10 Questions Reasonably Related to Today’s Game
Oct 28, 2007 2007 Season, 2008 Draft, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Injury bug, Nigerian Mafia, Posts that list too many players
1. Whose bright idea was it to assign Petey Faggins to cover Antonio Gates (on the play where it looked like no one was even in Gates’ area code)? Because, call me crazy, but putting the worst starting defensive back in football on the prototype for mutant TE/WR hybrids is likely not going to yield good results.
2. I know it’s only one game, but is there any way Adimchinobe Echemandu isn’t starting next week? I mean, in a rational universe.
3. I didn’t get to see it, so could someone tell me how Mario Williams‘ sack looked? (Did he beat someone off the end or was it a busted play or what?)
4. Speaking of Adimchinobe Echemandu, which is as fun to type as it is to say, can I drive the bandwagon?
5. So, given the utter lack of blitzes (again) and the subsequent lack of pressure, combined with the “play” of Petey Faggins, would it really be a bad move to fire Richard Smith in the middle of the season? Couldn’t we just have a “be D-coordinator for a day” radio contest or something?
6. I ask the following with only the slightest touch of sarcasm. Can someone please name two or three good moves Gary Kubiak has made with regard to players playing (or not playing) based on health, score, etc? Because I can quickly tick off some bad ones (Andre Johnson getting hurt, Jacoby Jones starting last week, Petey Faggins continued role on the team, starting Matt Schaub today, keeping Sam Gado around far too long), but the only good one I am coming up with is sticking with Kevin Walter. Maybe Adimchinobe Echimandu becomes a great move–god, I hope–but that’s not exactly an overwhelming list. (I don’t give him credit for going to Ephraim Salaam over Jordan Black because choosing Black would have been like choosing herpes over the common cold.)
7. Who exactly did we piss off to deserve the amount of injuries we’ve sustained this year? Whoever it was, I am pretty sure he or she is related to Antonio Cromartie.
9. I have a draft related post that I am working on, but should I consider this season a dismal failure if I am already talking ‘08 Draft before Halloween? Or can I just pretend that I am so eaten up with football minutiae that this type of thing is not reflective of our 3-5 record?
10. Reader Interaction Time!!!! What are the three biggest necessities for the offseason as you see them? Bonus questions: What expletive did you yell when Petey failed to wrap up his tackle, gifting the Chargers a TD? Would our defense actually improve if Faggins were just placed on IR?
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October 28th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Three things that we need:
1) A quality center. I know it probably sounds crazy, but look at the difference in the running game with McKinney in, and with him out. Even if he can play at his previous level next year, I don’t think he’ll be able to play at that level for long. That’s why we need to jettison Flanagan, and get a good, young center.
2) Left Tackle. If we get the center position taken care of, we’ll be able to run the ball, so if we get the left tackle position taken care of, we’ll (theoretically) have time to throw the ball as well, leading to a complete offense. This will keep pressure off of the defense, which is a very good thing.
3)CB2. If we could move Dunta to CB2, because we had someone better to play CB1, that would be awesome. Otherwise, I’d settle for Nnamdi Asomugha, or the equivalent. This would really help out with the coordinator that we have now, and if we replaced him with someone who knew how to use the 4-3 defense(can I nominate MDC?) we’d have the makings of a really good defense.
Bonus Question #1 - I didn’t even realize that Faggins was on the field, although that would explain why Gates was so wide open.
Bonus Question #2 - Yes. Very much so. I think part of the problem with Petey, is that the other defenders think they can expect a certain level of play out of him. This expected level is way over his head, but they still expect him to be able to play at this level (this level is competence). If Bennett were starting, there wouldn’t be any of these expectations, so the other 10 guys would be waiting for him to screw up, which means that they would be anticipating the mistakes, and might be in a position to catch them. With Faggins, they seem to honestly think he won’t screw up as much as he does, which is why you get Von Hutchins on the complete side of the field as Gates runs up the middle for a touchdown grab.
