Joe Webb has a lot of talent but the missed tackles on the first play are unacceptable. Worse yet on the 48 yard td run I don’t know what happened and who was suppose to be in the middle…. The defense played great minus that play. Up until that point we have held them to 3 with 2 minutes left. I’m not sure what happened but I do think it was Balogun that made a poor effort at a tackle that would have limited it to like a 5 yard gain. He totally held up on the play.
Defense played great again minus that 48 yard td. Take that out and the defense gave up 66 yards rushing on 19 carries equaling 3.47 yards per carry. Only gave up 79 yards passing… even with some very good backup qbs playing. Defense got 4 sacks and the offense only gave up 1 sack…. defense got no turnovers so that was a first in a while but the offense had 0 turnovers so that’s great. Minus Webb’s run we held them to 145 total yards. We ended up with 271 total yards.
Offensive line played pretty well. Played great against the Vikings 1st string on the opening drive and was glad to see the offense put up 7. Then the 4 plays and out for the Vikings really set the tone for the game. Overall defense played awesome… see the stats above. Offense played great as well but could have gotten some more points.
Oh, and the fact that Nate Byham is lining up in the backfield at FB doesn't sit well for Brit Miller. Byham is probably going to be the #3 TE so if he can play multiple rolls and be the backup FB as well I think Miller is out. Either way I'd like to upgrade over Norris next year.
On their way out soon – Bobby Guillory, Cody Wallace, Jason Hill
***I didn’t go over the second half so the above list of players that helped/hurt themselves isn’t complete. However, I’d say that’s the majority. Bruce Davis, Paymah, Stoudemire, Kristick, Balogun probably kept their status about the same if not slightly hurt it just because they didn’t do much.
Who Helped Themselves:
Travis Laboy - Guy was in the backfield a lot and had a sack. If we only keep 4 OLBs I think Briggs gets it but I'd hate to let him go because he's had 3.5-6.0 sacks every year of his career.
Phillip Adams - 3 passes broken up.... looked real good out there
David Baas – Continues to play well at center… and has been excellent with pass blocking and good for run blocking. Doubt he unseats Heitmann when he comes back tough. He may have the hot hand but the coaches won’t let Heitmann’s years of starting experience be overlooked. Next year if we re-sign Baas who knows… he could take over.
Zeigler - Didn't do a whole lot but I think he's wrapped up the competition with Jason Hill. Hill didn't catch a pass but did recover an onside kick.
Briggs - 3 tackles and a sack.... this guy should have a roster spot locked up
Ted Ginn Jr. – He had the one big catch (60 yards) and one catch for 5 yards on a 3rd down and 2. I think he had 1 or possibly 2 drops.
Alex Smith – Looked pretty good… just wish we would open it up for him. I know it’s the preseason but hopefully we do it at least in the regular season. It’s nice to see him lead the team down the field for an opening drive 7. The drive took up 6 plus minutes and set the tone for the game. That’s what we want to do this year… keep the offense on the field and have the defense shut them down.
Delanie Walker – Did better this game 3 catches for 47 yards…. No drops
Derek Walker – Had a sack and a safety on the last play… had a stop on a 2 yard and 3 yard play. Played well but even if they would have a spot I’d take Tukuafu or Mitchell over him…
Bowman - Had 3 tackles... didn't do a whole lot... had one special teams penalty I believe. However, he ooked fast... watch him run up on the blitz... was sent on a lot of them… put pressure on Jackson once... one play he was right with the Minn TE but he would have had about a 15 yard catch but dropped it. Mays was also there but neither broke up the pass... the guy dropped it
Byham – 3 catches for 28 yards… continues to show his receiving ability… dropped the one pass when he got hit hard but you know the guy is tough when he gets up laughing at himself like I am a wimp… also lined up in the backfield many times as a fullback… did a good job blocking
Tukuafu - Played well again... had 2 tackles (1 for 2 yard gain, other for no gain). He's got a great motor and is good at recognizing screens and releases from the block and sprints to the RB.
Didn’t Help or Hurt:
Dixon – 20 rushes for 51 yards and touchdown… 3 catches for 8 yards… he was brought down to Earth a bit. 2.55 average wasn’t great but the Vikings have a great run defense but did show something on that TD run. Blocking looked better but seen one whiff…
Nate Davis – Played decent… had that great 60 yard pass to Ginn but other than that was alright. A couple of drops hurt his completion percentage… I was a little disappointed with him sliding 1 yard of the first down. Back to back passes thrown out of the end zone… would have liked to see him make something happen there. He showed his rocket arm and his mobility (11 yard run) but he has a ways to go yet. The next game we will see Smith probably go 2 to 3 quarters so not sure how much we will see from Davis and doubt he did enough tonight to move him up to #2.
