Upon Further Review

[AZ54]

I finally completed a review of the win over the Vikings with main focus on the line play, both sides.

 

DLine: Solid play inside in this game mainly from Hicks. Either the coaches or McPhee are getting to him (likely both) because he's starting to play more violently. On his sack near the goal line he just clubbed the lineman with his right arm knocking him off balance and then just ran right past him. After some solid but unspectacular first few games his arrow is now pointing up. Unrein is still unable to get any movement in the pass rush. He's still a solid depth-type player but he's not what we need as a starter. OTOH Bullard is making progress in his pass rush. He's not a powerful player but I can see him moving his feet better to get angles on blockers and then use his quickness to slip past them. At the same Bullard is finding ways to get off blocks and be more effective in the run game. What I don't see is his quickness at the snap as we did in the preseason. Perhaps that will show up as he gains more experience. Washington is right there behind Bullard but I'd say he's still adjusting to the inside game. Still, I like the improvement so far but more remains to be done in the 2nd half. When we get Goldman back into the rotation it will spell Hicks some and might move Unrein back on the depth chart as they keep the quicker Bullard on the field in a 3-man front.

 

OLB: Early in the season when Floyd rushed the passer it appeared he was looking for a perfect path to the QB. Meaning he'd make a move and if it was stopped he was stopped. In the last few games it seems he's learning he doesn't have to win cleanly. He's using his length the work the edges of the blocker and is coming to realize that if he gets that he can force his way past and then he's just so long in reach he just closes on the QB quickly. If he continues to build on that part of his game the speed will win more often. In short, Floyd has been far better in the power game than I expected. McPhee is just a stud football player and having him back is making the rest of the Dline better. With less snaps Young had more burst as we were hoping. He'll play better as McPhee expands his role. Acho continues to impress me, not because he's playing great but he's been good for us especially with some of the high snap counts he's had. In other words nobody is talking about C. Jones. Right now this group is looking good.

 

ILB: Trev and Free have been exactly as advertised. Let Kwiatkoski learn from them for a couple seasons.

 

CBs: Still a lot of musical chairs back there but they did well enough not to lose the game for us. Word is LeBlanc is tearing it up in practice. I haven't seen that on game day but he does improve each week. Bausby was just ok, he mostly seemed to just play it safe in coverage but did offer some good plays in run support. If you look towards next season it feels like we'll have some good depth with these guys (LeBlanc, Glenn, Bausby, and Hall). Hopefully we'll see Hall back on the field soon as he too was showing some promise. Do we keep Fuller at CB or move him to FS?

 

S: I still like Amos and I think he'll continue to improve. HJQ seems more and more like a backup and someone we need to find a replacement for. Obviously the coaches are rotating Prosinski in so they see this too. Can Bush fill this role? Houston-Carson? I'm not sure I see that.

 

Oline: Kush and Larsen played well enough. I actually like what I see in Kush and he may well develop into a good backup for us. Larsen still gets pushed around too much for my liking. I'd rather see Edison out there, he's more stout and a better athlete. Whitehair is good and you have to commend him and Cutler for coordinating the blocking assignments so well against the Vikings. Looking to next year we should have 3 players competing for the backup OG/OC roles in Kush, Grasu, and Edison. Leno played well against Griffen for most of the game. On the sack he gave up he reached for the block instead of waiting for Griffen to get to him. Massie has improved quite a bit since the first two games and is now playing as I hoped he would. He's not great but you can win with him at RT when he plays like this. Nobody was blocking L. Joseph one-on-one. He's a stud but fortunately he's not fast.

 

TE: I have to say Paulsen is now blocking well. Miller is definitely blocking better than he did last year and he's very effective as a receiver. I don't miss Marty B.

 

WR: Jeffrey had a poor game and just wasn't in sync in the first half. He recovered and played well in the 2nd half. Meredith was good when he was targeted it's just obvious Cutler isn't comfortable with him yet but I think that will develop.

 

RB: Blocking wasn't great on a lot of plays (see the comment on Joseph earlier) but Howard showed good vision and decisiveness and often got around defenders in the backfield and got to the open hole. Still I saw a couple plays where he could have had big gains if he'd made a different cut. IMO that just means he's only going to get better as he gains experience. How many fans realize Howard had the fastest on-field speed of any player in the NFL last week? That means he hit a higher top speed than Ezekiel Elliot. He might not be able to sustain that for 50 yards but he does have some serious burst in his step.

 

QB: Cutler played well. He had a couple miscues but far more often he saved the play with his pocket awareness and mobility. Overall he just stayed within the game plan and what was working.

 

Loggains: Prior to the Vikings game people continued to say he'll get fired after this season. Ain't happening. He just built an excellent game plan and called the best game of the season against the best D in the NFL. There will still be things to learn but he's proved that he belongs in this job.

[madlithuanian]

Great analysis!

 

I finally completed a review of the win over the Vikings with main focus on the line play, both sides.

 

DLine: Solid play inside in this game mainly from Hicks. Either the coaches or McPhee are getting to him (likely both) because he's starting to play more violently. On his sack near the goal line he just clubbed the lineman with his right arm knocking him off balance and then just ran right past him. After some solid but unspectacular first few games his arrow is now pointing up. Unrein is still unable to get any movement in the pass rush. He's still a solid depth-type player but he's not what we need as a starter. OTOH Bullard is making progress in his pass rush. He's not a powerful player but I can see him moving his feet better to get angles on blockers and then use his quickness to slip past them. At the same Bullard is finding ways to get off blocks and be more effective in the run game. What I don't see is his quickness at the snap as we did in the preseason. Perhaps that will show up as he gains more experience. Washington is right there behind Bullard but I'd say he's still adjusting to the inside game. Still, I like the improvement so far but more remains to be done in the 2nd half. When we get Goldman back into the rotation it will spell Hicks some and might move Unrein back on the depth chart as they keep the quicker Bullard on the field in a 3-man front.

