No Audibles

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

I have a question for you That Guy. Is it just me or has Saunders been a blinding disappointment. I know he's had some constraints and I know it's only nine games but factoring that in, I still see his hiring as a mistake. I thought he would run the Gibbs system and slowly add his flavor to the mix. Instead it was a complete overhaul. I also get the vibe that he is not fitting in well with the other assistants and it's creating tension. Don't know who exactly, no specifics, just a feeling I have. I'm beginning to the think we should have listened to that tubby sportswriter from KC - J. Whitlock. Your thoughts?

Whitlock has integrity (he wasn't saying that just for ratings)... he said saunders is good at what he does, but he's a backbiter, and it's proven to be true (he's complained publicly that brunell can't do a lot of things, that campbell isn't smart enough or ready to run his offense, that portis should never take himself out of games, etc etc). seems there's always a reason things don't work out, and it's NEVER HIS FAULT. that's what i don't like, and that's why he should never be a head coach. if he can't take responsiblity for anything he does, why wouldn't his players follow that example?

I mean, if betts made that 3rd and 1, do you think he would have taken the time to call out portis in the post-game interview? I doubt it.

It has been a blinding failure, but it's not entirely saunders fault. he can't use the personnel he wants, i'm not sure how much gibbs is interfering with his game plans and playcalling, etc. I do know that it looks like he's calling plays for the KC personnel and he's failed to make meaningful adjustments in a timely manner (ie, brunnel is a much better passer out of the shotgun (where he's not watching the rush), so it takes 9 weeks before we see a single shotgun snap (which worked well enough, btw)). Saunders uses motion instead of audibles to create mismatches, but we haven't really seen any motion except on a limited basis in week 1, 2, and 9.

BUT, you can't expect a new system to work right off the bat. that said it should be performing better by now... brunell and the OL may be bottlenecks though which does make it harder to judge, and campbell probably won't run a full offense right away either.


that said, if he does leave after this year, i won't miss him.