Finally, a win! Great showing by the team this week. The offense is continuing to develop. On defense, Lewis Sanders is the weak link and simply not cut out to be a starter. Hopefully, Chris Houston will be ready soon and even if not, I’d almost rather him take his lumps than have Sanders start.

Here’s what I saw:

Offense:

Running game: Dunn (18/62), Norwood (9/29), and Harrington (1/-1). Effective Runs (4 yards or more)-Dunn, 7; Norwood, 5. Dunn also had 4 catches for 9 yards and Norwood 2 for 16.

Breakdown of passes:

Harrington: 23/29, 223 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 3 bad passes and 3 passes defended. Harrington really had a great day. Only 1 noticeably bad decision when he tried to force it to Crump and had Mughelli in the flats for a first down at minimum.

Drops (0): None.

YTD Drops (8):

Jenkins 3
Horn 2
White 1
Norwood 1
Dunn 1

Run blocking: Still very inconsistent. There were big gains and plenty of negative yardage plays that need to be eliminated.

Pass blocking: Excellent. Harrington had plenty of time to find his targets.

Sack responsibility (2): First sack goes on Blalock. He came off a block to try to pick up a guy that was beyond the point of picking up which left Okoye free with his back to Gandy leaving Gandy unable to do anything about it legally. Second sack is on Dunn who didn’t pick up Ryans.

YTD Sacks (16):

Scheme 1.0
Norwood 1.5
Gandy 1.0
Forney 1.0
Harrington 4.5
Weiner 1.5
Blalock 2.5
McClure 2.0
Dunn 1.0

Note: QB responsible sacks are those that he has at least 3 seconds and either chose to try to scramble or stayed in the pocket when the better decision would be to throw it away. Also includes those rushing attempts that go for 0 or negative yardage that for some reason are counted as a sack.

Defense:

Run defense: Much better. On Dayne’s 25 yard run the referees missed a blatant hold on Demorrio Williams that opened the hole. Brooking had a very good day in the middle.

Pass Defense: TE’s, RB’s and whoever Sanders is covering continue to be a problem. Other than that, very good.

Sacks: Abraham had the lone sack with a fumble forced.

Special Teams:

Norwood had 3 kickoff returns: 1. from the -2, 24 yards; 2. from the -3, 35 yards; 3. from the 25, 9 yards and there were also 2 touchbacks .

Jennings had 1 punt returns for 18 and 1 fair catch.

Koenen had 3 punts: 1-51 yards to the HOU 20, 27 yard return (negated by penalty). 2-49 yards to the HOU 25, -3 yard return. 3-32 yards to HOU 44, out of bounds. Very good day punting despite the last punt being short

Kickoffs: Koenen had 7 kickoffs: 1. to the end zone, 27 yard return; 2. touchback; 3. to the 26, 14 yard return; 4. to the 2, 22 yard return; 5. touchback; 6. to the end zone, 39 yard return; 7. to the end zone, 29 yard return. Great job.

Field Goals: Andersen went 4/5. One attempt got blocked due to Milner being late picking up the corner rush.

Special Teams coverage: Too many return yards on kickoff coverage but not a bad day.

Things that really need improvement:

1. Lewis Sanders.
2. Get touchdowns and not field goals, make the most out of red zone opportunities.
3. Coverage of TE’s and RB’s. Seems they are wide open far too often.

Offensive MVP: Michael Jenkins (6 catches, 64 yards, 2 TD)

Defensive MVP: John Abraham (3 tackles, 1 sacks, 1 fumble forced) and Michael Boley (9 tackles, 1 fumble forced)

Special Teams MVP: Morten Andersen.

Goat of the Week: Lewis Sanders.

Let me know your thoughts and questions otherwise:

Next up: AT Tennessee Titans, October 7th!

First, I want to apologize for the tardiness of this blog but it was necessary. As for the game, this one was tough to stomach because it was yet another game that you come away with saying we should have won that one. First, the refs blew the second foul on D-Hall plain and simple and it probably caused the third foul. Regardless, D-Hall should have just walked off instead of drawing #3 which would have held Carolina to a long field goal instead of a TD. As for the rest,

Here’s what I saw:

Offense:

Running game: Dunn (11/55), Norwood (6/32), and Harrington (1/4). Effective Runs (4 yards or more)-Dunn, 7; Norwood, 1. Dunn also had 4 catches for 13 yards and Norwood 3 for 34. Dunn had a crucial early fumble that ended a drive that would have at least resulted in a field goal attempt.

Breakdown of passes:

Harrington: 31/44, 361 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 6 bad passes, 4 drops, 2 passes defended and 1 thrown away. Harrington did all he could to win this game from what I could see. Horn’s drop in the end zone in the 4th quarter didn’t help matters.

Drops (4): White 1, Jenkins 1, Horn 2.

YTD Drops (8):

Jenkins 3
Horn 2
White 1
Norwood 1
Dunn 1

Run blocking: Had one of the better days but still not as good as it needs to be.

Pass blocking: Excellent. Harrington had plenty of time to find his targets.

Sack responsibility (1): Blalock got beat by Jenkins for the only sack.

YTD Sacks (14):

Scheme 1.0
Norwood 1.5
Gandy 1.0
Forney 1.0
Harrington 4.5
Weiner 1.5
Blalock 1.5
McClure 2.0

Note: QB responsible sacks are those that he has at least 3 seconds and either chose to try to scramble or stayed in the pocket when the better decision would be to throw it away. Also includes those rushing attempts that go for 0 or negative yardage that for some reason are counted as a sack.

