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Like I've always said, 5 games from now no one will remember OR care how good Drake was today, or how many sacks we allowed, or how we lost the TO battle 2-0. All that will be remembered will be, was it a win or loss. It was a win, and once again, style points don't matter. If we had beaten them by 2 or 3 scores, like we SHOULD have, we still only get one win.
This sloppy and imprecise game just gives Mike a TON of teaching points without the penalty of a loss. The main object of this thread will be to explore some of these "teaching points" and figure out how to get better. Let's begin.
1. I'll start with the thing that bothers ME the most. The offense has not scored a SINGLE point in the 4th quarter for the last FOUR games! The fact that we have won all 4 of those games is remarkable. I almost wish Romo made the kick, so Maye would have had the opportunity to have a 2minute drive to lead the offense to a game winning score at the end of the game.
That's an experience he NEEDS to get used to. It was Brady's most important attribute. You did NOT want Brady with the ball at the end of the game he just OOOZED confidence and that rubbed off on to his teammates and terrified his opponents. It takes both time and those winning experiences to create that kind of experience and confidence. Maye has had many of those experiences.
2. ... and then there are the 6 sacks. Now granted a couple of those "sacks" were for one-yard losses, but 11 sacks in 2 games is NOT a good look. I think I read somewhere that in half a season, he now has the same number of sacks he had all last year behind that horrible OL that has been replaced. Does that mean THIS years' OL is worse?
Of course not. Maye often had a LOT of time to throw deep. He threw for 250+ yds against a secondary that hadn't given up 200yds to any QB in their first 8 games. Sometimes you have to give credit to the opponent. They have a bunch of good young speed rushers and blitz more often than any other team in the league. So I'd rather focus on the 259 yds made and the 19 completions, than the 6 plays that didn't go as planned.
3. The 3rd concern is the Pass Rush, or lack thereof. We had just one sack, but there were I think a decent amount of pressures and it didn't look like we blitzed very much. However, IIRC, Atlanta, lost both of their OG's and I think their RT during the game, and yet our DL, with our 2 "all pro" DT's failed to generate much of inside rush against BACKUPS. We need some pass rush help, even more than help at S.
4. I think Boutte will be out for at least the next 2 games and that hurts. He and Maye had formed a great connection, but **** happens and we have been pretty lucky with injuries so far and one was bound to happen. I look at it as a opportunity to see what Williams has to offer. Most importantly he'll get the majority of first team practice snaps that he HASN'T gotten so far this season and a chance to develop a bit of chemistry with Maye. It won't happen instantaneously, but it WILL happen eventually, and we will see less of the confusion we saw on his 2 targets yesterday (I hope) Though I expect to see the WR junkies on fire for the next 2 days.
5. Coaching - There were a number of pluses on the coaching side. IIRC there were zero holds and presnap penalties during the course of the game. That not only made the game more enjoyable to watch, but it also showed that discipline is growing on both sides of the ball.
However, there are 2 areas of complaint, at least for me. One is with Zack and the lack of blitzing or creativity on the defensive side. I felt it was important to make Pennix feel uncomfortable and a few creative blitzes and the THREAT of blitzing would be important elements to this game. The Pats DID blitz, but only at their usual 20% rate, they didn't present many fake looks to make the QB speed up. That along with the lack of many individual wins allow Pennix to have some success, though a lot of his success were because of some REMARKABLE catches from his receivers, especially Drake London.
On the offensive side I have just one request. There were a couple of times where I would have liked to see a planned QB run play. That is ALWAYS a good option simply because it is the one play that gives the offense an extra blocker. We ran a speed option a couple of games ago that was successful. Maye is fast if not elusive. He is big and strong and has shown he can absorb his share of contact. So why not have one or two plays a game where you take advantage of that skill set, at the right time. And it is time to put our version of the tush-push to bed.
6. We probably won't hear much "Drake Maye MVP" talk this week, or the "Drake Maye Superstar" talk. He WASN'T flawless on his deep throws this week against a very good secondary. In a week where the great Patrick Mahomes threw for a less than 50% completion rate, Maye's 65% looked like a disaster compared to the unbelievable numbers he's put up during the first 5 games of this winning streak.
I don't think anyone is worried or concerned that the league is "catching up to him". His numbers were more than respectable and there were a few mitigating circumstances that affected his play, mostly the loss of Boutte, and the Atlanta secondary.
7. I took the time to watch Will Campbell closely at the start of most of the offensive snaps and when they did replays of any offensive plays and there wasn't a single pass play where he wasn't ALWAYS directly in front of the rusher. There were a couple of time where the defender bull rushed him back, but only once or twice and never for a sack. I also thought Wilson had a good game. It will be interesting to see the PFF scores for this week. (Which we all know are just indicators of how someone played and NOT statements of fact.) Campbell is a good one and was the right one for us. At the time, he wasn't my favorite choice, but I'm REAL glad we got him. We have our LT, and I look forward to his growth over the next decade.
