no way Pod, not the way the balls slings and snaps of his fingers..do you have any qausimoto stats that can support this assumption?..lol
He started 4 straight years in college as well. His play action is terrible imo so when I herd that about his hands being small, I thought it worth a look and still want to watch it more closely. Not to blame it all on him though because sometimes Henning calls play action at the most stupid times. I'm very happy with how he has stood tall in the pocket these last few games, and has went thru progressions but I'd love to see him take a few more shots down field instead of the dump offs. Taking a hitting on a couple of those down the field shots help the dump offs as well. But again, I think he's done a good job and especially lately.
Colt Brennen...................Ht. 6.02.2.............Hand size 9 3/8 inches Andre Woodson..............Ht. 6.04.2.............Hand size 9 3/4 inches Erik Ainge.........................Ht. 6.05.4.............Hand size 9 1/4 inches Joe Flacco.........................Ht. 6.06.2.............Hand size 9 1/2 inches John Booty.......................Ht. 6.02.3..............Hand size 8 3/8 inches Chad Henne....................Ht. 6.02.7..............Hand size 8 1/4 inches
I too would like to see more passes downfield. Henne talked about it a bit in the postgame PC, and he said it just hasn't been there, teams are simply taking it away. Could explain that throwback pass they tried as well, trying to hit on something downfield.
Soccer isn't the same as Football. How does officiating soccer make you any more of an authority on football officiating than many of the other people around here? Not trying to be a smart @ss with the question, just more or less actually wondering about it.
Not sure it has anything to do with it but I found it interesting that they talked about it specifically effecting play action.
How much does small hands really matter though? Henne hasn't lost a fumble once in his career yet. I've rarely seen a ball slip out of his hands when attempting to throw. I would think if it were a problem we'd notice it a lot more. In fact, it it hadn't been brought up here, I would have no idea he has what's considered small hands.
The only way I could see it matter is if he is holding the ball one handed and the Rb ever so slightly touched the ball, it could come out of his hands much easier than lets say Joe Flacco who has pretty big mitts. Small hands and Qb's having them might be for our Draft Guru's to tell us it's not a big deal.
Two problems I have with the refs/NFL on the fumble call. 1. While Gene was busy announcing the ruling on the field two of the refs were in fact digging into the pile to see who had the ball. And then our guy Ike comes out of the pile with the ball. On the replay you see Ike is the first one on the ball. No you can't say he for sure has it unless you keep watching as the refs unpile them and Ike comes up with the ball. He was the first one on the ball and the one that came out of the pile with it.... both of those events were on video. IMO between the refs that dug through the pile and ALL of the video evidence they should have been able to make the right call. Whatever prevented that from happening needs to be fixed. 2. The thing that keeps driving me nuts is ESPN and NFL network keep saying the refs got it right and it was handled correctly. That's Bull****. The refs screwed us by calling it a touchdown. Why would the ref signal a touchdown when he did not clearly see the ball cross the goal line in the runners possession? He should not have and that is what screwed us. Not only was it the wrong call but it also screwed us from getting the ball on the replay. I know being a ref isn't easy and they do make mistakes. But lot's of people are saying the refs got it right and that is just wrong. The ref made a mistake by calling it a td. That mistake likely cost us the game. Refs are human and they have and will make mistakes. But how can anyone say they got it right? Like I said it was a refs mistake that started the whole replay thing in motion so either way we got screwed by the refs mistake and they did not in any way get that play right.
Yep, White physically was not the terrible Qb Qb prospect he turned out to be. To this day I maintain they did not have a clear vision for what to do with him.
Nice summary CK. My add to your summary, albeit a boring addition, yet critical one long term, our kicking game is outstanding. Fields and Carpenter are one of the best, if not the best, pair of kickers in the league. We have nothing to worry about in that area for 5 years (as far as the kickers themselves) We just need to add a dynamic returner to our special teams - and keep some core guys like Spitzer, Cobbs, Jones for next year and we might have a complete turn around on special teams overall.
True, he could have a had a great day...I think he has played good all year, the only thing about Henne, is sometimes he just looks slow and awkward out there ... but in reality he is not, but that look changes the perception people have of him. I think he is better than Sanchez, and will be better than Ryan/Flacco...that is just me, but I think he breaks out next year...
I know he had all day, sometimes I just envision what Dan Marino would be doing with this team today, good defense, great pass blocking, Brandon, and an adequate running game...I think he would tear it up.
What bothers me is the linesman blew the call in the first place. It is a touchdown when the ball crosses the line. He made the signal when he clearly could not see the ball. Why didn't the linesman on the other side make the call he had a better view. I would think that they are taught in these situations to not make the call unless they have clear sight. You are probably correct they made the right call on the recovery but the fact remains they blew the call big time!! And if there was any doubt they should have let the play continue. Danny
Awesome write-up ck! I definitely agree with you... Henning is as predictable as they come for 95% of the game. I like the fact that our offensive playbook hasn't changed though as in previous regimes but Henning is having a HORRIBLE season thus far. The defense DEFINITELY played better after Allen was taken out. Leave him out, gets burned WAY TOO OFTEN! WTH is with the guys footing? He is ALWAYS slipping. Mike Nolan called an awesome game after that first drive but DANG! We need a pass rush!
That ball was tipped at the last second and changed trajectory. Maybe Jerry Rice catches that one. I suspect Antonio Gates doesn't. Difficult catch to make. Spot on with everything else though.