Defense:

Run defense: Not very good at all. Brooking and Milloy both had very noticeable bad days.

Pass Defense: Except for TE’s and Brooking getting burned by Foster it was fine until the D-Hall blowup. Houston was in on Carolina’s last FG drive and got torched.

Sacks: Abraham had 2 sacks and Crocker had 1.

Special Teams:

Norwood had 5 kickoff returns: 1. from the 4, 44 yards (negated by Wilkins’ penalty); 2. from the GL, 26 yards; 3. from the -2, 19 yards (negated by Taylor’s penalty); 4. from the -2, 46 yards; 5. -2, 26 yards .
Jennings had 1 kickoff return from the 4, 28 yards.

Jennings had 2 punt returns for -1 and 6 along with 2 fair catches. Not a lot of opportunity to do much.

Koenen had 4 punts: 1-55 yards to the CAR 18, 9 yard return. 2-40 yards to the CAR 25, no return. 3-49 yards to endzone, touchback (should have been inside the 5 but Harris botched it). 4-31 yards to the CAR 12, no return. Very good day punting.

Kickoffs: Koenen had 5 kickoffs: 1. to the 1, 20 yard return; 2. touchback; 3. touchback; 4. touchback; 5. to the 5, 17 yard return. Great job.

Field Goals: Andersen went 2/2. There was one botched attempt due to a bad snap. Good to have ya back Mort!

Special Teams coverage: Except for the 2 penalties on Norwood’s returns it was very good.

Things that really need improvement:

1. Defensive line needs to eat up o-linemen and LB’s have to avoid getting eaten up by guards. Run defense tends to get “outphysicalled” so we need to utilize speed to get around it.
2. Get touchdowns and not field goals, make the most out of red zone opportunities.
3. Coverage of TE’s and RB’s. Seems they are wide open far too often.

Offensive MVP: Joey Harrington (361 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT)

Defensive MVP: John Abraham (2 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 hurries) Honorable Mention to Boley with 8 tackles and 1 pass defensed.

Special Teams MVP: Michael Koenen.

Goat of the Week: Keith Brooking, Lawyer Milloy, Deangelo Hall, Joe Horn.

Let me know your thoughts and questions otherwise:

Next up: VS Houston Texans, September 30th!

Unfortunately, this was another frustrating game that boiled down to missed opportunities to put up points, poor protection, bad decisions and at times, bad tackling. All little things but big enough to change the outcome of a game.

Here’s what I saw:

Offense:

Running game: Dunn (13/50, 1 TD), Norwood (9/30), Pinner (1/0) and Harrington (2/2). Effective Runs (4 yards or more)-Dunn, 8; Norwood, 5. Both backs had 1 reception each.

Breakdown of passes:

Harrington: 12/20, 200 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 4 bad passes, 2 drops and 2 thrown away. 1 of the drops was a pass to Dunn that was a smart move to drop. Harrington hung him out to dry and it would have been a loss. Harrington did complete several downfield throws but needs to be more aggressive in my opinion.

Drops (2): Norwood, 1 and Dunn, 1.

YTD Drops:

Jenkins 2
Norwood 1
Dunn 1

Run blocking: Very hit and miss. 13 of 23 runs were good but they were often followed up with negative yardage or very short gains.

Pass blocking: Some of the sacks could have been avoided but protection still lacked and that’s being nice.

Sack responsibility (7): First sack was on Harrington for holding it too long. Blalock finally got beat but held his block long enough for Harrington to have at least thrown it away. Second sack was due to not having a hot route and the blitz not being picked up so Harrington held it too long again. The third sack goes on Harrington for holding it too long although Blalock failed to pick up a delayed stunt. The fourth was again, a combination of Blalock getting beat and Harrington holding it too long. The fifth sack was on Weiner and McClure, both beaten badly. The sixth sack was a combination of Norwood not picking up the LB who went right by him and McClure getting beat. The final sack goes on McClure who hit his man on the side as he flew by him. Not a good day for Blalock and McClure at all.

YTD Sacks (13):

Scheme 1.0
Norwood 1.5
Gandy 1.0
Forney 1.0
Harrington 4.5
Weiner 1.5
Blalock 0.5
McClure 2.0

Note: QB responsible sacks are those that he has at least 3 seconds and either chose to try to scramble or stayed in the pocket when the better decision would be to throw it away. Also includes those rushing attempts that go for 0 or negative yardage that for some reason are counted as a sack.

Defense:

Run defense: Excellent job overall. There were a couple of breakdowns for key 1st downs but very stout throughout the game.

Pass Defense: Jax completely avoided Hall’s side except for once and he defended well. Sanders was abused as was the middle of the field. Brooking and J-Will did not have good days in coverage.

Sacks: Babineaux had 2 sacks, G. Jackson and Abraham had 1 each.

Special Teams:

Norwood had 2 kickoff returns: 1. from the 13, 16 yards; 2. from the GL, 28 yards. There were also 2 touchbacks. My guess is that with Laurent Robinson injured, they chose to protect Jennings a bit OR just trying to get Norwood more touches in the game. Not bad but I prefer Jennings back there.

Jennings had 1 punt return for 3 yards. Not a lot of opportunity to do much.

