EA7649 wrote:I think there is reason to be optimistic. The team looked good and will only get better, including Cousins. Kai has had an injury so long it seems, any attractive kickers out there in free-agency? Try out some rookies in practice squad?
Connor Barth? I don't know many kickers.
I like how there is no new complaints to be made about this team. The secondary and ST have been questionable for years now, and they continue to haunt us. However, looking past that, I agree that there is plenty to be happy about, regardless of a loss.
We tried a new coach lol. Gotta figure something out.
Kilmer72 wrote:Houston has a pass rusher or two that is a little more than the norm. I know that wouldn't make a difference to you but even RG3 hatters would admit Kirk would have had an aweful day himself.
Cousins would have won the Houston game in my opinion. He played against Watt in college and did fine because he knows what to do, Griffin was the problem not Watt or the line.
RGIII would have won today's game in my opinion because he wouldn't have thrown behind garcon by 5 yards on 4th and 10.
Ooh, I can play this game, too.
I know he got a pretty good zip on the ball. He has a quick release. . . once I seen a coupla' throws, I was just like 'Yeah, he's that dude.'"
Kilmer72 wrote:Houston has a pass rusher or two that is a little more than the norm. I know that wouldn't make a difference to you but even RG3 hatters would admit Kirk would have had an aweful day himself.
Cousins would have won the Houston game in my opinion. He played against Watt in college and did fine because he knows what to do, Griffin was the problem not Watt or the line.
RGIII would have won today's game in my opinion because he wouldn't have thrown behind garcon by 5 yards on 4th and 10.
Ooh, I can play this game, too.
Haha. Honestly I don't think we would have won with Cousins against the Texans. The whole team played bad and their D-line is too talented. But we will never find out, can't change the past. Oldschool, just be happy that your qb of favor is getting a few months tryout.
1. We completely killed their run game and screen game, held the best RB in the league to 50 yards and kept a lid on Sproles. Whilst the D made errors they played a decent game against a very good offense.
2. We gave up no sacks. Our much maligned o-line kept Cousins on his feet all day. This is important because in my opinion, and I know a few of you will disagree, Cousins will cough it up when under pressure. Some people seem to think we have a better chance moving forward with Cousins at QB ad we should ditch RG3, but to me that's utter madness. Cousins has a quicker release, and granted that's an issue with RG3 at the moment, but in every other category Griffin is light years ahead of Capt Kirk and his ceiling is infinitely higher.
3. We abandoned the run (again). After scoring in each of our first 4 drives with a balanced attack (maybe 60/40 in favour of the pass) in the second half we seemed to just shotgun the whole time. I know Morris had a knock but he came back, and if he wasn't fit then Helu and Redd are still worth using, if only to set up the pass play. By the time the 4th quarter rolled in even I knew what we were going to do next, never mind their D. Morris got 77 yards from 23 carries, but I'd be surprised if he carried it 7 times in the second half. We went 80/20 in favour of the pass and suddenly we had 3rd and longs when all we had in the 1st half were 3rd and shorts which we always seemed to convert.
I know Philly are good ar adjusting, but did they do something to make us believe we could no longer run the ball..???
But what struck me most after the game was that if we even had a mediocre-to-average special teams unit then we'd be 3-0 right now.
I love so much of what Gruden is doing, his play calling is mostly excellent, but it feels like he doesn't have confidence in the run game when it counts, and that is meant to be our strength!
So despite our kicker missing an easy field goal, our special teams looking like crap, AND our defense not being able to cover the pass all game, Cousins was the one who couldn't come through in the clutch? Did I watch the same game yesterday?
StorminMormon86 wrote:So despite our kicker missing an easy field goal, our special teams looking like crap, AND our defense not being able to cover the pass all game, Cousins was the one who couldn't come through in the clutch? Did I watch the same game yesterday?
I can forgive the D. They went toe-to-toe against one the most highpower offenses in the league -- and the refs -- and held them to 30 points. Three of those points were after an interception in our end of the field in which the D held them. They held the Eagles to 50 yards rushing. LeShon McCoy and Darren Sproles held to FIFTY YARDS RUSHING! Yes, it would have been better if we could have shut the Iggles down completely, but damn near impossible to do -- especially when refs are eager to help out that offense with PI's and Illegal Contact flags.
Nope, this game came down to a Special Teamer NOT wanting to hit the man in front of him, getting out of his lane, and giving the returner a ten yard wide lane in which to run through. Simple as that. Add in the DOINK on a 33 yard field goal and there you go.
F the Iggles. Foles should wear a dress from now on.
StorminMormon86 wrote:So despite our kicker missing an easy field goal, our special teams looking like crap, AND our defense not being able to cover the pass all game, Cousins was the one who couldn't come through in the clutch? Did I watch the same game yesterday?
