BT might have been the best player on the defense Monday night, and that says an awful lot. That was probably the best game of his career. He was torching the Baltimore OL and was in the backfield, and after Flacco all night long. He also played great against the run. If he manages to maintain that level of intensity this whole season, we might actually have a damn good pass rush, without blitzing 6-7 guys with Taylor BT and Pace in a rotation.
I wasn't so high on Jason Taylor. Although I liked the penetration he got on a couple of short yardage run plays, that's not why we brought him in. We brought him in as a situational pass rusher, and after re-watching the game yesterday, I didn't notice him putting much if any pressure on the QB.
If Thomas wasn't gassed he for sure would have returned that fumble for a touchdown with his 4.47 40 yard dash speed. (Granted now that's probably in the 4.7 range after getting older and putting on some weight) But you could see the way he collapsed on the field after that run. Once we get Pace back that should give him some needed plays off.
He's been excellent for us this year. I'm glad he's on the team. I really thought he was a bust back when we drafted him as an end but I was wrong.
He's still a bust IMO based on his draft spot. He's a solid not spectacular player and I like him at OLB for us, but he was drafted as a pass rush specialist in the mold of a J Abraham and hasn't fit the bill. He played good today, but like I said earlier, he won't be having games like Week 1 regularly.
Two weeks, two solid performances. I still love that he got better after giving up Mark Gastineau's number.