Koenen had 5 punts: 1-30 yards to the JAX 20, no return. 2-35 yards to the JAX 15, no return. 3-42 yards to JAX 23, no return (catch interference on Irons for 15 yards). 4-47 yards to the JAX 32, 10 yard return. 5-42 yards to the JAX 36, no return. Very mediocre day. Not a lot of return yardage but not very long either.

Kickoffs: Prater had 2 kickoffs both for touchbacks. The guy can boom kickoffs that’s for sure.

Field Goals: Prater went 0/2. Missed from 43 and 26 yards. Not a shock that he was cut.

Special Teams coverage: Very good coverage except for Irons interference penalty.

Things that really need improvement:

1. Offensive line needs work and Harrington needs to get rid of it quicker.
2. Eliminate negative plays. Sacks, penalties and negative rushing attempts have killed drives.
3. Better coverage opposite Hall and more consistency out of safety help.

Offensive MVP: Roddy White (4 catches, 81 yards)

Defensive MVP: Jonathan Babineaux (3 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 hurry and 1 fumble forced) Honorable Mention to Abraham who had a great game also.

Special Teams MVP: Michael Boley who had the lone tackle and also partially blocked a punt.

Goat of the Week: Lewis Sanders, Matt Prater and Todd McClure.

Let me know your thoughts and questions otherwise:

Next up: VS Carolina Panthers, September 23rd!

This game boiled down to who would make the least amount of mistakes and unfortunately, it wasn’t us. Upon first watch, the game looked like a mess but the second viewing changed that completely.

Here’s what I saw:

Offense:

Running game: Dunn (22/55), Norwood (5/33) and Harrington (1/8). Impact Runs (4 yards or more)-Dunn, 6; Norwood, 2 and Harrington, 1. Dunn also had 4 catches for 26 yards and Norwood had 2 for 24 late in the game.

Breakdown of passes:

Harrington: 23/32, 199 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 6 bad passes, 2 drops and 1 pass defended. Joey missed some opportunities at the line to use play action to his advantage and also missed on a couple of passes that could have extended drives. His last INT was a result of a dropped pass. All in all, not horrible but a solid mediocre if there can be such a thing.

Drops (2): Jenkins 2 (2).

Run blocking: Upon first watch, it’s very hard to understand why the backs aren’t getting yards and the natural tendency would be to blame the back. The second viewing showed that often times the short gains or losses were a result of a missed block, a bad choice (example would be Forney having a choice between 2 LBs and choosing the wrong one), or a missed opportunity to change the play by Harrington. There were a couple of opportunities that Harrington had 9 in the box in front of him and a play action deep pass would either get 6 points or at least back them off the line a bit.

Pass blocking: Protection was very inconsistent. Sometimes it was good and others downright horrible. This definitely has to improve.

Sack responsibility (6): First sack was a scheme sack. There were a couple of double teams and Gandy was left with two guys. He chose the inside man and the outside man got the sack. Had he chosen the outside guy, the inside guy would have gotten there quicker as he had a straight line. Second sack was a result of Norwood not picking up Henderson on a delayed LB blitz. The third sack goes to Gandy getting beat off the edge. The fourth was a result of Forney getting beat by an inside move. The fifth sack was on Harrington for holding it too long and the final sack was on Weiner.

YTD Sacks (6):

Scheme 1.0
Norwood 1.0
Gandy 1.0
Forney 1.0
Harrington 1.0
Weiner 1.0

Note: QB responsible sacks are those that he has at least 3 seconds and either chose to try to scramble or stayed in the pocket when the better decision would be to throw it away. Also includes those rushing attempts that go for 0 or negative yardage that for some reason are counted as a sack.

Defense:

Run defense: The line was really gashed up the middle. Babineaux and Jackson got pushed into Brooking consistently all day. Fortunately, the defense stepped up to prevent points for 3 and a half quarters.

Pass Defense: Overall not bad but Williams was late in over the top help on at least 2 plays, 1 of which was a big completion. The biggest breakdown in coverage falls on Boley and the screen pass that broke the game wide open. There was also an unfortunate no call for holding on D. Hall on that play. Rice clearly was holding Hall’s arm and preventing him from making an attempted tackle.

Sacks: NONE. There was pressure at times but no official hurries either.

Special Teams:

Jennings had 5 kickoff returns: 1. from the 1, 21 yards; 2. from the 1, 32 yards; 3. from the 3, 23 yards; 4. from the 4, 20 yards; and 5. from the 11, 3 yards. 1 really nice return, 3 average returns and the 3 yard return was on a squib kick. Solid day.

Jennings also had punt returns for -1 and for 2 yards. The -1 was on the 4 and shouldn’t have been fielded as it most likely would have made it to the endzone. Not good on the limited opportunties.

Koenen had 5 punts: 1-53 yards to the MIN 9, 13 yard return. 2-51 yards to the MIN 36, 7 yard return. 3-46 yards to MIN 13, no return. 4-40 yards to the MIN 9, no return. 5-44 yards to the MIN 42, no return. Very nice day punting. It could have been better but Harris downed punt #4 a bit early.

Kickoffs: Prater had 2 kickoffs: 1- to the 3, 22 yard return. 2- to the back of the endzone, touchback. No complaints at all.

Field Goals: Prater hit 1/2. Good from 45 and missed a 44 yarder. If he gets consistent, he’ll be a very good kicker for a long time.

Special Teams coverage: For the most part was good but did breakdown somewhat on the opening kickoff and the first punt. Chris Houston led the way with 2 tackles.

