X-Era
08-15-2008, 07:10 AM
What a reversal!
All of the things that seemed bizarre in the last game righted themselves in this game.
The 1st strong O and D both did a very good job.
On D, Im noticing more and more that the Cover 2 defense is really a bend but dont break defense. Its not the defense that will have 3 and outs over and over. We gave up ground but prevented points.
The DL was flying all over the field, Stroud was an absolute beast. We didnt get the sacks that we should have with as much pressure as we got, then again Roth is not a statue either. I still would have liked to see our DE's get the sack when they get a hand on the QB, I saw a few missed sacks.
The LB flew to the ball, I saw Poz in on many plays. I liked that we shut down Willie Parker pretty effectively.
The DB's looked decent but the typical open areas of the field in Cover 2, were open... across the middle, and in the seams. Whitner and Ko played very tough. Whitner was everywhere and looked nasty. I think we have a great find in that guy, what a leader.
On O, I was very very happy overall. I almost said to myself a few times, who needs Peters? Edwards consistently had lots of time to throw, and when he didnt he scampered for that key 1st down. I watched the right side with Chambers and was very impressed at his pass blocking. Its just one game, the Steelers arent known for their pass rush, but across the line, they did a very good job. It felt like Lynch was getting 4+ every run, and man that guy is a nasty runner. Hes so much fun to watch.
The WR's got into the act and Edwards found them. It was nice to see a longer throw to Evans. Hardy didnt catch a ball which was a dissappointment. But they got open time and time again. Royal had a great night. Really it was Edwards who threaded the needle on the first throw, but then Royal who fought for the tough yards on the second TD.
ST were special as always. One of our biggest question marks is who do we start at KR or PR? McKelvin is a stud. He may be the best returner we have had in a long time. Thats tough to say when we have to very good ones already. But his vision and break away speed is better than Parrish or McGee. I dont see how we can keep him off the field.
On the negative side,
Ashton Youbouty showed that his recent steps forward werent going to continue, at least on this night. He got torched by fellow Ohio State alumn Santonion Holmes for the long TD. We just may be seeing our last days of Ashton in a Bills uni.
Dwayne Wright was having a great night running the ball, and then fumbled AGAIN. Thats 2 in two games. Thats not good for a guy who is in a cluttered backfield.
JP Losman looked horrible. He looked clueless out there, took a needless sack. Just a bad night.
2nd string D got pushed around pretty good.
Steve Johnson made dumb play on the ST when the ball hit him. Im worried hes gonna be a practice squader at best. Im only worried because I was pulling for him to get on the field this year.
Overall, I think we made great strides. I dont care about what the score is or the playcalling. What I wanted to see was the 1st string O and D being effective against a good teams 1st stringers. We got that. I wanted to see good ST play, we got that. And then Im happy if we get a good smattering of plays from young guys, we got that too.
Its still just a preseason game, we have no idea whether the starters can keep up the good work for a whole game, we have no idea yet how the playcalling will be, we have no idea how the coaches will be on gameday. WE also havent even seen them play good week after week yet.
But, if you grade the performance just on one night, for what it was, Im saying B+ to A-
All of the things that seemed bizarre in the last game righted themselves in this game.
The 1st strong O and D both did a very good job.
On D, Im noticing more and more that the Cover 2 defense is really a bend but dont break defense. Its not the defense that will have 3 and outs over and over. We gave up ground but prevented points.
The DL was flying all over the field, Stroud was an absolute beast. We didnt get the sacks that we should have with as much pressure as we got, then again Roth is not a statue either. I still would have liked to see our DE's get the sack when they get a hand on the QB, I saw a few missed sacks.
The LB flew to the ball, I saw Poz in on many plays. I liked that we shut down Willie Parker pretty effectively.
The DB's looked decent but the typical open areas of the field in Cover 2, were open... across the middle, and in the seams. Whitner and Ko played very tough. Whitner was everywhere and looked nasty. I think we have a great find in that guy, what a leader.
On O, I was very very happy overall. I almost said to myself a few times, who needs Peters? Edwards consistently had lots of time to throw, and when he didnt he scampered for that key 1st down. I watched the right side with Chambers and was very impressed at his pass blocking. Its just one game, the Steelers arent known for their pass rush, but across the line, they did a very good job. It felt like Lynch was getting 4+ every run, and man that guy is a nasty runner. Hes so much fun to watch.
The WR's got into the act and Edwards found them. It was nice to see a longer throw to Evans. Hardy didnt catch a ball which was a dissappointment. But they got open time and time again. Royal had a great night. Really it was Edwards who threaded the needle on the first throw, but then Royal who fought for the tough yards on the second TD.
ST were special as always. One of our biggest question marks is who do we start at KR or PR? McKelvin is a stud. He may be the best returner we have had in a long time. Thats tough to say when we have to very good ones already. But his vision and break away speed is better than Parrish or McGee. I dont see how we can keep him off the field.
On the negative side,
Ashton Youbouty showed that his recent steps forward werent going to continue, at least on this night. He got torched by fellow Ohio State alumn Santonion Holmes for the long TD. We just may be seeing our last days of Ashton in a Bills uni.
Dwayne Wright was having a great night running the ball, and then fumbled AGAIN. Thats 2 in two games. Thats not good for a guy who is in a cluttered backfield.
JP Losman looked horrible. He looked clueless out there, took a needless sack. Just a bad night.
2nd string D got pushed around pretty good.
Steve Johnson made dumb play on the ST when the ball hit him. Im worried hes gonna be a practice squader at best. Im only worried because I was pulling for him to get on the field this year.
Overall, I think we made great strides. I dont care about what the score is or the playcalling. What I wanted to see was the 1st string O and D being effective against a good teams 1st stringers. We got that. I wanted to see good ST play, we got that. And then Im happy if we get a good smattering of plays from young guys, we got that too.
Its still just a preseason game, we have no idea whether the starters can keep up the good work for a whole game, we have no idea yet how the playcalling will be, we have no idea how the coaches will be on gameday. WE also havent even seen them play good week after week yet.
But, if you grade the performance just on one night, for what it was, Im saying B+ to A-