Studs Breeeece - Looks great already. doesn't look like the injury is bothering him and seems to be in game shape again flying by people. another 70+ yard TD run and 194 total yards on 25 touches. Zach - I know his stats aren't "studly" and that the offense kicked 5 Fgs 4 of which from the red zone IIRC but these last 2 weeks he looks like a different player. he's efficient. he's hitting the "gimme" throws and making some good downfield throws but most importantly he's staying in the pocket and stepping up to buy time while keeping his eyes downfield and going through progressions. no more spinning out and running backwards 20 yards. he's also using his legs too for positive yards. I'm not even going to fault the INT. he threw a 50/50 ball at our top WR and the CB (who's top 3 in the NFL) made a play Quincy - really stepped it up this year. what a find by JD. plus he extended him so we have him for 3 more years at 6 mil a season. an absolute steal. he's playing like a top 5 LBer in the NFL right now. had 2 sacks including the game winning strip sack on the final drive O-line - run came was cooking and zach had time in the pocket. big props to mitchell who stepped in for AVT. sadly it seems like AVT is done for the year. even billy turner held his own for a few snaps when becton missed a couple of plays. Bryce Hall - with reed and echols out he went from CB5 to starter and he held his own. Denvers got some good WRs too in sutton and jeudy. even had the game winning scoop and score. Greg the leg - 5/5 on FGs Huff - constant pressure, another sack, and another forced safety on a penalty EDIT: Morestead - another great day punting. dude is just money. there is a reason he's done it for 20 years Conk - was our leading receiver and made some tough catches. also had the 1 good run after the catch where he refused to go down. Duds Injury Luck - can't believe we lost AVT. most indications are achillies. Gipson - rookie had a tough game trying to field punts red zone offense - we moved the ball well, but couldn't get a TD in the red zone at all and had to settle for FGs
Zach fumbled twice which could've been a killer, so I can't put him in the stud category(he wasn't a dud, just efficient enough).
Agreed on the interception. Bounced off Wilson’s hands and the best corner in the league was draped all over him. I don’t like the play selection though. I would’ve liked to see some sort of crossing routes or stops or pretty much anything but that play. I get trusting your guys but the Broncos defense is horrible and we went after their All-Pro.
I thought the studs were Breece, Conklin, both kickers, and the second half defense as a whole. I get our bar is pretty low though.
I can't call Zach a stud. Five FGs gets it done against a trash team, but they need to put up some TDs against a good team. Didn't lose the game, so I don't have him as a dud or anything. He's improving for sure. He's over 60% CMP for the season, which is pretty cool. Agree with the rest though.
I don't see how ZW is a stud--we're lucky he didn't lose any of the 2 or 3 fumbles he committed--he missed open guys as per Matt Ryan. We lose if those fumbles go a different way. So because his fumbles weren't lost he's a stud? Not even close--what are you smoking?
I explained why. he looks like an actual QB out there. it's a stepping stone. he's not making the awful mistakes he's made the past 2 years. he completed 73% of his passes and had 7.65YPA. thats where herbert is at for the season and he's 6th best. zach was efficient and he got the job done. the offense was moving. we were over 400 yards of offense for the 1st time in quite a while. it's not impressive NFL wide, but it's better then we expected
You didnt address the fumbles tho--or the halftime fiasco. These could have cost the game very easily. We got lucky. I agree hes not the utter train wreck we've become accustomed to but he's not a winning solution at this time--he's getting better but he could have lost that game single handednly by those fumbles--Ryan spoke of it and he knows what hes talking about--the play is over--hold onto the damn ball.
OP. Thank you for doing this, as always. My two cents. Zach was decent but far from consistent enough. Neither a stud nor a dud. His two potential fumbles and the brain dead play to end the half does not merit him a Stud rating.. I also blame the CS for that lack of awareness on that play calling that cost us a field goal. Inexcusable. Defense was a stud up front and Quincy is awesome. But in between the 20 yard lines our coverage in the middle is piss poor. Sauce once again is showing he can not catch a gifted ball for an interception (twice). not the Sauce vintage of last year. Offense in the red zone is quite piss poor. Biggest first half dud for me. Game preparation and Coaching. We always start the game flat footed and without any killer instinct on both sides of the ball. We just get rolled and our O is super vanilla. Honorable mention. Becton hang in there hurt multiple times. He is coming along slowly but happy for his commitment to the team.
Becton gave up an ugly sack and committed 3 penalties before he got hurt. The dude gets honorable mention for drive killer.
