Quote:
Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33
DL: Here's where the serious concern starts. In the first series on the second play, a stretch L, Kemo was pushed back in a big way. Two plays later he was handled by the Ravens C 1-on-1 on a toss R. He didn't stand out later in the game one way or the other. But....it's not a good sign when the anchor of your defense isn't anchoring. All the "trade AH" talk sounds good, but it's hard to run a 3-4 without a stong NT. NT is going to be a team effort between AH & Kemo this year if we're going to be successful on D. Now, if a 4-3 team that's a contender losses a starting DT, we can get some value for AH (2nd rounder min.), and they (or AH) pay back a large portion of the $21M check he just got, then maybe we make a move. Barring that, he'll finish the year here and NT will be our #1 priority in the 2011 draft.
|
I'm going to give Kemo a pass for now and hope he can shake some rust off before the regular season.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33
OLBs: This is the major area of concern for our defense. We have two converted DEs starting at OLB. AC showed in SF that he wasn't an OLB, he's confirming that again now. First play of the game AC bites on the action to the left and gets beat by the reverse... basic football....when action goes away and you are contain, B-C-R Backside, Counter, Reverse. This is high school stuff. Same possession on the toss play, AC is not quick enough on the read to make the play. Next possession in addition to the rest of the front seven AC is beaten for a resulting 6 yd gain. He also had the dropped INT.
|
Yeah, we knew what we were getting into with AC, but I'm not giving up on him just yet. Coming from DE he's naturally a bit more aggressive than he should be at OLB, but I think AC is a pretty smart guy and he'll learn to play the position better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33
Orakpo may ultimately make the transition to OLB, but not if he keeps playing like he did tonight. Second play of the game he gets WAAAY to far upfield creating a huge running lane. On the Rice's fumble recovery run Rak comes in completely out of control and Rice makes him look real bad (so will Felix Jones, A. Bradshaw or L. McCoy twice a year if he doesn't learn to play under control). He got sucked inside on the 4th play of the next Raven possession which resulted in a +5. Rak is a prototypical RDE, he's not good in space....yet. We'll know by the end of this season if he's capable of making the transition. If he still isn't cutting it, he would have good trade value to a team running the 4-3.....in the AFC.
|
I pretty much feel the same about Rak as AC, and like you said, he needs to learn to play under control. Just too aggressive for now. He'll learn, but it might take a few really good beatings.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33
And finally......my major gripe.....on 3rd or 4th and short why are we still running stretch plays? We saw this too many times last year as well. Zone blocking in short yardage DOES NOT WORK. It's fundamental physics, you cannot take a lateral step and expect to drive back a person coming straight at you, full speed. That's why TW got blown up by Suggs. I don't blame him, I blame the playcall. And we did it more than once.
Note to KS, install a power run package for short yardage. It's not blasphemy against the Zone Blocking gods to run an ISO on 3rd & 1. O-Lineman like to line up and play smash-mouth. F the finesse crap in short yardage, IT DOESN'T WORK. If anyone from Redskin Park wants to PM me, I've got some basic stuff that works real well out of a Tackle Over, a Jumbo I, or we can go old-school with a Power I.
|
I agree. This is also really frustrating to me. The offensive linemen have the advantage on every play, given the fact that they dictate when the ball is snapped. If the lineman can't get a 1 yard push on their guys, then something is seriously wrong. It's easy, just like you said, dive and trap from the I. If you can't get a yard like that, then you can't get a yard and you have to hope the defense will give you one.