Things that really need improvement:

1. Offensive line needs to make correct reads in who they block in run blocking and pass blocking.
2. Harrington needs to be more consistent.
3. Middle rush defense has to be able to hold at point of attack.

Offensive MVP: Jerious Norwood

Defensive MVP: Deangelo Hall (1 tackle, 1 INT, 1 Pass defended) and Lewis Sanders (4 tackles, 1 pass defended)

Special Teams MVP: Michael Koenen

Goat of the Week: Offensive line as everyone messed up at some point or another.

Let me know your thoughts and questions otherwise:

Next up: AT Jacksonville, September 16th!

Many would probably skip this game and get ready for the regular season but this game was important because it foreshadowed a lot of the decisions that were made on cutdown day.

Here’s what I saw:

Offense:

Running game: Norwood (7/11), Snelling (11/50), Vincent (9/22), Ar. Harris (8/18), McIntyre (1/3), Redman (2/0), and Bramlet (2/6). Impact Runs (4 yards or more)-Norwood 1, Snelling 6, Vincent 3, Ar. Harris 2. Best day easily belonged to Snelling and while Norwood didn’t shine running the ball, he made his impact with 3 receptions for 29 yards and the only TD.

Breakdown of passes:

Redman: 13/23, 119 yards, 1 TD/0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 2 bad throws, 3 defended passes, 1 throw away, and 4 drops. The drops killed the numbers plain and simple. Redman has really stepped it up the past 2 games.

Bramlet: 4/7, 68 yards, 0 TD/ 0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 2 bad throws and 1 drop. Not sure how far he can go but I do think Bramlet has heart and the arm to make it at this level.

Drops (5): Marshall 2 (3), Milner 1 (4), Fells 1 (1) and Weems 1 (1). I hope Milner is only used in blocking situations because his hands are consistently bad. Marshall really had issues hanging on to the ball in the game as well. 1 was thrown just a little behind him but it’s still a play he needs to make.

Sack responsibility (2): Redman was not sacked in this game. Bramlet was sacked twice. Foster got beat on the first one (most likely fatigue more than anything) and Ar. Harris missed a block for the second.

Pass blocking: Protection was very good overall.

YTD Sacks (8):

Wilkerson 0.5
Jordan 0.5
Dunn 1.0
Gandy 1.0
Blalock 1.0
Foster 2.0
Redman 1.0
Ar. Harris 1.0

Note: QB responsible sacks are those that he has at least 3 seconds and either chose to try to scramble or stayed in the pocket when the better decision would be to throw it away. Also includes those rushing attempts that go for 0 or negative yardage that for some reason are counted as a sack.

Defense:

Run defense: Only 45 yards rushing. Outstanding job!

Pass Defense: Looked more like bend don’t break and came up with stops when needed except for 1 long pass early. Still nervous about the secondary. Jimmy Williams played significantly better in this game making several nice plays.

5 sacks: Wilkins, Mallard, T. Jackson, Carrington and T.Williams each had a sack.

Special Teams:

Weems had 2 kickoff returns for 34 and 27 yards. Very nice job. Kinoshita had 1 return for 24 yards.

Amey had 4 punt returns for 7, 13, 2 and 15 yards.

Koenen had 7 punts: 1-39 yards to the BAL 16, no return. 2-61 yards to the BAL 32, 9 yard return. 3-34 yards to BAL 11, no return. 4-44 yards to the BAL 47, no return. 5-44 yards to the BAL 22, 10 yard return. 6-45 yards to the BAL 19, no return. 7-52 yards to the BAL 35, 2 yard return. 3 inside the 20 and 42.3 net average, very nice day.

Kickoffs: Prater had 4 kickoffs: 1- to the endzone, touchback. 2- to the 9, returned to the BAL 20. 3- to the endzone, returned to the BAL 16 and penalized for holding back to the 8. 4- to the endzone, touchback. Very impressive job with both hangtime and distance.

Field Goals: Prater hit 2/3. Good from 33, 45 and missed a 44 yarder. The snap and hold appeared to be fine.

Special Teams coverage: Very nice, Antoine Harris was all over the place.

Things that really need improvement:

1. Secondary coverage needs to tighten up, this could be a matter of not completely exposing Zimmer’s scheme.
2. WR’s need to hang on to the ball.
3. Win the season opener.

Offensive MVP: Chris Redman

Defensive MVP: Chris Houston (8 tackles, 1 pass defended and the game ending INT)

Special Teams MVP: Jordan Beck (3 tackles)

Goat of the Week: Wide Receivers

Let me know your thoughts and questions otherwise:

Next up: AT Minnesota, September 9th!

If it wasn’t for such a spotlight on Michael Vick, ESPN’s crew might have actually covered the game. Instead we got a 4 hour long Michael Vick special which included a full hour of Monday Night Countdown. I know the subject had to be covered but how long does it really take to cover a 4 and a half minute apology? At any rate,

Here’s what I saw:

Offense:

Running game: Dunn (6/8), Norwood (9/25), Mughelli (3/9, 1 TD), Snelling (8/26), S. Edwards (1/-1). 2 of Dunn’s runs were for 4 yards or more. Norwood had 5-4 yards or more runs. Snelling had 4-4 yards or more runs. Mughelli had 2 runs of 4 yards or more. The run blocking was not nearly as good as it should have been in this game.

