With Moore Gone, Clausen to Shine.

[Carl Spackler]

Seems to me his short passes have as much chance of being picked as throwing it down the field.

I seem to remember one QB throwing short yardage INTs, as well as downfield INTs...doesn't wear #2...

Clausen has thrown an INT vs CIN locking onto Smith.

He threw one in garbage time vs TB after moving the ball. (Shouldn't count that one, we had to throw out Moore's '07 picks in garbage time, let's be fair.)

No INTs against New Orleans.

One against CHI when Peppers made a freak play, 9/10 times that's a batted ball where he could've looked elsewhere or thrown it away.

Then on Sunday the pick six...didn't see it, don't know what happened other than a slant to Rosario and I think the DB jumped it.

[Davidson Deac II]

Fox wants to win, he isn't interested in developing Clausen for another coach to utilize. Going with Pike or Clausen at this point is pretty much a wash.

[Carl Spackler]

clausen will be shining shoes at the quicktrip for crack money this time next year.

No matter how much you want it to happen, it won't, he's too rich for that and will be on an NFL roster, 99% chance it's Carolina's.

[mav1234]

coverage was pretty good, the DB got in front of Rosario. They read the play well (surprise), and because of the nature of the throw, I don't know there is much else Clausen coulda done. Still on him, though... if it had been thrown differently may not have been a pick. He should have gone elsewhere. saints are insanely good at recognizing and jumping routes. I may hate G. Williams but he has those guys ready to play.

pike didn't impress me. If he starts, he ought to get several games to show what he has. If he doesn't do poo, put in Clausen and leave him in for several games... and vice versa.

fug the carousel. It doesn't do these guys any good.

[Davidson Deac II]

Fwiw, Clausen's problems seem to be with a slow delivery and low release point. I don't think Moore's injury will help Clausen in that regard.

[Jpjr]

it made a lot of sense. Pretty sure at that point Foxy knew Moore was done.

That's exactly right. The team was down huge and Fox knew that without some PT his "one play away QB" had zero NFL experience.

[C47]

I seem to remember one QB throwing short yardage INTs, as well as downfield INTs...doesn't wear #2...

Clausen has thrown an INT vs CIN locking onto Smith.

He threw one in garbage time vs TB after moving the ball. (Shouldn't count that one, we had to throw out Moore's '07 picks in garbage time, let's be fair.)

No INTs against New Orleans.

One against CHI when Peppers made a freak play, 9/10 times that's a batted ball where he could've looked elsewhere or thrown it away.

Then on Sunday the pick six...didn't see it, don't know what happened other than a slant to Rosario and I think the DB jumped it.

Clausen has also mishandeled numerous snaps resulting in either turnovers or wasted downs. He's failed to convert countless third downs because of either standing in the pocket too long and taking a sack, throwing it out of bounds instead of scrambling when he had room and checking down to his RB's when down field options were in position to make a play.

Look I hope Clausen figures it out and cuts defenses up like a surgeon but all I'm saying is if we're rebuilding lets do it the right way. Let everyone have a chance, that's how you evaluate what you have. If Clausen comes out and lights it up and moves the ball down the field then by all means let him take the job and go with it, but if it's a repeat performance from his other starts then Pike should get a chance to show what he can do. If neither of them can get the job done then for the love of God bring Luck to Charlotte....

[Carl Spackler]

coverage was pretty good, the DB got in front of Rosario. They read the play well (surprise), and because of the nature of the throw, I don't know there is much else Clausen coulda done. Still on him, though... if it had been thrown differently may not have been a pick. He should have gone elsewhere. saints are insanely good at recognizing and jumping routes. I may hate G. Williams but he has those guys ready to play.

pike didn't impress me. If he starts, he ought to get several games to show what he has. If he doesn't do poo, put in Clausen and leave him in for several games... and vice versa.

f**k the carousel. It doesn't do these guys any good.

Problem there is, defenses are keying on the few different routes our receivers run, making it tougher to get them the ball. With a rookie QB, he's not going to be able to recognize that they know what routes the receivers are running, he's gonna put it up, and it's gonna get picked. Some of you saying he needs to just throw it up, go to a game and sit in end zone seating. Watch the receivers. If after 4 seconds no one is open and he's out of the pocket because Bernadeau blew his protection or someone else did, what do you do?

[Carl Spackler]

Clausen has also mishandeled numerous snaps resulting in either turnovers or wasted downs. He's failed to convert countless third downs because of either standing in the pocket too long and taking a sack, throwing it out of bounds instead of scrambling when he had room and checking down to his RB's when down field options were in position to make a play.

Look I hope Clausen figures it out and cuts defenses up like a surgeon but all I'm saying is if we're rebuilding lets do it the right way. Let everyone have a chance, that's how you evaluate what you have. If Clausen comes out and lights it up and moves the ball down the field then by all means let him take the job and go with it, but if it's a repeat performance from his other starts then Pike should get a chance to show what he can do. If neither of them can get the job done then for the love of God bring Luck to Charlotte....

