like I've been saying, there are several factors that contributed.
Yes, sometimes the holes weren't there. It is just a coincidence that the holes weren't there for him a little more often than the other two backs.

You go back and watch the Titans game for example.

On his first run, Casey missed his block and there's an unblocked defender coming straight at him. he gained 2

On his second run, The whole left side got shut down; they got one more than us on that side.
He was following Casey who got blown up at the Los.
Foster gained 1.

On his third run, Wade Smith got blown up right into him;
Then an unblocked defender zeroed in.

On fourth and one, the De was too much for Walter to handle, forcing Foster wide. He managed to gain six.

All these runs were to the left.

In the second quarter, we were at their 3.
Our line got no push, Foster gained 1

On the next play, even though Brown was pushed back, Foster was able to go outside for 2 and a TD.

In the second half, he gained 10 on one play but Wade Smith was flagged for holding.

On the play where he fumbled the ball, Casey got blown up at the line again.
Brown also let his man to the inside. Harris missed the cut block in the back side; his man chased from behind to make the tackle.

We lost on the left side again, with Wade Smith. Brown let his man get inside again.
Foster gained two as he cut back but Myers missed his block on the second level.

2 plays later, OD lost the edge (hindering Brown) and Casey wasn't so hot either; no gain for Foster to the left side again to end the third.

He had a couple of runs in the fourth to the right where that side was also closed up.

The 2 short yardage situations pull his average down for sure.

I don't know what else you want him to do, really!

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by GP

You guys need to go back and watch that very first Gardner snap...

Look at his face and body language as he's coming back from out-of-bounds (right after the play was over), coming back to the huddle, he had this look on his face like "Holy crap, I'm playing in the game! I'm. In. The. Game."

It was pure awesomeness, folks. He looked as proud as a peacock out there.

It's stuff like that that makes gives me goose bumps.

He sure did well on that play.
We need him to keep improving.

I think we may see a few stretch run this Monday.
The pats have been patsies on the edges.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by badboy

He was hearing Karen Carpenter's song "We've only just begun." I think Brooks will be all right but still adjusting to NFL. Not too many games barring injuries where rookie backups can get in.

I like that song.

[ChrisG]

edit: deleted

[badboy]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

I like that song.

You realize she was singing that just to me? She also said "stars suddenly appear" when I am near. That woman really understood me.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by badboy

You realize she was singing that just to me? She also said "stars suddenly appear" when I am near. That woman really understood me.

Good for you, I had a good evenly laugh.
I love Karen, too; but you can have her.

Well, not really, it wouldn't be fair to her, right?