TacklingDummy
11-26-2002, 01:26 PM
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/tmq/021126.html
Coaching Blunder of the Year: The tastefully named Gregg Williams appears to have shattered his team's promising season with the coaching blunder of the year, if not of the decade. As a previous TMQ noted, three weeks ago, trailing defending champion New England by 10 at home in the third, the Bills faced fourth-and-two on the Patriots' 32. Did they go for it, with what was then the league's No. 2-rated offense? Attempt a field goal to close the deficit to one score? Williams punted from the opposition 32. The ball rolled out at the 17 for a laughable 15 yards on the exchange; New England marched the length of the field for the touchdown that turned an anybody's-game into a runaway.
Bonus Anti-Gregg Williams Item: Bobbleheads are buzzing about why Drew Bledsoe has receded from red-hot to ice-cold. The main reason is the unfathomable vote-of-no-confidence the tastefully named Gregg Williams gave Bledsoe on the Preposterous Punt, as noted above; and, of all games, against the Patriots, which mattered most to Bledsoe's ego.
But the decline is also tactical. Through Week 7, as Bledsoe threw at a record-setting clip, he was hitting not just flashy wideouts Eric Moulds and Peerless Price but rookie slot-man Josh Reed and the tight ends; in Week 2, for instance, Reed caught eight for 110 yards. Since the point in Week 7 when Moulds and Price were ranked one-two in the league in receiving, Bledsoe has begun to force the ball to these gentlemen even when they are doubled, as though they are superhumans who arrive at the stadium in capes and can only be stopped by DBs carrying green kryptonite. Defensive coordinators have noticed Bledsoe is forcing the ball to Moulds and Price and are choking up on these two, offering Drew the throw to the tight end or slot man. On Sunday, Jersey/B doubled either Moulds or Price on every down, often leaving Reed in linebacker coverage. Yet Bledsoe threw 16 times toward Moulds and Price, only four times toward Reed.
Coaches are supposed to notice such tendencies and correct them. But then, the tastefully named Gregg Williams has already quit on the season, so why shouldn't his offense quit?
Coaching Blunder of the Year: The tastefully named Gregg Williams appears to have shattered his team's promising season with the coaching blunder of the year, if not of the decade. As a previous TMQ noted, three weeks ago, trailing defending champion New England by 10 at home in the third, the Bills faced fourth-and-two on the Patriots' 32. Did they go for it, with what was then the league's No. 2-rated offense? Attempt a field goal to close the deficit to one score? Williams punted from the opposition 32. The ball rolled out at the 17 for a laughable 15 yards on the exchange; New England marched the length of the field for the touchdown that turned an anybody's-game into a runaway.
Bonus Anti-Gregg Williams Item: Bobbleheads are buzzing about why Drew Bledsoe has receded from red-hot to ice-cold. The main reason is the unfathomable vote-of-no-confidence the tastefully named Gregg Williams gave Bledsoe on the Preposterous Punt, as noted above; and, of all games, against the Patriots, which mattered most to Bledsoe's ego.
But the decline is also tactical. Through Week 7, as Bledsoe threw at a record-setting clip, he was hitting not just flashy wideouts Eric Moulds and Peerless Price but rookie slot-man Josh Reed and the tight ends; in Week 2, for instance, Reed caught eight for 110 yards. Since the point in Week 7 when Moulds and Price were ranked one-two in the league in receiving, Bledsoe has begun to force the ball to these gentlemen even when they are doubled, as though they are superhumans who arrive at the stadium in capes and can only be stopped by DBs carrying green kryptonite. Defensive coordinators have noticed Bledsoe is forcing the ball to Moulds and Price and are choking up on these two, offering Drew the throw to the tight end or slot man. On Sunday, Jersey/B doubled either Moulds or Price on every down, often leaving Reed in linebacker coverage. Yet Bledsoe threw 16 times toward Moulds and Price, only four times toward Reed.
Coaches are supposed to notice such tendencies and correct them. But then, the tastefully named Gregg Williams has already quit on the season, so why shouldn't his offense quit?