The Colts game will be the true test for Bowles. He had to win today to keep the team and fans slightly believing in him. Now he needs to keep it going next week. It's a long season. Fans seem to always make decisions on him game to game instead though. Today was a good game, at least.
A message about being stupid for fielding that punt right before the half that pinned them almost on the goal line. That's the kind of stuff that can really cost you. In this case it didn't but he needs to use his brain. Sitting him - if in fact Bowles did - for a play or series to impress this upon him is worth the risk.
I'd bench a guy for wiping his ass with the football but not for making the wrong decision on a punt return. If we're going to bench players for mental mistakes, Darnold for one is going to be sitting a lot.
Well it wasn't his first offense. Obviously less drastic measures hadn't gotten through so giving him a "time out" makes sense. Again, I don't know if that's what Bowles actually did - in fact, I'd be surprised if he did, and I think someone said that they were checking out his elbow or something - but if I were the coach, that's what I would've done.
I must have missed that play. Punt returning is one of the tougher tasks in football. Message or not, I would never put a rookie in over a veteran in a critical moment of the game.
Bowles inconsistencies continue. I think Bowles going forward needs to call the games on defense. Leonard Williams got a sack on a nice stunt, absolutely LOVED the way he used Williams. Have to wonder if Bowles, and Bates can put 2 together. My Coaching grades by week: WK1: A WK2: C- WK3: F WK4: D WK5: B+ Needs to start stringing together good coached games. Really good time management too, especially at the end of the first half. Only 4 penalties for 33 yards.
All moments are "critical" in a football game. But sometimes you need to take the longer view. If sitting him for a play or series prevents him from making a stupid decision that DOES cost them the game in the future it's worth it IMO. Imagine how that game might've turned out if he had fumbled that catch and the Broncos converted it into a TD right at the half? Quite possibly would've changed the outcome of the game - THAT'S a critical play. And another possibility is that Bowles wanted to see if the rookie had learned HIS lesson and could show better hands fielding a punt...sort of "kill tow birds with one stone": teach a lesson, and see if a lesson was learned. Again, I don't know if Bowles was thinking any of this, but I'm hoping he was.
I didn't hear for sure if Roberts was out due to injury concerns or for "lesson" purposes - I suspect the former actually. It would've been a first for Bowles to sit a guy for making a dumb mistake, but one can only hope.
I blame him for Cannon being the back up punt returner when the number 1 prerequisite to being a PR is being able to catch the punt under duress;Cannon just cant do it. Rather put brian winters back there if he can wave his hand for a fair catch & gain posession.Cannon is literally a fumble every single time
lol i hope he fixes his issue. maybe it's just nerves as a rookie as i like his explosiveness. but yeah at this point it makes more sense for the backup to enunwa or kearse and give them the "cochery" treatment of fair catching every ball. i mean cochery sucked as a returner but you knew he would never muff one.
Holy Hell, this thread is turning into remember when we were so so so so so happy about stuff/trades and quickly reverted to wanting to funnel Draino? @Cman60 , haha, remember being a Jets fan thread before the first major board crash? "The Jets. They're a Strychnine Cocktail, shaken, not stirred." I was also scrubbing myself down with Brillo and hosing myself off with gasoline on a daily basis. So many gems were lost.