New Poster Making People Mad

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Chief X_Phackter

I guess you are right, after all he is still the starter and there are no plans to replace him this year anyway.

Really he is not the problem here. Everybody wanted Brunell's head after the first two games, then after the next two games it was all about breaking Gannon's record for consecutive completions in a game, then putting up 36 points on a number three defense. Then all of a sudden we get into another divisional game against the team that, by the way won our division last year, a team that has a pretty good defense themselves, in their house, after a bye week, with their backs against the wall, and we lose...Aaaah it's Brunell, and he sucks, blah, blah, blah.

It was not Brunell's fault we lost. It was the offensive line's inconsistencies, the secondary's poor coverage at times, the defensive line's lack of pressure on Eli, the missed field goals, suspect play calling at times. As a TEAM they need to get better, and as the team gets better so does Brunell.

It's too easy to play the QB blame game and unfortunately alot of people fall for it.

[dmek25]

really Matty, i guess i mean more. don't play it so safe that our defense has to hold the opponent to 14 points or less

[Daseal]

Instead of Drew Brees, I'm curious to see what Campbell has in regular season games before going out and signing a QB. I personally feel Brunell doesn't have the type of arm that can beat you down field, which means everyone is playing a cover 2 shallow vs us. It comes to if we can block the 4 guys rushing and find underneath stuff. The problem with this, is even when the line does hold, there's little open, and Brunell doesn't have to zip to go over top of the defense. This is a liability to us, previously it wasn't up to our offense to win games, but now it is. Our defense is struggling and they need our offense to put up points to make their job easier. The second we make a team one dimensional, the closer that is to a big W.

[MTK]

Just a general comment here, there seems to be this misguided notion that throwing deep beats a cover 2.

That's not true.

To beat the cover 2 you need attack the gap between the safeties in the middle of the field.

Hitting the vulnerable open spots in the zone will break a team out of this coverage.

Simply trying to go deep is playing right into the strength of this coverage.

[illdefined]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

To beat the cover 2 you need attack the gap between the safeties in the middle of the field.

oop, you just said it yourself. and that's where Brunell statistically throws the least than any other QB.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by illdefined

oop, you just said it yourself. and that's where Brunell statistically throws the least than any other QB.

There are also natural holes in the coverage outside of the hashes.

[Daseal]

Matty, according to NFL radio ex-players, coaches, and personel people say what Dallas and the Giants did agaisnt us was to play a Cover 2 shallow scheme. Basically play us close to the line, lots of people in the way of the short pass, which opens up the deep pass a bit more. Granted, you'd like to have man coverage all the time, but rarely are you that lucky.

When Spurrier was here you were constantly harping on the offense, the second Gibbs took the reigns you expected the defense to win us the game. Even when the defense played well but collapsed on the last drive of the game after being on the field most of the game due to a complete and udder inept offense. While our defense takes a huge share in this blame, it's also the offenses job to give them a rest. When it gets late in a game and the defense sees our O go 3 and out before they have time to catch their breath, it makes playing lights out hard.

Our offense needs to find something, and soon. Personally I'd love to see Brandon Lloyd well.. do anything. It doesn't seem like they toss the ball his way too often. He has some playmaking ability. I'm not a fan of Brunell, I've never hidden that. Last week, there were some real problems with protection at times, and we know Brunell folds like a lawn chair under pressure. So that was to be expected. However, some of his worst plays came when he expected there to be pressure when he had time. Woody Paige made a good point on Cold Pizza today as it related to Drew Bledsoe. Parcells came out, blamed the offensive line for not giving protection. Woody said we all knew what this Cowboy's line was when they came into the year, you're asking a unit who isn't a great squad to block for a QB that needs time in the pocket to play well, then blame the line that you know would struggle coming in? Maybe if Tony Romo was in, a player who can avoid pressure and take some blame off of the offensive line came in, he would be able to do much more. It's tough for me to put all the blame on the offensive line when Brunell won't stand in the pocket and deliver the ball.

I think Brunell's adequate to "win" with the defense we had. He's not serviceable to win without a defense. He's not a gunslinger. He's an extremely conservative game manager. Sometimes a few more turnovers are worth the bonus of extra points.

[MTK]

I don't expect either side of the ball to win us the game, I expect both sides to play well and contribute. Against the Giants both sides of the ball let us down. I see the need to point fingers at individuals when as a team we played so poorly.

[JWsleep]

I agree with Matty here. It's hard to argue that the whole team was flat as cna be on Sunday.

That being said, Brunnell is not the kind of QB to win you games on his own (though he did it gainst Dallas last year). And that's not his role here. The coaches know what they have, and I think they schemed very well for Brunnell against Jax. You coach to your players--that how it's done. I think Campbell will ultimately give them lots more options in the passing game (and I'm sure Gibbs thinks so too--that's why he traded up for him). But right now everything is geared towards making it work with MB. Changing now would be a big deal, and most likely unhelpful in the short-term. If we see a game where everyone else is kicking butt and MB is woeful (and we did in 2004), then things change. But that's not what happened on Sunday in NY, IMO.

