View Full Version : Big Game to get our Offense back on track!
This upcoming game may be just what the doctor ordered to get the ball rolling again, so-to-speak, in terms of jump-starting our offense.
We haven't played well as of late w/ only 16 offensive points vs. Miami; 24 at home vs. Detroit; and 7 last week. But K.C. has a horrible pass D, the worst in the league. Their run D isn't anything special either.
Drew has gone from indisputably leading the league in TDs to tied w/ three others for 4th, only 1 TD ahead of 7th, and only two TDs ahead of Maddux and McNair.
Originally on pace for near 50 TDs, it now appears that 30 would be a very good goal with the present pace more on target for around 25.
Question for discussion: Why has our passing game seemingly gotten so anemic all of a sudden?
I have a few theories of my own, but I'll stand out of the way of all the flying debris, fruits, and vegetables and allow this to get kicked around.
:D
Novacane
11-12-2002, 09:09 AM
Drew has 300 yard games the last 2. How is that an anemic passing game?
Let's see, 300 yards....7 points....
What if he had 700 yards in a game and 0 points? Would that be considered good?
:D
What's with the yardage stats?
Ebenezer
11-12-2002, 09:35 AM
Bottom line...if they go out and score 10 or 13 points and look like they did against NE then we can really start to worry.
Bottom line as well is that it's points on the boards that count. You can move the ball between the 20s for as many yards as you like. But unless you can put it in the EZ, you're not a good offense.
Now if at the end of the game they tallied the total yardage of both teams and used it to declare a winner, then we'd be doing very well at least in terms of passing. Total yardage would still be a concern since we rarely go over 70 or so rushing.
Novacane
11-12-2002, 09:42 AM
Originally posted by Wys Guy
Let's see, 300 yards....7 points....
What if he had 700 yards in a game and 0 points? Would that be considered good?
:D
What's with the yardage stats?
Point Taken! But you said passing game! 300 yds is hardly anemic. Blame the running game. Not the passing game.
Earthquake Enyart
11-12-2002, 09:49 AM
I blame Gilbride.
The deep post was there all day, they didn't throw one in the second half. They haven't thrown the ball to the TE in a while. Just when it looks like the running game is starting to click, they throw 20 plays in a row....
Blame the coaches for the lack of a running game.
Novacane
11-12-2002, 09:53 AM
I suppose if you take away Drew's 5 longest pass completions from each game that the passing game is anemic!:D
Earthquake Enyart
11-12-2002, 09:55 AM
Originally posted by Wys Guy
What's with the yardage stats?
:rofl:
Novacane
11-12-2002, 09:58 AM
And another thing..................why is 24 points against Detroit considered a bad performance?
colin
11-12-2002, 09:59 AM
Although we have not been as good lately, criticizing Bledsoe for not enough TDs passing is silly. We run the ball VERY well in the Red Zone, and TH could end up with 20TDs this season. Running the ball in the Red Zone is outstanding, and I would rather we do that than have Bledsoe with more TDs and our Red Zone efficiency going down.
Big Mike is back, KC can't handle that kind of power.
Originally posted by BledsoeTOreedfor6
Point Taken! But you said passing game! 300 yds is hardly anemic. Blame the running game. Not the passing game.
We had 184 yards passing against the Phins who have a solid but by no means the best pass D in the league. 70 of that was on a defensive breakdown where Madison thought his S would pick up Moulds but didn't. That lone breakdown was the extent of our success passing vs. the Phins as after that we had barely over 100 passing yards and no other offensive points.
Vs. N.E. last week, We had 222 gross yards, 186 net yards at the 58:00 mark and only 7 points. So unless this is our strategy, to save ourselves for our very last drive and for the last 2 minutes of the game, then I would suggest it's time for some "introspection", eh. ;)
Originally posted by BledsoeTOreedfor6
And another thing..................why is 24 points against Detroit considered a bad performance?
Considering that it was only 17-17 at the half and considering that we had less than 100 passing yards in the second half, I'd say yes. It wasn't good.
