burningmetal |
09-12-2017 11:54 PM |
Re: Offensive line
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danno
(Post 763813)
Armstead (pro-bowler) - Out
Strief - (pro-bowler) Injured during game
Unger - (pro-bowler) only 2 weeks back from injury
Is anyone really shocked that our O-line struggled?
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Two weeks back from injury is two weeks back from injury. If he's cleared to play, I expect he should play well enough. Nobody is asking him to sprint down the field; he's an offensive lineman. Ya know, when Unger's injury was first reported, some people were freaking out about he and Armstead being out for extended periods of time and I seem to remember you telling them to chill out because you read that Unger would be back in time for week one... Or something like that. And I think a couple of other people echoed your sentiments.
But now, we are using his injury as an excuse, when 4 months ago, or whatever, everyone was told not to worry about him? Personally, I couldn't tell if he was playing well or not (I was usually looking at the rookie to see how he would hold up), but I would expect he's healthy enough by now.
As for Strief, let's please stop using the pro bowl logic. So many players reject the pro bowl, with various excuses as to why they "can't go", that every year we have guys go who have no business being there. Strief is ok enough for what he is, and relative to expectations anyone had when he was drafted. But he's no more of a pro bowler than Jermon Bushrod was, that one year. The guy relied on chip blocks to help him out, and yet was selected to the pro bowl for some reason. He went on to Chicago, and I don't recall hearing from him in a long time.
Is Strief better than Kelemete playing right tackle? Absolutely. But the line wasn't exactly dominating before his injury.
Armstead being out was something we already knew was going to be a problem. But you gotta devise a plan to get around that, at least somewhat. That jail break screen pass to Ingram early in the game was a good call. Then they abandoned it. They ran those isolated swing passes to Kamara, where if everyone didn't already know what was coming, Drew gave it away with his three second stare downs of his receiver. That's the kind of predictability that grinds my gears. Stop staring at your primary target and forcing it in when it's not there.
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