Anthony Davis – After last weeks performance it would be hard to get worse. He may have done a tad better in this game but the great thing is he played the entire game I believe. Also, his mistakes are the same ones me made last week so it’s nice that he is being consistent with them and they are fixable. He doesn’t get bull rushed because he can handle that. He keeps getting beat by speed rushers to the outside. They should be working on that constantly with him. Another false start like last week… same things as last week..
Mike Iupati – This guy can be a road grader and I think he will step in day one and help us. He played pretty well but a couple times I think he got away with holding. He looks pretty good on pass blocking as well.
Taylor Mays – Don’t think he recorded a tackle… seen him in there a couple of times for sure… although he did have a nice hit on the wr to knock him out of bounce and make the pass incomplete.
Who Hurt Themselves:
Josh Morgan – Has the same stats as Crabtree who has played in zero games. 0 catches and has been invisible
Haralson – Missed two tackles on Peterson that gained 25 yards total… I know it’s pre season but by this time next year someone else might be in his spot if he don’t step it up. I know he had 5 sacks last year and 8 the previous but he hasn’t lived up to expectations. He’s a liability in coverage as well. Times are changing… we are getting some depth (especially at OLB) so he can’t just sit pretty anymore.
Guillory - Looked good at the beginning but then fell apart. He's gone... you can't field a punt at the 3 yard line and you can't muff punts. Why is he returning instead of giving Ginn Jr. reps. I know Williams is out but I'd like to get someone who will be returning during the season reps not someone who will be gone.
Robinson –7 rushes 12 yards…. The guy should be strictly on special teams if he makes the team
Every play of the first somewhat broke down minus the special teams.
1. All good blocking except Norris doesn’t stay on guy long enough, he sheds and makes tackle 2 others follow… I assume they knew run was coming because 8 in box
2. excellent pass blocking by everyone… Norris open in flats… pass to Dixon who goes out a few yards and sits down
3. excellent pass blocking…. Time for smith to throw to ginn for 5 yards on 3rd and 2
4. 6 men on line for minn, anticipating run… couple of guys in backfield right away but if Dixon didn’t get tripped up there would have been huge holes… looks like decent blocking
5. excellent blocking by the oline… huge hole but I think if Dixon cuts out instead of in he would have had some big yardage… ginn’s guy made the tackle
6. staley and iupati good pass blocking… baas helps them out… davis rachal helped out by Dixon did alright… alex smith made the play by stepping up and throwing for a first down on the run
7. bad blocking pretty much all around … nobody really moved their guy so the run get 0. Again 8 in the box…. We are predictable but we seam to open it up more with nate davis in
8. nate byham in the backfield with Dixon… excellent blocking by both… 4 guys on the other side take on 3 vikings and hold them off… smith to walker … nice spin move for 24 yards
9. Byham in backfield with Dixon again…. Drives his guy back a few yards… staley did the worse job… allen in on the tackle… 0 yard gain…. Ok blocking for everyone else
10. excellent pass blocking minus Staley… allen kind of moves him back and jumps/gets a hand up making smith’s throw impossible over allen who is fully reached and jumping
11. 3rd and 11 from about 16… staley and davis’ guys both get around edge but smith does great job of stepping up, rachal holding his guy off… baas trying to help… Kevin Williams not getting a step on iupati…. First down to walker at about the 4
12. about 6 guys converge on Dixon… ginn gives small bump to corner and then gives up on the block… Dixon some how gets around the corner and gets th td… 12 plays 70 yards 6 min 57 seconds…. These are the kind of drives we need
13. first defensive play… Peterson catches it out in flats… Haralson misses tackle….not much pressure from d line
14. handoff to Peterson, Lawson, soap and rfj waiting for him in backfield… loss of 3
15. 6 near line…. 7th spikes plays back and comes on the blitz….2 guys drop back… favre goes to throw but RJF puts hand up and farve pulls it back down…spikes and willis on the sack… Justin smith and rjf beat their guys too
16. 3rd and 23….draw to Peterson… Justin smith plays it well… mcdonald and laswon on the tackle as well
17. offense…everyone blocks their man well… Dixon instead of cutting it outside hesitates and waits behind his line and gets 2…. I think he could have had more if he took it outide
