ColdBlueNorth

Will the defense get a stop - once today?

Maybe Trent needs to be down 30 points to get going

This O-Line is 2 years away from being average

Maybin....Maybin... ehhh Maybin??

I didn't want this team to rebuild, but what's the point of watching this crap Goodbye Jauron.

Actually... not too much looks good

run defense looks really bad

Trent has got to get better at getting the ball out faster... he is still off by a few seconds. By the time he sees the play he is already late delivering the ball. I feel like he switched brains with Bledsoe - you can't have a 4 second mental clock in a 3 second league. Our wideouts should see that ball when they make their break. I mentioned this in a post that got buried, but with DBs playing 10-12 yards off our WRs Evans and Terrell should be able to drive them back and when they turn break for the sidelines. That play would be there all day if Trent could get the ball quick enough and hard enough to hit those out patterns... before the receiver is out of bounds.

Just some of my thoughts that may have already been addressed by others that sat through that terrible offensive performance. Trent has been consistently late on the short out throws, inaccurate on many of his deep throws, does not read the middle well, and when given an embarrassing amount of time to find an open man - he either throws it away or checks down. He isn't the only problem on this team, but he is certainly not acting like the cure for our QB woes. The line did play poorly yesterday, and Trent never did find a rythm. That, and Hangartner kept hiking the ball at Trent's laces. Perhaps that is the biggest problem - the O-line. We have to expect growing pains there, you cannot start that many rookies and not expect a learning curve. All that being said, Trent does have some noticeable bad habits. Even when Trent does have time his tendancies are already well-documented and defensive coaches are picking up on them. He cannot hit the quick outs with any consistency (they play their DBs off by 10 yards with impunity). Receivers like Lee Evans and Terrell should be able to drive a DB playing off them deep and when he turns exploit the sideline route. That should be automatic until the DB move up and are forced to play honest. He does not see the middle of the field (they roll the safeties over the top and drop their linebackers just enough to cover his coveted shallow routes). The middle of the field has to be open. If they feel that they can exploit our young offensive line and that Trent will just hurl prayers and rainbows downfield, Owens and Lee will see more single-coverage with safeties and corners blitzing off the edge. Also we will face many more stunts and twists. Heck, if I was a defensive coach I would do it until Trent can prove he can actually hit his hot reads or intermediate routes. It's a gamble that you make that you will get to Trent before he gets set to throw. With the inexperience on our line I would take that bet any day. It's all about reaction time and Trent has not shown that he can quickly read a defense and get the ball where it needs to be when the receiver makes his break - it is always a second or 2 off. The receiving yards are there for the taking folks we need a QB that can take them. If I was AVP it would be a whole lot of Edwards film time where he can see all the yards he left on the field, and then a whole week of hitting quick timing outs, hot reads, and intermediate TE plays where Trent has to hit the receiver when the receiver makes his break. That is all I would focus on, while the O-Line coach goes over the back to school program with the rooks on the line. And shotgun snapping 101 for Geoff Hangartner. The other thing I would throw in is some designed rollouts for Trent with Evans or Terrell coming across the field to the side of the bootleg. Pittsburg runs that a lot when DBs are playing way off the receivers and Ward has made a living on that route. That would also force defensive coordinators to stunt less and keep D-Linemen at home if they have to be concerned with containing the outside bootleg plays. A lot of these issues are correctable, but Trent may just not have what it takes - the jury is still out, but AVP has to know whether Trent can do the job or not by now - he was the QB coach before taking on the OC role. Just my thoughts... and I didn't say a freaking thing about the play of Bryd and not a single nuance about cutting any rookies after they have only put in a few games.