Unless of course you think the Detroit D matches up nicely w/ our offense!? IDK, do you?
I don't. I think we should have blown the out on both sides of the ball if we're as good as everyone says we are. In any case, I would have expected that we should have been able to pass on the Detroit D and have put up some big numbers in the second half in order to put the lowly Lions away by the time the 3rd Q had come to a close.
Could be me though! :D
Earthquake Enyart
11-12-2002, 01:16 PM
Detroit's D isn't as bad as you make it out to be.
I'm much more distressed over the NE game. They were thouroughly out coached. Gilbride got greedy throwing too much early. In the first 3/4 of the Bear game, the Bears took it to them pounding the ball. Then they went to the "prevent" which prevented them from winning.
lunatic_bills_fan
11-12-2002, 03:52 PM
Wys, I have a theory, although it may be in left feild a bit. I wander if we did a few short routes every now and then. I know our WR's are great, but how bout makin teams respect our TE's every now and then. I believe teams basically just count our TE's out in passing situations. I know a lot of people dont have a lot of respect for Jay, but against alot of LB's and especially nickel backs, he creates a mismatch with his size. Also he does have a prett good set of hands. I say hit the TE's a few times and maybe that will open up other oppertunities later on.
THATHURMANATOR
11-12-2002, 03:54 PM
We need to run the ball BOTTOM LINE!!!!!
Novacane
11-12-2002, 03:57 PM
What WILL please you Wys? :huh:
BlackJohn
11-12-2002, 05:01 PM
I think its just a lack of execution. Have you noticed how many dropped passes we've had lately? And they seem to come at worst possible time on 3rd down and for big first downs. Or how about peerless's routine of dropping a 40yd bomb every game?
While bledsoe didn't play as well in october as he did in september he's still played fairly well, but clearly not his best. However our receivers need to start bailing him out once in a while. How many catches have you seen our wr make that they shouldn't have caught? I can only think of one ... the bomb to moulds against chicago in ot. Yet bledsoe has the best numbers throwing beyond 20yds in the league (except for favre ... who hasn't got nearly the # of attempts) and every bomb he throws either is caught or goes off the fingertips of moulds or price.
The bye week and some extra practice should do them some good. K.C. has played two "good" games defensively in a row .... I dont think they can keep that level of play consistently so they're due for a letdown (much like our D had last week). I think you'll see our "september" passing game again sunday
LuvDaBills11
11-12-2002, 09:03 PM
we need to do both if we want to beat kc
their defense is like ours they can stop the run or they can stop the pass but they cant do both. so we need to do both and make them choose which theyre goign to stop
Originally posted by BledsoeTOreedfor6
What WILL please you Wys? :huh:
Two things:
First, doing the best we can do w/ the talent we have.
7 points vs. N.E. isn't doing that.
24 points and 10 2nd Q points while leaving Detroit in the game right up until the end ain't doin' that.
16 points, 7 of which were lucky on a SNAFU by Miami, ain't cuttin' it either.
I hear how good Moulds, Price, Bledsoe and all the other talent that we have on O are from many people right here. If that's the case, then I'm expecting much, much more out of them. I also expect a couple of victories against some decent teams which hasn't happened yet. Denver was the only decent game we've played against a good team.
Part of that also includes the coaches making the right decisions. Passing the ball and playin right into Belichick's and N.E.'s strenght ain't doin' that. If we had lit them up via passing, then I wouldn't be saying this. But we didn't. We barely managed to score at all and barely got into the red zone. We had well under 250 total yards of net offense thru around 58 minutes.
Secondly, I'd like to see a Super Bowl Championship. AFC Championships just ain't makin' it for me anymore. Nice, but not fully satisfying.
As long as the coaches, FO, and players are doing the best w/ what they have to work with, then I'm happy. If that makes us 6-10, then so be it. But right now I think we're capable of being a top notch offense yet we are struggling against any team that is considered better than 3-6.
Our defense is doing worse than last year w/ the same or better talent. Something's not right. We were told last year that the 46 may take a couple of seasons to fully implement. A couple of seasons is too long in the NFL these days. Who knows who's gonna be here in '05.