 

OLB: Early in the season when Floyd rushed the passer it appeared he was looking for a perfect path to the QB. Meaning he'd make a move and if it was stopped he was stopped. In the last few games it seems he's learning he doesn't have to win cleanly. He's using his length the work the edges of the blocker and is coming to realize that if he gets that he can force his way past and then he's just so long in reach he just closes on the QB quickly. If he continues to build on that part of his game the speed will win more often. In short, Floyd has been far better in the power game than I expected. McPhee is just a stud football player and having him back is making the rest of the Dline better. With less snaps Young had more burst as we were hoping. He'll play better as McPhee expands his role. Acho continues to impress me, not because he's playing great but he's been good for us especially with some of the high snap counts he's had. In other words nobody is talking about C. Jones. Right now this group is looking good.

 

ILB: Trev and Free have been exactly as advertised. Let Kwiatkoski learn from them for a couple seasons.

 

CBs: Still a lot of musical chairs back there but they did well enough not to lose the game for us. Word is LeBlanc is tearing it up in practice. I haven't seen that on game day but he does improve each week. Bausby was just ok, he mostly seemed to just play it safe in coverage but did offer some good plays in run support. If you look towards next season it feels like we'll have some good depth with these guys (LeBlanc, Glenn, Bausby, and Hall). Hopefully we'll see Hall back on the field soon as he too was showing some promise. Do we keep Fuller at CB or move him to FS?

 

S: I still like Amos and I think he'll continue to improve. HJQ seems more and more like a backup and someone we need to find a replacement for. Obviously the coaches are rotating Prosinski in so they see this too. Can Bush fill this role? Houston-Carson? I'm not sure I see that.

 

Oline: Kush and Larsen played well enough. I actually like what I see in Kush and he may well develop into a good backup for us. Larsen still gets pushed around too much for my liking. I'd rather see Edison out there, he's more stout and a better athlete. Whitehair is good and you have to commend him and Cutler for coordinating the blocking assignments so well against the Vikings. Looking to next year we should have 3 players competing for the backup OG/OC roles in Kush, Grasu, and Edison. Leno played well against Griffen for most of the game. On the sack he gave up he reached for the block instead of waiting for Griffen to get to him. Massie has improved quite a bit since the first two games and is now playing as I hoped he would. He's not great but you can win with him at RT when he plays like this. Nobody was blocking L. Joseph one-on-one. He's a stud but fortunately he's not fast.

 

TE: I have to say Paulsen is now blocking well. Miller is definitely blocking better than he did last year and he's very effective as a receiver. I don't miss Marty B.

 

WR: Jeffrey had a poor game and just wasn't in sync in the first half. He recovered and played well in the 2nd half. Meredith was good when he was targeted it's just obvious Cutler isn't comfortable with him yet but I think that will develop.

 

RB: Blocking wasn't great on a lot of plays (see the comment on Joseph earlier) but Howard showed good vision and decisiveness and often got around defenders in the backfield and got to the open hole. Still I saw a couple plays where he could have had big gains if he'd made a different cut. IMO that just means he's only going to get better as he gains experience. How many fans realize Howard had the fastest on-field speed of any player in the NFL last week? That means he hit a higher top speed than Ezekiel Elliot. He might not be able to sustain that for 50 yards but he does have some serious burst in his step.

 

QB: Cutler played well. He had a couple miscues but far more often he saved the play with his pocket awareness and mobility. Overall he just stayed within the game plan and what was working.

 

Loggains: Prior to the Vikings game people continued to say he'll get fired after this season. Ain't happening. He just built an excellent game plan and called the best game of the season against the best D in the NFL. There will still be things to learn but he's proved that he belongs in this job.

 

[ChileBear]

Great analysis!

Wow, nice analysis Madlith. It is clear you have too much free time. LMAO

[ASHKUM BEAR]

Nice work!!!

Going off this, I think a draft going QB, CB, and OT would be a great start.

1. Mitch Trubinsky QB

2. Desmond King CB

3. Tyrell Crosby RT

4. Dave Jones S

 

If they think a top tier QB falls to RD2

1-Jabrill Peppers S

2-Brad Kaaya QB

3-Cordea Tankersly CB

4-Julien Davenport LT

 

Or if they get a chance at Myles Garrett OLB who would be a luxury or a guy I like in our scheme is Malik McDowell DT 6-6 285. Could you imagine Hicks, Goldman, McDowell as your front 3. Floyd/McPhee/Young/Houston/Acho would have a hay day on the outside and Freeman/Trevathan would be clean.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

AZ, I always look forward to these reads. I don't have anything to disagree with and think you summed it up excellently. I'm with you in the sense that I am very happy what I've seen the past few weeks (in the sense we are seeing a young defense emerge, as well as some potential keepers on the defensive side. We've also seen improvement / things to look offensively and I agree with you Loggains seems to be finding a bit of a rhythm. Plenty of football to play and with the Packers and Vikings losing again, things just get more interesting (especially since we have plenty of divisional football left).

[AZ54]

Where do we rank:

 

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?sea...qualified=false

 

 

 

Offense: pts/game = 31st yds/game = 15th ( surprisingly ahead of Packers, Vikings, and Lions)

 

Defense: pts/game = 15th yds/game = 12th