dbair1967
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Similar story to last week, after seeing our starters pretty much dominate on both sides of the ball while ours and theirs were in the game, once the full slate of backups came in (especially the deep down the roster guys) they played extremely poor and blew the game.
Starting with the good:
1) Dak had a couple of misfires but also made some nice throws and good decisions, and the TD throw to Williams was the type of play that will have to drive other defenses mad. Our starting O as a whole has had 4 drives and have scored two TD's and a FG in those 4. And that's been without Zeke & Beasley for any of those drives.
2) Another strong outing for Rod Smith, he's definitely one of the better #2 RB's in the league and seems to do everything pretty well. Runs with power and has some nimble feet for a guy his size, and he catches the ball well. He's really turned himself into a quality NFL player. Darius Jackson played well after he came in again, especially after they finally benched that fucking loser Chaz Green) If Scarborough is gone for a lengthy time or the whole yr, Jackson has probably made the team now IMO.
3) A lot of talk all offseason about the WR position with no Dez here, but even without Beasley (who hasn't played in preseason yet) and no Tavon Austin last night, the WR's are doing a good job. No dominant, take-over-a-game types here, but collectively a good group. Michael Gallup looks like a really promising player though and could eventually develop into a quality #1 WR. Honestly I'm not all that worried about this position.
4) Starting defense was dominant again. For the first time in a long time, our defensive team speed at all 3 levels is really impressive. It looks like we have a really good, deep group of DE's. We have depth at LB and our starting CB's are both looking really good. Jeff Heath also looks improved and right now is clearly the best safety on the team.
5) Taco Charlton played well last week and last night might have been the best defensive player on the field for us. He was all over and was constantly beating his guy/guys on pass rush plays. Had a sack on a play he was held badly on, and also had a strip fumble on a completion downfield. It seems he is playing almost exclusively at LDE (so behind Lawrence) but so far in two preseason games he has outplayed Tyrone Crawford (who hasn't been bad either) IMO.
6) Highlight reel interception by Chido and he smothered pretty much whomever he was lined up on. Byron Jones has also impressed. Our starting CB's are both big, fast, athletic and have arm length. Kris Richard has done a great job with these guys so far.
7) Dan Bailey nailed his FG and PAT attempts and both looked like the Bailey we were used to seeing, which is definitely good news after what we saw at the end of last yr. Announcers also noted during the game he rushed back (something many of us suspected at the time) and was never ready to play. He should have been shut down the remainder of last season.
8) Randy Gregory back on the field. He looks fast and athletic, but he does need to dust off the technique rust.
The not so good & bad:
1) They have to be really concerned about the backup OL at this point. Chaz Green was absolutely dreadful and continues to get worse (which is amazing that's even possible). Just like last week he almost single handedly handcuffed the offense once he entered the game. He gave up two sacks and had at least one other bad holding call. He got blown up on several run plays. Once Green came out, and the OL play improved (just like last week) Cam Fleming played well last week, but he struggled some last night. He's probably ok if he has to play RT, but LT could potentially be a struggle if he had to do it for several games or most of a season. Kadeem Edwards got time with the starters after Martin was hurt, but he didn't impress IMO. Joe Looney seems like our best backup OL by far. They may have to go out and get at least one, if not two backup OL after final cutdowns.
2) It was discussed by our announcing team during the game quite a bit, but like backup OL, the backup QB spot has to be concerning for them. Cooper Rush is extremely limited in what he can do because of his lack of arm strength, and Mike White is clearly a project. The #2 QB might not be on this roster today and because Dak has the type of game he has (a lot of mobility, tries to extend plays, scrambles and designed QB runs on read/option) the chance he can get hurt at some point is something they really need to guard against. One name I'd be closely watching if I were them is Teddy Bridgewater from the Jets. I didn't see him play this weekend but I did watch some of the game they played last week in Atl, and he was pretty impressive. Some of the talk has been with Darnold likely winning the starting job and McCown probably locked in as the backup, Bridgewater could be traded or even released. He throws the ball well and even with the devastating knee injury showed some decent mobility last week. He's won games in the NFL as a starter. To me, he'd be an ideal backup here.
3) As mentioned above, the end of the roster guys were really bad last night, especially on defense. The tackling was a joke, they blew coverages left and right and ultimately lost the game for us.