18. Anthony davis… false start… he’s got so much work to do mentally….again the blocking wasn’t great but everybody had a man and for some reason instead of cutting it outside Dixon doesn’t… he thinks about it… goes the other way… windmills his arm and then decides I should go that way… by that time a couple guys on top of him…. there would have been more yards for him if he cut it outside
19. 3rd and 15... deep in our own territory… draw, not bad blocking all around… Dixon gets about half the yardage needed
20. handoff to Peterson… rjf and company waiting for him but Peterson leaps forward for 3 yards
21. handoff to Peterson… Haralson misses the tackles after fighting his guy off..gain of 12… soap had broke through but a couple of guys on the field kind of got in the way of him persuing
22. handoff to Peterson… j smith fights off hutchinson and makes tackle… rjf hold own against two guys and kind of breaks through making Peterson hesitate around line of scrimmage
23. dumpoff to Peterson… nice tackle in open field by willis… nobody gets pressure
24. 3rd and 3… 6 on line of scrimmage…. One backs off… goldson backs off as well… one of the great things about the 3-4… you can bring guys up and take them back all day long… some times we have 3 up there some times we have 8 and you can back guys into coverage or send them….guys get pressure but Jackson gets it to te for a 3 yard first down… TE is hit by clements and lewis but still holds on
25. about 4 players waiting at los for Peterson resulting in a two yard gain
26. 2nd and 8 pass to berrian… reggie smith on tackle… kind of a mix up with laboy going out into the flats and the cb… they didn’t switch guys quick enough so berrian gets the catch and first down on slant… down to 33
27. Lawson gets pressure, reaches out but Jackson steps up and runs for 14 yards to the 19. no pressure up the middle
28. Peterson carries for about 6 yards but holding call… 1st and 20 at about 29… Laboy beats mckinnie, hits Jackson right as he throws but get enough on it to get to Peterson in flats… Wilhelm leaps for tackles gets ankle but Peterson gets away
29. Lawson jumps the snap and is over the line by about a length of the ball before the ball is snapped… I seen it live and saw that but surprisingly no call… in turn half the team including Lawson is in the backfield… Lawson makes the stop and gets a gift
30. 3rd and 13…. Pressure by mcdonald and Justin smith… dragging Jackson down but Jackson tosses it away
31. field goal good… glad they held them to 3 but that was an 11 play drive…. Way to long but again held them to 3… bend don’t break
32. offense… .reverse to walker gets -1 yards… I’m sick of us doing reverses… they work once in a great while… we run too much for anyone to fool anyone…. Byham beat…. Dixon totally whiffs on block…
33. 2nd and 11… Anthony davis gets beat and basically grabs the guy buy the head… lucky he didn’t get a holding call..staley and iupati double up on a guy and hold him off… baas does great job, his guy is no where near smith…rachal as well….. Pass to byham for 4 yards
34. 3rd and 7… pretty good blocking all around… zeigler catches it on kind of a pick into the flats and dives for first down…
35. someone from Vikings jumps early, not called but baas makes up for it by grabbing him by the waste… davis guy does a swim and beats him…staley is the only one who blocks his man… a lot of pressure on smith but he does a good job and gets rid of it to walker first down
36. time out because play clock running down… this happened with nate davis as well… something that happened a lot in the past but has been cut down recently… you can’t waste timeouts
37. after timeout, still 1st and 10 from min 43 with 8.40 left in the half…
38. Not a bad job of blocking… everyone kind of held there own… Dixon has a chance to get outside but slips.. wouldn’t have gotten very far anyways… loss of 2
39. pretty good job of blocking by everyone… rachal gives up on block, his guy chases smith towards sideline and smith throws it away
40. 3rd and 12…. Vikings do a good job of disgusing… end up sending 5 but 2 come later and iupati is helping out staley and lets both guys go right through… smith hurried and throws it away
41. Defense.... some stats with Manusky on the sideline… I posted these earlier but a couple new ones… 4th in points allowed, 3rd in yards per rush, T3rd in sacks, 3rd in nfl in red zone TD % and 5 games without allowing an offensive TD (tied for first)…. To the play Bowman flies up to show blitz but could have been called for offside… he backs off and then comes up and in the mean time RJF jumps offside…. Gerhart runs for about 3… briggs fights off his guy and makes the tackle along with wilhem and brown.
