eriadoc
Texan-American
I've seen several posts now stating that Carr made some bad decisions. After initially watching the game, I came away with the impression that Carr looked shaky at the start, but pulled it together once the coaches adjusted to the blitzing. However, I just watched the first couple series again on Tivo and I really don't see bad decisions on Carr's part. To the contrary, I saw good decision-making in bad situations. I have only reviewed up to the overturned tuck rule call, so I'm only speaking to that, but here's what I saw --
1st pass play - incomplete now route/wr screen to AJ. Carr threw this ball just a tad too high, as it really wouldn't have left AJ in the greatest position to make a great play. Nevertheless, it would have been a solid gain if AJ didn't have oven mitts on. He leaped maybe just a few inches, grabbed the ball, brought it in and bounced it off his own chest. Bad play by AJ.
2nd pass play - seven step drop; immediately upon planting his back foot for the seventh step, the blitzer is in his face (Lundy's missed block). Carr tries to scramble away, but the defender does his job. I see no fault with Carr on this play and it even looked like he kept his eyes upfield a bit more than he might have in the past.
3rd pass play - this play is harder to assign blame. The O-line held up well and Carr makes his progression reads well. You can see him checking at least four options before #70 finally gives in and his man collapses into the pocket. Carr dances outside, behind Spencer, and wisely throws the ball at the feet of a covered receiver. Spencer did a fine job of pass pro on this play, by the way.
4th pass play - seven step drop; #72 is losing his battle as Carr is making his drop. With #72's assignment getting to him quickly, Carr has to release the ball sooner than he'd like. Carr kept his eyes downfield, turning to AJ's crossing route as he releases the ball. I think Carr could possibly have placed the ball a bit better, but he also wanted to lead AJ a bit. All in all, a good play by the defense, or a bad play by #72. I guess those of you who are hell-bent on finding bad things about Carr can say he placed the ball poorly. However, this is one of those plays where if we had been on defense and our guys had pressured the QB into throwing early, we'd be lauding the defensive effort. You can't have it both ways.
5th pass play - seven step drop; left tackle doesn't do a great job, but the FB does an even worse job. Carr steps up between the rushing defenders and delivers the screen pass to Lundy. If you watch the LB on the reverse angle, you can tell that Carr/Lundy didn't sell the handoff very well. Those of you who have to fault Carr on every play can point to that if you like.
6th pass play - this is the long screen to Putzier. Carr looks the defense off and then throws to Putzier at just the right time. Well-designed play and perfect execution.
7th pass play - this one got called back because Lundy held. Play-action handoff with a pass to Bennie Joppru. Well-designed play and executed well. Carr sells the play-action better than in the screen to Lundy and Joppru does a nice job. Carr delivers the ball with nice touch as well, which is nice to see. Lundy can't block, ugh.
8th pass play - 5-step or 7-step drop (I forgot to count when I was making notes, but it wasn't a 3-step); slant to AJ. Carr looks to AJ, looks back to mid-field, then back to AJ as he delivers the ball. It seems obvious to me that AJ was the first read and this is something that opposing teams will see on film. Good positive play, but I don't like Carr's placement. It's a bit high and he doesn't lead AJ like you would hope to see. On the other hand, AJ got jammed hard and had to fight early in the route, so that threw off the timing. I'm not sure how much of the placement was on Carr here.
9th pass play - play-action rollout. Lundy does a poor job overall here, but it's good coverage downfield. Lundy's man is charging hard at Carr, who turns on the speed, trying to buy time. Carr wisely throws it away, with no one open.
10th pass play - seven step drop; Carr is making multiple reads. Unblocked blitzer creams Carra s he's delivering ball. I don't see any fault with Carr whatsoever on this play. The Rams showed blitz pre-snap and Carr stood in there making his reads and trusting his protection. Last year, I think we'd have seen happy feet on this play. Negative play, but I liked Carr on this play.
Anyway, I know many of you Tivo the games and re-watch them with a more critical eye, so chime in and comment on my observations. I saw some minor flaws in Carr's game, as noted above, but in those plays, I honestly didn't see one bad decision at all. I'd like to see some better touch on the ball at times and I think his placement could use some precision adjustment, but for the most part, Carr did a good job.
