The defense is undermanned. I think we all know that. I blame O'Brien for some of that, but injuries are just chance, for the most part. I think RAC is making a somewhat edible chicken salad out of chickensh!t. It is what it is. We all expected Lamar Jackson to get his, and he did.
The offense, however, is adequately manned. To only turn in 7 points is unacceptable. They've somehow turned Deandre Hopkins into a short yardage possession receiver. They seldom use Duke Johnson, who is widely regarded as one of the better receiving backs in football. Coutee has been a non-factor, for the most part. Akins has shown himself to be at least a capable receiver and gets probably one or two looks a game. Stills came over and immediately showed why he has always been such a deep threat, but has been erratically utilized, at best. I'd say under-utilized.
I'm a charter member of the O'Brien Haters Club. You can check the early pages of the Fire His Ass thread. So I have my doubts as to what sort of offense he's running here, but here's the thing - when Watson hits the back foot of his drop, that ball needs to come out. He consistently fails at this one simple aspect of being a QB. A well oiled offense does that. So is Watson faced with no open receivers on the back step of his drop THAT OFTEN? Almost every single play? Or is he trying to play hero ball? I don't have access to the All-22, so I'm all ears to anyone who breaks it down, but I know I saw Watson pass up open checkdowns and short receivers yesterday in the 1st quarter. Never mind later in the game, when circumstances change. Early in the game, before it's time to abandon your shitty game plan, he passed over open receivers and wasted plays. I know the #JesusInCleats crowd doesn't want to talk about that, but the guy who touches the ball every play and decides who else gets to touch the ball has to learn to be a facilitator.
I'm a Watson fan and I've defended his mistakes in other threads on this board. I think he's a young QB that has some development to show, but I also think he will. He shows all the signs of being an absolutely special QB - like, Brady/Manning/Brees special. But he's not there yet, and the biggest reason is his penchant for holding on to the ball too damn long. And honestly, he and every other person on the face of the planet (even soccer fans) knows you can't hold on to the ball that long and expect your blockers to hold up. So he's making a conscious decision to take risks. There are times to take risks, and those times come AFTER you've established your normal.
Now, I ask again, is he facing a situation where no one is open that quickly? Because at this point, I just want to know how much of this is on the offensive "system" and how much is Watson striving for gold on every other play? Sustain drives. That's what I want to see. Sustain drives and then pop Stills or Fuller loose every once in a while.