Been a while since I posted.. had a work trip then made it over to Seattle in time for the game. Reading the papers, listening to some of the sports radio, and reading here.. I feel like Im seeing something else than many people.
A pessimist by nature I tend not to be over board with homer-ism, and still.. I was really impressed with the win and really liking our chances going forward.
Let me lay it out, for discussion purposes.
First, lets talk about the game in specific and then move on to the season going forward after that.
Vs. The Raiders.. what I saw.
"Next man up" is a common mantra and its the correct mindset to have. But it has to be tempered with some reality. Yes, if you lose your tightend or your middle linebacker.. you expect the next guy to come in and propped up by the other 9 or 10 guys. When the next man up though is NOT "the" next man up, but a 3rd stringer.. when you need him to propped up by ..other 3rd stringers etc...then you cant simply say "next man up" and pretend you expect the same performance.
The offensive line was weak. And if it wasnt wouldnt you have been astounded? A 2nd year player who went undrafted played left tackle. A guy who used to play tight end took over at left guard. A guy not on the team a few weeks ago was at center, and when they need "stability" they turned to a guy for 18 or so plays who was brought in to play a different position. Right guard Sweezy is still just in his 3rd season playing on offense and the right tackle is a rookie. So..yea. With that line we won a game. And o line often gets help from tight end but our best blocking TE, the human utility knife Miller, was out. Yes, we through in another o lineman to make up for that, but how is that for tipping your hand?
On defense, we continued the Linebacker Shuffle and started an undrafted rookie. Chancellor couldnt play and the guy seen as our #4 CB in training camp started at CB, while the guy covering the slot wasnt on our team when the season began.
With all that going on, and the roster shuffling that goes with it, you have people playing on special teams that are running down on coverage for the first time with that lane, and the first time with the players on his left and right.. and that is going to show.
And despite all that.. we won. It wasnt a blow out. This team isnt designed for blowouts and they only come when the talent level and the game plans are disparate enough. Sunday they werent, they couldnt be. How could they be? The NFL has 7 inactive spots on game day rosters to "even things out".. but even with those the Seahawks didnt have enough healthy players to field a full team.. Chancellor and Unger technically dressed but were not going to be used.
So we won with 2 fewer players, down 2 pro bowlers.. playing rookies and undrafted people..players playing their first or second full game.
The Raiders are winless but they are still pros.
I was happy with the win. More than happy. We allowed less than 40 yards rushing with a undrafted rookie playing middle line backer. Less than 200 yards passing with half the starting DBs out. There was moderate pressure, there were turnovers for the second week in a row.
Passing game was miserable. Wilson had a bad game, Willson had a bad game, Kearse was letting things go that he didnt last year. But part of that is the line, and part is just being "off"..
Overall, I think we are on the right track.
which leads to .. Going Forward.
All I keep hearing is the schedule gets harder going forward. Well, maybe. But we are getting better. Players start coming back in real numbers this week. We are 2 games behind the Cardinals..but we play them twice. And their QB is still Palmer. Im not going to call them frauds like some. They are legit. But Palmer has never won a playoff game in 12 years. We control our destiny. And things are starting to line up for us. We will get to play a Sanchez led Eagle team, not a Foles team. We get to play a Giants team on a short week, thoroughly demoralized. The 49er games look less scary than they did in August.
And when we are in the thick of that..we will have Maxwell, Lane, Unger, even Miller. We will have Chancellor. Our new FB will know the playbook and our rookie WRs will be more in flow with their PP (Post Percy) roles.
Guys, this year is a slog.. no easy sledding. But it actually is working out well. We hated the early Bye but it ended up being the best thing for a team after 3 early brutal games..and we have that tough last 6 game gauntlent right when we want it, when we will be getting healthier.
Chin high, eyes up my fellow 12s. The season is coming to us.
A pessimist by nature I tend not to be over board with homer-ism, and still.. I was really impressed with the win and really liking our chances going forward.
Let me lay it out, for discussion purposes.
First, lets talk about the game in specific and then move on to the season going forward after that.
Vs. The Raiders.. what I saw.
"Next man up" is a common mantra and its the correct mindset to have. But it has to be tempered with some reality. Yes, if you lose your tightend or your middle linebacker.. you expect the next guy to come in and propped up by the other 9 or 10 guys. When the next man up though is NOT "the" next man up, but a 3rd stringer.. when you need him to propped up by ..other 3rd stringers etc...then you cant simply say "next man up" and pretend you expect the same performance.
The offensive line was weak. And if it wasnt wouldnt you have been astounded? A 2nd year player who went undrafted played left tackle. A guy who used to play tight end took over at left guard. A guy not on the team a few weeks ago was at center, and when they need "stability" they turned to a guy for 18 or so plays who was brought in to play a different position. Right guard Sweezy is still just in his 3rd season playing on offense and the right tackle is a rookie. So..yea. With that line we won a game. And o line often gets help from tight end but our best blocking TE, the human utility knife Miller, was out. Yes, we through in another o lineman to make up for that, but how is that for tipping your hand?
On defense, we continued the Linebacker Shuffle and started an undrafted rookie. Chancellor couldnt play and the guy seen as our #4 CB in training camp started at CB, while the guy covering the slot wasnt on our team when the season began.
With all that going on, and the roster shuffling that goes with it, you have people playing on special teams that are running down on coverage for the first time with that lane, and the first time with the players on his left and right.. and that is going to show.
And despite all that.. we won. It wasnt a blow out. This team isnt designed for blowouts and they only come when the talent level and the game plans are disparate enough. Sunday they werent, they couldnt be. How could they be? The NFL has 7 inactive spots on game day rosters to "even things out".. but even with those the Seahawks didnt have enough healthy players to field a full team.. Chancellor and Unger technically dressed but were not going to be used.
So we won with 2 fewer players, down 2 pro bowlers.. playing rookies and undrafted people..players playing their first or second full game.
The Raiders are winless but they are still pros.
I was happy with the win. More than happy. We allowed less than 40 yards rushing with a undrafted rookie playing middle line backer. Less than 200 yards passing with half the starting DBs out. There was moderate pressure, there were turnovers for the second week in a row.
Passing game was miserable. Wilson had a bad game, Willson had a bad game, Kearse was letting things go that he didnt last year. But part of that is the line, and part is just being "off"..
Overall, I think we are on the right track.
which leads to .. Going Forward.
All I keep hearing is the schedule gets harder going forward. Well, maybe. But we are getting better. Players start coming back in real numbers this week. We are 2 games behind the Cardinals..but we play them twice. And their QB is still Palmer. Im not going to call them frauds like some. They are legit. But Palmer has never won a playoff game in 12 years. We control our destiny. And things are starting to line up for us. We will get to play a Sanchez led Eagle team, not a Foles team. We get to play a Giants team on a short week, thoroughly demoralized. The 49er games look less scary than they did in August.
And when we are in the thick of that..we will have Maxwell, Lane, Unger, even Miller. We will have Chancellor. Our new FB will know the playbook and our rookie WRs will be more in flow with their PP (Post Percy) roles.
Guys, this year is a slog.. no easy sledding. But it actually is working out well. We hated the early Bye but it ended up being the best thing for a team after 3 early brutal games..and we have that tough last 6 game gauntlent right when we want it, when we will be getting healthier.
Chin high, eyes up my fellow 12s. The season is coming to us.