8. As to the right side of the OL, I would say they are doing well in the run game as those numbers are up slightly. There were a number of times it DID look like the pressure was coming from there, including on the strip sack. It was easy for people to blame Owenu for that sack, but I'd like a second look to see if he missed him or was otherwise occupied and the sack was the result of well thought out stunt,
Moses has his limitations but has otherwise been pretty good overall. In other words, we got what we paid for, and he was a good FA signing, but one we need to upgrade in the near future. Owenu, has also been OK, but his contract is onerous. He was considered the top FA OG in that class, and we paid the market price for that signing. I can hear the Kraft boo birds crying their "cheap" talk if he HADN'T signed Duggar and Owenu.
9. Despite the amazing success we are having thus far, it IS important to remember we are still a rebuilding team, a good team, but rebuilding, nonetheless. So, DEPTH is going to be an issue and injuries ARE going to happen. We now move down to Tampa to face a good team who has shown the league how to deal with injuries and still be a winning team.
We will be underdogs for this one and the Rodney Harrison in me rises to the task in joy.
10. There were very few flags this week and the game just flew by and was SOOOOO much more enjoyable to watch. I hope the league noticed it and will instruct the officials accordingly. I want the refs to call fouls when the play was actually affected by the action. Don't call a hold on a player across the field from the throw. Don't call a PI on an uncatchable ball. Go back to letting player ask line judges, "am I OK?" Anything that promotes FEWER flags not more. JMHO
11. Have to say that I rooted for the Bills last night. Yes, it would have allowed more of a margin of error for us to win the division, but I DON'T want to see KC in the superbowl again, and this loss will just make it harder for them.
We have 3 games we will probably be underdogs left. Tampa, Baltimore, and the Bills. And I hope while all those games are winnable, GB's loss at home to the Panthers, should warn us that for those 5 games we will be favored, are also losable if we don't play our best.
12. The trade deadline. Sad to see JPhillips was just sent to Philly, I thought he was the perfect kind of guy to add, thought it was unrealistic that Miami would trade with us and have to see him twice a year.
Today and tomorrow will see a ton of trades, I hope we will make one and I hope it's an edge player who has the chance to make a difference. At any rate there will be a lot to talk about this week about what will happen the next 2 days plus the Tampa game. Busy week ahead.
13. And my usual warning about Turnovers. If we don't do a better job of turning the ball over, we will be making our lives SOOOO much more difficult. 0-2 is a hard stat to overcome.
Alright, sorry for the delay, I literally fell asleep at the wheel last night.
This sloppy and imprecise game just gives Mike a TON of teaching points without the penalty of a loss. The main object of this thread will be to explore some of these "teaching points" and figure out how to get better. Let's begin.
1. I'll start with the thing that bothers ME the most. The offense has not scored a SINGLE point in the 4th quarter for the last FOUR games! The fact that we have won all 4 of those games is remarkable. I almost wish Romo made the kick, so Maye would have had the opportunity to have a 2minute drive to lead the offense to a game winning score at the end of the game.
That's an experience he NEEDS to get used to. It was Brady's most important attribute. You did NOT want Brady with the ball at the end of the game he just OOOZED confidence and that rubbed off on to his teammates and terrified his opponents. It takes both time and those winning experiences to create that kind of experience and confidence. Maye has had many of those experiences.
2. ... and then there are the 6 sacks. Now granted a couple of those "sacks" were for one-yard losses, but 11 sacks in 2 games is NOT a good look. I think I read somewhere that in half a season, he now has the same number of sacks he had all last year behind that horrible OL that has been replaced. Does that mean THIS years' OL is worse?
Of course not. Maye often had a LOT of time to throw deep. He threw for 250+ yds against a secondary that hadn't given up 200yds to any QB in their first 8 games. Sometimes you have to give credit to the opponent. They have a bunch of good young speed rushers and blitz more often than any other team in the league. So I'd rather focus on the 259 yds made and the 19 completions, than the 6 plays that didn't go as planned.
3. The 3rd concern is the Pass Rush, or lack thereof. We had just one sack, but there were I think a decent amount of pressures and it didn't look like we blitzed very much. However, IIRC, Atlanta, lost both of their OG's and I think their RT during the game, and yet our DL, with our 2 "all pro" DT's failed to generate much of inside rush against BACKUPS. We need some pass rush help, even more than help at S.
4. I think Boutte will be out for at least the next 2 games and that hurts. He and Maye had formed a great connection, but **** happens and we have been pretty lucky with injuries so far and one was bound to happen. I look at it as a opportunity to see what Williams has to offer. Most importantly he'll get the majority of first team practice snaps that he HASN'T gotten so far this season and a chance to develop a bit of chemistry with Maye. It won't happen instantaneously, but it WILL happen eventually, and we will see less of the confusion we saw on his 2 targets yesterday (I hope) Though I expect to see the WR junkies on fire for the next 2 days.