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October 28th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Mario’s sack was sort of a coverage sack. Rivers held onto the ball too long, the pocket started to collapse, and Mario caught him just behind the line of scrimmage trying to scramble. If Mario hadn’t made the play, somebody else would have. He was just the first one there. I think we were down thirty-two points when it happened too, so it wasn’t exactly clutch.
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October 28th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Oh, also. I saw a play in the Steelers-Bengals game today where Pittsburgh scored a touchdown because Hines Ward was wide open. Upon further review, the Bengals only had ten men on the field. Of course, given Cinci’s shoddy defense, Hines would have been wide open anyways.
Still, it got me to thinking: what a great way to not get called for defensive holding or PI! At least you can hope for dropped passes without having to worry about the other team getting a hundred yards per game on penalties.
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October 29th, 2007 at 9:03 am
three big needs:
1. CB2 - or a CB1 if we find someone better then Dunta (unlikely).
2. safeties - to replace Petey after Kubes “experiments” by putting Petey in as a FS/SS.
3. whatever it takes to get a running game. Texans ran the ball great in weeks 1 and 2. Have not made it past the line of scrimmage since.
(bonus - 4. Give Matt Turk sliding lessons)
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October 29th, 2007 at 10:59 am
1. Mine. When I saw them lined up, I said, “y’know, Faggins is totally going to get burned on this play.” I just saw that Faggins was giving less of a cushion than Dunta, and that just seemed like a bad idea.
2. Well, I’m sure that Ahman Green’ll be back next week. So, there.
3. Mario bull rushed and took himself way behind the line of scrimmage way behind Rivers. Rivers couldn’t find who Faggins was covering and thus, did not throw the ball. Mario finally got loose from whoever was guarding him and was able to come up to Rivers from behind and gently took him down.
4. Can I drive?
5. I nominate Matt for D-Coordinator.
6. Jameel Cook, Feature Back? Seriously, Kubes has (1) benched Faggins from time to time, (2) stuck with Kevin Walter, (3) … um, this is hard.
7. Baby Jesus.
9. No, I always think of the draft all year, so I don’t think we can write off the season just yet.
10. Draft: a) OL, best available, b)safety, c) RB.
I’m surprised no one hasn’t Tonya Harding’d Faggins yet (almost said Lorena Bobbit’d); I’d be hard pressed to say that Jarmar Fletcher or Fred Bennet could do worse, so it would be addition by subtraction. as far as profanity, I believe I said, “mother bear.”
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October 29th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Waitwaitwait! Did you say “coverage sack?” Doesn’t that imply that we covered? I am confused. Are you sure Rivers didn’t play that snap blindfolded, just to up the difficulty?
Kurt…I think you are on to something with #7. Also, I don’t think we should write off the season entirely in the “quit trying” sense, but we need to be realistic and admit that there is zero chance of making the playoffs. At that point, you have to figure out what parts are going to be on the 2008 version, even if that means benching some higher paid players. I am looking at you, Mike Flanagan.
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October 29th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Oh, Andy. I don’t disagree that we need a center. It’s pretty clear that Flanagan isn’t the answer.
That said, a center would have to be gawd-awful to have that sort of negative impact on our running game. I am thinking that McKinney’s injury is only a part of the “where’s Waldo” we’re playing with the running game.
Also, I am trying to convince myself that Chris White or Kasey Studdard or Brandon Frye could become a center.
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October 29th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
” 4. Speaking of Adimchinobe Echemandu, which is as fun to type as it is to say, can I drive the bandwagon?”
I’m a sick puppy and I was watching the video of the game tonite. Doing an X and O thing. Echemandu’s first run is a work of art.
It’s only seven yards but I can’t believe what I’m looking at. The Texans offensive line pushed the Chargers line back at least 4 yards.
Echemandu helped Daniels position his block. Then streaked past him.
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October 30th, 2007 at 6:41 am
Draft needs:
1. CB2
2. FS
3. OL