In your opinion, how did we fair in certain areas in comparison to last year?

[BlitzMonster]

6 hours ago, mbarbour21 said:

***How do you guys think we faired in the areas we performed poorly in last year?***

Good topic !  

I am really encouraged by the solid run defense & 3rd down D in game 1.   It's a huge improvement from last year.  

As you mentioned, the offense still needs to get the TE involved a lot more.  That's a problem from last season which is still hanging around.  Maybe doing so would also help our poor redzone performance.  And take some of the burden off of CMC as well. 

[CRA]

13 hours ago, JawnyBlaze said:

Like I said, even when making the same throws as Teddy, he made them BETTER.

I mean, that isn't actually true. Just check out the intermediate throws.  Sam had 0 completions on Sunday and 1 in the preseason.   And checking down is a push, Sam doesn't check down better than Teddy Checkdown Bridgewater. 

[glenwo2]

18 hours ago, CRA said:

Ok, Tom Brady couldn't make that throw.  PJ Walker could.   That's where you are focusing the convo.   And it's not like Sam was throwing it on a rope.  But yeah, he doesn't have more arm ability. 

the original point was THAT opportunity is the one Teddy would take. He did in the clip.    

Darnold has spent his time to date overwhelming checking down.  Frankly, at a greater degree than Teddy started.  Camp, preseason, and now week 1.    That's the conversation I am having.  It looks like he is being deliberately coached into being a checkdown QB.    The intermediate routes is my focus.  Not 20+.  

 

Do you think that's an indictment on him as a QB if that's the case? 

[glenwo2]

20 hours ago, CRA said:

yeah, see, I just can't get down with stuff like that.  QB has been significantly upgraded?  I mean, we can't actually declare that.  

 

"We"?  

[joemac]

16 hours ago, CRA said:

22 of his 24 completions were 10 yards or less downfield week 1. 

I believe 18 of his 19 preseason completions were 10 yards or less downfield 

and all camp reporters were asking Rhule about Darnold checking down with such a high level consistency 

that’s a pretty consistent trend to date and has to be coaching.    And it’s checking down a greater rate than Teddy because he was always able to work in the 10-20 yard intermediate plays.  

and if you call that making plays downfield….then you can’t call Teddy a Checkdown player.  Because Teddy pushes the ball down the field more than that.    

and again, maybe that is the right call with Sam.   But IMO this staff has handled Sam like damaged goods.  Which he is.  But it’s also why I temper expectations for him. 

I think thats probably be design though, right?  When you have YAC monsters like CMC and DJ Moore on your team, it behooves you to get the ball out quickly to them, in space, and let them to their thing. 

[glenwo2]

2 hours ago, CRA said:

I mean, that isn't actually true. Just check out the intermediate throws.  Sam had 0 completions on Sunday and 1 in the preseason.   And checking down is a push, Sam doesn't check down better than Teddy Checkdown Bridgewater. 

The pass to DJ Moore wasn't intermediate? 

Maybe you'd better clarify to me what your definitions are of :

1.) Short Throws

2.) Intermediate Throws

3.) Deep Throws

 

That way I know where' you're coming from.   Thanks.

Edited September 14, 2021 by glenwo2

[mbarbour21]

2 minutes ago, joemac said:

I think thats probably be design though, right?  When you have YAC monsters like CMC and DJ Moore on your team, it behooves you to get the ball out quickly to them, in space, and let them to their thing. 

That and trust in our o-line. I have to believe a lot of it comes from the fear our o-line wont give Darnold the time. Which is why I hope we put the majority of our focus this coming up off-season on fixing that issue. Should be number one priority if Darnold works out. 

[joemac]

4 minutes ago, mbarbour21 said:

That and trust in our o-line. I have to believe a lot of it comes from the fear our o-line wont give Darnold the time. Which is why I hope we put the majority of our focus this coming up off-season on fixing that issue. Should be number one priority if Darnold works out. 

Hear Hear.  You have to think it will be, assuming we're comfortable with Sam for the next few years.  Outside of O-Line this team actually has very few holes.  Next offseason we need to concentrate on quality depth at all spots and really hammer the line. 

[CRA]

35 minutes ago, glenwo2 said:

The pass to DJ Moore wasn't intermediate? 

Maybe you'd better clarify to me what your definitions are of :

1.) Short Throws

2.) Intermediate Throws

3.) Deep Throws

 

That way I know where' you're coming from.   Thanks.

10-20 yards downfield. 

21 of his 24 completions were 10 yards or less downfield.  He had 3 over 20+ yards.  Zero intermediate throws.  DJ was 25 yards. 

In his one half during the preseason he completed one intermediate ball (10-20 yards downfield).   

 

[Pantherxtreme]

17 hours ago, CRA said:

22 of his 24 completions were 10 yards or less downfield week 1. 

