jnormand

Gotta agree with you Oldies. Brooks needs to work on his pocket presence. He needs to start stepping up INTO the pocket. That's why it's called a pocket...because the tackles can actually push the D lineman around to the side of the pocket.....creating an actual "pocket".

That said, I still think AB should be our starter this year. If he fails, then put someone in that can do the job.

TallySaint

Won't see the game replay until this afternoon.


8)

FrenzyFan

I would quote DJ's entire post and agree with almost all of it. I think the run blocking was a bit below average. I thought the pass-blocking was also a bit below average. The assessment of Brooks and Bouman is DEAD ON. I'll add a few things, from what I saw.

Brooks is LESS comfortable than I've ever seen him. He gave up on plays, regardless of the pressure, far sooner than he had to. He locked onto Horn and if he was covered (usually doubled) then Brooks would give up. He also does EXACTLY what DJ talked about with the "eight-step" drops. He drops back so frapping far that linemen who are taught to build a pocket wind up blocking their man RIGHT AT BROOKS. You can see how shocked the linemen are when they realize what's happened. It's been too many friggin years for Brooks to be still doing this. I don't care if Scruffy Smith comes in to QB for us and we lose every game this year. Brooks' time is over.

Bouman is a HACK. I could write pages about the stupidity of his decisions. I could go on and on about his poor pocket presence. Bouman=loser.

Finally, let me say that Deuce fumbled the ball. He fumbled. He put the ball on the ground. That ought to make all those people who try to deflect from Brooks' crappy performance by drawing attention to a mistake someone else made. The difference, in my opinion, is that I saw Deuce's fumble. The fact that he was stood up by three defenders while a DE who outweighs him by 50 pounds ripped and tore at the ball for a good two seconds to get it out of his hands tells me all I need to know about that play. Anyone who wants to use the Deuce fumble to justify the Brooks sideshow, feel free.

TallySaint

8)

SaintFanInATLHELL

That's the phrase my brother and I were using at the game: "It's all Brooks fault."

SFIAH

GoldenTomb

Oh i see....so the retort to people criticizing AB would be for his worshippers to totally absolve him from his performance. OK....carry on....

How he "looked" whether you saw it in person or watched in on rebroadcast is irrelavent. Results are all that matter. 3/7 for 15 yards is what it is.....not good. I'm not saying yank him, but i don't see why anyone is trying to make it seem like he had an ok outing.

It seems like he is still struggling with anything that isn't a slant, hook or curl route. And he doesn't seem confident in the pocket. Honestly what i expected to see was an improved AB. This seems like the same guy who hasn't learned a thing. Can we win with this guy....yes if everything goes right. But things in the NFL rarely do.

I think people are just saying he seems like the same ol AB....and we know the things THAT guy has done in the past. Who wants to hang around for that?

TallySaint

I always try to look at Brooks objectively. And I usually don't get into the "pissing contests" over him. I would like to politely point out there are no stats (results, if you will) for dropped balls. And I did see a few. How he looks is relevant, to me anyway. Thanks.

Hopefully Brooks will do well this year.

8)

GoldenTomb

Well on that same token would u concede that any incompletion that doesn't end in a dropped pass is AB's fault? That's what you'll get if you start dissecting all of a QB's incompletions. Im not about all of that nitpicking. As far as starters go, i'm really not a benefit-of-the-doubt kind of guy. I just want the guy to get it done, not give excuses why he fell short. The offense looked shaky, and he's supposed to be the leader of the offense, simple as that. He's ultimately going to be held responsible no matter what the outcome, so he needs to put in the extra work to improve his game.

TallySaint

No. You've probably been familiar with football long enough to know there are any number of variables - Poor routes, throwing the ball away, etc, etc. I think Brooks played a good game. I was responding above to your reliance on the statistical game, and only stats/results, on whether a qb had a good game. I also think Bouman had a decent game, overall.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Have a good evening, sir.

8)

GoldenTomb

See that's just it.....who ever said AB was fine???? Not ESPN. Not the re-broadcast team. I heard Hebert say that he wasn't the reason for the O's ineffectiveness, but how does that translate into fine??? It was a cumulative effort by the offense. But since AB is the leader, as most QBs are, he'll bear more of the responsibilty than any other one person. That's just the nature off the beast.