I like what Sage did as well, but I am not going to overlook the pressure that Carr faced for most of the first half, whereas Sage faced next to no pressure. The O-line did a pretty good job with the pressure and it looked like they passed off assignments well, from my limited observations.
1st pass play - incomplete now route/wr screen to AJ. Carr threw this ball just a tad too high, as it really wouldn't have left AJ in the greatest position to make a great play. Nevertheless, it would have been a solid gain if AJ didn't have oven mitts on. He leaped maybe just a few inches, grabbed the ball, brought it in and bounced it off his own chest. Bad play by AJ.
2nd pass play - seven step drop; immediately upon planting his back foot for the seventh step, the blitzer is in his face (Lundy's missed block). Carr tries to scramble away, but the defender does his job. I see no fault with Carr on this play and it even looked like he kept his eyes upfield a bit more than he might have in the past.
3rd pass play - this play is harder to assign blame. The O-line held up well and Carr makes his progression reads well. You can see him checking at least four options before #70 finally gives in and his man collapses into the pocket. Carr dances outside, behind Spencer, and wisely throws the ball at the feet of a covered receiver. Spencer did a fine job of pass pro on this play, by the way.
4th pass play - seven step drop; #72 is losing his battle as Carr is making his drop. With #72's assignment getting to him quickly, Carr has to release the ball sooner than he'd like. Carr kept his eyes downfield, turning to AJ's crossing route as he releases the ball. I think Carr could possibly have placed the ball a bit better, but he also wanted to lead AJ a bit. All in all, a good play by the defense, or a bad play by #72. I guess those of you who are hell-bent on finding bad things about Carr can say he placed the ball poorly. However, this is one of those plays where if we had been on defense and our guys had pressured the QB into throwing early, we'd be lauding the defensive effort. You can't have it both ways.
5th pass play - seven step drop; left tackle doesn't do a great job, but the FB does an even worse job. Carr steps up between the rushing defenders and delivers the screen pass to Lundy. If you watch the LB on the reverse angle, you can tell that Carr/Lundy didn't sell the handoff very well. Those of you who have to fault Carr on every play can point to that if you like.
6th pass play - this is the long screen to Putzier. Carr looks the defense off and then throws to Putzier at just the right time. Well-designed play and perfect execution.
7th pass play - this one got called back because Lundy held. Play-action handoff with a pass to Bennie Joppru. Well-designed play and executed well. Carr sells the play-action better than in the screen to Lundy and Joppru does a nice job. Carr delivers the ball with nice touch as well, which is nice to see. Lundy can't block, ugh.
8th pass play - 5-step or 7-step drop (I forgot to count when I was making notes, but it wasn't a 3-step); slant to AJ. Carr looks to AJ, looks back to mid-field, then back to AJ as he delivers the ball. It seems obvious to me that AJ was the first read and this is something that opposing teams will see on film. Good positive play, but I don't like Carr's placement. It's a bit high and he doesn't lead AJ like you would hope to see. On the other hand, AJ got jammed hard and had to fight early in the route, so that threw off the timing. I'm not sure how much of the placement was on Carr here.
9th pass play - play-action rollout. Lundy does a poor job overall here, but it's good coverage downfield. Lundy's man is charging hard at Carr, who turns on the speed, trying to buy time. Carr wisely throws it away, with no one open.
10th pass play - seven step drop; Carr is making multiple reads. Unblocked blitzer creams Carra s he's delivering ball. I don't see any fault with Carr whatsoever on this play. The Rams showed blitz pre-snap and Carr stood in there making his reads and trusting his protection. Last year, I think we'd have seen happy feet on this play. Negative play, but I liked Carr on this play.
Anyway, I know many of you Tivo the games and re-watch them with a more critical eye, so chime in and comment on my observations. I saw some minor flaws in Carr's game, as noted above, but in those plays, I honestly didn't see one bad decision at all. I'd like to see some better touch on the ball at times and I think his placement could use some precision adjustment, but for the most part, Carr did a good job.
I like what Sage did as well, but I am not going to overlook the pressure that Carr faced for most of the first half, whereas Sage faced next to no pressure. The O-line did a pretty good job with the pressure and it looked like they passed off assignments well, from my limited observations.
