Quote:
Originally Posted by GMScud
Yeah, I wasn't saying that every play, every down is a problem. But when a head coach and offensive coordinator can't get on the same page repeatedly on crucial 3rd and 4th downs (this has been a problem going back to early last season), then to me that makes play calling a huge issue. I was screaming at the TV when Gibbs sat there with a confused look on his face and didn't call a timeout as the clock ticked down to the two minute warning. I just don't know if this offense will ever get it together. We're averaging 16.75 pts a game against teams not named the Lions. That's awful. We're 53 regular season games into Gibbs 2.0. I'm so over the excuses.
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Well, the main culprit for the offenses' struggles has been the run blocking. It was BADLY overrated last year, and it's just simply been hurt this year. We still lack a TE who is good enough to play every down and who can block better than Cooley. Sellers helps, but we need Sellers and Cooley in to run the ball, and that isn't good.
For the first time last week, the pass pro was awful. Campbell was setting up 12 yards deep like every play and this was likely contributing to the dropped passes. You don't practice throwing curl routes 30 yards in the air during practice, thus all the drops. Problem is that it's hard to blame Campbell for that because he was simply trying to do his job. Samuels had a good game. No one else did on that line.
While Saunders usually is ignorant of the down and distance, that COULD be an advantage if we had the talent on offense to execute the play he calls. Now with all the guys on the offensive line out, his conveluted play calling is a huge disadvantage. He's totally unpredictable all the time, and that means our 3rd down offense will also be totally unpredictable, even when the stats say we should pick up the first 80% of the time.
Give Gibbs some credit for going for it on 4th and 1 though, that was in most cases the right move. Maybe he should have called the play while he's was at it.