Here's a couple of quick thoughts about the game in no order:
The $3 parking is gone. They charge $10 now, and it was all filled by tailgaters. That sucks.
Tim Jennings got abused on every third down completion. He made a great special teams play, but was horrible in coverage.
The tipped pass that Jacksonville caught was crazy.
Jack Del Rio tried hard to give that game away, but his team just wouldn't let him. The field goal he passed on, the give up drive to end the first half, and the gutless decision to run on 3rd and goal late all should have sunk his club.
The Stadium wasn't loud until the final series by Jacksonville. The crowd was in a daze the whole time. There was no energy from the start.
We sure did miss Bob Sanders.
The defense was just a step slow on the last drive. That was the result of being on the field for 40 minutes.
It was nice to see the stretch play again.
After watching the two picks, I can't believe the irony that we lost on a pass interference call. The TV guys documented the blown call on the pick 6, which was clearly interference. They missed the obvious hold on Marvin on the awful second pick as well. If you watch closely, Mathis grabs Marvin's jersey about the 20 yard line and pulls it off the shoulder pads. This screwed the timing of the play up. It was a clear hold that everyone on our side of the stadium saw. It was a terrible throw by Peyton, but it should have resulted in a 5 yard gain for Indy. I'm sick about these two calls.
There may be talk about Marvin being done, but he abused Mathis all day. He didn't make all the plays, but Mathis interfered with him twice on picks. Manning was still keying on Marvin all day. Maybe too much.
Charlie Johnson was solid in run blocking. He is still getting schooled on too many pass rushes.
This isn't a crushing loss, but it sure did rob of us of what would have been a HUGE win. The Jags did some things very well; but in the end, they got the breaks that swung the game.
I'll see you all in the Southern Hemisphere. Remember, there is no podcast this week, but I will post the 18 Plays with some commentary later this week.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
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9 comments:
Let's see, if I can totally avoid NFL issues for two weeks, I can easily add 30 hours to productivity; I sure do have paying work backing up on me.
Plus, I'll be grinding my teeth less because of the 2006-esque Run D and 1-2 start.
Do I have the disciplne?
See you all in two weeks. Or as soon as I deliver two reports to clients.
DZ,
Safe travels to Argentina.
I agree that this isn't a crushing loss but it's becoming pretty clear this team isn't playoff caliber right now. I'm starting to become skeptical that they can turn things around. The health issue mostly focus on the O-Line now and they were NOT the biggest problem yesterday. In fact I think the coaches were definitely a big part of the problem yesterday. Play calling was horrible, we had our DBs playing soft even though we knew that Garrad wasn't going down field, plus bad time management at the end (call a run guys it eats the clock if you don't get it in the first time.) I think as much as Jackie tried to give away the game our coaches very much did give away the game.
In my mind the never written story of the Superbowl run was how the coaches changed their game calling philosophy for the playoffs. More run balance, more agressive defense, and better clock management. Are we possibly seeing the affects of Dungy's last year on the coaches? Surely the character of this organization wouldn't just "Mail in" a final season would they? It feels like the teams is playing with 2 hands tied behind their backs. One is the injuries and the other is the coaching strategy. Maybe one is leading to the other but it didn't seemed called for yesterday, the injuries (other then Bob) didn't seem to be that much of a factor.
You also have to SERIOUSLY worry about our D-Line when they couldn't generate much push or pressure on a Jags O-line that is similarly devestated by injuries. What if any options do we have though? Are there any bad teams that need to unload a good D-lineman?
They'll be fine. The D played the same way they always do. Gave up yards but not many points. Peyton, Marvin and some tough whistles lost us this game which tells me they'll be just fine. You can't throw that second pick after the D just spent 9 minutes on the field and came up with a huge turnover. Just a bad decision. Despite the fact that I saw the illegal contact from the uppder deck.
Special teams look pretty good.
As for running the ball down by the goal line to run clock, Addai scored on the play we ran it. If you run it on first down, maybe he scores then, and the Jags would have had a few more seconds to work with.
Up until the 2nd pick, Indy was dominating the game. We had given up 3 points on D, and a bogus 7 on the pick. If Manning runs the ball there or throws short to Clark instead of throwing an ill-advised pass, the Colts win that game by double digits. The pick amounted to basically a three and out, and put the D in position to get run over by sheer exhaustion. It was a frustrating game, but the whole "the Jags out played us badly angle" isn't really accurate. They out played Indy for a quarter and a half. It just so happened it was the last quarter and a half.
I didn't have a problem with the coaching. There were just some execution issues.
I also don't have a problem with the interference call on Keiaho except that it came in the context of a game where they blew HUGE calls on both Colts turnovers. It was an painfully ironic way to lose. They were tight with the flags, except when it jobbed us. Still, Manning CAN'T throw that pass. If he doesn't throw that pick, Indy wins, and I doubt the Jags score more than 10 points on offense.
I think the defense was atrocious. You can't give up two 100 yard rushers to a team with a bad O-line and a QB who didn't throw deep. The tackling fundamentals were pathetic (poor angles, diving on the ground, failure to fill properly, failure to run through the tackle, and failure to wrap up). I've seen youth teams with better tackling fundamentals. I'm not saying that it was bad day tackling. I'm saying that the defense demonstrated that they have no idea how to tackle properly.
What's worse is that you can't blame it on the D-line focusing on pass rush. We weren't getting any pass rush, either (vs. a banged up O-line).
Stan
Most of the really bad tackling came late in the 3rd and 4th quarter after the second pick. They were flat exhausted, hence the break down in form. Until Manning throws that pick, the D had given up some yards, sure, but only 3 points. The Jags had a long (fruitless) drive to start the 3rd quarter. Putting the D right back out on the field was criminal. The ToP was basically even after 1 half, yet the Jags finished with a 20+ advantage. The real problem wasn't the tackling, it was Tim Jennnings getting worked by Matt Jones(!) on every third down.
Looks like a worse repeat of 2006
Watching highlights last night, I see Marvin again on the two throws down the right sideline. Why no effort to adjust to the poor throw that was a step to the inside? Even bigger, why didn't he dive for the one in the end zone? He doesn't even extend his arms! It was as if he expected to be interfered with and made no effort to get to the ball.
If you get a chance to see it again, the ball looks catchable. Or at least there's a chance. And we've seen 88 make those catches before. My concern is that he didn't make any effort at all.
What's with that?
Stan
I still haven't seen the replay of the deep ball that fell at Marvin's feet, but based on what I saw live, I agree.
It looked like an easy adjustment given the amount of time the ball was in the air, but who knows.
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