Impressions

Well first off I'll start by saying that it was fun to finally witness a win for the first time in a longwhile. It's refreshing even though it is preseason, and gets damn boring near the end. There were a lot of positives but there are still some positions that looked shotty in my opinion.

First off, the offense had rhythm which is something we haven't seen in a long while. It's good to see that, however it's a bit of a downer, that the night where the offense looks in control Chad Pennington experiences family problems and has to leave to attend to them. It's not good for him or the first team offense to be working with another quarterback in a gametime atmosphere and getting used to him. I understand Chad had problems and I have no problem with him dealing with them. However you do have to look at this as an advantage to Ramsey and Bollinger in that they got to work with the first team.
I think the bottomline here is that Mangini and Schottenheimer either aren't showing the playbook or we're going to see something very bland this year. A generic offense so everybody can learn it. I doubt that though, I think they are going to put Pennington into easy completion situations early and let the different runningstyles dictate the chains.

I'm not going to say that the runningback position is shored up because it's not. Yes, Blaylock and Washington were impressive, a lot moreso then they were last week. But that doesn't mean that runningback will be good for any longer than a year. I think these three guys along with Askew sharing some carries, can get us through this year. I still do not see a longterm replacement because none of these guys are feature backs. Plain and simple and there's no way around it. It's tough to look ahead, but next years class is FILLED with complete tailbacks.
Runningback Positives
+ Blitz pickup
- Both Blaylock and Washington showed that despite their size and their bad game last week, they can pickup blitzes. They can't hold those blocks longs like a Curtis Martin can, but they throw their bodies at the blitzer appropriatley and got the job done.
+ Receiving
- Everyone proved they can catch the ball. Not that it was a big problem, but the wide receivers weren't given a chance to do much so seeing that most all of our guys can catch out of the backfield.
Runningback Negatives
+ Vision
- It's a lot easier said then done, but there were a couple of plays where Blaylock and Washington specifically questioned me with decision making. There was a wide open hole driving down the field in the second quarter for DB and he cut right into a blocker because he hesitated into the hole again.
+ Power
- I understand that none of these guys are bruisers, but I really don't think that this group is ever going to wear down a first string defense for an entire game. They can bounce outside and pickup yards, but I doubt they scare anyone, nor will they tire a defense as much as a true feature runner would.

The offensive line looked excellet for the most part. D'Brickashaw really seemed to be dominating Andre Carter for the extent of time that he was out there. I made it a point to zone in on him for the first quarter, and he gets off the line INCREDIBLY fast. Mangold can move, and Kendall always has been able to. I expect a lot of sweeps and such, because all these guys can block in the open field. They won't blow anyone off the line but they sure can work together.
Trench Positives
+ Unity
- They worked as a group, picked up blitzes as a group and really showed that they are comfortable together. It makes it a whole hell of a lot easier when you have a bunch of guys who communicate and block together then it is with a bunch of individual blockers.
+ Hustle
- Some lineman are flat out lazy and you can see it. I think Steve Morley is one of those guys which is why he's thankfully not a starter. He's a big oaf and moves like it. But everyone finished the play, and finished their blocks. Ferguson ran all the way down field on the Smith reverse to make a big block and take out the last defender that had a chance at Smith. On flat plays, Mangold was running has ass off to get to the play and block defensive backs. Very good thing to see out of a young line that just signed a couple of big contracts.
Trench Negatives
+ Tightend
- We're going to struggle here and it's very evident. I think they're doing their best to hide the weakness at the position, and it's a good thing its not a significant position. Because Baker and Jolley looked downright awful. Baker can't pickup a blitz and Jolley just can't block worth a damn. They both look like they have slow gamespeeds. I don't think Dreessen played much. I'm not saying we need a gamebreaker, but someone that can atleast block would take a hell of a lot of pressure off the tackles.
+ Young
- Most will say it was only the Archuletta sack, but some of them looked confused on some of Gregg Williams schemes, and I think he really took advantage of the young line, by throwing things at them they have never seen. They have tremendous upside, but for this season I think DC are going to reach deep to confuse them. That's where players like Pete Kendall and Anthony Clement can really help out.


As far as the defense goes, I really have no complaints. Bryan Thomas really doesn't look like much of a pass rusher, but he sure can make plays in the backfield and chase down running quarterbacks. I don't like him one on one with a tackle in a 3rd and long though.
DL Positives
+ Clogging holes
- For the most part, all of the linebackers could get to the ball and really use the key to the 3-4 defense which is everyone swarming to the ball. That might just be the key to defense, really. But Robertson was barely moved all game and while he didn't command two-three blockers on every play like a Jamal Williams and Casey Hampton did, he DIDN'T get pushed back, and he was able to penetrate. He's always been a good tackler, it's penetrating that's his problem.
DL Negatives
+ None that I really saw today.

I'm not going to make a chart for linebacker, or the defensive backfield because they all looked pretty good. My only thing to nitpick is Justin Miller. He really doesn't look ready to be an NFL corner, unless he's just giving so much room because he's in a deep zone. Luckily he can fly, so he gets to the receiver very quickly, but a lot of 7 yard routes were caught way in front of him, but he limited them because he can fly to the ball. That's not going to swing with the NFL's premier receivers. Kerry Rhodes looked a bit iffy in coverage a couple times too, mainly one on one. If we get into the situation where a safety has to cover I'd really prefer it be Coleman or Strait. Ballhawks like Rhodes usually don't adapt well one on one.

Vilma was getting to the ball well, which is really the key for this all working. He's the biggest playmaker we have on the field and if we're going to be successful it has to revolve around him. Undersized? Who cares if Oelhoffen, Ellis and Robertson do their jobs which they did. Barton is an animal as well, and I think we really lacked last year because he was hurt. He took away the weakside of the field and made them run at Ellis and Ferguson's side (when he was here) where they could stuff all day long. The loss of a true nose tackle like Ferguson, plus Barton absolutely killed us.

Thoughts?

 

It's really a shocker to me that none of the quarterbacks have really attempted to wow the coaching staff. It seems like Ramsey checked off to those quick wide receiver turn screen three or four times. He threw one pass thats actually a legit NFL pass and that's the play to Cotchery on the flare.

Bollinger can move the chains, but all he really does is check down or run a round. No one has attempted to make a good pass, it's all dink and dunk. The deep slant or streak to McCareins was about the only pass that we took down and the field and it was about a 15 yard pass. This team simply does not pass down field for some reason. Maybe they're saving it for the regular season, trying not to show their playbook and we can only hope that's the reason.

It'd be interesting to see what Brad Smith could do in an NFL situation as a quarterback. I know it won't happen, but you have to remember that this is preseason, and with no one sticking out to us at this point, it's damn near worth a shot.

 

We scored 3 points and lost to Tampa Bay... What are you talking about?