THE GOOD
- Jones did more good than bad in a tough situation (as usual)
- 19 play drive vs that D is something pretty good
- Good adjustment to go 3 TEs on that long drive
- Slayton is for real, picking up where he left off
- Williams finished a sack!
- Martinez is what you think - solid
- Shep is a tough SOB making catches in traffic
- Our rookie LT didn't look like he didn't belong with the bullets flying for real. Some rough moments and lots of help, but ok.
- No DJ fumbles
- Joe Judge had a team that was outmatched, but I don't think stupid/sloppy. I thought we'd be uglier in the beginning.
THE BAD
- D wore down
- Not capitalizing at the 3
- They keyed on Saquon like he's our best guy! Oh, yeah, he is.
- DJ INT on The Drive was bad. Throw it at his feet like the classic Eli give up play. Now we see why Eli did that. This is part of the painful learning process.
- Our pass blocking was up and down. Too much down.
- We started well, but talent won out over the course of the game
-Carter flashes. Seems to be what he does. I didn't see a huge step forward. We'll see how this develops, or if.
THE UGLY
- Engram just looks like a coach killer to me. All the tantalizing ability, but just never puts it together consistently. A few great plays sprinkled with some crap. He either needs to put it together fast, or we need to cut bait. Last year to prove it, EE. Kaden Smith was more productive...
- The run blocking was just atrocious. Jail break every play. WTF. (Note to coaches, you might want to block Dupree and cover Juju. But that's just my opinion, man.)
THE PERSPECTIVE
- Its generally thought you improve most from 1st game to 2nd, let's hope. Now we have some actual tape in an actual game.
- This was a brutal match up for us. We're in flux, they're stable as a slab of granite. We're putting a line together, they're a top, loaded D.
- I think we have to keep reminding ourselves, this is not a good team. We still have a lot of needs. We have a brutal early schedule that will be painful, but pay dividends we hope in the trial by fire making guys improve faster.
- The key to this season, IMO, is progress. I'm hoping for 6-8 wins and signs of moving in the right direction, and that JJ and crew know what they're doing.
Thoughts?
In comment 14972236 Anakim said:
Oh yeah. Ballentine was a big ugly.
In comment 14972240 LBH15 said:
The first INT was just a good play by WATT!
They came out ready to play...That was encouraging! I didn't feel like we were out coached and I feel the glass for once is half full!
I still see us playing them tough but losing a close one as the team continues to "learn on the job" and so forth.
The second one, yeah. It looked like a lot of dumb plays we've seen. I appreciate guys that want to win, and don't give up on plays. Eli never protected his stats, but not giving up on plays makes for some good, and some ugly. Discretion v valor is a balance he'll need to learn.
In comment 14972263 Eric from BBI said:
That 19 play drive was a thing of beauty. DJ was athletic, fearless and accurate throughout.
if he was more "careful", we would have punted 7-8 plays earlier in the drive.
I get it, the INT wipes all of that out (at least for most people) but Personally I do not want that aggressiveness to change.
In comment 14972236 Anakim said:
Quote:
More like a meh. He did have some flashes and he looked better than he did the last couple of years. I hope he builds on it.
I thought Carter looked better last night than he ever has here. that's not saying VERY much, but it's a start.
Carter was not bad last night.
That 19 play drive was a thing of beauty. DJ was athletic, fearless and accurate throughout.
if he was more "careful", we would have punted 7-8 plays earlier in the drive.
I get it, the INT wipes all of that out (at least for most people) but Personally I do not want that aggressiveness to change.
but for that split second differential we could have had a very different outcome, or at least perception of last night's performance.
but that is causing more than few people here to talk about DJ being 'mediocre', talking about getting Trevor Lawrence already (granted most of it is form people on the game thread who I have never heard of before).
Only my opinion, but I am a big fan of what I watched last night - especially after the overall good season he had last season.
and I didn't like the pick!
Carter was not bad last night.
Exactly. He also had 3 pressures. He was in on quite a few plays.
by the way, I was pissed last night when the announcers didn't even discuss the great play DLaw made on an inside screen where he not only diagnosed it, but kept it to no gain, even though if he doesn't do that, it goes for a long gain.