Breakdown of passes:

Harrington: 13/21, 164 yards, 2 TD/0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 2 bad throws, 4 passes defended, 1 throw away, and 1 drop. The drop was obviously the Roddy White touchdown. The two passes on the sideline that were completed but not inbounds I called defended since they were caught and weren’t necessarily bad throws either. Very good outing for Harrington.

Redman: 8/9, 76 yards, 0 TD/0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 1 drop. If Vince Marshall would have caught the ball with his hands instead of his body, Redman would have had a perfect night. I really feel better about Redman as a backup after this game.

Bramlet: 1/2, 12 yards, 0 TD/ 0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 1 drop. Not much of a sampling but had it not been for Milner’s drop, he’d have been 2/2.

Drops (3): R. White 1 (3), Marshall 1 (1), and Milner 1 (3). White and Milner’s concentration problems continue. That may just be a problem that doesn’t go away. Do the first two sentences look familiar? That’s because they were here last week too unfortunately.

Sack responsibility (5): First sack was due to Dunn missing a block. Second sack was on Gandy for getting beat. Third sack was on Blalock. Redman was sacked twice, fourth overall was on Foster who doubled instead of picking up the outside blitz and the final sack was a result of Redman not reacting to the all-out blitz.

Pass blocking: Protection was good in spots but there was a drop-off in this game but not a significant enough drop to warrant worrying about.

YTD Sacks (6):

Wilkerson 0.5
Jordan 0.5
Dunn 1.0
Gandy 1.0
Blalock 1.0
Foster 1.0
Redman 1.0

Note: QB responsible sacks are those that he has at least 3 seconds and either chose to try to scramble or stayed in the pocket when the better decision would be to throw it away. Also includes those rushing attempts that go for 0 or negative yardage that for some reason are counted as a sack.

Defense:

Run defense: Outside of 2 runs, the run defense was fairly solid. Still lacks consistency but that could just be a result of not scheming or holding back so everyone won’t know everything we do.

Pass Defense: Struggled for the most part. Hall got beat, Rossum got beat and the safeties were constantly late or not there at all.

4 sacks: Anderson had 2 sacks, Davis had 1 and Lewis had 1. Great to see the younger guys getting it done!

Special Teams:

Rossum had 1 kickoff return for 59 yards. Kinoshita had 2 returns, 1 for 17 and 1 for 23. McIntyre had 1 for 11 yards.

Rossum had 2 punt returns, 1 for 13 and 1 for 6. Jennings had 3 returns, 1 for 7 , 1 for 3 and 1 for -2.

Rossum had his best game of preseason but obviously not enough.

Koenen had 3 punts: 1-36 yards to the CIN 41. 2-29 yards to the ATL 40. 3-39 yards to CIN 31. Not a good day at all.

Anderson had 1 punt for 47 yards that died on the 3. Very impressive job that hopefully gets him a job opportunity at some point.

Kickoffs: Koenen had 4 kickoffs: 1- to the endzone, returned to the CIN 12. 2- to the endzone, returned to the CIN 17. 3- to the 7, returned to the CIN 18. 4- to the 5, returned to the CIN 27. Very good job of coverage and kicking.

Field Goals: Cundiff hit 1/1. Good from 37. Koenen missed from 54 and 53 and both seemed to be on botched holds from Cundiff. Cundiff pointed to himself on the first heading back to the sidelines and Koenen looked back after the second as if to say, “I can’t believe it happened twice.”

Special Teams coverage: Fantastic, McIntyre really stood out.

Things that really need improvement:

1. White and Milner MUST solve the concentration issue. The drops are something that has to be stopped.
2. Eliminate secondary miscommunication. Safety help over the top has to be there when the corner is expecting it. This has become the defense’s biggest issue.
3. Consistency in run stopping.

Offensive MVP: Joey Harrington/Adam Jennings. Great game by these two.

Defensive MVP: Jamaal Anderson (5 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 QB hurries)

Special Teams MVP: Corey McIntyre (2 tackles)

Goat of the Week: Falcons secondary

Let me know your thoughts and questions otherwise:

Next up: VS Baltimore, August 31st!

Some things were better and some were worse in this game. In my Things to work on schedule, I’m going to be a bit more detailed this week.

Here’s what I saw:

Offense:

Running game: Snelling (12/50), Harris (12/33), Redman (4/12), Shockley (3/18), and Mughelli (2/5). 5 of Snelling’s carries went for 4 yards or more. Although he lacks outside speed, I really like Snelling’s drive and determination. I’m still of the opinion that he will be the 3rd string RB and backup fullback possibly. 4 of Harris’ carries went for 4 yards or more. Just not impressive enough to make the team I think. Redman had 1 nice scramble and Shockley had a couple of nice scrambles until tearing up his knee.

Breakdown of passes:

Harrington: 4/7, 31 yards, 0 TD/1 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 1 bad throw, 2 drops. The INT was mostly a result of Harrington’s foot slipping but gets counted as a bad throw. The other play I’d point out is the shovel pass that got Snelling clocked. Roddy White was open and should have been the target but Harrington missed him. It doesn’t show up in the stats but it would get pointed out in the film room as a bad decision. Still a solid showing though.

Redman: 11/21, 90 yards, 1 TD/1 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 2 bad throws, 4 defended, 2 throw aways and 2 drops. These numbers are a bit sugar-coated in my opinion. The 4 defended passes are largely the result of passes being thrown with way too much touch. I did not come away from this game thinking we had a solid backup option and it wouldn’t shock me if we signed someone to be the #2 QB.