Ie., I think we can be doing an awful lot more w/ what we have to work with. Henry sits idle for the most part. We don't seem to adjust and attack the weaknesses of opposing Ds. Instead, all we do is send out Moulds and Price long and then complain when they are covered, Bledsoe gets a coverage sack, or the they are covered and can't make the play.
Does anyone here really think that opposing D.C.'s really have any doubt that 90% of our attack is coming from Bledsoe to Moulds and Price? I don't. I see it every single week.
Again, let's see what happens on Sunday. If we get outcoached again, again, then I think I'm gonna go and eat about 20 lbs. of wings out of frustration! :D
Seriously though, I think I'm gonna scream.
Doesn't anyone else here, and some have said, so I'm being very generalistic here, think that we can be doing so much more with what we have?
If not, then our team has some serious issues.
casdhf
11-12-2002, 10:25 PM
In some instances we are doing the best with the talent we have, in others...we're not doing so hot. I think Moulds and Reed are playing their games. Price is finally living up to his talent, something he has never really done before. Henry has been outstanding when he can hold onto the ball and has definately suprised me out of the backfield. I agree we need to run him more, but the way Bledsoe has been passing and Henry putting the ball on the run so often, who can blame him for putting out fate in Bledsoe's hands rather than Henry's. I've been especially pleased with the offensive line. Brown hasn't played this well in about 3 years. Mike Williams is as good as a rookie gets. Jennings and Teague have solidified the line and Marques Sullivan has been the weakest link, but has had brilliant games.
On defense, we are definately not playing to our stregnths. But, then again, do we really have any? With no rush, Winfield, Clements and Watson have been having problems. Lineman are able to get to Fletcher and Newman is rarely on the field. Outr weakest link has been Ron Edwards. He's had a moment or two, but has been dominated most of the time. We need someone to play that spot. Perhaps Bannan is the answer. He's played well we he's had the chance. Eddie Robinson is through. Priolou and Wire are good in run support, but really lack in the passing game, leaving Watson and Clements alone on the outside. Winfield, when healthy, is this team's best defensive player. Pat Williams has been great at times, but has also had games where I wasn't even sure he was on the field. The defensive has promise, but we have not had a complete game from all 3 tiers of the D. Gray doesn't like to change his scheme, and the defense seems to struggle to keep it up. Soooo, something has to give there.
All in all, I'd say the team has preformed well beyond my expectations.
Defense too?
As I see it, we've become totally predictable already. At times it may not make sense for the team to throw to Moulds and Price. They didn't do anything in the N.E. game. So why force it to work?
I gotta tell ya, if we can't put up at least 30 points against this sad, sad K.C. D, then you're gonna see all kinds of critics emerge. There's no reason on earth why we shouldn't be able to do it.
I don't want to hear how Bledsoe couldn't audible. I'm tellin' ya now that he's gonna have trouble doing that. If you and I know that now, then GW must know it now. I don't want to hear how "our best chance for winning" was our passing game if we get smoked. If that's the case again, then the coaches may just as well come out and say we aren't as good as K.C. The logical conclusion to that is then, "who are we better than?" K.C. is only a .500 team.
We'll see, but I'm getting tired of us being so stinkin' predictable and then being surprised at how well opponents played our passing game. Gee! There's a real headscratcher!
casdhf
11-12-2002, 10:33 PM
How is it that predictable when Bledsoe is still completing 60% of his passes?
ublinkwescore
11-13-2002, 01:00 AM
I think we've got a running game, why we don't use it is completely beyond me. Let's just hope that this bye wakes both our O and D up. At least now we've got Winfield back, and should be healthy marching into KC - so we shouldn't look any worse.
DIHARD2
11-13-2002, 01:30 AM
One reason I can see for not scoring, has been dropped passes that should have been caught. For some reason Price and Henry, have been out of sync with Bledsoe for the last three games.
I think the offense has been trying to hard to compensate for the defense and they're making mental mistakes, instead of just thinking about their responsibility.
