3 whipping boys stepped up

Amobi Okoye - he got the sack and kept the Raiders runs to a minimum. One thing I noticed was Okoye was playing NT, on his sack and for most of his reps on the field. Amobi can't rest on his laurels though and I don't think he'll be fully out of fans' doghouse until he does this all year.

Antonio Smith - easily his best game as a Texan today. When he wasn't in the backfield all day he was recovering a fumble and overall dominated the Raiders' guards. This guy is QUICK off the snap, he was in Russell's grill on one play before he could even turn around! He's starting to earn that big guaranteed contract with efforts like today.

Dominique Barber - he dropped a INT but was swatting everything around him pretty much... I thought his coverage was way better today than before and there were no 60 yard runs so he's improved haha. But really he had a good game and played like an NFL safety should.

m5kwatts said:

Antonio Smith - easily his best game as a Texan today. When he wasn't in the backfield all day he was recovering a fumble and overall dominated the Raiders' guards. This guy is QUICK off the snap, he was in Russell's grill on one play before he could even turn around! He's starting to earn that big guaranteed contract with efforts like today.

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I wonder if that is not because on a lot of those pressures he was coming from the inside, he kicked inside to DT on most of those IIRC. That was the scouting report on him all along, average quickness when matching up against an OT, but outmatches interior lineman.

jppaul said:

I wonder if that is not because on a lot of those pressures he was coming from the inside, he kicked inside to DT on most of those IIRC. That was the scouting report on him all along, average quickness when matching up against an OT, but outmatches interior lineman.

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I think its because he's a bull rusher, he wants to go through you not around you. That can play into a OT's advantage if you just bull rush and run into the OT's block. He's a nightmare inside though because he's quick off the snap and has lateral movement as well. He was using his hands really well today on his swim moves. He plays a good LDE on run downs because of his size vs. right tackles, he's tough to wash when the DTs are playing well like they did today.

While Cushing recorded the tackle on the safety, Smith and Okoye were the ones who made the play possible. The blew their men so far into the backfield that they created a wall of OL that the RB could not get around. So he was easy pickings for Cushing to clean up.

m5kwatts said:

I think its because he's a bull rusher, he wants to go through you not around you. That can play into a OT's advantage if you just bull rush and run into the OT's block. He's a nightmare inside though because he's quick off the snap and has lateral movement as well. He was using his hands really well today on his swim moves. He plays a good LDE on run downs because of his size vs. right tackles, he's tough to wash when the DTs are playing well like they did today.

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It really is a combination of his quickness and strength inside. The OG has to be squared up on him and set because of his power in the bull rush, but because of his quickness it is tough for an OG to set that quickly.

m5kwatts said:

Dominique Barber - he dropped a INT but was swatting everything around him pretty much... I thought his coverage was way better today than before and there were no 60 yard runs so he's improved haha. But really he had a good game and played like an NFL safety should.

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Interestingly enough I believe he made the start and played at FS today. Seemed to play a solid game, but of course, it was against the Jokeland Raiders.

pbat488 said:

Interestingly enough I believe he made the start and played at FS today. Seemed to play a solid game, but of course, it was against the Jokeland Raiders.

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Right. I guess you got to a praise a blind pig for finding an acorn every once in a while though.

Goldensilence said:

Right. I guess you got a praise a blind pig for finding an acorn every once in a while though.

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No way man, thats how you get the swine flu

whipping boys LOL....

Some production certainly would go a long way for Okoye's reputation around here but I wouldn't call Smith a whipping boy and Barber...well c'mon nobody really thought he was dynamite did they? I think Smith has been exactly what he was advertised as, a DE/DT tweener.

Barber was playing Free instead of Strong safety with Pollard in right? Maybe that had something to do with him looking the part. He was close to a lot of balls and maybe with some grooming (for the FS position instead of SS) he'd start to recognize what's what and be able to jump on some of those passes even quicker or protect the run faster.