[illdefined]

Originally Posted by JWsleep

That being said, Brunnell is not the kind of QB to win you games on his own (though he did it gainst Dallas last year). And that's not his role here. The coaches know what they have, and I think they schemed very well for Brunnell against Jax. You coach to your players--that how it's done. I think Campbell will ultimately give them lots more options in the passing game (and I'm sure Gibbs thinks so too--that's why he traded up for him). But right now everything is geared towards making it work with MB. Changing now would be a big deal, and most likely unhelpful in the short-term. If we see a game where everyone else is kicking butt and MB is woeful (and we did in 2004), then things change. But that's not what happened on Sunday in NY, IMO.

er, i think Moss's unique gifts as a receiver were just as responsible for the Dallas game as Brunell. i think the combination of the two can be VERY powerful, but its way underused.

it's also impossible for 'everyone' to kick ass if they don't get the ball. maybe Randle El could physically throw to himself, but the others sure couldn't.

[Schneed10]

Tinkering with our QB situation right now would be pointless, because Jason Campbell does not represent an upgrade over Brunell at the current time.

So there's no use banging our heads against the wall about Brunell. He is what he is. Accurate when given time, gets shut down when pressured.

Since you can't do much about your QB right now, you've got no choice but to plan to play with him. To make Brunell successful, the line HAS to block very well. Our offense depends upon the line, not on Mark Brunell. If the line gives him time, Brunell's going to do what all average NFL QBs can do: deliver the ball.

If there's one thing we've learned over the last few years it is that Brunell is consistent within situations. When he's hurt, he's horrible. When he's healthy and has time, he operates the offense very well (just like most QBs can do). And when he's pressured he dumps the ball off avoiding turnovers, and punting over and over.

The throw-away and punt strategy usually works better when you have a defense that can get the ball back and get off the field. But when you have a defense playing like swiss cheese, Brunell's throw-aways become a bigger issue.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Tinkering with our QB situation right now would be pointless, because Jason Campbell does not represent an upgrade over Brunell at the current time.

So there's no use banging our heads against the wall about Brunell. He is what he is. Accurate when given time, gets shut down when pressured.

Since you can't do much about your QB right now, you've got no choice but to plan to play with him. To make Brunell successful, the line HAS to block very well. Our offense depends upon the line, not on Mark Brunell. If the line gives him time, Brunell's going to do what all average NFL QBs can do: deliver the ball.

If there's one thing we've learned over the last few years it is that Brunell is consistent within situations. When he's hurt, he's horrible. When he's healthy and has time, he operates the offense very well (just like most QBs can do). And when he's pressured he dumps the ball off avoiding turnovers, and punting over and over.

The throw-away and punt strategy usually works better when you have a defense that can get the ball back and get off the field. But when you have a defense playing like swiss cheese, Brunell's throw-aways become a bigger issue.

Well said.

Brunell is what he is. He's not a QB that's going to win games for you all by himself. I've said it before and I'll say it again, his play mirrors that of the players around him. When the offense is playing well as a unit, chances are he also plays well. When the unit stinks like last week, he's going to stink.

If you're waiting for Brunell to magically become Peyton Manning overnight, keep dreaming because it isn't going to happen.

[724Skinsfan]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

The throw-away and punt strategy usually works better when you have a defense that can get the ball back and get off the field. But when you have a defense playing like swiss cheese, Brunell's throw-aways become a bigger issue.

That is a very good point, Schneed! In fact, in may be one of the best posts I've read since the season started. The offense can't rely on the defense to keep them in the game as it stands now. Saunders is going to have to open it up a little bit and take some chances. We have extremely talented playmakers and it needs to be a case of "you versus me, let's see who's better."

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by 724Skinsfan

That is a very good point, Schneed! In fact, in may be one of the best posts I've read since the season started. The offense can't rely on the defense to keep them in the game as it stands now. Saunders is going to have to open it up a little bit and take some chances. We have extremely talented playmakers and it needs to be a case of "you versus me, let's see who's better."

Thank you for the compliment.

But I slightly disagree with your conclusions. Brunell always has been very good at avoiding costly mistakes. He had only 10 INTs last year as evidence.

Brunell loves to throw the ball away rather than force bad passes. He'd rather play the field position game and punt than take a chance and maybe get intercepted. If your defense plays like swiss cheese, then throwing the ball away and punting can get you into trouble because the opposing offense can just march the field and put up points. Then again, if you throw an INT, the opposing offense has a short field and has an even greater chance of putting up points.

How Brunell plays needs to depend upon the situation. If we're behind by 10 points with 7 minutes to play, I don't want to see him dumping the ball off, ever. But if we're up by 3 points, the last thing I want him doing is forcing a ball into tight coverage, risking an INT.

All this talk about swiss cheese defense should not be an indictment of Brunell's conservative style of play. It should be an indictment of our swiss cheese defense. We shouldn't expect Brunell to be any more than he is. He is a game manager, a QB with average talents and way-above-average decision making. You want to win a Super Bowl with him, don't expect him to play like Peyton Manning. Expect him to play like Trent Dilfer, and expect your defense to play like the 2000 Baltimore Ravens.

[724Skinsfan]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Expect him to play like Trent Dilfer, and expect your defense to play like the 2000 Baltimore Ravens.

What happens when you're defense can't play like the 2000 Ravens? Something has to be done. Both the offense and the defense need to adapt to each other. I definitely don't want Brunell to turn into a chariot-riding, pigskin-slinging offensive maniac but he will have to realize that during a game if the defense is not performing well then the offense will have to re-evaluate their risk tolerance. Sometimes, in few and far between situations, you have to say "F*CK IT! WE'RE SCORING NOW!" Like the Greatest Game Since 1991 last year when he hurled the ball deep to Moss twice in the final 5 minutes. If he hadn't taken the high-risk chance then obviously the game would have been over with happier Cowboy fans.