42. 2nd and 2… pass incomplete and behind but reggie smith lays wr out to make sure he doesn’t catch it… bowman on the blitz doesn’t get there… not too much pressure
43. 3rd and 2… pass in flats tipped by Wilhelm and incomplete… makes up for his missed tackle…bowman on the blitz again… briggs and Mitchell get into backfield
44. offense… 1st and 10 6:33 left in half ball at 32…davis blocks his guy out… pretty much everyone hold there own and gets a push.. again Dixon has a chance to cut it outside but instead hides behind blockers and doesn’t get very far. I know you usually want to follow blockers but when they are in a jam pack and you can cut outside where there is like one Viking why not go outside and try to get some yards… this is like the 3rd time Dixon decided not to cut outside and instead run into the back of his blockers and into a huge pile
45. 2nd and 8.. davis gets beat on the outside…rachal starts out helping baas and then helps out davis but he is already beat… however, davis recovers and hits the guy right pass smith…. Smith steps up out of the pressure… launches it for ginn jr who drops it about 25 yards down field...staley does fine… iupati gets beat and holds some what and pushes the guy from the back and he falls down and then iupati falls on him… he better watch it and singletary too warned him to watch the holding…
46. 3rd and 8.. pretty good blocking except iupati who gets beat and tackles the guy… again lucky no holding call… smith does a nice job of stepping up and dumping it off to dixon… Dixon comes up a couple yards short of first down.... alex smith looks upset… I am sure he wanted to keep the drive going… he hates 3 and outs as much as we do
47. defense…vikings 1st and 10 from 20 with 4:58 left in half…RJF, Briggs, Derek Walker, all get into backfield and screen to gerhart broken up by Mitchell who kind of spun himself into the ball as it was just hitting gerharts hands
48. catch for about 6 yards… brown tackles him immediately… Wilhelm blitzed… bowman faked and backed off… Mitchell did a nice job of taking on 2 guys and pushing them back but nobody gets pressure… Mitchell is in at DE… I would have figured he is a NT
49. 3rd and 4… Mitchell comes on a stunt and has clear shot at qb kind of just bumps him and Jackson takes off and gets first down. Bad play from Mitchell… free shot at QB he should have laid him out. Bowman tackles him but he falls just over the first down line. Laboy in the backfield as well
50. 1st and 10 3.25 left in half…briggs gets into backfield and gets tackled… draws 10 yard penalty… Mitchell fights off his guy has a shot to tackle Jackson but he gets rid of it just as he tackles him… D Walker also right there to tackle Jackson.
51. 1st and 20… laboy beats his guy and slams Jackson down… wow, he body slammed him…Jackson gets pass off just in time… RJF also right there next to laboy and Jackson…Screen to gerhart… Wilhelm and bowman on tackles
52. 2nd and 13… bowman comes on blitz again flys after Jackson but Jackson kept backing up and just gets rid of it… bowman has speed… screen to gerhart… tackle by briggs and brown
53. 3rd and 9 at 31 with 2:00 left in half… briggs jumps early so free play.. guys don’t get any real pressure until late rusher comes and gets in jackson’s face… Jackson throws to wr and gets a pass interference on Paymah which I didn’t see but could have been out of the picture
54. 1st and 10… walker, Mitchell, and laboy hold there guys up and lead to the tackle… bowman in on it as well… 2 yard gain… briggs beat his guy but was on the other side of the play
55. 2nd and 8 briggs and laboy both beath their guys… I think both guys should get a half sack but laboy gets it… man… I hope we don’t choose between these two… hope both make it on the roster
56. 3rd and 17.. gerhart with the draw… mays and briggs, on the tackle
57. offense with 16 seconds left in the half… ok blocking.. everyone held their own but Dixon gets no where and end of half
Alright.. if you want to read it that's great but please don't reply saying that's too much to read. IF you don't want to read all of it I'd suggest at least reading the general notes and the player evaluations.
Bonus: I will throw in my roster predictions
Offense (25)
QB - Smith, Carr, Davis
RB - Gore, Westbrook, Dixon
FB - Norris
WR - Crabtree, Morgan, Ginn Jr, Williams, Zeigler
TE - Davis, Walker, Byham
T - Staley, Davis, Boone, Sims
G - Iupati, Rachal, Wragge, Snyder
C - Heitmann, Baas
Defense (24)
DE – McDonald, Sopoaga, Smith, Evans
NT - Franklin, Jean-Francois
OLB - Lawson, Brooks, Briggs, Haralson, LaBoy
MLB - Willis, Spikes, Bowman, Willhelm
CB - Clements, Spencer, Brown, Paymah, James/Adams
S - Lewis, Goldson, Mays, Smith
Special Teams (4)
K - Nedney
P - Lee
LS - Jennings
ST – Robinson
Who's Out - Jason Hill, Curtis Taylor, James/Adams and Brit Miller
Practice Squad - Khalif Mitchell, Will Tukuafu, Phillip Adams (If he doesn't make roster), Mike Balogun, Brit Miller, Jarrett Brown (usually have 1 QB)... after that anybodies guess.
[ Edited by Gore_21 on Aug 23, 2010 at 4:49 AM ]
Very good stuff, Gore 21! A lot to absorb here, and props for the effort!