2 games with the new offense, thoughts?

Pads, seems that the negatives are all be OL related to me. Not exactly enough time for Henne to let plays develop consistently and even tho Thomas had a decent game last week, late in the game he couldn't get anywhere because the OL stopped opening up the lanes for him... The right side of the OL is still unsettled. Colombo is not improving and neither is Carey. The TEs are being kept in for pass pro. Both the Texans and the pasties got good pressure without blitzing or bringing extra pass rushing help. We haven't seen good OL play around here in so long, that we fans can't really recall what good OL play looks like. A bitter disappointment from this regime beings that the OL is supposed to be Tony's bread and butter... Sparano said late in the PS that the OL is nothing to worry about...well, we're 2 games in and I'm worried...

One other thing that I don't understand is the utilization of Bush. He has a unique skill set, but it seems we don't want to figure ways to get him involved in the game that fit his skill set. I'm not talking about whether he can run BTT or not, that's been beat to death, just that splitting him out wide or a screen pass or something that gets him the ball in space would loosen the DL a bit and perhaps open a lane or two... This would certainly affect the RZ offense positively... Wasn't this supposed to be Daboll's forte as well ?? Using the tools he has ??

Thomas certainly had a better day than what we've seen from him. But do we give up on the run game too soon ?? We were close to the Texans for much of the second half of the game.

Still, for what it's worth, a dropped pass in the EZ by Marshall and this is a different game...The only way we can put a positive spin on the pasties trip here is that we won't have to see them here again this year...

 

2 weeks into it is far too early to make any judgement on the how the offense looks. With that being said:

1. Henne is showing signs of promise
2. Thomas is showing potential
3. Hartline made a great catch
4. Marshall despite his costly mistakes also looks good
5. Bush I think will be an asset

6. Our O-Line needs work.
7. I think its time to admit that Carpenter is a bust. He lacks leg strength and he is too easily rattled.

8. Dabol has neither impressed or unimpressed me so far. He has been as expected so far. Now he uses Thomas instead of Hillis to run it up the gut but so far its the same ofense we have seen from him in the past. The big difference now is that he has more weapons to work with. Lets see how well he incorporates them into his game planning. Simply by showing we can run the ball has to force teams to respect it enough to game plan on stoppping it allowing us to open up our passing game.


Bottom line: none of it matters without W's I have gotten my hopes up too many times to allow myself to be disappointed if this season turns out to be just like the past ones. I hope they turn the culture around in that locker room but I am not holding my breath waiting. I will start singing thier praises when they win consistently and in a convincing fashion.

 

I think the offense certainly has potential, but right now it still appears as if they're trying to find what can work.

The fact that it's been a bit of a bumpy road shouldn't be surprising, especially considering the effects of the lockout. Sparano reportedly told Nolan some time back that the defense would probably have to carry the team at times through the early part of the season while the offense gets accustomed to a new system and the offensive line gels. Unfortunately, so far the defense really hasn't lived up to its share of the bargain so far.

 

I can't pretend to know how to fix the red zone issues shown against Houston but the problems against NE were purely about not having any short yardage options. Or at least, the coaches called the game as if they had zero short yardage options.

And Reggie Bush, limited as he is, one of the things he IS good at, is being a threat to punch it into the end zone from close. He showed that in the NE game.

Otherwise, most of it's been said. I think Brandon Marshall is trying to get that communication with Henne. It's just not there yet. When Marshall stuttered on that one pass into the end zone, I know some people just want to easily lay the blame on him for not running the route right, but that's purely a communication issue. Henne read that the corner was in press so he developed a plan to hit Marshall vertically. The problem is Henne stopped reading the situation after that. Marshall continued reading the corner's leverage throughout the route, saw him bailing really deep, and so he wanted the short throw, back shoulder or something like that. It's something you see an Aaron Rodgers doing all the time, continuing to read the defender's leverage after the snap and making and adjustment at the same time his receiver adjusts.

They just weren't there with each other on the play.

