Just some random impressions on the first half of play: Offense - Alot of dink and dunk playcalling going on. I didn't expect them to open up the offense completely, but this really isn't much different from what we're used to. Fade pattern in the endzone. Sound familiar? Lot of motion and shifting going on, too. - Chad didn't look that impressive...still rusty, I suppose. Clemens, however, showed some good touch and plenty of velocity on the ball. He also managed the 2-minute offense well. - Adrian Jones sucks. Offensive line in general playing mediocre. Buccs defense really wrecked them on that red zone blitz that caused a fumble. - Houston > Blaylock. Blaylock tends to be abit hesitant before hitting the hole. Not very elusive as I thought he was. He got taken down in the open field by a LB who was already on his knees. Houston is bulldozing people left and right. IMO, he has a leg up on the competition at RB. Defense - Barton is playing very well. He was in on alot of plays, showed good recognition, and finished off tackles. - Vilma played abit underwhelmingly. Misread a run in the second quarter and got manhandled by blockers at times. - Strait starting at safety? I guess Erik Coleman is pretty behind from that injury. Rhodes is doing well...nice open field tackle in the 2nd quarter. - The first team front 7 inconsistent in generating pressure. They're also getting pushed back by the OL on run plays.
Pennington took a big hit and got up!! :up: The offense was what I expected...Quick throws, moving the chains, getting short gains, etc. The OLine looked alright...D'Brickashaw manned up against Simeon Rice pretty good, though it was only a series, so lets not get carried away... Coles solid...Good hands like always and loves his stiff arm...The run game is not looking good, not that the OLine isn't providing holes, just Blaylock and Houston are average, meaning the run game will be average at best... Overall I liked the offensive style... Defensively the 3-4 is definately a new look, haven't seen it in 6 years. Anyway...Nothing is set in stone, but Bryan Thomas in the middle and Barton on the outside I can deal with...DeWayne Robertson didn't penetrate enough, still a big question if he can be a NT...Ellis had some nice burst, good to see. Secondary pretty solid, Miller and Dyson look to be a formidable duo, with Miller playing closer to WR's, a big knock on him last year... Again, it's the 1ST pre-season game...So alot of improvement, practicing and coaching are needed, obviously...Their were some positives, along with negatives, but again, it's one game...
Sounds like we're rusty on both sides of the ball, which is what we should expect with a new team like this. We can only get better from here though... BTW, are we still wearing gay black cleats or did EM bring back the ole whites? hahahaha just wondering
I just got home to see Nugent get a 20 yd. FG - with some goal post help. How's it looking so far?! IT IS HERE (rubs hands together).
Cotchery is playing man i got to give it up.. Clemens looks awsome he is throwing darts. Eric smith is play well so far.. Trever johnson looks alot more fluid at LB . than thomas.
Vilma got swallowed up on a lot of plays. Exactly what I was affraid of with switching to a 3-4. Hope he works it out.
Clemens to Cotchery is the new Pennington to Coles :beer: Im not digging Jones at RT, I like him only as a temporary solution Both our QBs are doing pretty damn decent, Im rather surprised McCareins is just as useless as ever
totally agree on RB. As I posted last week, Houston and Wash should be our duo, and Blaylock should be moved/benched.
Overall we actually looked pretty good despite the score! Get Coles, Cotchery, Dwight the ball more and I think we are set. If I were Mangini I would rest Pennington next game and just let Clemens go first to see if that 2 minute drill was a fluke. The O-Line looked great (compared to last year). D'Brick looked great 1on1. One play in the 1st half he had to hold 2 guys and he did a great job of it. Mangold only looked sloppy on one play, but after that he kicked it into another gear and played solid the rest of the 1st half. Blaylock isn't a gamebreaker. Houston is still a solid power back. Can we see what Washington can do at RB now? Throw in some Brad Smith at WR for the 2nd half too! ::drunk::
also i think robertson is gonna be fine in this defense.. he is actaully demanding two blockers. playing well.
I liked what I saw with Houston so far. He didn't have the O-line Blaylock did (granted didn't face the same D either) but he looked powerful and quick to hit the hole. More powerful than we've seen in a while. We'll still have to see how he pans out, but he could be more than just someone to fill in until next year's draft.
HAH, Mangini looked annoyed as hell just now. Maybe the lights were in his eyes, but he looked like a he had a bug up his butt.
Robertsons play will be defined by how free Vilma is. If DRob does his job Vilma should be a tackling machine.
OK so what looks good and what looks bad about Chad? Is his arm strength appearing t be what it was? What caused his 5 imcompletiond...drope, underthrows, bad accuracy?
He looked ok. His velocity looked fine, but most of his throws were only around 10 yards or less, so it's hard to tell. Let's see his five incompletions were: -Had plenty of time on a pass over the middle but it sailed over the receivers head. -Incompletion on 3rd down, looked like a miscommunication with Coles. - His arm got hit from behind and he fumbled, picked it up and threw it away. -Had a pass tipped at the line -Threw a fade to Cotchery in the end zone that he caught but was out of bounds. For the first preseason game he was fine. You'd like to see him protect the football better, but a lot of that blame goes on the O-Line, and it is his first time facing real pass rushers since last September. He didn't throw deep at all, but if the offensive line doesn't get better in a hurry, he won't be doing it all year either.