GO!!!...BUFFALO!!!...
The_Philster
11-13-2002, 05:13 AM
Originally posted by DIHARD2
One reason I can see for not scoring, has been dropped passes that should have been caught. For some reason Price and Henry, have been out of sync with Bledsoe for the last three games.GO!!!...BUFFALO!!!...
Moulds has seemed it as well. I understood a litle bit better when he and everyone dropped passes last year but this is Drew Bledsoe putting the ball on target a lot more than anyone has here since Kelly retired. :shakeno: C'mon guys...hold onto the ball. They're starting to make me think of Russell Copeland.
Originally posted by DIHARD2
One reason I can see for not scoring, has been dropped passes that should have been caught. For some reason Price and Henry, have been out of sync with Bledsoe for the last three games.
I think the offense has been trying to hard to compensate for the defense and they're making mental mistakes, instead of just thinking about their responsibility.
GO!!!...BUFFALO!!!...
DH,
I think one reason for some of all that is that Drew's been getting pressured quite a bit more lately as opponents are not respecting our passing game as much. IMO a lot of that has to do with our going deep-medium way too much. We need to have other aspects of the passing game playing our prominently. When you think about it, most of the "dropped balls" are medium to deep.
All this enthusiasm about Drew and his arm is great. But we cannot simply rely on medium to deep passes. I'd like to see a much more balanced offense come out. But based on what I've seen lately, many of the dropped balls come on plays that are hurried as well. Not all, but some. In any case, there's no question that Drew's taking more heat now than he was at the beginning of the season. I'm sure there's several reasons for that.
Earthquake Enyart
11-13-2002, 09:33 AM
The main reason is that other teams have figured out that Henry can't pick up a blitzer. NE came right up the gut when Henry was in the game and Drew never had a chance.
I'm sure that's a part of it. But it's not the only reason. Given that, I would think it would be incumbent upon the coaches to figure out how to solve that and not simply try it over and over again figuring that sooner or later it'll swing for a big play.
Plenty of other teams in the league have a RB that can't block that well and I'm sure they don't simply keep putting themselves in situations that aren't working.
Another BIG part of the woes of our passing game of late has been exraoridinary coverage. But if the coverage is that tight, then you simply have to figure something else out. That's what coaches do. Or should do!
Earthquake Enyart
11-13-2002, 10:03 AM
Most teams don't have the combo of the RB who can't block, along with the immobile pocket QB.
They need to play 2 back more and let the FB block.
Fine. I won't disagree. But how come our coaches aren't doing that?
Also, you gotta remember, that if you do that, the most guys you can have out is 3 or so. If the coverage is solid, you still need to find a way. Drew had tons of time vs. Miami often and vs. Detroit but yet he couldn't find anyone. Why not?
I'll tell ya that the Miami DBs were on Moulds and Price like stink on poop.
DIHARD2
11-13-2002, 12:08 PM
There is an old saying, I'm sure it is still said today. That is if you touched the ball you should've caught it. That is a receiver's job. I know I saw at lease four dropped passes in the New England game that were right in the receiver's hands. That has nothing to do with the coaching it has all to due with a receiver not concentrating on his job.
It doesn't matter if a pass is two yards, 10 yards or 40 yards if the ball is in the receiver's hand there is no excuse other than poor concentration by the receiver, no excuse. Quit trying to put blame on the coaching for everything that is going wrong on the field. Sometimes it's just the fact that the player isn't playing to his standard.
I know it's always easier to blame someone else but if the execution isn't being done by the player you cannot blame the coach for that. Bledsoe has been throwing perfect strikes even when he's rushed from what I could see.
GO!!!...BUFFALO!!!...
A handful of dropped passes also doesn't account for us only being able to put up 7 points all game. Nor 222 passing yards thru 58 minutes, and onlly 65 rushing yards against the #26 ranked rush D. RBs don't "drop passes."
Earthquake Enyart
11-13-2002, 01:20 PM
Dropped passes are the least of our problems. Being out coached is the real problem.
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