Shockley: 4/5, 46 yards, 0 TD/ 0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 1 bad throws. Outside of an impromptu pass to avoid a sack that was almost intercepted, Shockley played well and is largely responsible for the winning TD drive. He was still a little off target (seemingly because of how hard he throws) but the WR’s stepped up and caught the ball. It’s a shame his season ended as I believe he was in position to challenge for the #2 job.

Drops (4): R. White 1 (2), Robinson 1 (1), Cooper 1 (1) and Milner 1 (2). White and Milner’s concentration problems continue. That may just be a problem that doesn’t go away.

Sack responsibility (1): Wilkerson allowed the pressure and Jordan’s man got the sack.

Pass blocking: Overall, very good pass protection. The QB’s are doing a nice job of getting rid of the ball extremely quick.

YTD Sacks (1):

Wilkerson 0.5
Jordan 0.5

Note: QB responsible sacks are those that he has at least 3 seconds and either chose to try to scramble or stayed in the pocket when the better decision would be to throw it away. Also includes those rushing attempts that go for 0 or negative yardage that for some reason are counted as a sack.

Defense:

Run defense: Much improved. Only 69 yards allowed for the entire game. Nice job.

Pass Defense: Less than 200 yards allowed and even on completions, coverage was very tight for the most part. Very much improved from last week although there were a couple of miscommunications.

3 sacks: Stone, J. Williams and T. Williams all had sacks. Great to see safety blitzes!

Special Teams:

Rossum had 1 kickoff return for 25 yards. Jennings had 1 kickoff return: 48 yards. Amey had 1 kickoff return for 20 yards. Jennings clearly had the better day here again and has to be the leader for the job at this point.

Jennings had the only returnable punt and that was an 8 yard return.

Jennings has really impressed me so far. I have to believe that Rossum is on the ropes, so to speak. 1 more good week from Jennings and I think the battle will be over.

Koenen had 1 punt for 49 yards that rolled and died on the 2. Outstanding job.

Anderson had 2 punts for 41 and 38 yards. Returns negated by penalties. Not a bad job but he has no chance to make the team obviously.

Kickoffs: Koenen had 3 kickoffs: 1: to the 7, returned 19 yards. 2: to the endzone, returned 23 yards. 3: to the goal line, returned 19 yards.

Cundiff had 1 kickoff to the goal line, 24 yard return.

Much better coverage and hang time on kickoffs to allow coverage team to get downfield.

Field Goals: Cundiff hit 2/3. Good from 32 and 46. Missed from 54 badly. Very good job and I think he’ll be just fine in the Dome.

Special Teams coverage: Stone continues his good work as did McIntyre. Coverage was much improved.

Things that really need improvement:

1. Backup QB play. Redman needs to really show something Monday night and even then it may not be enough to stop someone being brought in. Casey Bramlett will look to secure the #3 job.
2. Stay healthy. The starters will probably play the entire 1st half. We MUST stay healthy.
3. Eliminate secondary miscommunication. Safety help over the top has to be there when the corner is expecting it.

Offensive MVP: DJ Shockley. Really did a very good job on the winning TD drive. Honorable mention to Jason Snelling.

Defensive MVP: Darren Stone (4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hurry) and Trey Lewis (2 tackles, 2 QB hurries, 1 batted pass)

Special Teams MVP: Billy Cundiff/Adam Jennings

Goat of the Week: Chris Redman-Not necessarily bad but just left a bad impression.

Let me know your thoughts and questions otherwise:

Next up: VS Cincinnati, August 27th!

As with any preseason game, evaluation is more important than outcome and with that comes good and bad so even though we lost 31-16 there were some bright spots.

Here’s what I saw:

Offense:

Running game: Norwood (8/29, 1 TD), Snelling (10/48), Harris (3/6), Redman (1/2), Shockley (1/1). 4 of Norwood’s carries went for 4 yards or more. The only negative I saw on Norwood was the short yardage play where he didn’t follow Mughelli. 5 of Snelling’s carries went for 4 yards or more. This guy is a bulldozer. I’m fully confident that he will be our short yardage back. Very straight ahead, bruising runner. Great to see. Harris didn’t impress in his short stint.

Breakdown of passes:

Harrington: 6/9, 88 yards, 0 TD/0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 3 bad throws. The bad throws number was a little above the 25% but not a huge concern because 2 were on taking shots downfield and those are low percentage plays to begin with. Harrington completed 67% of his passes and while not throwing for a TD, managed the game well.

Redman: 8/13, 61 yards, 0 TD/0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 2 bad throws, 2 defended and 1 drop. Tended to dance around in the pocket when he had protection, eyeballed Jenkins on one of the defenses. Still didn’t look bad and the mistakes made can easily be attributed to rust.

Shockley: 5/12, 77 yards, 0 TD/ 1 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 4 bad throws, 2 dropped, 1 defended. The INT was the defended pass as it was tipped at the line. Shockley obviously did not have a good night. His worst problem seemed to be throwing it too hard causing his passes to either be uncatchable at times or making it harder than necessary to catch.

Drops (2): R. White (1), Elliott (1) and Milner (1). White seemed to have a lapse in concentration on what would have been a 1st down. Milner definitely should have caught his pass as well. Elliott is iffy because the ball was thrown way too hard for what was needed but still hit his hands.

Sack responsibility (0): NONE!!!

Pass blocking: Wow, night and day different from what we are used to seeing. Protection was outstanding. The entire first unit did really well and Foster (backup tackle) looked really, really good out there.