 

I've been thinking the same thing. Henne, Bess, and Marshall combine to form one of THE premier 3rd down converting trios in the NFL. Move the chains and live to fight another day. These three guys, b/c of their past 3rd down success together, need to be speaking up on this b/c they obviously had tremendous rhythm together last year in this situation. IMO that same approach should be taken in the redzone.

That's what I'm saying, PhiN. We don't need to toss it up to Marshall & Hart every play when we have guys who excel at gaining quick, short yardage separation.

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking about Bess inside the 10 yard line. Davonne should be a weapon around the goal line! Heck, Danny Amendola was targeted THE most in the NFL inside the redzone IIRC (although he dropped a lot of those passes I think), and I'll take Bess over Danny. With Bess's intelligence and awareness, he and Henne should be on the same page to where they know exactly what the other is thinking. With Marshall drawing coverage, Bess & Henne could be a TD machine inside the 5..... and if we can make teams "feel" that threat, then it should help open up the redzone ground game, no? If we could get Bess involved in the redzone with Thomas in the backfield, how do opponents decide how to defend it? Do you stay in a base or goal line d and allow a LB on Bess? Even a Safety on him is a mismatch. If you go with personnel to stop or shade a LB Bess's way, then Thomas should be a redzone stud, no?

IMO what we're greatly missing to help create these match-up advantages is a legit redzone TE who can dominate a LB and draw extra coverage, or at least keep the coverage more honest so that Bess & Marshall can exploit it easier. It'll also be nice when Gates's 40+ inch vertical is able to contribute inside the 20.

 

If Reggie Bush is no longer the every down back can we at least see the guy become the KR and PR for the team? Is it too much to ask the guy to have maybe 10-14 touches a game and do all the returning duty. He has good potential as a KR and PR and has done well in the past. Why are Clyde Gates and Davone Bess out there?

 

I don't know, De. It's not producing enough points right now, but I see some promise there my friend. IMO we're just too sloppy on offense in general and have some kinks to iron out. These are also the first 2 games that Daboll has really had a chance to see what he has on offense so that he can tweak it accordingly and really create a proper game plan, no? McDaniel is experiencing the same thing with the Rams. Harbaugh as well in SanFran; if it weren't for 5 Dallas turnovers and 300 Ginn return yards, his scoring output wouldn't look very good. Musgrave looks even worse in Minne. Chris Palmer did look pretty good in his 2nd game with the Titans though.

 

Good point. I think he should at least be returning punts, but I'm not sure I'd subject him to injury during KO returns since we have no RB depth. Or at least give him spot KO return opportunities in crunch situations.

 

Pulling guards on the goal line, Paul Soliai the lane-clogger as a Fullback, Brian Hartline fade pass on 4th & Inches, I mean I'd have to go back and review each one to list it all. Suffice it to say there were calls even going back to preseason in these special situations like goal line and 3rd down that didn't make sense to me, and that's still happening.

 

Honestly I don't see how Brian Daboll has brought anything incrementally positive to the offense in the red zone. I think Dan Henning was better there. That wasn't necessarily an area of weakness in Henning's offense, IMO. Henne didn't get many red zone attempts last year mainly because the offense rarely got into the red zone. But in years where the offense was better at running the ball, 2008 and 2009, the red zone offense was actually pretty impressive.

 

CK any thought to switching the LBers around, changing the fronts, and perhaps looking at running a 4-3? I think we may have the LBs for it and a few of the DL are better one-gappers than they are two-gappers.

 

Henne stopped reading the situation b/c the corner was in press. That was it. After seeing the isolated press coverage, Henne needed to get the ball out fairly quickly so that Marshall would have the advantage of gaining position over the corner without a safety getting over in time to help out. If Henne waits, then that play doesn't work. If this were a 40+ yard pass down field, then I would definitely agree with you.

I'm actually glad to see Chad recognizing this stuff and trying to attack it...... and more impressed that he's finally given the freedom to do so.

He and Brandon will see the film and get on the same page.

 

I'm also glad that Henne's having an opportunity to show naysayers that he's not the timid, fraidy cat people were unjustly trying to make him out as. It now seems evident that Chad was likely respectfully following orders of the guys calling the shots last year without being insubordinate toward them (but then people twisted it around and scapegoated Henne for NOT disobeying orders, which, logically speaking, I can't wrap my head around). Is it a coincidence that Thigpen wasn't brought back?

