Originally posted by NCommand:
BTW: Did their receivers drop a single pass yesterday (don't count that finger tip dropped TD pass). Esp. in the 4th quarter...I can think of one drop but it was a bullet by Manning (receiver had no chance).
Cruz dropped the wide-open post-corner route for about 35 yds. Rogers picked off Eli on the same route the next play. On both plays, Rogers gambled - first, he tried to jump the post; second time, he undercut the corner.
Originally posted by real9erfan:
I don't know how they can say that Carlos was the beneficiary of a bit of luck on his interceptions. On the first INT he read and covered the route perfectly, undercutting Cruz and intercepting the ball cleanly. On the second, yes the receiver didn't run the right route, but Rogers again read it correctly and dove to make the interception. If these Interceptions are lucky then I would be hardpressed to find any interception that is not lucky.
I can see why he graded negatively, but agree completely that there was nothing lucky about his picks.
He graded negative, I'd imagine, because you don't grade a player for the result of a play, you grade him for how he played that play. Carlos had plenty of poor snaps. But that's a side-effect of his gambling tendency.
Rogers is a very savvy gambler. He'll undercut routes and look for picks, but only when the opposition is facing a long field. Think about all his picks this year. With the exception of the Philly pick, which was just great conventional deep coverage on Desean Jackson, all of Rogers' big plays have come on their half of the field, when gambled to undercut routes. But when they move in our territory, Rogers plays much more conventional, don't-get-beat-deep coverage. (Asante Samuel, for one, is another guy who plays CB in this style.)
When people say we have a bend-but-don't-break defense, they sometimes say so without understanding why. It's not an accident; it's gameplanning and scheming. We are going for the big play when we can afford to do so, then are tightening up and making them earn it when we can't.