Second Opinion

ii7-V7 · Post by **ii7-V7** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 2:24 pm

I've been reading the comments here about last nights game. Most are negative, and most are about the QB's play. My observations of the game are different.

I'm not so worried about the shoddy play of the QB's. The line was giving them great protection, we have playmakers at the WR position. Brunell/Ramsey will come along. With time to throw and impact receivers we will do fine.

As for the QB battle, its looking more and more like Brunell will be the guy. The Amazing Unsinkable Tim Hassleback finally started to show the chinks in his armor. He is a great Third String QB! Partick showed poor decision making and a lack of mobility in the pocket. I don't think the botched snaps were that big of a deal. He botched the very first snaps due to a new ball and wet weather, but recovered well enough to get the ball into Portis' hands. The second botched snap was due to Friedman snapping the ball too early. The utter lack of field position and two dropped passes by Gardener didn't help him to look any better.

As far as pass protection is concerned I thought our line did very well. The sack on Ramsey by Peppers didn't look like a sack to me. To my eye he got the pass off before he went down. Intentional grounding perhaps, but not a sack. But then again I do wear glasses. Against one of the most feared front four the line played very well in pass protection.

The biggest disappointment for me was the poor run game. For two preseason games in a row we were poor at running the football. I really thought that that was going to be a strength of this team. I can't say where the breakdown occurred but it seemed to me that our line didn't clear many good lanes. We weren't sealing off the backside in order to create holes.

The defense again surprised me, particularly the pressure on the QB. With four linemen and one blitzing LB we consistently pressed the pocket and flushed the QB.

Unlike last week, we managed to stop the run. Stephen Davis and Deshaun Foster were not able to establsh a run game against our Defense. Still they Panthers managed a better running attack than we were able too, but thats not the fault of our defense.

The only downside to the defensive play last night was the confusion in the secondary. We made thier QB's look good. And this was with a pretty vanilla coverage scheme. Of course most of the problems occured with our third and fourth string guys. I'm sure this is something that Williams will work out.

Overall, I was pretty impressed by our inspired play. We showed some improvement in the five days between games. We remained competetive against the NFC champs right up to the end. We didn't have that many penalties for a preseason game. Our QB's had time to throw, our receivers got open, our D-line created enough pressure. We played aggresive and disciplined football up to the end. I think it was a pretty good improvement over last week. I'm still concerened about our lack of a running game. I'm not as concerened about our QB's. They will come around when it matters.

Chad

Justice Hog · Post by **Justice Hog** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 2:26 pm

I agree. If I had one "worry" about this team right now, it would be the running game. To me, however, "worry" is a strong word...because, let's face it, we're only at the 2nd game of the preseason. If we're still having problems in game #5....then I'll be worried.

hailskins666 · Post by **hailskins666** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 5:30 pm

i wasn't impressed. sloppy. but thats what should be expected of a second preseason game i guess.
i thought the D held up nicely. special teams also did well. coles is awesome, but we already knew that.
there were way to many penalties and sloppy play altogether. but thats ok, because i think we improved over mondays performance. as long as we get better each time out, its all good. My 2 cents

DEHog · Post by **DEHog** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 6:10 pm

I'm really impressed with the D...much improved of course they had the most room for improvement.
I really don't know what to say about Ramsey, he just doesn't look like a NFL QB to me. I hope I'm wrong but I just don't see him becoming the QB alot of people say he will be. The one repeated comment I've heard about him is he can take a beating...not what you want you QB to be known for. He just seems like he's playing at a different speed than everyone else.

gibbsfan · Post by **gibbsfan** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 7:41 pm

what i do like thru 2 games is the defense and special teams.
but all in all i,m not worried at all.ramsey is a bit confused at the moment.

tcwest10 · Post by **tcwest10** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 10:14 pm

He's falling back on the only thing he knows for sure.
The Fun'n Gun.
He needs to put in the plays that he's been told to. After all, weren't audibles to blame for the O-Line issues from the past two seasons ?

JPFair · Post by **JPFair** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 10:25 pm

The one thing that I would say now, is to the people that kept saying all along that PRam should be the starter. It is now more apparent than ever that Ramsey needs more time to develop. If anything, he should have hostility towards Spurrier for keeping him in such a system that didn't allow him to develop. Realistically, the last two years for Ramsey have been to waste. It's shown us nothing other than Ramsey can take a sack. Anyone that's said Ramsey should start this year, should now at least admit that Gibbs will have kept his word to make it an "open competition" and as a result of that "open competition", Brunell should start. To say that Ramsey should start on Sept 12, can only be coming from someone who is blinded by their like for Ramsey as opposed to what's best for the team.

This is all six pack talk, but it sure makes sense right now. Who knows what it'll be like in the morning!!

JP

NC43Hog · Post by **NC43Hog** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 10:35 pm

I thought the special teams played better - punt and kickoff coverage was good. Scott as a returner needs to run north/south instead of east/west and his last few returns were better when he did just that.

I am not worried about what we have seen from the running game other than I would like to see more Morton and Betts. When we say "These are Good", it will be a whole new attitude and I can't wait.

We made it through without major injuries and that was what I was most thankful for. Poor Baxter tho, but maybe he needs to change that number. :wink:

ii7-V7 · Post by **ii7-V7** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 7:05 am

YES! I really like the heart that Scott is displaying, but for goodness sakes, you don't get points for how long you can remain standing. Run FORWARD!

Chad

Redskins1974 · Post by **Redskins1974** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 9:15 am

tcwest10 wrote:He's falling back on the only thing he knows for sure.
The Fun'n Gun.
He needs to put in the plays that he's been told to. After all, weren't audibles to blame for the O-Line issues from the past two seasons ?

Actually, audibles are a part of Gibbs' offense as well. Jeff Bostic was talking about it on the pre or post game show on Saturday. However, he just needs to settle down a bit and develop. In the long run, I think he'll be fine but he's not winning this QB battle right now.