Zombieslayer
Cheesehead
Sunday was a pathetic showing. Driver gets MVP of that game, because he played his heart out, fighting for every yard he could get every time he touched the ball. If everyone played like Driver, and MM actually coached like that, we wouldn't have been shut out.
Let's not talk about changing players like "we could have had this guy" or "we could have had that guy." It doesn't do us any good because it's not going to happen and we have to make due with what we have now.
We also have to play to our strengths. We all know Favre is still a good QB, but when Favre falls behind, he gets desperate and tries to make things happen. Montana and Elway were fantastic at coming from behind. Favre never was, but Favre is probably one of the bests ever at keeping a lead. Then simply, don't fall behind.
Against the Saints next week, we're going to have to completely change our game plan. Start the game off passing. Do quick, short, easy "West Coast" routes to build a rhythm then hit a few 20+ yarders. Mix it up with a few draw plays and screens and get an early TD.
The defense looked good against the run, but horrible against the pass. It's simply because Grossman had enough time back there to pour himself a nice cup of tea, add some sugar, mix it up, take a few sips, gently place the tea cup down, then look for an open receiver. We simply cannot give a QB that much time. EVERY QB in the NFL is good with that much time.
Last year, Bates used Harris effectively in CB blitzes. If I'm not mistaken, Harris got several sacks last year and knocked the QB on the ground a bunch of other times. I didn't see a CB blitz once against the Bears. Why is that? Heck, even have Woodson blitz a few times. Keep the Saints' QB off balance and don't give him time to pick his receivers.
We did blitz a few times against the Bears and what happened? Well, Grossman hurried the ball off and threw incompletions half the time we blitzed. Without pressure, Grossman looked like Joe Montana. So why didn't we continually blitz him?
After we build a slight lead, then cut down the passing a little and have Green run more. The bigger the lead gets, the more Green runs, and the more Green wears down the Saints defense.
In summary, start off throwing. Develop the running game in the 2nd half, not the first half. Blitz more often. Keep the QB off balance. Blitz with linebackers. Blitz Harris. Even throw in a Woodson blitz every now and then. Heck, even blitz Manuel, because we all know he can't cover. Maybe he could put some pressue on the QB instead.
On special teams, keep Woodson as a punt returner. He looked decent out there. We need a faster kick returner though. Our kickoff returning sucked big time. If Koren Robinson doesn't work out, maybe Carroll? I'm hoping Robinson works out though, because he's good. Our punter has a strong leg. He needs to learn to kick the ball higher though rather than farther. We don't want another punt return for a TD against us.
If we follow this game plan instead of that crap we did against the Bears, we might be able to upset the Saints.
Let's not talk about changing players like "we could have had this guy" or "we could have had that guy." It doesn't do us any good because it's not going to happen and we have to make due with what we have now.
We also have to play to our strengths. We all know Favre is still a good QB, but when Favre falls behind, he gets desperate and tries to make things happen. Montana and Elway were fantastic at coming from behind. Favre never was, but Favre is probably one of the bests ever at keeping a lead. Then simply, don't fall behind.
Against the Saints next week, we're going to have to completely change our game plan. Start the game off passing. Do quick, short, easy "West Coast" routes to build a rhythm then hit a few 20+ yarders. Mix it up with a few draw plays and screens and get an early TD.
The defense looked good against the run, but horrible against the pass. It's simply because Grossman had enough time back there to pour himself a nice cup of tea, add some sugar, mix it up, take a few sips, gently place the tea cup down, then look for an open receiver. We simply cannot give a QB that much time. EVERY QB in the NFL is good with that much time.
Last year, Bates used Harris effectively in CB blitzes. If I'm not mistaken, Harris got several sacks last year and knocked the QB on the ground a bunch of other times. I didn't see a CB blitz once against the Bears. Why is that? Heck, even have Woodson blitz a few times. Keep the Saints' QB off balance and don't give him time to pick his receivers.
We did blitz a few times against the Bears and what happened? Well, Grossman hurried the ball off and threw incompletions half the time we blitzed. Without pressure, Grossman looked like Joe Montana. So why didn't we continually blitz him?
After we build a slight lead, then cut down the passing a little and have Green run more. The bigger the lead gets, the more Green runs, and the more Green wears down the Saints defense.
In summary, start off throwing. Develop the running game in the 2nd half, not the first half. Blitz more often. Keep the QB off balance. Blitz with linebackers. Blitz Harris. Even throw in a Woodson blitz every now and then. Heck, even blitz Manuel, because we all know he can't cover. Maybe he could put some pressue on the QB instead.
On special teams, keep Woodson as a punt returner. He looked decent out there. We need a faster kick returner though. Our kickoff returning sucked big time. If Koren Robinson doesn't work out, maybe Carroll? I'm hoping Robinson works out though, because he's good. Our punter has a strong leg. He needs to learn to kick the ball higher though rather than farther. We don't want another punt return for a TD against us.
If we follow this game plan instead of that crap we did against the Bears, we might be able to upset the Saints.