Nice breakdown. I thought folks were doing the classic "fly too close to the sun thing" when we won against a poor TB squad and I was being labeled as negative. I was only trying to keep on an even keel about the team and where they were really at. The only things I would add are: 1. Our defense played really well, but got gashed in the second half of the game - I think they either ran out of gas or ran out of hope after DJ punted on 4-1. Also teams are running over Maybin where he lines up - most TEs can man-handle him at this stage (he is still playing too light for the position). 2. Schobel and Kyle have come out of the gate strong, and we have had several Kelsay sightings this year. 3. Florence had a terrific game. 4. Hangartner was abysmal on shotgun snaps - Trent had to pick about 15 snaps off of his laces (that should have been corrected early in the game). 5. Trent is still a second and a half off of critical sideline throws. Balls are being dropped, juggled, or caught out of bounds not because our receivers are not open on the routes, but rather because Trent is too slow getting the ball there when they break towards the sideline. On a critical play late in the game Owens did a quick out, but had to slowly jog towards the sideline as Trent threw it too late and out of bounds. Those quick outs were there all day - something has to be done to correct this. If DBs are going to play 10 yards off of Lee and Terrell, with safety help over top, those outs and comeback routes should be there all day. If nothing else we need to throw in a wide receiver screen if they are playing that far off our guys. 6. Eric Wood had a rough outing, quite a few calls going his way - not sure about the tripping call, that looked like he just did a legal (i think - they keep changing the rules) cut block on their D. 7. The offensive line looked waay green trying to pick up stunts. The Titans did some twists that overloaded the middle of the line and they worked well and caused some of the afore mentioned holding calls on Wood. Thought our backs picked up many of the stunts and blitzers when kept in, but when afforded opportunity Trent was indecisive or inacurate. Thought that Trent looked more at ease when rolling out - AVP should design some of those to use on teams that overload the middle on D. 8. Fine is not very good as a pass-catching TE, either Nelson has to heal in a hurry or Edwards needs to practic throwing to Stupar. 9. Edwards arm strength and accuracy are still in question when the wind and weather kick in at the Ralph and the weather is likely to get worse. 10. 4-1 and punt, down two scores with a little over 3 minutes to play and your defense already gassed. - totally gutless call that made absolutely no sense. DICK there is no 5th quarter, TAKE YOUR SHOT AT WINNING A GAME!!! A true head-scratcher and a not-to-gentle reminder that Dick seems to care more about how bad the score will look in the upcoming loss than trying to get a victory. Totally fell on his sword there. I ask you, how can a team develop a winning attitude when they are coached to accept losing? 11. 4th and twenty-something and Trent checks down to a 3 yard throw - WTF? Mirror's the head coach's philosophy of trying to get another meaningless reception rather than take a chance. The offense looked really bad, but unlike some I am not going to crucify the O-Line. We have a ton of youth on the line and Greg Williams did a lot to expose them. They will get better. Trent however, I am much more worried about. He is showing traits that I keep hoping are correctable, but this is his third year and he needs to correct them now. We have rookie QBs in the league who are outplaying him in his 3rd year, and I do not want to hear about the time lost to injury. Get the ball out there when the receiver makes his break, and hit the deep routes. Those quick outs and slants were there all day for a quick 6-7 yard gain, but he has to get the ball there quicker. You do that enough then the DBs have to play up on your WR and Terrell and Lee excel at releasing off the line and getting separation when cornerbacks play up on them.

4th down and long Captain Check down does his thing

WTF with the low snaps all day!!!!!

Great call Dick

What happened to the QB sneak... anything... we can't get 1 freaking yard.

Roscoe thought he could jump over that dude... denied.

You can see the defense just give up after the offense blew that last series.

You can take that one to the bank. Hurl it and pray is not going to work.

they are playing way off the wide outs. A wide receiver screen might work well. We need to incorporate something if other teams are going to lay off our wideouts 10 yards.

that's the youth showing through... straight up run blocking they do fine, but they are getting schooled on pass protection. What happened to our screen plays?? Maybe we can slow down the blitz and rush

Kelsay... has he finally turned the corner??? Fire one defensive line coach, create a bunch of players out of the proverbial scrap heap of "non-impact" players. Makes you wonder.....

Steve is a player Hardy hasn't done anything but prove he can take up a roster spot or land on IR.

That is great news Doc! Edwards should feel good about that.

As an outlet Jackson is there and possibly Reed (if he is healthy at gametime), but I would really like to see Edwards get very comfortable throwing to Nelson. Nelson can make a big difference on this team, although he still has to polish up his blocking. At least the kid is coachable and is putting a lot of effort into the blocking area, he is already a natural at running and catching the ball. Too bad he got hurt, but I hope he is ready to go this game, we will need some game-breaking plays.

ouch... perhaps he meant simply that we were supposed to have a strong pass defense, an allusion to the myriad of high draft choices spent on cornerbacks and safeties, and on Maybin - the pass rusher.

Cool. He and Scott are close in size, and George has had 50+ tackles in limited action over the last 2 years, but I do think Scott is more hard-nosed at the line of scrimmage. I guess I would rather see Whitner out there - when he is on his game. Bryd is 5-10, but I will leave him alone - I already got stoned for saying he was too green to be starting. At the very least George makes me feel better about our depth at the position.