You're thinking of the wrong play. I'm talking about the drive just before halftime where Pat Cobbs returned a kick 40 yards to the Cincinnati 45 yard line. Because of the short field and the way Miami was moving the ball, I felt that drive was going to result in a touchdown. It culminated in a 2nd & 8 on the Cincinnati 11 yard line. Chad Henne rolled to his right, had someone chasing him and he made a throw on the move to Anthony Fasano who was wide open. The ball was a little bit behind Fasano but VERY catchable (you can forgive a slightly off target throw for a QB on the move) and Fasano just straight up flubbed it. The play could have gained anywhere from a 3rd & Short opportunity with Automataka Polite there to convert, creating 1st & Goal from the 2 or 3 yard line, or it could have gained a 1st down outright, or it even may have gained a touchdown...if only Fasano had secured the ball. I think the fact we were so close to scoring there, being one small competent play away, shows that on a day when Miami is able to move the ball like they were on the Bengals, they can score if they can create chunk plays OR short fields. But FWIW, the play you're thinking of in the second half on 3rd & 1 when we dialed up a pass play over the middle to Fasano that was tipped, I think a normal TE could very well have caught the ball you are thinking of, in fact I think it should be expected.
True. But I happen to find it quite maddening that it only translated to 217 yards and a 5.9 AVG. Now, I don't have access to the coach tape, so I don't know if there was genuinely no one open or if Henne just didn't see them, but when you have ALL DAY, 217 yards and a 5.9 AVG is not good enough. One way or the other.
Lots of check downs after Henne seemed to scan the field, so I can only imagine that the Bengals were doing a pretty good job of putting a lid on our WRs many times.
Well, if Fasano, Hartline, and Cobbs don't drop 4 very catchable passes, Henne is most likely well over 300 yards and 2 TDs
Well, without the proper tape, one could also assume that Henne checked down too easy. Just saying. It's really impossible to tell. But it is something that needs fixing. With the way our OL pass blocks, we should be scoring a lot more yards and points. Something isn't quite right in the state of Denmark.
Maybe. I guess my point is that pass blocking has been outstanding for pretty much the whole season, yet we have little to show for it. Two 300+ games (both, incidentally, losses), few TDs, less AVG than you'd like. Sure, you can find a ratio in pretty much every game, but the big picture is troubling. With superior pass blocking, we should have a lot more to show for it.
BTW I guess I'm in the minority that wasn't all that giggly about Benny Sapp's play yesterday. He got a lot of tackles because he was picked on in coverage. I don't know what the final stats are going to say but I'm sure he was probably thrown on like at least 9 times. Most of them had to be completions and the few that weren't were probably bad throws. He got that big TFL in the backfield but that was a serendipitous blitz call dialed up by Mike Nolan. I think he is what he was in Minnesota which is to say a mediocre player (like Nate Jones) that won't prevent a great defense from being great, but adds nothing to it in his own right.
Drops. Again I have to point to drops. Some of those drops were bad and would have led to BIG yardage and TDs.
Fasano is particularly bad for drops, ditto Hartline, in fact if one boils it down to the heart of it, Drops are killing the offense, which is why Henne can put up numbers but cannot consumate drives with TD's.
Exactly. A win's a win but eventually we are going to get bitten if we keep scoring at this rate. Carpenter is eventually going to miss a ew FG's and the defense is bound to have a bad game or two. The question is, can we win a game 37-34 like the Ravens did against the Bills last week if we had to? Right now the answer is "no".
The way our OL pass blocks is with the help of a RB and a TE. Its obvious that either they don't trust the OL in pass blocking enough, or they don't trust Henne dealing with pressure in the pocket.
great as usual CK ... we are on the cusp of turning the corner at 5-3 ... which for me was a best case scenario given the competition. IF we beat BAL this week, and we are surely capable of it, then there should be no reason not to close out AT LEAST 5-3 over the 2de half ... really 6-2. I predicted 10-6, and still hold to that -- but what this team has showed over the last 3 weeks SHOULD get more folks believing than what happened the 1st 2 games .... just play BAL the same way we did PIT -- and we should be able to come outta there with a 'W' ... PS, i've been hard on Smith and couldn't watch the game SUN .... but hope to watch him closely this week ...... if'n he continues to impress you, then he must be making the significant progress i was looking for coming into this year from him.
Sean Smith played very well. I'm not sure if I saw a single catch made against him, and he played the entire game after that first disastrous series for Jason Allen. Terrell Owens basically labeled Smith coming in for Allen as the difference in the ball game. I'm leaning toward two firsts in the coming two weeks. First loss on the road, first win at home. Unfortunately that means a loss against Baltimore and the hale storm of various rotten vegetables, doom and gloom predictions, and the usual calls for replacements at head coach, quarterback, etc. But I think after the next two weeks we'll be 5-4 and staring down the barrel of a schedule that includes Chicago, Cleveland, Oakland, Buffalo and Detroit. For a Sparano-led team playing the way this team is playing, those games are an all-you-can-eat wolf buffet. They might not win ALL of those games, but I think the worst they do is 4 out of 5. The key will be winning one or both of the Jets and Patriots games on the road. I think the chances are we can win one of them. I don't know about winning both. I think the Patriots game is more likely to be a win than the Jets game. There's just something poetic about Mark Sanchez and the Jets sweeping us in 2010 after Chad Henne and the Dolphins swept them in 2009. I too come out with a 10-6 record and I'm just not sure if that'll be good enough for the playoffs because I don't know how the other teams will shake out. I know that the likelihood of there not being another 10-6 wildcard contender is not high, and since I'm building in a conference record of 6-6 or 7-5 at the most...that doesn't bode well for us.