StorminMormon86 wrote:So despite our kicker missing an easy field goal, our special teams looking like crap, AND our defense not being able to cover the pass all game, Cousins was the one who couldn't come through in the clutch? Did I watch the same game yesterday?
Is that in response to me..?
If so, no - I said that Cousins didn't get put on his back yesterday, and that he played well, but when he does get sacked in future games I fear we will see a QB closer to one we saw at the tail end of last season. I just have doubts about his production when he's under pressure.
But yesteday he was excellent, and by no means the reason we lost the game.
StorminMormon86 wrote:So despite our kicker missing an easy field goal, our special teams looking like crap, AND our defense not being able to cover the pass all game, Cousins was the one who couldn't come through in the clutch? Did I watch the same game yesterday?
Is that in response to me..?
If so, no - I said that Cousins didn't get put on his back yesterday, and that he played well, but when he does get sacked in future games I fear we will see a QB closer to one we saw at the tail end of last season. I just have doubts about his production when he's under pressure.
But yesteday he was excellent, and by no means the reason we lost the game.
If Cousins were the type to fold under pressure, he would not have performed as well as he did yesterday. Listen to that crowd when we first got the ball. Listen to them when we got the ball AFTER the TD return AND the crappy blocking on our kick return. They were rabid and he made plays. I'm not worried about Cousins.
StorminMormon86 wrote:So despite our kicker missing an easy field goal, our special teams looking like crap, AND our defense not being able to cover the pass all game, Cousins was the one who couldn't come through in the clutch? Did I watch the same game yesterday?
Is that in response to me..?
If so, no - I said that Cousins didn't get put on his back yesterday, and that he played well, but when he does get sacked in future games I fear we will see a QB closer to one we saw at the tail end of last season. I just have doubts about his production when he's under pressure.
But yesteday he was excellent, and by no means the reason we lost the game.
If Cousins were the type to fold under pressure, he would not have performed as well as he did yesterday. Listen to that crowd when we first got the ball. Listen to them when we got the ball AFTER the TD return AND the crappy blocking on our kick return. They were rabid and he made plays. I'm not worried about Cousins.
I hope that's right, and I hope this is the start of a fantastic career for him. I know he's intelligent and he works really hard. But the pressue I'm talking about isn't from the crowd, I'm talking about after he's taken a couple of sacks, he starts to hurry things through and mis-fire a bit. Didn't see it yesterday as the o-line performed well, but moving forward its something to keep an eye on.
StorminMormon86 wrote:So despite our kicker missing an easy field goal, our special teams looking like crap, AND our defense not being able to cover the pass all game, Cousins was the one who couldn't come through in the clutch? Did I watch the same game yesterday?
Who said it was all Cousins fault?
A lot of people on Facebook and other social media were blaming him for the 4th and 10 missed pass to Garcon. Now I'm reading that he should have been clutch, and that he blew it when we could have won.
FLWSkin wrote:Heck why not blame Cousins. All the games we lost last year were on the D and St but everyone blames Robert, so to be fair, yeah, blame Kirk.
Lol yeah.... It's just Robert haters or people that always prefer the back up. Cousins played well. Not perfect but I don't expect him to be. He had a few bad passes I am sure he wished he had back. It would have been nice had he hit on the open receiver but it didn't happen. ST screwed us and as bad as our D was they were playing an explosive offense that any team would have trouble defending.
The D did what they could. They totally shut down the run. When they toss out 5 recievers every play it is tough. I won't get in to the several questionable PI calls on 3rd downs.....
I can't ever feel good about a loss but at least we know how we measure up. We are close, and I see major improvement. I still think we give up too soon on the run but otherwise I am happy with Grudens play calling.
Man, that was just an excellent game from start to finish. Sucks that we came up short but I enjoyed every minute of it. I may have enjoyed it more than the Jaguars game, because they were playing a really good team, a division rival and going all out.
Haters, complainers and whiners will still be out there today, but the hell with them. I'm already looking forward to seeing what this team can do on Thursday night!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You can't do epic **** with basic people." - DJax "We're on the rise, man, whether you're on the train or not." - Josh Norman
StorminMormon86 wrote:So despite our kicker missing an easy field goal, our special teams looking like crap, AND our defense not being able to cover the pass all game, Cousins was the one who couldn't come through in the clutch? Did I watch the same game yesterday?
I know that noise is out there - there were definitely some of those callers on the radio this morning. The last drive from Cousins was disappointing (he said so himself after the game) but that guy played a fantastic game. Anybody who wants to blame Cousins for not getting the win yesterday is an idiot.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You can't do epic **** with basic people." - DJax "We're on the rise, man, whether you're on the train or not." - Josh Norman
StorminMormon86 wrote:So despite our kicker missing an easy field goal, our special teams looking like crap, AND our defense not being able to cover the pass all game, Cousins was the one who couldn't come through in the clutch? Did I watch the same game yesterday?
