If Newton could block a fly this would all be mute, he is HORRBILE, and a majority of the sacks given up appear to come from the man he is blocking. I want Harris to start in place of Newton.
There used to be people here who would complain because Mario Williams would allow a tackle... a RT to run him completely out of a play. That's exactly what happened to Houston right there. He's run completely out of the play. Only problem is that he & Keenum keep playing & Newton didn't.
That was a 3 step drop, the ball should have been gone.
Newton should play to the whistle... that's the kind of spark you'd expect a QB change such as this would provide, but he didn't. Which brings me back to lip service.
Was there a spark on this team?
This teams biggest issue since week 1 has been lack of effort. This teams issue since last year's Jags game has been lack of effort. You watch the Patriots & Packers & Vikings & Colts whip our a55es & it's because they played with more effort than we did. Shane Vareen & Steven Riddley & a bunch of LBs no more talented than our group out efforted us against the Pats, twice.
We can't score from 1st & goal from the 1, that's lack of effort on our part. DeAndre's a rookie, Case is just starting so my criticism of that failed play is more observation than anything else. But a little more effort from either player & that's 6 points.
Graham's failed opportunity.... a little more effort & that's 6 points. Defensively, if they played with the effort they had in the 2nd half, those 80+ yard TD drives are punts at the very least, turnovers with a little effort, defensive scores with the spark we needed.
Was there a spark..... yes, but nowhere near what we needed. There was a lot to overcome, I'm not saying any different. First time starter, ferocious pass rush (but KC was having protection issues of their own before the game started), Arian out early in the 1st, Ben was useless even before he got hurt, Cushing out...... Manning out. But we gave up that last sack on a 3 man rush, not because Newton sux..... I'm not saying he doesn't.... but because of lack of effort. & that's what cost us that game, & the St Louis game & the San Francisco game, & the Seattle game, & the Baltimore game.
They can say they support this QB, or that QB. They can say they've got his back, they can say he's not out there alone, or that "The fans don't want to hear us talk about it." It's what they do on the field that counts. Anything else, is lip service.