Post Rams Debacle Thoughts

[hurrykaine]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Does anyone doubt that Holt would have seen some doubles had this been a regular season game. Don't get me wrong the guy is a great WR, top 3 in the league, but he was running wide ass open in single coverage. That kinda stuff doesn't happen in the regular season.

Almost certainly - Saw an interview with Greg Williams on Comcast Sports Net - he fended off comments about the sucky performance saying basically that it was his plan to intensively test the secondary (starters as well as 2nd & 3rd stringers). Of course, the secondary got mauled, but I bet it gave the coaching staff a clearer picture of who's capable of playing and who's not. I for one am not high on Ralph Brown - hope Rufus Brown makes the cut instead of him. Jimoh will certainly be gone, whew!

Could be wrong here, but part of the plan may have even been to hold back on the pass rush (on 1st and 2nd downs) and leave the secondary to hold fort by themselves. Starting DEs such as Upshaw and Wynn left the game in the 1st quarter itself. Gibbs had no interest in trying to win the game as was obvious in the 3rd quarter when Brunell came in and the play calling was still conservative - no long bombs, sweeps or anything of the kind.

About Ramsey - agree with most that he needs to sit back and learn from Brunell - accuracy has never been one of Ramsey's strengths, and he still has too many miscommunications with his receivers for a starting qb . Its certainly been a humbling experience for him and being a back up will aid his development as a qb.

On another note, a pity, but it seems like Rock will be cut - he's pretty ineffective as a runner - Betts played only 2 sets of downs and showed the coaches why he's a better back.

[Daseal]

I think the staff loves Rock's heart and may keep him around.

[That Guy]

everyone knows betts is a better back, but HE DOESN'T PLAY, that's been the big kicker thus far... wasn't holt in into the 3rd quarter? jeez.

[illdefined]

"holding back" on the pass rush? you kidding? we blitzed aLOT. and Bulger was only sacked once. what about the time we sent 9 guys at him. no one got there the whole game. the Rams devastated Oline easily kept our Dline at bay, and Griffin was playing.

[Hogskin]

I agree, ILL, and we still have a STRONG need for a quality pass-rusher at DE.

[hurrykaine]

Originally Posted by illdefined

"holding back" on the pass rush? you kidding? we blitzed aLOT. and Bulger was only sacked once. what about the time we sent 9 guys at him. no one got there the whole game. the Rams devastated Oline easily kept our Dline at bay, and Griffin was playing.

That was on a 3rd down and goal. I'm talking about holding back on 1st and 2nd downs, as I stated earlier. As for no one getting there the whole game, that's not true - when our starting DEs were on the field, Wynn had a sack for a 5yd loss on Bulger. I didn't see Marcus Washington playing end like in the Miami game - which is why I thought they were indeed holding back.

[hurrykaine]

Before I get lynched by people critical of our pass rush (or lack thereof), let me clarify one thing - the reason I think they held back on the 1st and 2nd down pass rush is the following:

I think the coaching staff has a good idea of who can play on the D-line and at Linebacker from training camp and the first 3 preseason games. However, in the secondary, they don't know enough (besides taylor, springs and smoot) in terms of who can really make plays and who can't. Hence, they needed to be severely tested, and what better testing ground for the secondary than against the Rams.

[illdefined]

i expressly mentioned that one sack we got. and Washington is a LB, and thus not part of the Dline. the front four got no penetration by itself vs that weak Oline, as there was next to no pressure on Bulger and no running plays broken up in the backfield.

Williams held back his advanced blitzes sure (note that a blitz by definition means someone OTHER than the Dline) but there's no way Williams told the DLine to 'go half ass' on the guy in front of them. schemes and stunts aside, our guys got pushed around man for man.

[SUNRA]

Originally Posted by That Guy

hasselbeck sucks shane :P remember last year, he came in, posted a 0.0 rating at dallas? that was MH I still believe ramsey is better, but brunell has the job now for sure. mcollough still didn't impress me (though no one did this game, and they left holt in a long long time)... brown, jimoh, bowen all got stomped... taylor at least got another int... why wasn't holt double teamed?

it looked like they game planned us and were trying to win vs testing players, but that doesn't mean we didn't get blown over...

Hasselbeck doesn't suck. Look at what he was able to do against Miami after Ramsey went down. Hasselbeck may not be as talented but I'll take experience over talent right now. We have been waiting to develop players for the last five years and it's time we see some results right now damn it!

[Gmanc711]

Hasslebeck dosent sucks. I'd take him over every thrid stringer in the leauge, and alot of the second stringers. Hes not better than Brunell or Ramsey, but hes a good qb. He may be doing it against scrubs this year, but he did it against some good players last season. Hes not great, but he surley dosent suck.

[Big C]

you are right he doesnt suck, but he is really inconsistent. hell have a good game, but makes too many stupid throws. def. a spectacular 3rd stringer tho.

[Daseal]

I think maybe we should send Hasselbeck to Europe and let him get in a rhythm.

[That Guy]

i was saying the hasselbeck sucks compared to 1st stringers and a bunch of second stringers, but more importantly, i don't think he's nearly as good as ramsey (i don't think shane or SUNRA like ramsey at all ). it was a drop off last year with him starting... I DO think he beats out just about any third stringer, and europe would be a great place for him, i imagine he'd do really well there and it'd make him a better player.

[SUNRA]

Originally Posted by Daseal

I think maybe we should send Hasselbeck to Europe and let him get in a rhythm.

We already sent Hamdan to Europe. Hasselbeck definitely stays and learns Gibb's system to the T. He develops on the sidelines watching Brunell and if Ramsey can get his head out of his ass he might become a leader of this team and not just a player with a lot of talent.

[Dana87]

Originally Posted by illdefined

Griffin was playing.

He only played in the 1st quarter. As I remeber the game I belive they didn't score a TD until midway through the 2nd quarter. Things didn't get ugly until alot of the 1st team was on the sidelines and we had starters placed throughout the Defense.