I know that noise is out there - there were definitely some of those callers on the radio this morning. The last drive from Cousins was disappointing (he said so himself after the game) but that guy played a fantastic game. Anybody who wants to blame Cousins for not getting the win yesterday is an idiot.
Thank you. I was hearing the same crap and it was irritating to me. When is the last time our offense has put up that many yards in a game? And people are complaining!?
I hate to point this out ('cause clearly you already know this), but there will never be a time when no one is complaining about something the team has done, is doing, or is (in their minds) about to do. This is just the nature of the beast. People like to complain, especially (quasi-) anonymously. It's the bread and butter of internet tough guys.
I know he got a pretty good zip on the ball. He has a quick release. . . once I seen a coupla' throws, I was just like 'Yeah, he's that dude.'"
StorminMormon86 wrote:Thank you. I was hearing the same crap and it was irritating to me. When is the last time our offense has put up that many yards in a game? And people are complaining!?
Right on. I don't think that's a widely held opinion. I'm sure the radio guys look for the handful of goofballs they can get to come on and complain.
For me, it wasn't just the yardage or the points though. When we played the Eagles last September, we had 400+ yards of offense and 3 TDs. So much of it was garbage time, already down 30 points or whatever. I really liked seeing the team go toe to toe with the Eagles yesterday. It was back and forth, but we were in the entire game. Aside from the special teams garbage, loved it.
Kai's missed FG was just frustrating though. He HAS to make those 30 yard field goals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You can't do epic **** with basic people." - DJax "We're on the rise, man, whether you're on the train or not." - Josh Norman
emoses14 wrote:I hate to point this out ('cause clearly you already know this), but there will never be a time when no one is complaining about something the team has done, is doing, or is (in their minds) about to do. This is just the nature of the beast. People like to complain, especially (quasi-) anonymously. It's the bread and butter of internet tough guys.
That's fine. The rest of us are here to point out what idiots they are.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You can't do epic **** with basic people." - DJax "We're on the rise, man, whether you're on the train or not." - Josh Norman
1) Defense -- played a good game overall, especially in the second half. No complaints against the run at all, outstanding. Not as happy against the pass. It appeared Haslett was concerned with the run and screen passes to their RBs so much he gave up on pressuring Foles on passing downs. While we hit Foles a number of times, it was always after the ball was gone -- don't feel like we ever made him throw it before he wanted to. Haslett never sent more than 4, even on obvious passing downs. I do understand Foles has a quick release, but I believe you have to occasionally send more, and hope to cause a turnover. If this excuse is, they'll score...that doesn't cut it, they scored anyway when we gave him a lot of time.
2) Offense -- played well most of the game. I like the play calling, wayyy better than under Kyle. Cousins looked comfortable in the pocket, while the Oline did a nice job on the pass, not a great job on the run. Receivers looked good. Need to get TDs instead of FGs against high power offenses and we didn't do that. One complaint with Kirk...he appeared to me to tighten up when under pressure to move our offense late in the game. For him to take the next step, he'll need to lead a late comeback, like Peyton did yesterday. I hate to put it this way but I thought Kirk gagged a little when the game was on the line. But overall, he played well. Won't get into whether RGIII would have won it or not, who knows...
3) Special teams -- Our coverage on Kickoffs is NOT good. We need to find someone who can kick it through the end zone so that weakness isn't exposed. Not seeing as much of a problem on covering punts. Our punt returning unit is way better, unsure about kickoffs, most are getting downed. Forbath has to make that 33 yarder. Punter is doing fine on punts.
While I'd love to see us make the playoffs this year, I'd be really happy with 8-8 this year. That's a 5 game win increase from last year.
Go 2-2 in all 4 sets of 4 games. Look at the schedule, it's very doable.
Make progress, learn how to win this year. Find out who can plan and who can't. Improve the DBs and OLine and then let's talk playoffs!
fredp45 wrote:Here's my take on yesterday's game...
1) Defense -- played a good game overall, especially in the second half. No complaints against the run at all, outstanding. Not as happy against the pass. It appeared Haslett was concerned with the run and screen passes to their RBs so much he gave up on pressuring Foles on passing downs. While we hit Foles a number of times, it was always after the ball was gone -- don't feel like we ever made him throw it before he wanted to. Haslett never sent more than 4, even on obvious passing downs. I do understand Foles has a quick release, but I believe you have to occasionally send more, and hope to cause a turnover. If this excuse is, they'll score...that doesn't cut it, they scored anyway when we gave him a lot of time.
Great post man, especially liked your comments on the defense.
Losing D. Hall was a real blow with Foles playing like that IMO.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You can't do epic **** with basic people." - DJax "We're on the rise, man, whether you're on the train or not." - Josh Norman