I believe 18 of his 19 preseason completions were 10 yards or less downfield 

and all camp reporters were asking Rhule about Darnold checking down with such a high level consistency 

that’s a pretty consistent trend to date and has to be coaching.    And it’s checking down a greater rate than Teddy because he was always able to work in the 10-20 yard intermediate plays.  

and if you call that making plays downfield….then you can’t call Teddy a Checkdown player.  Because Teddy pushes the ball down the field more than that.    

and again, maybe that is the right call with Sam.   But IMO this staff has handled Sam like damaged goods.  Which he is.  But it’s also why I temper expectations for him. 

Which is concerning if true.

Why did they ship Teddy out of town and give away draft picks to acquire Donald if that's the approach their going to take. Teddy could have handed the ball off and checked it down to Mccaffrey if that's the case. 

Donald showed he has the arm talent on that pass to Robby, so why are they hesitant?

And all the people talking about the online, look at the throws Zach Wilson was making and he was under much more distress than Sam and he wasn't just checking it down to the running back. Not that it's a bad thing Mccaffrey is great but we have more weapons than him that need to be utilized. 

[mbarbour21]

3 minutes ago, joemac said:

Hear Hear.  You have to think it will be, assuming we're comfortable with Sam for the next few years.  Outside of O-Line this team actually has very few holes.  Next offseason we need to concentrate on quality depth at all spots and really hammer the line. 

If Darnold at QB and Carter at LB are who we plan on going forward with, I think our needs look like this:

1. OL

2. OL depth

3. TE

4. Back up LBs 

That's assuming Tremble or someone doesn't step up. Plus, that doesn't mean we can't upgrade somewhere else if we get high value at another position. But FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, can we please make OL a priority for the first time in over a decade. That'd be great, thanks. 

[CRA]

10 minutes ago, Pantherxtreme said:

Which is concerning if true.

Why did they ship Teddy out of town and give away draft picks to acquire Donald if that's the approach their going to take. Teddy could have handed the ball off and checked it down to Mccaffrey if that's the case. 

Donald showed he has the arm talent on that pass to Robby, so why are they hesitant?

And all the people talking about the online, look at the throws Zach Wilson was making and he was under much more distress than Sam and he wasn't just checking it down to the running back. Not that it's a bad thing Mccaffrey is great but we have more weapons than him that need to be utilized. 

I think Sam has been instructed to play like he is.  All the beat writers commented on what they were doing with Sam in camp and him overly playing the checkdown/short game.   The throws in his preseason and week 1 game back up what they all commented on and asked Rhule about in camp. 

Which that might be the smart thing to do.   But it's going to be hard to compete with good teams if that is the Sam plan.  

I think Rhule is way more conservative on O than some people believe.  People haven't paid enough attention to how he has had his success.  It has never been about the offense.   I don't think he had a problem with checkdown Teddy.  I think he had a problem with Teddy running his mouth to the media.  Then the staff returned the favor and trashed him for not being good enough.  But I think Rhule would have been happy with Teddy if the O/CMC was healthy.  And Sam is going to be encouraged to be very much like Teddy IMO.  Which just isn't by cup of tea when it comes to NFL football. 

[OldhamA]

29 minutes ago, Pantherxtreme said:

Which is concerning if true.

Why did they ship Teddy out of town and give away draft picks to acquire Donald if that's the approach their going to take. Teddy could have handed the ball off and checked it down to Mccaffrey if that's the case. 

Donald showed he has the arm talent on that pass to Robby, so why are they hesitant?

And all the people talking about the online, look at the throws Zach Wilson was making and he was under much more distress than Sam and he wasn't just checking it down to the running back. Not that it's a bad thing Mccaffrey is great but we have more weapons than him that need to be utilized. 

You saw Wilson get sacked 6 times and generally get pummeled, right?

For all the hype the talking heads are giving Wilson right now, that isn't sustainable. He'll be broken by midseason if he takes that kind of punishment every game. 

[OldhamA]

23 minutes ago, CRA said:

I think Sam has been instructed to play like he is.  All the beat writers commented on what they were doing with Sam in camp and him overly playing the checkdown/short game.   The throws in his preseason and week 1 game back up what they all commented on and asked Rhule about in camp. 

Which that might be the smart thing to do.   But it's going to be hard to compete with good teams if that is the Sam plan.  

I think Rhule is way more conservative on O than some people believe.  People haven't paid enough attention to how he has had his success.  It has never been about the offense.   I don't think he had a problem with checkdown Teddy.  I think he had a problem with Teddy running his mouth to the media.  Then the staff returned the favor and trashed him for not being good enough.  But I think Rhule would have been happy with Teddy if the O/CMC was healthy.  And Sam is going to be encouraged to be very much like Teddy IMO.  Which just isn't by cup of tea when it comes to NFL football. 

It's the system. 

Remember every Saints game where Drew Brees 'padded' stats and dinked and dunked his way downfield against us? How frustrating that was and how some fans bitched because he wasn't playing hero ball like our QB so all those TDs didn't count?

Yeah, that's what Rhule and Brady are trying to do here. They're drilling into him to play within the system - take what the defence gives you and stop playing hero ball. Use those quick throws to loosen up the deep ball - as we saw with the Anderson TD. 

Brady was more aggressive at LSU because he had multiple first rounders at the skill positions - so you CAN throw those one on one matchups and win them 90% of the time.