Was our offense really that bad in the last game? Considering...

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by hurrykaine

Brunell was called upon to pass two times on first down the entire game. 15 attempted passes the entire game. As Paul Mcguire would say..."Are you kidding me?"

Listening to Trev Matich on the Fox Redskins extra - once Gibbs had a 14-0 lead, he was going to take the long passing attack out of the equation and stick to bread and butter run plays and short dink passes, AND FORCE CHRIS SIMMS TO BEAT US WITH HIS ARM. The way our defense was playing, Gibbs probably figured this strategy gave us the best shot at winning. He didn't care about the slew of 3 and outs in the late 3rd and 4th quarter. He just didn't want to throw it up there and give the TB defense a chance to pick it. That said, Brunell only made one key mistake in the game - he should've thrown that ball away instead of the risky pass to Jacobs.

All the great analytical geniuses such as Sean Salisbury and Tom Jackson, the chumps from SI etc. chose to ignore this angle and simply focus on net yards of offense.

Of all the posts in this forum, this is one of them. Paul Macguire at his best.

I think you're right, the playcalling got very conservative. And the Bucs front 7 did do an excellent job of shutting down our running game.

If we didn't go up 14-0 so quickly, I'm sure we would have seen some more chances being taken.

[hurrykaine]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Of all the posts in this forum, this is one of them. Paul Macguire at his best.

I think you're right, the playcalling got very conservative. And the Bucs front 7 did do an excellent job of shutting down our running game.

If we didn't go up 14-0 so quickly, I'm sure we would have seen some more chances being taken.

What's more...had Portis been healthy, Gibbs may have tried a little more creativity on the run plays to pick up a first down or two in the 4th Q. Given that Portis was struggling with injuries, he simply called for 40 and 50 gut "run it right up their a$$ for minimal gain" type safe plays.

[Paintrain]

If you read some of the comments after the game pretty much everyone echoed that sentiment.. They got purposefully conservative once the for their lead and didn't try to move the ball thru the air..

The 'anal-ists' at ESPN, SI, etc. are focusing on the number and saying 'well that's not going to cut it next week'. Very insightful. I expect to see the offense from the Cowboys & Giants game this week. Gibbs knows he needs to score 24+ to win this game and will game plan accordingly.

[hurrykaine]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

If you read some of the comments after the game pretty much everyone echoed that sentiment.. They got purposefully conservative once the for their lead and didn't try to move the ball thru the air..

The 'anal-ists' at ESPN, SI, etc. are focusing on the number and saying 'well that's not going to cut it next week'. Very insightful. I expect to see the offense from the Cowboys & Giants game this week. Gibbs knows he needs to score 24+ to win this game and will game plan accordingly.

Which begs the question. Say we're up 14-0 at the end of the 1st Q against Seattle. What do you think Gibbs would do? Go safe and vanilla as against TB, or realize that 14-0 isn't a good enough lead against the Seattle Offense and keep trying to score.

The one interesting thing was Gibbs really tried to stick the dagger in with the CLinton Portis halfback pass to Moss, but TB foiled the play. Had we been up 21-0, there was no way Brunell would've been asked to attempt a pass after that.

[Paintrain]

Originally Posted by hurrykaine

Which begs the question. Say we're up 14-0 at the end of the 1st Q against Seattle. What do you think Gibbs would do? Go safe and vanilla as against TB, or realize that 14-0 isn't a good enough lead against the Seattle Offense and keep trying to score.

The one interesting thing was Gibbs really tried to stick the dagger in with the CLinton Portis halfback pass to Moss, but TB foiled the play. Had we been up 21-0, there was no way Brunell would've been asked to attempt a pass after that.

I think he keeps the gas on the pedal.. You have to assume 17 pts for Seattle so you have to keep pushing..