5. Coaching - There were a number of pluses on the coaching side. IIRC there were zero holds and presnap penalties during the course of the game. That not only made the game more enjoyable to watch, but it also showed that discipline is growing on both sides of the ball.
However, there are 2 areas of complaint, at least for me. One is with Zack and the lack of blitzing or creativity on the defensive side. I felt it was important to make Pennix feel uncomfortable and a few creative blitzes and the THREAT of blitzing would be important elements to this game. The Pats DID blitz, but only at their usual 20% rate, they didn't present many fake looks to make the QB speed up. That along with the lack of many individual wins allow Pennix to have some success, though a lot of his success were because of some REMARKABLE catches from his receivers, especially Drake London.
On the offensive side I have just one request. There were a couple of times where I would have liked to see a planned QB run play. That is ALWAYS a good option simply because it is the one play that gives the offense an extra blocker. We ran a speed option a couple of games ago that was successful. Maye is fast if not elusive. He is big and strong and has shown he can absorb his share of contact. So why not have one or two plays a game where you take advantage of that skill set, at the right time. And it is time to put our version of the tush-push to bed.
6. We probably won't hear much "Drake Maye MVP" talk this week, or the "Drake Maye Superstar" talk. He WASN'T flawless on his deep throws this week against a very good secondary. In a week where the great Patrick Mahomes threw for a less than 50% completion rate, Maye's 65% looked like a disaster compared to the unbelievable numbers he's put up during the first 5 games of this winning streak.
I don't think anyone is worried or concerned that the league is "catching up to him". His numbers were more than respectable and there were a few mitigating circumstances that affected his play, mostly the loss of Boutte, and the Atlanta secondary.
7. I took the time to watch Will Campbell closely at the start of most of the offensive snaps and when they did replays of any offensive plays and there wasn't a single pass play where he wasn't ALWAYS directly in front of the rusher. There were a couple of time where the defender bull rushed him back, but only once or twice and never for a sack. I also thought Wilson had a good game. It will be interesting to see the PFF scores for this week. (Which we all know are just indicators of how someone played and NOT statements of fact.) Campbell is a good one and was the right one for us. At the time, he wasn't my favorite choice, but I'm REAL glad we got him. We have our LT, and I look forward to his growth over the next decade.
8. As to the right side of the OL, I would say they are doing well in the run game as those numbers are up slightly. There were a number of times it DID look like the pressure was coming from there, including on the strip sack. It was easy for people to blame Owenu for that sack, but I'd like a second look to see if he missed him or was otherwise occupied and the sack was the result of well thought out stunt,
Moses has his limitations but has otherwise been pretty good overall. In other words, we got what we paid for, and he was a good FA signing, but one we need to upgrade in the near future. Owenu, has also been OK, but his contract is onerous. He was considered the top FA OG in that class, and we paid the market price for that signing. I can hear the Kraft boo birds crying their "cheap" talk if he HADN'T signed Duggar and Owenu.
9. Despite the amazing success we are having thus far, it IS important to remember we are still a rebuilding team, a good team, but rebuilding, nonetheless. So, DEPTH is going to be an issue and injuries ARE going to happen. We now move down to Tampa to face a good team who has shown the league how to deal with injuries and still be a winning team.
We will be underdogs for this one and the Rodney Harrison in me rises to the task in joy.
10. There were very few flags this week and the game just flew by and was SOOOOO much more enjoyable to watch. I hope the league noticed it and will instruct the officials accordingly. I want the refs to call fouls when the play was actually affected by the action. Don't call a hold on a player across the field from the throw. Don't call a PI on an uncatchable ball. Go back to letting player ask line judges, "am I OK?" Anything that promotes FEWER flags not more. JMHO
11. Have to say that I rooted for the Bills last night. Yes, it would have allowed more of a margin of error for us to win the division, but I DON'T want to see KC in the superbowl again, and this loss will just make it harder for them.
We have 3 games we will probably be underdogs left. Tampa, Baltimore, and the Bills. And I hope while all those games are winnable, GB's loss at home to the Panthers, should warn us that for those 5 games we will be favored, are also losable if we don't play our best.
12. The trade deadline. Sad to see JPhillips was just sent to Philly, I thought he was the perfect kind of guy to add, thought it was unrealistic that Miami would trade with us and have to see him twice a year.
Today and tomorrow will see a ton of trades, I hope we will make one and I hope it's an edge player who has the chance to make a difference. At any rate there will be a lot to talk about this week about what will happen the next 2 days plus the Tampa game. Busy week ahead.
13. And my usual warning about Turnovers. If we don't do a better job of turning the ball over, we will be making our lives SOOOO much more difficult. 0-2 is a hard stat to overcome.
Alright, sorry for the delay, I literally fell asleep at the wheel last night.
