mattieuk
All Pro
The loss to the Cardinals is a big blow, but by heck, what a game, and what a second half performance. This game showed us a lot about our players here, and I think there is a lot to take out of this game.
Firstly Steve Slaton, is in no way broken, fat, slow, lazy, or anything else that has been levied against him since the end of last season. His bursts to the outsides were awesome today, and one little cut in the 3rd had his would be tackler on his butt, looking back at '20' off making a 20 yard gain.
Secondly, our defense is not useless. They played damn well for most of the game. They gave up 21 points against an offense that was a major contributor to getting to a Superbowl. Having Reeves back was freaking great...we've sure missed him. The linebackers were great, again as well, sniffing out their run very very well. We got pressure on Kurt as the game went on. Great play by Cushing for the half a sack, he is looking more like ROTY material every week.
Thirdly, our ST is just as sick as we thought it was. AD averaged 29 yards, and busted that huge one late on to give us a great shot at leveling the game. Jacoby, was flawless today, has some good returns, and left alone what he didn't need to touch.
Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, never stop watching at any point of the game out of protest. Has the Indy or Titans games not taught anyone a thing? Moaning and yelling for coaches heads during the game is fine, but at least see it out. Very rarely has this team produced a game in recent times that you could give up on.
Fifthly, we have got to sort out our playcalling on 3rd/4th and short. Running Slaton between the gaps in the o-line will not cut it with our personnel up front. It'd be sweet if it did, but it doesn't, and we need to work around that. I don't care if its play actions, and sending Slaton and Vonta running routes to the sidelines and getting a low risk pass situation going, but I'm getting bored of seeing us clearly not getting the yardage. Its either one extreme or the other (i.e. boring and conservative, or just plain ridiculous, throwing deep to AJ, and OD I think it was late on on 3rd and goal).
Objectively, lets look at it this way. We went to a Superbowl loser from last year, to their place, which is a darned loud covered stadium, and we went toe to toe with them, and lost out by inches. Yes those 3 inches matter, but we did a great job of battling, not giving up and coming up with some outstanding stuff (AJ's 2nd TD was just unreal!). We could have been 'spineless' like the Jags who gave up and lost nearly 50-0 away from home. We didn't, and I'm still rooting for this team to get a winning record this season.
Firstly Steve Slaton, is in no way broken, fat, slow, lazy, or anything else that has been levied against him since the end of last season. His bursts to the outsides were awesome today, and one little cut in the 3rd had his would be tackler on his butt, looking back at '20' off making a 20 yard gain.
Secondly, our defense is not useless. They played damn well for most of the game. They gave up 21 points against an offense that was a major contributor to getting to a Superbowl. Having Reeves back was freaking great...we've sure missed him. The linebackers were great, again as well, sniffing out their run very very well. We got pressure on Kurt as the game went on. Great play by Cushing for the half a sack, he is looking more like ROTY material every week.
Thirdly, our ST is just as sick as we thought it was. AD averaged 29 yards, and busted that huge one late on to give us a great shot at leveling the game. Jacoby, was flawless today, has some good returns, and left alone what he didn't need to touch.
Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, never stop watching at any point of the game out of protest. Has the Indy or Titans games not taught anyone a thing? Moaning and yelling for coaches heads during the game is fine, but at least see it out. Very rarely has this team produced a game in recent times that you could give up on.
Fifthly, we have got to sort out our playcalling on 3rd/4th and short. Running Slaton between the gaps in the o-line will not cut it with our personnel up front. It'd be sweet if it did, but it doesn't, and we need to work around that. I don't care if its play actions, and sending Slaton and Vonta running routes to the sidelines and getting a low risk pass situation going, but I'm getting bored of seeing us clearly not getting the yardage. Its either one extreme or the other (i.e. boring and conservative, or just plain ridiculous, throwing deep to AJ, and OD I think it was late on on 3rd and goal).
Objectively, lets look at it this way. We went to a Superbowl loser from last year, to their place, which is a darned loud covered stadium, and we went toe to toe with them, and lost out by inches. Yes those 3 inches matter, but we did a great job of battling, not giving up and coming up with some outstanding stuff (AJ's 2nd TD was just unreal!). We could have been 'spineless' like the Jags who gave up and lost nearly 50-0 away from home. We didn't, and I'm still rooting for this team to get a winning record this season.