I thought Becton was pretty bad yesterday as well. Idunno how he could earn any praise for that game.
I cursed Zach on the INT but looking at it again it wasn't a bad throw...it wasn't 1 guy in triple coverage...it was 1-on-1 and Surtain made a great play. The throw could have been better...and Wilson, if he turns around, would have seen it and at least deflected it. If anything, I question the call there. Probably should have just setup the FG. At the end of the 1st Half....the entire team needed to run up to the line as soon as the ball was caught, not when the receiver got closer to the middle of the field. Again, who called that play ?
Yah…I’m on this general trend as well Firstly, thanks for doing these each week…I love reading them and they make for some great discussion…so wanted to say that first and foremost That being said, I don’t see Zach as a stud yesterday…he was “OK”…he made several mistakes…he threw a pick and fumbled multiple times, he didn’t throw a TD. So sure, he has improved some from last year, but he did not have a great game yesterday…good enough to win backed by a strong D that had some weak moments but closed it in the end, and backed up by an incredible day from Breece. But the only two wins we have this year are when everyone else around him balls out…with Buffalo it was the D and the punt return…with Denver it was the D and Breece…so sure, if he doesn’t totally fuck it up with multiple picks and shit, we will win a few games, but this is not a bankable formula for the year…we just gotta hope he keeps improving so that at SOME point, HE becomes the reason we win instead of just being able to say he didn’t fuck it up. But back to yesterday, which is what we’re talking about here, I just don’t see him as a stud…he wasn’t a dud totally (though with the pick, no TD’s, the botch at the end of the first half, and the inability to score TDs in the red zone, I think we can make an argument that he was closer to dud than stud…but I’ll just say he did ok….we won, so that’s the main thing.
You took the words right out of my keyboard! It will probably surprise some posters that I would argue against naming Zach a "stud", but the fact is he wasn't. He was about a C- in my own estimation - good enough to move the offense at times and get the W, but he made some mistakes that could've cost the game. Settling for FGs has to stop. Saleh and Hackett have to change their mindset and quit being so willing to back off when they get in the RZ. People will of course blame that on Zach, but to me it's more a case of "Chicken or Egg": Are they conservative because they don't trust Zach to throw the ball, or does Zach not throw the ball because that's the plays they call? Regardless, they need to get more aggressive if they want to put up points.
Well I think it’s both. It’s pretty clear they don’t trust him to put the ball in his hands in the red zone. Or at least they trust Breece more. and that was proven yesterday, right? They put the ball in his hands at the end there and he threw a pick. While I agree it wasn’t really a terrible throw, and going to GW is almost always going to be the right call, but the end result is what it is. They put the ball in his hands and he threw a pick. They need to get more creative in the red zone…this run on first and second and hope Zach can make a throw on third down hasn’t worked yet, and it likely won’t work going forward. They need to mix it up…how about some play action on first…how about a rollout where Zach can either take an easy throw or just run it….they need to try some of that stuff. So a little of both…some predictable playcalling isn’t helping, but that meaningless throw at the end of the half…we were already well in FG range…a pro QB HAS to know that a dumpoff like that doesn’t really mean anything…I like taking the play…but either throw it into the end zone or into the stands if nothing is there. That’s on him. He just HAS to know that.
About Zach I'll say this in his defense: when he had to execute the hurry up offense, he was very good. Two steps back and boom completion. He was also pretty good operating out of the spread. Now for the bad: when under center and dropping back, he was typical Zach. He just seems confused about where to go with the ball, holds it way too long and that's where he seems to get in trouble. In contrast watching Tua yesterday, he doesn't hesitate a bit when he drops back. He knows exactly who the play is designed for and just fires the ball. It's a telling stat that the only TD the Jets got (besides the fumble recovery at the end) was from 72 yards out despite being in the red zone numerous times. Some posts blame the CS for not being aggressive and going for it. No, taking the 3 was the right call in a close game like this. However, you can't expect to win in the NFL settling for FG's.
for halftime, its more on the receiver (I think it was uzo IIRC) it's their job to run the route and have a spot they can get to OOB. it's not like he was blanketed. he had room, he just got caught by a faster player. it's the Qbs job to hit one of the outside guys. I'm more inclined to blame that on uzo but it did cost us 3 points. for 1 fumble, it was 3rd and 21. he had 0 time. looks like we tried to set up a screen but D was all over it. yeah he shouldn't have fumbled that, but he got right on it and saved the turnover so he fixed his own mistake. I can't remember the exact scenario of the 2nd fumble. I think he was scrambling for a 1st down?
