I could have sworn he had at least 2 TFL but the box score says 0 - maybe I just remembered wrong? Didn't he wrap up a couple of guys behind the LOS?
I think he initiated contact past the line of scrimmage, and his tackles pushed the ball carriers back behind the LOS. But since forward progress is what counts, its not a TFL.
I guess that must have been what it was. In any case, it was a very impressive outing for AA and a really welcome surprise after all of the CB concerns heading into the season.
Id rather him move back to safety for that extra hat in the box and taking dudes out drifting out of the backfield...remember guys, these are the raiders recievers, while not slouches they are not the eliete we are about to see the coming weeks. especially againt the bears who love to screen to Forte. He's still better suited sniffing out BS and cracking dudes over the middle despite his efforts today. Yall already trust this guy covering a Nelson or Marshall down the line in jumpball situations? that said, great game though.
I'm not thrilled about Milliner so yeah I would like to see more of Allen as a CB. It seems we have enough talent at safety (Landry/Pryor/etc).
Seeing Allen shut down Gronk in the past gave me great confidence in this kid and so I gave Rex the benefit of the doubt when he repositioned him. A small sample size but A.A. has proven to be capable at defending passes and an excellent tackler. Maybe we've caught lightning in a bottle here. Interested to see how he plays these next few weeks.
He actually matches up well on jump balls, there's a reason he covered tightends last year. He's worse suited against small laterally quick guys rather than the big physical guys on the outside go get the ball routes.
My guess is he will be our starting corner opposite Milliner for most of the year, although he may move inside and matchup vs Gronk while we slide Walls outside. I think that is the best way to keep our best players on the field.
I've been higher on him than most after watching him more than hold his own against Gronk last year, albeit returning from injury and likely a bit rusty at the time. Playing that well at CB this quick was definitely a surprise even against Oakland and a rookie QB, but I still feel like he has more potential as a safety. The trouble is he also pretty clearly has more upside than Walls at CB, but personally I'd rather see Landry off the field rather than Walls off the field until proven otherwise. Good to have options though either way, I just hope Rex doesn't waste a potentially well above average safety career because he wanted to plug a leak and make an average corner out of him. I really didn't get all the bitching about the backfield though after Pryor was drafted. Obviously he was going to be able to come in and do good things right away, Milliner has all kinds of potential and Allen had good potential coming into the season. Wilson is certainly at least an average slot corner and Walls is a crapshoot but looked like he might work out ok. That's 3 key young guys out of 4 backfield starting positions and a few options to mix and match to hopefully keep CB2 (or SS if Allen is starting CB2 for the year) from being a disaster. Even good to top defenses will often have one weak link out of 4 starting backfield players, and the front 7 is so good it's going to minimize weakness in the backfield against all but maybe the very best offenses.
Completely agree. The whole "CB Crisis" was a bunch of garbage. With our front 7, Rex is never going to use more then 5 defensive backs on the field at one time anyways. Allen, Milliner, Landry, Walls, Pryor, and Wilson are our 6 guys. That is more then serviceable, that's actually pretty damn solid. Now consider that our D-Line is the best in the league and will force QB's to throw much sooner then they want (and are used to), and an average secondary could look like a great secondary. It's similar to great QB's making their receivers look better, and great WR's making their QB's look better. It's basically Seahawks in reverse (Which is ironic because of Idzik). Their front 7 is pretty solid but that secondary makes them look great since the QB has to hold the ball much longer.
That tackling all around was amazing but in particular Allen. Obviously they will have a much bigger test this coming week but Allen was a great.
was nice to see such sure tackling at the corner. suppose that is the benefit of putting a S out there. nice game by Allen, but i'm not comfortable with him running downfield defending receivers solo. almost always will need a S deep to his side, which reduces our numbers game. maybe he can evolve into a true corner, but there will be growing pains first. yesterday was a positive step.
I like the idea of being able to play him wherever we might need him in a given game. If the Packers try to put Jordy Nelson in the slot to get him away from Milliner (if he plays) Allen has experience in that part of the field and can cover Nelson if it suits us. If teams have top receiving TE's he can cover them pretty well. Once Milliner is back we can even use him on some corner blitzes, he's considerably better at it that Wilson is. Versatility is never a bad thing.
Derrick Carr actually complete around 20 passes which not that shabby. The secondary just did a great job wrapping up immediately and keeping the play in front of them only giving up short passes
