Blkbrd671 wrote:Watched the whole game. ACtually had to because our boys couldn't capitalize and kept it in a 2 possession game.
QB: Grade: A
Stafford looked good, stepped up into the pocket, made plays with his feet. He had 1 intentional grounding call and 1 that very well could have been called intentional grounding, but overall kept the ball pretty secure. i still feel he doesn't quite sense where the pressure is coming from and where to step up, however whats encouraging is the fact that he's staying in the pocket. His throw to Ross for the TD was a thing of beauty, honestly showing off his arm strength. His throw 2 ebron was on the money, there actually was only one small window to throw to ebron, and it was right there. As a lions fan, those kind of throws make you salivate at what matty can be. The running TD wasn't part of the design, he was looking for collins in the flat, Matty made a heads up play and beat the D-lineman to the pylon. Stafford's IQ is truly underrated, while his decision making has been questioned, he consistently makes savy plays, that suprise you. Stafford had a TD to Ross and Ebron, while hitting Tate all day inthe slant. Its nice to see the ball being distributed and Stafford using all his weapons.
Stafford is frustrating to watch because he's so hot and cold. This week he looked great again. The past couple weeks, you could see him lock into one guy (Calvin most of the time) and fail to continue through his progressions. This week, his head was on a swivel, eyes on every option most plays. That was encouraging, although I wonder how much of that was a result of Calvin not being on the field or involved in the game much. Hopefully this turns into a long term thing, but I've said that before. He did get up with a bit of a hitch in his step a couple times, hopefully nothing more than a bruise or charley horse....
Blkbrd671 wrote:WR: Grade A
Broyles sighting!!!!, he actually might have scored on one play, but he either got excited or didn't locate the ball early enough and made a diving catch when he could have caught it on the run and got pretty damn close to the goal line. TATE earned all his money this game, he made a amazing bobbling catch for the first down when we were backed up in our end zone on a 3rd and long. He was money on the slant routes all day, and one play he simply turned caught the ball and ran over the DB and got us to the goal line. If he made that play in Detroit, the place would have gone nuts. CJ had 2 catches, i think he was mostly a decoy this game, and used to get in Ryans head in terms of how to attack our Offense with and without CJ. He was in and out of the game, and mostly out in 3rd down situations. Amazingly the 2nd of his 2 catches was a diving one handed play that i think Stafford was just throwing at his feet because a DB came off the edge on touched. Overall few drops, made plays when we needed and spread the wealth.
Tate was a beast in this game! He is a phenomenal compliment to Calvin, and I hope that this weeks performance really gets through to Stafford that he's a viable option if Calvin is covered. His ability to make defenders miss is great. He's a lot quicker and shiftier than I realized, and I'd love to see them use him and Ross in some motion-reverse type plays. Seattle has done it well with Percy Harvin, using him in motion in play-fakes a lot and I could see it working well with those two as well. I almost wish they would have just rested CJ entirely this week though. I understand he's a great decoy and all, but is pulling him out on 3rd downs and limiting his play count really going to protect him from the one play that it takes to aggravate his ankle? It's just not worth it this early in the season IMO.
Blkbrd671 wrote:RB: Grade B
We honestly couldn't get sh* out of the RB game for the first 3 quarters. Bell got into the secondary a couple times, but for the most part, screen plays and downhill running was hard. Jets D was swallowing up our O-line and it looked like we'd be unable to hold the lead. Then Bell got hurt and we were down to Bush to run out the clock, and surprisingly our run game picked up. Bush stopped tryign going east west, and started just gong north south. It was pretty impressive for a RB who isn't necessarily considered a between the tackles type back. One play that is highlighted in my mind, was a scoring drive in the second quarter where we needed a first down and bush got caught a screen play, and he went for the first down but looked like the LB was goign to tackle him short, then Warford came and just shoved bush to th first down with ease. TEAMWORK!!!! Bell played well but didn't finish the game which is concerning. Also i really think once riddick gets a chance, we'll see Bush 2.0. The few moments you see this kid, he can definietly make ppl miss
The running game failed to impress me again. We ran the ball when it counted towards the end of the game, when it's predictable, so I don't really get what the struggle is early in the game. If we could come up with some sort of run game through the first 3 quarters, it would open up our passing game even more. Is it just me, or does Reggie Bush seem to slip more than any other running back...I understand his game is about quick cuts, but he seems to lose his footing and fall on his backside way more than anybody else.
Blkbrd671 wrote:O-Line: B
I personally don't possess the ability to evaluate the OLine other than how much/how little pressure Stafford is under. I will say this, very few penalties which is encouraging, and for the most part, they kept Stafford off his back, and the 2nd best defense on their toes. And when Stafford was sacked, he didn't look like he took that hard of a shot. I think this could even be considered a B+, considering the jets come at offense with so many different and odd looks.
Pass protection, considering the defensive line we faced, was probably an improvement over past weeks. There were a few times that I was impressed at how long Stafford had to make a throw. Running though was a struggle. Again...how can they do so well when the gameplan is so predictable late in the game, but early have such a hard time?
Blkbrd671 wrote:TE: B+
Ebron finally got his touch down and made a acrobatic catch in the end zone. As the #10 pick, i expect him to make that catch all day, no matter how hard its thrown. (it was a laser), he did however fail to get a clean release on a go route, and didn't finish the route. Pettigrew got a couple catches, but i think once we review film, that we'll see a lot of good blocking especially towards the end. one thing is for sure is that ebron can run. and he needs to grow these next 2-3 weeks, and really take advantage of this opportunity.