I have no problem with that....I'm just saying, guys aren't getting open and Moore stood in the pocket too long. For whatever reason Clausen doesn't get a chance to do that, standing in the pocket too long for him = 2 seconds.

[mav1234]

honestly, the problems you are describing were not really there in his last game but definitely did occur in the past. He tried to make plays down the field last Sunday, he did scramble, he moved out of the pocket... but with these 7 second drops, and the state of our o-line, he was being hurried every play.

he still sucked, but I really think that his "pre-throw" decisions were waaay better... but with the way this offense is built, when balls are dropped, they are drive killers. Same with penalties. Blech.

It still falls on Clausen, as he is the QB... but I think we'll see a lot of the same issues with Pike if he starts, long-term. Remember how we felt about Clausen after some of his relief effort? Heh.

edit: no matter who is QB, we need to focus on routes and plays that develop in 3-5 seconds. We need to work on an internal clock for our QBs so they know they just simply do not have time for long drops and extensive route reading. They NEED To make their reads fast until they get into a groove.

[Carl Spackler]

I didn't get a chance to see last week's game so I'm only going on ESPN play-by-play. If Pike had a stronger arm I'd say he deserves more of a look but check out the guy's scouting report...I read "painfully weak arm," not something I wanna see. For whoever says Clausen can't see over DLs, he's taller than Brees...he's still gotta get the ball out of there.

[C47]

honestly, the problems you are describing were not really there in his last game but definitely did occur in the past. He tried to make plays down the field last Sunday, he did scramble, he moved out of the pocket... but with these 7 second drops, and the state of our o-line, he was being hurried every play.

he still sucked, but I really think that his "pre-throw" decisions were waaay better... but with the way this offense is built, when balls are dropped, they are drive killers. Same with penalties. Blech.

It still falls on Clausen, as he is the QB... but I think we'll see a lot of the same issues with Pike if he starts, long-term. Remember how we felt about Clausen after some of his relief effort? Heh.

It's not all on Clausen it's never all about the QB. We have inexperienced WR's with questionable hands and we use a TE that can be covered with a defensive lineman. I'm not even saying I dont understand why the guy checks down on third and long, I get it, but you can only bang your head against the wall so many times before you need to try a new way to get out of the room....

[GoApps70]

I will probably get bashed for this but here goes. I believe Clausen will be a bit better now that the pressure of Matt Moore is gone. He can accept that this is his team now for the rest of the season without worrying about losing his job. The rest of the team will have to accept Clausen as their qb as well. This will lead to better team chemistry and thus better productivity.

Wouldn't want to disappoint you. After watching Clausen these past many games, you really believe that his "only problem" was that Matt Moore was around also? The "pressure" of Matt Moore. Really. OK. We each have our opinions. Let's just not say after you see what happens that his problem is not having Matt Moore around.

I hope Fox at least lets Clausen play more than a game or two in a row regardless of how he plays. We need to see if he can actually play or not. I know 100 people will say he can't play based on a few games as a rookie seeing how they are experts and all, but we need to see what he can do.

No, the experts are those than sit in the stands and look at that all telling scoreboard. "we need to see what he can do"? I believe that the whole nation knows what he can do. I imagine that oppossing defenses start to salivate when they walk onto the field with him as our QB.

That's because Fox is a douche. Even the announcers were asking WTF the point is of bringing in the 3rd string QB while down 30 points.

Guess that 28.5% QB rating that Clausen put up made the coach unsure of things. Surprised the coach didn't want to see more of it. Probably thought that Pike couldn't be any worse. Pike was inactive and was put in as the emergency QB. Guess the coach thought it was an emergency. Go figure.

Clausen has to play every snap knowing if he makes a mistake Fox will pull him, and that's not conducive to helping a guy's confidence, nor is lining up behind the garbage OL we trot out.

If Clausen was pulled everytime he made a mistake, he would normally only be in one or two plays a game.

I'm pretty sure CRA meant that putting in Pike was a good move because the game was already lost and at this point we aren't sure if we have a QB that can lead the team. Why not give the other rookie a chance and see if he fairs any better. At least that's what I took from it....

Absolutely.

I had no problem with Pike going in last week. I'm just saying every time he makes a mistake it seems like Fox takes him out. The "other guy can't do any worse" argument is bullshit. Neither QB threw more than what 3 picks in a game? I'd say it's quite possible to throw 5-6 with this bunch. It could get worse. Plus we haven't been shut out since 2002 against ATL. I look for that to change soon.

Great post.

clausen will be shining shoes at the quicktrip for crack money this time next year.

He sure will not be picked up by another NFL team. Even Dallas wouldn't do that to their fans. I bet the old Detroit Lions in their worst days would not pick him off the cut list or entertain bringing him to training camp.

[Carl Spackler]

Somehow I believe a 2nd round pick rookie QB with 3 starts under his belt would be signed by a host of teams...your Edwards homerism is showing again...