4) Jourdan Lewis and Anthony Thomas were both really bad again last night. Stupid penalties that extended drives, some really poor coverage (esp Lewis) and really bad tackling (Lewis again mainly) Brown covers better than Lewis does at this point IMO, but his propensity for penalties is definitely worrisome. None of the CB's behind them look like NFL ready players. Like some other positions, beyond the starters the backup position looks like a problem. I wonder if Brown and Lewis really struggle again next week if they might go look for veteran CB depth.
5) Like backup OL and maybe backup QB, I think they have to be worried about TE too. There's not much wrong with the group we have as receivers (none are elite guys, but they can get open and catch the ball) but none of them blocks worth a damn.
6) Injuries galore last ight. Hopefully we dodged a major bullet with Zach Martin (MRI today, but he was on the field in street clothes without a brace or crutches in the 2nd half) and they say they think he just has a hyper-extension. Hopefully he'll be ready for week one vs Carolina. We also lost Xavier Woods to a hamstring, and after another bad missed tackle they have to be worried about him as the fulltime starting FS anyway. He can cover and has some ball skills, but he is not very big and he whiffed badly on the TE in the open field last night. With him being injured and some questions as to whether he is a starting caliber FS, I wonder if this ramps up talks for Earl Thomas again. Rookie RB Bo Scarborough suffered a hip injury and didn't return, and there were rumblings it might be serious. He was supposed to get most of the carries at RB after he came in, but got little work due to the injury. Felt sorry for him while he was in there though, the OL was so bad he never had a chance on any of the run plays he had. Backup DT Datone Jones may have suffered a season ending knee injury and backup scrub S Jameil Showers also appeared to blow out his knee.
7) Like l said last week, I don't care about the score or that they lost the game. But for the 2nd straight week we saw the classic Jason Garret inspired type performance in the 2nd half. We won the turnover battle (+2, we were +3 last week) and still lost the game. After no penalties in the 1st half we had six in the 2nd half. The tackling by the backup players was extremely poor again. The blocking by the backup OL was extremely poor again.
Overall I think we have to be pleased with what we've seen from the starters, but there are some depth concerns in some positions and I'm still not sure the starting FS, starting TE and true #2 QB are on the roster today. DT could be another position they look around for help for.
Starting with the good:
1) Dak had a couple of misfires but also made some nice throws and good decisions, and the TD throw to Williams was the type of play that will have to drive other defenses mad. Our starting O as a whole has had 4 drives and have scored two TD's and a FG in those 4. And that's been without Zeke & Beasley for any of those drives.
2) Another strong outing for Rod Smith, he's definitely one of the better #2 RB's in the league and seems to do everything pretty well. Runs with power and has some nimble feet for a guy his size, and he catches the ball well. He's really turned himself into a quality NFL player. Darius Jackson played well after he came in again, especially after they finally benched that fucking loser Chaz Green) If Scarborough is gone for a lengthy time or the whole yr, Jackson has probably made the team now IMO.
3) A lot of talk all offseason about the WR position with no Dez here, but even without Beasley (who hasn't played in preseason yet) and no Tavon Austin last night, the WR's are doing a good job. No dominant, take-over-a-game types here, but collectively a good group. Michael Gallup looks like a really promising player though and could eventually develop into a quality #1 WR. Honestly I'm not all that worried about this position.
4) Starting defense was dominant again. For the first time in a long time, our defensive team speed at all 3 levels is really impressive. It looks like we have a really good, deep group of DE's. We have depth at LB and our starting CB's are both looking really good. Jeff Heath also looks improved and right now is clearly the best safety on the team.
5) Taco Charlton played well last week and last night might have been the best defensive player on the field for us. He was all over and was constantly beating his guy/guys on pass rush plays. Had a sack on a play he was held badly on, and also had a strip fumble on a completion downfield. It seems he is playing almost exclusively at LDE (so behind Lawrence) but so far in two preseason games he has outplayed Tyrone Crawford (who hasn't been bad either) IMO.
6) Highlight reel interception by Chido and he smothered pretty much whomever he was lined up on. Byron Jones has also impressed. Our starting CB's are both big, fast, athletic and have arm length. Kris Richard has done a great job with these guys so far.