YTD Sacks (0): NONE

Note: QB sacks are those that he has at least 3 seconds and either chose to try to scramble or stayed in the pocket when the better decision would be to throw it away. Also includes those rushing attempts that go for 0 or negative yardage that for some reason are counted as a sack.

Defense:

Run defense: Decent. Sometimes it was really, really good and then others it was really, really bad. Jackson and Coleman being out really showed although I thought Shropshire and T. Lewis did well.

Pass Defense: Good pressure but coverage was horrible at times. Houston has to develop and Rossum just flat out stunk in coverage. A lot of the issues were youth mistakes.

2 sacks: Lewis and Shropshire combined for one and Carrington got the other.

Special Teams:

Rossum had 1 kickoff returns for 26 yards. Jennings had 3 kickoff returns: 33 yards from the 4, 34 yards from the 7 (called back on penalty), 40 yards from the 3. Jennings clearly had the better day here.

Rossum also had 2 punt returns: 10 yards from the 19 and 9 yards from the 9. Not impressive.

Jennings had a punt return for 34 yards from the 41. Great return negated by penalties.

I think Jennings should have the upper hand at this point.

Koenen had 4 punts. 1: 54 yards, touchback. 2: 52 yards to the NY 30, returned -2 yards. 3: 51 yards, touchback. 4: 43 yards, to the NY45 out of bounds. Only negative was the 2 touchbacks but given our special teams play, maybe that was smart.

Anderson had 1 punt for 42 yards. Return negated by penalty.

Kickoffs: Cundiff had 4 kickoffs: 1: to the 6, returned 86 yards. 2: to the 9, returned 28 yards. 3: to the 3, returned 46 yards. 4: to the 1, returned for 24 yards. Coverage team stunk and the kicks weren’t deep enough. Koenen will handle this in the regular season.

Field Goals: Cundiff hit 3/3. Good from 45, 41, and 37. Excellent job.

Special Teams coverage: Darren Stone stood out but overall not very good.

Things that really need improvement:

1. Special Teams coverage.
2. Get healthy.
3. Tackling.

Offensive MVP: Laurent Robinson 5 catches. Really made some great catches. Honorable mention to Roddy White and Jason Snelling.

Defensive MVP: Trey Lewis (3 tackles, 0.5 sacks)

Special Teams MVP: Billy Cundiff/Adam Jennings

Goat of the Week: Special Teams coverage

Let me know your thoughts and questions otherwise:

Next up: AT Buffalo, August 17th!

Well, this game pretty much summed it all up in my opinion. Sure, Vick made a huge error early on but the team recovered and did so to the point of having the lead. Then Dallas began beating us up physically and picking on Allen Rossum (not that I blame them). Very frustrating loss.

Here’s what I saw:

Offense:

Running game: Dunn (18/56), Vick (8/56), Griffith (1/15). 5 of Dunn’s carries went for 4 yards or more (1 close to the half and the rest towards the end of the game). Not a good day at all running the ball at all except for Vick and that was hit and miss as well. I think we really missed Norwood especially with Dunn still hurting from the previous week.

Breakdown of passes:

Vick: 16/24, 237 yards, 4 TD/1 INT. Breakdown of incompletions are: 5 bad throws, 3 pass defended. The bad throws number was right on target with the 25% goal and although the INT was returned for a TD, was more than overcome by the 4 TD’s.

Schaub: 3/5, 33 yards, 0 TD/ 1 INT. Breakdown of incompletions are: 2 bad passes. Not really enough to make any sort of analysis on.

Drops (0): FINALLY!!!

Sack responsibility (4): The first sack was on Gandy who allowed Ware to pressure Vick into Hatcher. The second is on McClure who allowed pressure up the middle, chipped the guy who rolled off and kept Vick from running out of pressure. The third was a botched running attempt for -2 yards. The final sack was a pitch to Vick (halfback option) and really shouldn’t count as a sack but more a negative rushing attempt.

Pass blocking: The best word I could use is “adequate”. 3 hurries and 2 “real” sacks. Okay at times but still too much pressure.

YTD Sacks (39):

Michael Vick 17 (8 rushing attempts that went for negative yards)
Matt Lehr 2.5
Kynan Forney 2.0
Eric Beverly 1
Wayne Gandy 6.0
Justin Griffith 1.0
Warrick Dunn 3.0
Alge Crumpler 1.0
Todd Weiner 1.0
Tyson Clabo 1.5
P.J. Alexander 1.0
Todd McClure 1.0
“Scheme/No line adjustment” 1.0

Note: Vick sacks are those that he has at least 3 seconds and either chose to try to scramble or stayed in the pocket when the better decision would be to throw it away. Also includes those rushing attempts that go for 0 or negative yardage that for some reason are counted as a sack.

Defense:

Run defense: When Jones was running it was outstanding. When Barber was in, we missed tackles, got pushed around and overpursued to the tune of losing the game over 6 yards per carry.

Pass Defense: DHall got burned for a 51 yarder by TO (no thanks to Crocker on the safety help) and had TO make a great play for another TD, other than that kept him in check for 3 catches and 11 yards. Rossum and the LB’s gave up the rest.

3 sacks: Coleman got two and Demorrio Williams got the final one.

Special Teams:

Rossum had 5 kickoff returns for: 30 (to the 33), 19 (to the 21), 18 (to the 24), 44 (to the 45), 19 (to the 23). 2 great returns and 3 mediocre ones. A decent day.

