BigBull45

Since I have been attending training camp practices as well as the first preseason game,I really see more problems on the offensive side of the ball.I've seen everything from movement on the line to not having the right personel in for the play called.Brooks has looked solid and I think will do fine as long as we can find some wide recievers who believe catching the damn ball is part of their job.In two preseason games as well as practice I've seen everyone of our starters drop very catchable balls.Joe horn had a horrible practice one day dropping two sure touchdowns.Stallworth tries to run before securing the ball and winds up losing it.Pathon seems to be the more sure handed of the three,but still has had some key drops(the touchdown during the jets game for one).Boo Williams seems to have lost some of his focus and doesn't look as sharp as he did last season.Conwell still looks pretty sound.Michael Lewis seems to catch everything thrown his way(of course we all know he had to work very hard to make this team and probably has more focus than the big shots who have the starting jobs handed to them on day one).This new kid Nathan Black is really coming on.He has caught everything thrown anywhere within his zipcode and looks to be good running after the catch.This guy could be the next Ed McCafferey.If Talman Gardner could get some consistency he could be real good.Henderson could turn out to be a big surprise by mid season.He just needs more reps.

The running game will be fine as long as the O line can hold up,but they seem to be injury riddled.We can't seem to keep all five starters healthy at the same time.We are supposedly so deep on the O line,but we all saw what happened in Green Bay with the starters injured.

IMHO the defense has been pulling their load.They improved in stopping the run from week 1 to week 2 of the preseason.They also seem to focus on the mistakes they make and work hard to get better.The D line looks real good and will be the key to our success on defense.

If we are going to have a successful season the offense had better get it together real quick.They just don't seem to be playing with any sense of urgency.Haz and McCarthy should have every one of our recievers stay after practice and work on catching the damn ball.They should be made to carry the damn ball around with them everywhere they go until their recieving skills improve.

CheramieIII

I agree with ya Bull, the entire offense should be made to carry a ball with them everywhere, to the shower, to eat, to bed and whenever they drop it or put it down, they should be fined 5,000.00, then see if they realize how important the pigskin is.

BigBull45

I just believe that the defense is going to give the offense it\'s fair share of oppurtunities to put up points this year.Let\'s hope they can live up to their billing.Talent wise they rank among the best,but can they focus together and stay healthy together? That\'s the million dollar question.Couldn\'t you just see us in a dog fight with some team and the defense has done it\'s fair share creating pressure on the QB and forcing turnovers.The only thing keeping the game close is the fact that our recievers keep dropping easily catchable balls that would keep the chains moving or put points on the board.That would really piss me off!!!

The other thing that would be a real bummer would be if we had to go into each week with one or two offensive lineman banged up.Then we would have to rely on the young guys to get it done.If they can\'t then we get mauled up front forcing our QB to hurry,or having a non existant running game.I say someone needs to stress to the offense that there is no tomorrow.Now is the time to put your A game together and carry it over into the regular season.Also let your A game rub off on some of the young guns that will make this team.we may have to depend on some of them to make plays for us this year.

See yall at the dome on sunday !

GumboBC

Yes, I do believe the offense could be a problem this year. It was certainly a problem last year. And there was certainly plenty of blame to go around.

-The receivers dropped passes at critical times
- Brooks fumbling the ball.
- Critical penalties.
- Bad play calling.

And there were some injuries that affected the offense. Donte was out most of the year. Joe Horn was injured but still played.

So far this preseason, it appears our WRs still can\'t catch the ball. Other than that observation, I don\'t know where the offense stands. With Brooks not playing much, it\'s hard to effectively evaluate the passing games considering how bad the back-ups have performed. Then take into consideration that we had 3-backups on the offensive line against the Packers and it further muddies the water.

What has me really concerned is Aaron Brooks\' injury. He probably won\'t play the rest of the preseason and if he doesn\'t, it\'s going to be hard for the offense to get in sink for the first game against Seattle.

I\'ll go on record - right now - and say I think these offensive problems are being overblown. I think our offense will put up plenty of points. McCarthy, while he has his faults, is a good cooridnator. He\'ll get these guys going. There\'s too much talent and speed on this offense for them not to be effective.




[Edited on 23/8/2004 by GumboBC]

JKool

I think our fears regarding the offense are a bit overblown - and I think it is probably a result of our higher expectations for them.

I think the problems we\'ve seen so far on O are related to the following:
(1) Injuries on the OL - as Billy rightly pointed out, losing your starting OTs will hurt you.
(2) Lack of focus from the WR group. Catching the ball is a skill that can be easily improved with practice - they need some practice AND someone needs to yell at them a bit to keep their eyes on the ball (and not on the big play), especially for guys whose jobs are not on the line!
(3) I don\'t agree with Billy regarding McCarthy. In fact, I think his relatively vanilla play calling is one of the reason that our offense has struggled. I\'m telling you, I only was able to see 4 games last year, and I could pick out the off guard left every time (I know I\'ve said that before, but I know the rest of you know that 80% of McCarthy\'s plays are telegraphed and have a mega-phone attachment for those opposing players who are slow or hard of hearing).

Either way, it is possible that the offense will be the main problem next year, but I think that this defense still has a ways to go (not to say that there hasn\'t been significant improvement). It\'ll be fun to see what the D can do when they start letting the dawgs out!

"... I was beating them with my eyes the whole game..." - Aaron Brooks

JKool

PS - Good post BigBull.