St louis last uear. Sparano callEd this kind of game, Sanchez took 4 sacks in the first qtr, went 15 of 20 (75%) and didnt need to throw a pass in the last 9 minutes of that game. Thats why I was psyched when they brought in Marty.
Im a big MM fan. I think the biggest criticism most have against him from week 1 is the wildcat. Ill let that slide because we couldnt run the ball no matter what we did. Tampa's run D is tough so I dont blame him for trying the wildcat to see if he could move the ball on the ground. The only time I really hate it is on third and more than 2. I think he used it twice in a row too in the 1Q which I didnt like.
His use of the wildcat was absolutely atrocious. It came at the absolute wrong times and killed any momentum we had. It was as bad as Sparano. That said it may have it's place and I'm ok with that but not like he used it yesterday.
One question: why did we not run a single screen? WR screen, RB screen, ANYTHING. We have some speed in Powell and Kerley, hell even Gates! Does MM not trust the line enough to pull them for a screen? Not trust the WRs blocking? I dunno. Just seems like when the running game isn't working, and the wildcat isn't working either... find new ways to gain short yardage that doesn't involve a slant. It's week 1, I know, just thinking out loud.
That's what happens when you go up against the #1 rushing D in the league. Wait till we play a more mediocre running defense before calling our running game "a joke"
i think its great...they put pressure on the D and can tire them out. as long as they are executed properly and penalty free, its a great tool.
I was at the game, I honestly don't remember many until late in the game when Powell got involved more in the passing game. The pick to Ivory wasn't a screen. The dropped Ivory pass wasn't a screen. The big gainer to Bohannon wasn't a screen. Powell only had 4 receptions. And I don't remember a single WR screen.
I've watched plenty of Eagles games over the years as I live in the Philly market. Honestly, Mornhinweg's system can be very effective but the west coast offense was used to death in Philly, as they made McNabb chuck the ball 50 times a game when they needed to come back and they never ran the damn ball despite having a stud in Brian Westbrook and recently McCoy.
Unless the Wildcat is going to be more then the predictable run I don't want to see it incorporated into the game plan. I think MM will be the best thing for Geno and also a great asset for a head coach who hasn't got a clue about offense.
I assumed going into the game that we'd be throwing a shit ton of screen passes. Geno had been pretty successful with them in the preseason and Morningwood is known for using them. Apparently the Bucs had the same idea because the first screen pass that was setup was blown up and ready to be picked off. Geno smartly chucked it into the "dirt" at the feet of the receiver. Then it seemed they went away from it for a while ... they didn't come back to it until late in the game when the Bucs had probably forgotten all about all that preparation they had done for the screen passes. And they were effective. I thought Morningwood did an outstanding job with that.
It's the ability to get the QB in rhythm (play-calling) and scheme as well. It's not just one aspect.
The 3rd and short gimmick plays were definitely annoying. Give it to Ivory behind Vlad or Colon and let him earn his paycheck.