 

Good point, PG, and....... arghhhh (about the defense). This is what great teams do; they bail each other out and win as a team, and I guess we're not doing that right now.

 

Who is this Ginn you speak of?

 

Yes, but when we did get in the redzone with Henning, or inside the 38 for that matter, the playcalling drastically ****ted toward running the ball even though our ground game sucked.

Henning's redzone "success" was at the expense of QB redzone development. IMO he lacked the foresight to see how this might become problematic, especially considering we had a QB in the middle of developing. Honestly, if Henning remained OC, how long would he have continued delaying QB development so that he could stick with what he felt was a greater immediate reward (ground game and wildcat) despite this "reward" generally not being very effective against quality competition. Heck, even Pennington only threw 19 TDs during our 11 win 2008 season (and that was against the easiest defensive schedule we've seen in 10 years, if not ever). Where did Henning's so called redzone success when we had a ground game get us against teams like Baltimore, Indy, and Atlanta? Just sayin.

 

Antagonizer! Antagonizer! ^^^^

 

yes, that's my point, Pods. Would he be missing those throws if given sufficient reps in the redzone?

 

lol, the QB you see this year is due to Henning developing him slowly over the last three years. You dont think Henne was going to play like this last year do you? This is why you let players develop. Henning might have handcuffed Henne, but Henne deserved to be handcuffed. He wasnt ready. The light finally went on for the guy. The magical third year starting. Coincidence?

 

You're not counting the fade to Hartline I hope. That was well covered and he should have went to a secondary receiver.

 

I totally disagree. The defender was on him like stink on sh!t

 

When Miami was in the red zone in 2009 what was the bread and butter for Miami around the goal-line? I seem to recall a very good percentage in that area.

 

I don't disagree AP.

I merely feel his transition would've been less extreme and that he would've made greater improvements in 2010 than he did while being slightly further along in 2011 than he currently is.
Yes, he wasn't "ready", but what young QBs really are? That didn't stop the Rams from giving Bradford twice as many redzone opportunities despite Henne actually being more effective at moving the ball into scoring position and Henne being more successful per attempt in the redzone. I don't necessarily agree that Chad "deserved" to be handcuffed based on what our alternative looked like. At some point you've gotta let these guys take their lumps, gain reps, and develop during situations that relate to putting points on the board IMO. Was our ground game and wildcat ready last year? Their light wasn't on any more than Henne's IMO, and they didn't deserve to be any less handcuffed than Henne considering their performance was even less significant than Chad's. At least Henne was moving the ball between the 20 and carrying the bulk of the load doing so...... but when we crossed that magical 38 yard line, Henning applied the breaks and seemingly called a greater percentage of runs than what got us there in the first place.

I just don't see how Henne's development (or any QB for that matter) can't be stunted when he's not allowed to be himself; he was forced to be what Henning wanted him to become. IMO there's only so much you can get done and improve upon when you're essentially reduced to a chess piece with little to no allowed ability to think for yourself out there. No audibles. Routes that allow little chunk yardage. Repetitive and telling use of 5 step drops. Little tolerance for down field aggressiveness unless it's called in the huddle or pre-designed by Henning himself (like flea flickers, wild cat calls, and other trick plays).

I know you supported the guy and I always respect you, but I got the impression he's a control freak who was hoping the offense would execute at 100% capacity on every play so that he could self-indulgently operate the offense as if it were his very own chess team rather than giving his players some freedom and option for creativity to make plays on their own.

2010, it was like chunk yardage plays were only allowable if they were strictly related to Henning's play calling, trick plays, etc (couldn't even audible) as if----- if the play worked, it was because Henning called it. If it didn't work, it was b/c we didn't execute (as if an actual NFL defense wasn't trying to stop us). Sorry, but that drove me nuts.
2011, Daboll doesn't seem like such an egoist trying to control every aspect of the offense. Henne & Co actually have the ability to pick up chunk yardage on their own w/o being reamed on the sideline for attempting so when not previously called in the huddle.

 

half back pass via wildcat for INT? lol.