When watching games, I generally only have three or four things that I think are relevant enough to mention and I know that sometimes those overlap with what colleagues have written, or members have posted. My list is longer this week, containing at least nine bullet points that I want to bring up and discuss. So, in no particular order, here are a bunch of things that caught my attention compared to the Steelers.
John Madden said “If you have two QBs, you have nothing.” What if you have five LBs in a system that only uses two? If Davis-Gaither, Carlies, Ajiake, Boettcher, and Allen are all finding their way on the field, just answer me why? Sure, they’re all basically new to the system, but are you trying to get the right person for every situation? I’ll be honest, I was in favor of moving on from Franklin. I thought we were going to keep Pratt to have a veteran. Simply put, this is a bad unit, lacking the instincts of good NFL LBs.
LB problems lead to the next observation/gripe that you can’t win if you don’t face it. Old timers will tell you that the basics of the game are blocking and handling and it holds water. The tone was set with Warren’s (their) 80 yard reception. A missed tackle by Boettcher and no interest in picking up Metcalf, let alone a ball carrier in the secondary, saw him largely untouched. Bad angles, arm grabs and attempts to knock someone down are all too common an occurrence. In my humble opinion, tackling is about 100% effort, and it looks like we’re being given about 50%.
If blocking and tackling are the basics, I thought we’d pass blocked, but what’s wrong with run blocking? JT is obviously a great RB, so why hasn’t he gotten 100 yards in a game, since London last year? There was some more talk about playing from under center, but those attempts didn’t go well Sunday either. I will speak profanity, saying that JT’s “patience” that he is famous for, sometimes has to be changed to hitting the hole with the best chance to be there, and hitting it quickly.
My pass blocking record is good enough, causing another concern. We have a cleaner pocket, but still a lot of passes are from retreat mode, instead of stepping up to the throw. I know it’s necessary at times and you can’t be a good QB if you don’t have a backfoot throw in your arsenal. However, you complete more than what you set out to do, then drive towards your target. If you don’t have the confidence to do that, maybe you should sit until you do. I’m not suggesting a QB controversy, but more asking DJ to look in the mirror and ask himself if he’s ready.
I haven’t seen a snap count yet, but I think we’re TE-heavy in most games. We were able to get it to Mo twice and Ogletree once, but if you’re going to put them out there, they need to be more targeted, otherwise just include Tenuta. You’re still running a lot of short routes, so defenses know their existence. They have proven to be capable of making a catch when thrown in. If they just need to be there to have any protection, you have a different problem.
The D is not good and I will point out the lack of confidence in Lou that I have written about in the past, and agree with Andrew Aziz’s call for his removal as DC. I’m just going to ask you this, are you confident that you’re going to make the team punt when you’re backing them up with a hold on first down? You must prevent a team from gaining 20 yards on three downs. Hell, the game was about preventing them from getting 10. I had no confidence that even with our opponent behind the sticks, that we could make them give up possession. We picked off one pass and recovered one fumble in five games.
My last three concerns are related to Shane. If you’re always settling for FGs, your play calling isn’t aggressive enough. It’s not necessary to do this instead of picking up points, but don’t put receivers past the sticks on 3rd down. I thought he showed some sort of killer instincts at the start of last year, but that appears to be the exception, rather than an improved philosophy. There is no aggression in his play calling and he happily tries to call plays that keep them in FG range, rather than extending drives.
Speaking of offense, Burkes needs to be on the field more often. He has shown the ability to get behind a CB. If he beats both of them, Salvation has to respect it. I want to see if he has the ability to step up and get it. He has some strength and vertical jump, so he needs the same kind of targets that Pierce got as a rookie. Remember, he got 12 starts and 78 targets as a rookie and even though we think he ran a ton of empty fly routes, he hit the field.
My last Shane rant goes to our last gasp yesterday. Down by two scores just six minutes into the game, you get a decent first down gain and you’re scrambling? Jones has been in the league and been under center long enough to drive this requirement for whoever fills the position. Shane had to relinquish control at that point and had to do the same for several series during the game. We’ve all seen Rivers command an offense and a team of strangers, with one tryout and two practices. He did this with no mobility and limited arm strength. Shane needs to give Jones the same freedom.
You might ask why I seem to be giving Ballard a pass. My guess is that he has made his bed and is doing nothing for the rest of this year, which will affect his work. If the coaches he chooses don’t get enough of the players he chooses, he will look for a job. This brings up a thought in my mind, which my wife says is dangerous, but if player development is as difficult as it seems, maybe you need to use all your draft picks on early players? A rookie’s biggest benefit is his control and contract. Why not trade your unknown for a known commodity?
I read a great piece on The Feed, from Natural Born Buddha called “Some Thoughts”. I found it hard to disagree with much of what he shared and even though we overlapped a bit, there were some different perspectives on similar observations. Read it, I think you will like it.