Jennings had 2 kickoff returns for: 16 (to the 20), 12 (to the 16). Not good.

Rossum also had 1 punt returns: 3 yards. Horrible!

Koenen had 4 punts. 1: 38 yards, out of bounds at the 34 of DAL. 2: 53 yards to the DAL 36, no return. 3: 42 yards, to the 34 DAL, no return. 4: 39 yards, to the 20, no return. The last two were kicked inside the 20 while the first two were very average. 1 great one and the rest were okay.

Kickoffs: Koenen had 5 kickoffs: 1: to the 7, returned to the 23. 2: to the 2, returned to the 16, fumbled and recovered for -1. 3: to the 2, returned to the 24. 4: to the endzone, touchback. 5: to the 8, returned to the 45. 2 really good, 2 okay and 1 poor job of coverage. Good overall.

Field Goals: None.

Special Teams leading tackler: Carrington, D. Williams (1 fumble forced), J. Williams, Leake and Reese (huge hit).

Things that really need improvement:

1. Defensive consistency and replace Rossum.
2. “Closing the deal” in the second half.
3. Continue improvement on drops.

Offensive MVP: Michael Vick

Defensive MVP: Rod Coleman (4 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 QB hurries and 1 pass defensed)
Special Teams MVP: Michael Koenen

Goat of the Week: Run defense against Marion Barber.
Let me know your thoughts and questions otherwise:

Next up: VS Carolina, December 24!

Hate to say it but this is yet another game where the offense started off real slow, the defense bent (a good bit in the first half) but never broke and really won this game for us.

Here’s what I saw:

Offense:

Running game: Dunn (11/45), Vick (3/5), Norwood (7/32), Griffith (12/57, 1 TD). 5 of Dunn’s carries went for 4 yards or more. Not a bad day for Dunn until he got hurt. Vick was held in check by Tampa’s defensive scheme. 4 of Norwood’s carries went for 4 yards or more. He was having a really nice day until he injured his knee. Big day for Justin Griffith. The big man showed he could pick up the tough yards and made a great fake for a TD. Seeing him run in power situations and getting 2 to 4 yards a shot really makes you wonder why he hasn’t been used as our goal line back.

Breakdown of passes:

Vick: 14/23, 155 yards, 0 TD/1 INT. Breakdown of incompletions are: 5 bad throws, 1 pass defended (the INT because Lelie was at fault) , 1 throw away and 2 drops. The bad throws number was a little above the 25% but not a huge concern because most were on taking shots downfield and those are low percentage plays to begin with. Vick completed 61% of his passes and while not throwing for a TD, managed the game well.

Drops (2): Crumpler (9) and Jenkins (12).

Sack responsibility (2): The first sack was when Shelton Quarles trucked Dunn. The second was Vick running left then reversing field to the middle and getting sacked.

Pass blocking: The best word I could use is “adequate”. 7 hurries and 2 sacks. Just not good enough for the number of times we pass.

YTD Sacks (35):

Michael Vick 14 (5 rushing attempts that went for negative yards)
Matt Lehr 2.5
Kynan Forney 2
Eric Beverly 1
Wayne Gandy 5.0
Justin Griffith 1.0
Warrick Dunn 3.0
Alge Crumpler 1.0
Todd Weiner 1.0
Tyson Clabo 1.5
P.J. Alexander 1.0
“Scheme/No line adjustment” 1.0

Note: Vick sacks are those that he has at least 3 seconds and either chose to try to scramble or stayed in the pocket when the better decision would be to throw it away. Also includes those rushing attempts that go for 0 or negative yardage that for some reason are counted as a sack.

Defense:

Run defense: Very good today. Gave up some yards here and there but really was stout all day long.

Pass Defense: It was pretty good. Rossum got picked on again and DHall got caught gambling a couple of times but other than a couple of long completions and the last drive of the game, nothing really major allowed.

1 sack: The lone sack was by Abraham and resulted in a fumble and the game-changing TD run by Demorrio Williams.

Special Teams:

Rossum had 3 kickoff returns for: 7 (fumbled out of bounds), 16 (to the 22), and 21 (to the 23). Extremely mediocre day.

Rossum also had 2 punt returns: -2 yards and 9 yards. Nothing special here either.

Koenen had 4 punts. 1: 33 yards, out of bounds at the 31 of TB. 2: 42 yards to the TB 28, returned 10 yards. 3: 35 yards, return of 12 to the 26 TB. 4: 41 yards, to the 14 out of bounds. The last two were kicked inside the 20 while the first two were very average. Okay day.

Kickoffs: Koenen had 4 kickoffs: 1: to the 10, returned to the 27. 2: to the endzone,touchback. 3: to the 5, returned to the 23. 4: to the goal line, returned to the 16. Pretty good day.

Field Goals: Andersen hit 1/1. Good from 23.

Special Teams leading tackler: John Leake had 2 solo and Jordan Beck had 3 total tackles.

Things that really need improvement:

1. Pass protection.
2. Better route running/separation/come back to ball.
3. Continue improvement on drops.

Offensive MVP: Justin Griffith

Defensive MVP: Keith Brooking 17 tackles AND John Abraham (3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hurry and 1 fumble forced)
Special Teams MVP: Morten Andersen

Goat of the Week: Allen Rossum

Let me know your thoughts and questions otherwise:

Next up: VS Dallas, December 16!