7) Dan Bailey nailed his FG and PAT attempts and both looked like the Bailey we were used to seeing, which is definitely good news after what we saw at the end of last yr. Announcers also noted during the game he rushed back (something many of us suspected at the time) and was never ready to play. He should have been shut down the remainder of last season.
8) Randy Gregory back on the field. He looks fast and athletic, but he does need to dust off the technique rust.
The not so good & bad:
1) They have to be really concerned about the backup OL at this point. Chaz Green was absolutely dreadful and continues to get worse (which is amazing that's even possible). Just like last week he almost single handedly handcuffed the offense once he entered the game. He gave up two sacks and had at least one other bad holding call. He got blown up on several run plays. Once Green came out, and the OL play improved (just like last week) Cam Fleming played well last week, but he struggled some last night. He's probably ok if he has to play RT, but LT could potentially be a struggle if he had to do it for several games or most of a season. Kadeem Edwards got time with the starters after Martin was hurt, but he didn't impress IMO. Joe Looney seems like our best backup OL by far. They may have to go out and get at least one, if not two backup OL after final cutdowns.
2) It was discussed by our announcing team during the game quite a bit, but like backup OL, the backup QB spot has to be concerning for them. Cooper Rush is extremely limited in what he can do because of his lack of arm strength, and Mike White is clearly a project. The #2 QB might not be on this roster today and because Dak has the type of game he has (a lot of mobility, tries to extend plays, scrambles and designed QB runs on read/option) the chance he can get hurt at some point is something they really need to guard against. One name I'd be closely watching if I were them is Teddy Bridgewater from the Jets. I didn't see him play this weekend but I did watch some of the game they played last week in Atl, and he was pretty impressive. Some of the talk has been with Darnold likely winning the starting job and McCown probably locked in as the backup, Bridgewater could be traded or even released. He throws the ball well and even with the devastating knee injury showed some decent mobility last week. He's won games in the NFL as a starter. To me, he'd be an ideal backup here.
3) As mentioned above, the end of the roster guys were really bad last night, especially on defense. The tackling was a joke, they blew coverages left and right and ultimately lost the game for us.
4) Jourdan Lewis and Anthony Thomas were both really bad again last night. Stupid penalties that extended drives, some really poor coverage (esp Lewis) and really bad tackling (Lewis again mainly) Brown covers better than Lewis does at this point IMO, but his propensity for penalties is definitely worrisome. None of the CB's behind them look like NFL ready players. Like some other positions, beyond the starters the backup position looks like a problem. I wonder if Brown and Lewis really struggle again next week if they might go look for veteran CB depth.
5) Like backup OL and maybe backup QB, I think they have to be worried about TE too. There's not much wrong with the group we have as receivers (none are elite guys, but they can get open and catch the ball) but none of them blocks worth a damn.
6) Injuries galore last ight. Hopefully we dodged a major bullet with Zach Martin (MRI today, but he was on the field in street clothes without a brace or crutches in the 2nd half) and they say they think he just has a hyper-extension. Hopefully he'll be ready for week one vs Carolina. We also lost Xavier Woods to a hamstring, and after another bad missed tackle they have to be worried about him as the fulltime starting FS anyway. He can cover and has some ball skills, but he is not very big and he whiffed badly on the TE in the open field last night. With him being injured and some questions as to whether he is a starting caliber FS, I wonder if this ramps up talks for Earl Thomas again. Rookie RB Bo Scarborough suffered a hip injury and didn't return, and there were rumblings it might be serious. He was supposed to get most of the carries at RB after he came in, but got little work due to the injury. Felt sorry for him while he was in there though, the OL was so bad he never had a chance on any of the run plays he had. Backup DT Datone Jones may have suffered a season ending knee injury and backup scrub S Jameil Showers also appeared to blow out his knee.
7) Like l said last week, I don't care about the score or that they lost the game. But for the 2nd straight week we saw the classic Jason Garret inspired type performance in the 2nd half. We won the turnover battle (+2, we were +3 last week) and still lost the game. After no penalties in the 1st half we had six in the 2nd half. The tackling by the backup players was extremely poor again. The blocking by the backup OL was extremely poor again.
Overall I think we have to be pleased with what we've seen from the starters, but there are some depth concerns in some positions and I'm still not sure the starting FS, starting TE and true #2 QB are on the roster today. DT could be another position they look around for help for.