ABOUT TIME! Ebron matched his entire season in this game. Not that it was a difficult task, but it was good to see him involved. I hope his role continues to grow. The route on the outside was a poor play call IMO. I'm guessing that Calvin was supposed to line up outside against the corner/safety but with him being held out, Ebron was given the route? Either way, a TE like Ebron is best matched up with a LB for any deep routes, or routes where speed grants an advantage, and if he's matched up with a corner/safety, utilize his size. That route did neither, especially with where the ball was placed. It was a jump ball, that was a catch he was supposed to make in stride, and there's almost no chance he's beating a corner off the line in a dead sprint.
Blkbrd671 wrote:D-Line: A
For the most part, they took the running game away from the Jets, though Ivory is Lynch 2.0. Chris johnson broke free for a TD, when 2 lions players essentially tackled the other out of the play springing him free. We seemed to stop blitzing as much in the 2nd half and rushed four, with that in mind, i think we got good pressure.
LB: C
Tullouch is obviously going to be sorely missed, there is definitely a noticeable difference when he's not in the game. Whitehead did a decent job, but the blitzing rarely hit home. Whitehead did have a monster tackle that drew ahh's and ooo's from the crowd. One of those hits that you could hear through out the stadium. It may have been the way we scheme'd it, but tackling was poor and it seemed like their were more opportunities in the middle of the field that the jets failed to capitalize on. i think we'll see more of Ager and van noy is definitely going to have a opportunity when he comes back in 4 weeks.
I think these two are best grouped together. The run defense was OK. The pass rush was OK. Whitehead looked fine to me, but it's hard for me to pinpoint who made mistakes in the run game. I was impressed by Whitehead's coverage. There were a few times I watched him, and he played his man perfectly. I could be wrong, but it would seem that playing coverage as a linebacker is more difficult than playing the run/blitzing, and he seemed to hold his own. Room for improvement across the board here though. Only 1 sack from the D-line isn't very encouraging. I know there were some other pressures throughout the game, but putting a QB on the ground can be a game changer if they can get in his head.
Blkbrd671 wrote:DB/S: B+
They did a pretty decent job considering that the lack of pass rush left a lot of them on a island. Slay finally got his first interception on a over throw(Smith got absolutely destroyed by Ansah), which he still gets credit for, but i want to see one while he's in coverage. He also let up a big yardage play to the jets, when he tried to strip the ball instead of secure the tackle. The jets got 10-15 more YAC. Mathis got called on a questionable holding penalty that wasn't even there, and Dig absolutely destroyed Smith on a Safety blitz causing the fumble. Dig also had a couple nice tackles in the backfield. If overall they tackled better, they'd get a A, and if our offense was able to capitalize on their TO's, it probably swing my grade a little, however the offense didn't. and our secondary failed to secure some tackles. Overall the progress of our secondary is still encouraging.
Slay didn't look awful, but he made some fundamental mistakes that should be easily correctable. It almost seemed to me like he was getting a little cocky/overconfident, and this game might be just what he needs to really buckle down. Mathis is looking great this year. I am extremely glad that we have him this year, and not just because we need a solid corner, but he's a great player to mentor Slay (and the other young guys even if they're not on the field...). Ihedigbo being back was great, and the forced fumble (which could have went either way, I honestly thought it would get overturned) was a big play, maybe I've just been impressed with the backups, but I didn't notice a huge difference really. Not a bad thing at all, if anything it speaks to the play of the backup, just an observation.
Blkbrd671 wrote:ST: Ross has been a non factor, his decision to come out the end zone and get taclked at the 13 yard put us in a pretty poor field posistion. Henry our kicker made and missed a 51+ yarder. He needed to hit that last one to make it a 3 possession game, however horribly missed it. I think he gets one more chance, but he can't miss any more
Coverage-wise, I don't like seeing the first guy down on a punt completely whiff on the returner. I understand they're racing the coverage down the field and don't have a great shot at the guy, but I'd almost rather them slow up just a hair and even if they get blocked, it puts traffic in front of the returner. Ross has not looked good this season in kick returns. Punt returns have been fine. But he seems to be forcing it on kickoffs, and it's killing field position. I don't know if Ross is responsible or if it's his blocking, but hopefully they can make some adjustments. As for Henery, he hit his career long in an outdoor stadium. He then missed from the same distance. I honestly don't have a problem with a 1 for 2 day when they're both from 51 outside. Granted the second one would have been big, but the offense really needs to stop stalling.
Blkbrd671 wrote:Coaching: Our defense and offense game plan overall was good. I thought we became 2 conservative in the 2nd half up 2 TD's, but we ended up winning so shows how much i know. I think our defensive scheme also became conservative and less blitzy, allowing Smith to get back in rhythm. I think against a better QB this game is alot closer, however we played the jets, and we won. That's all that matters
I loved the adjustments the defense was able to make. First drive, we gave up a ton on the ground, we came back and didn't give up a first down the rest of the half if I remember correctly. I've never been a fan of the "bend but don't break" defense at the end of a game, but I understand it, and I have confidence that against a more competitive team, Austin won't sit back like that. Offensively, I still think there's room for some better play calling. The third quarter was rough. Coming out of the locker room with a touchdown lead, and getting the ball, we should have been able to at least put a FG on the board. 5 plays and a punt almost makes taking the ball to start the game a better choice.
But overall, a solid win, a step in the right direction. And this defense
Also, I was pretty darn close with my prediction haha