packiowa
08-31-2006, 11:55 AM
I know there have been other threads on this topic, but I don't wanna search for it.
I spent last night watching each play at least 10 times on Tivo. Here are my impressions.
The guards and wells played better than the tackles. Granted, Moll got pushed around a couple of times by Adams, but he was fairly solid. Wells and Spitz got killed on a double team in pass blocking, but Clifton got pushed back towards Favre a little quicker and forced Favre to throw before the big hit (it was the int).
Wells was okay, but not spectacular. A lot of times he got into space and couldn't find a block. Same with Spitz in space, he couldn't find a lb to block most of the time.
Colledge looked solid at LT.
White didn't do anything at all.
Coston seemed to hold up pretty well and can get into space quickly.
On defense,
Pickett is a starter and played alright.
Williams played a solid game and gets a pretty good push.
Cole got decent push, but did get blown off the ball once abut 5-7 yards.
Allen is the same as Cole, with one terrible play.
Jenkins can rush the passer, but should NEVER play on anything other than a passing down. He gets completely driven off the line. It was really bad.
Jolly played alright, but didn't flash.
Hawk played too much like Barnett. Running down the line and jumping on.
Hodge is the only lb that tries to blow up a hole. He did look really, realy slow running with Hawkins as they tried to catch Mcneal for his td.
Popinga sticks his nose in the hole pretty well but doesn't knife in to make a hit like Hodge. Even so, it's better than Barnett's style imo.
Monday night, I was angry at OL, DL, and Woodson/Hawkins. After re-watching the game to the extreme, I came away with these impressions.
OL--> okay except for the vets, which gives me some hope. I question whether our guards can be effective on runs once they get in space though.
DT--> Played alright. Nobody took up two blockers with any sort of consistency. As good as Jenkins looked against the pass, he was even worse against the run. I'd got with Pickett and Williams as starters based solely off that game.
DE--> NO pash rush. We gotta keep Kamp, KGB, and probably MM in case of injury. Other than that Hunter can play some S.T. so he may be worth keeping. KGB played the run alright against Cinn.
The main difference in our running game and the Bengals was that their guards were consistently getting to the second level and making blocks. We rarely (i'm not kidding either) got any kind of meaningful block on the backers in space. If the tackles can turn it up and the guards and wells can be more effective in space, this offense can work.
As for the defense, I was miffed. The DT's are workable and I thought they got a much better push than the Bengals (excluding 2-3 Adams plays where he threw around Moll to no advantage). The DE's played the run alright, but were not getting nearly enough pressure. Not even close. We did learn than Monty can overpower te's fairly well.
I was hoping (I have been watching Greenway and Hawk at Iowa for a while) that our LB's would start showing some explosion, but I didn't see it. Hodge still tries to blow things up, but he not as effective yet was he was at Iowa. Poppy sticks his nose in better. Hawk seems a little unsure of attacking the los, but i hope that changes.
Okay, done rambling. It's slightly encouraging that the vets (tackles and woody and Kamp for being too quiet) played the worst.
These are my final thoughts. This team is only a consistent pass rush away from contending for the playoffs in a weak division. If Carroll is covering well and Hawkins or Horton prove worthy of the nickel, does Woddy begrudgingly move to safety part time. Probably not until late season or next year, but that may be our best nickel package.
Edit: Forgot one. Leach was not that good at run blocking. Sure he can block, but for some reason the rb's and Leach were not on the same page. I wonder if he has the instincts to block in this scheme. Hopeully, Hendo will make a difference.
I spent last night watching each play at least 10 times on Tivo. Here are my impressions.
The guards and wells played better than the tackles. Granted, Moll got pushed around a couple of times by Adams, but he was fairly solid. Wells and Spitz got killed on a double team in pass blocking, but Clifton got pushed back towards Favre a little quicker and forced Favre to throw before the big hit (it was the int).
Wells was okay, but not spectacular. A lot of times he got into space and couldn't find a block. Same with Spitz in space, he couldn't find a lb to block most of the time.
Colledge looked solid at LT.
White didn't do anything at all.
Coston seemed to hold up pretty well and can get into space quickly.
On defense,
Pickett is a starter and played alright.
Williams played a solid game and gets a pretty good push.
Cole got decent push, but did get blown off the ball once abut 5-7 yards.
Allen is the same as Cole, with one terrible play.
Jenkins can rush the passer, but should NEVER play on anything other than a passing down. He gets completely driven off the line. It was really bad.
Jolly played alright, but didn't flash.
Hawk played too much like Barnett. Running down the line and jumping on.
Hodge is the only lb that tries to blow up a hole. He did look really, realy slow running with Hawkins as they tried to catch Mcneal for his td.
Popinga sticks his nose in the hole pretty well but doesn't knife in to make a hit like Hodge. Even so, it's better than Barnett's style imo.
Monday night, I was angry at OL, DL, and Woodson/Hawkins. After re-watching the game to the extreme, I came away with these impressions.
OL--> okay except for the vets, which gives me some hope. I question whether our guards can be effective on runs once they get in space though.
DT--> Played alright. Nobody took up two blockers with any sort of consistency. As good as Jenkins looked against the pass, he was even worse against the run. I'd got with Pickett and Williams as starters based solely off that game.
DE--> NO pash rush. We gotta keep Kamp, KGB, and probably MM in case of injury. Other than that Hunter can play some S.T. so he may be worth keeping. KGB played the run alright against Cinn.
The main difference in our running game and the Bengals was that their guards were consistently getting to the second level and making blocks. We rarely (i'm not kidding either) got any kind of meaningful block on the backers in space. If the tackles can turn it up and the guards and wells can be more effective in space, this offense can work.
As for the defense, I was miffed. The DT's are workable and I thought they got a much better push than the Bengals (excluding 2-3 Adams plays where he threw around Moll to no advantage). The DE's played the run alright, but were not getting nearly enough pressure. Not even close. We did learn than Monty can overpower te's fairly well.
I was hoping (I have been watching Greenway and Hawk at Iowa for a while) that our LB's would start showing some explosion, but I didn't see it. Hodge still tries to blow things up, but he not as effective yet was he was at Iowa. Poppy sticks his nose in better. Hawk seems a little unsure of attacking the los, but i hope that changes.
Okay, done rambling. It's slightly encouraging that the vets (tackles and woody and Kamp for being too quiet) played the worst.
These are my final thoughts. This team is only a consistent pass rush away from contending for the playoffs in a weak division. If Carroll is covering well and Hawkins or Horton prove worthy of the nickel, does Woddy begrudgingly move to safety part time. Probably not until late season or next year, but that may be our best nickel package.
Edit: Forgot one. Leach was not that good at run blocking. Sure he can block, but for some reason the rb's and Leach were not on the same page. I wonder if he has the instincts to block in this scheme. Hopeully, Hendo will make a difference.