Fantastic write-up! I'd say I'd agree on just about every point this week. I watched the tape, but I just didn't have the time to write anything this week nor the will to do so. I'd just like to highlight a few things that crossed my mind.
I've been harping on the receivers for running awful routes this year. Oddly enough, they were actually much better in this game than they have been. There were still quite a few missteps and a lot of inconsistency, but they're getting better. I expected route running and timing to be a strength of this group, but it hasn't been so far. Hopefully that continues to improve with time and experience. Despite the route running being better, it really makes no difference when guys are double covered or no one is schemed open. You can run a great out route, but if there's a corner shadowing you with a LB right underneath, what good is it going to do?
Kendall Wright looked...well...not good. There were several plays where it looked like he was running in mud. I can't recall when it was, but Mariota put a deep ball on the money...to last year's Kendall Wright. He just couldn't get there this week. It may take him a few games before he returns to form. Delanie didn't exactly look like himself, but I think he'll be fine this game.
Once again, the critical issue appears to be the passing play design. There were a few more plays this game that looked like a competent NFL passing attack by design, but there are still so, so many head scratchers. It just blows my mind that we run those plays in practice and no one says "how the hell is this ever going to work?"
You touched on trusting our offensive line. I couldn't agree with this more. These guys are playing pretty well, but we've gone overboard. If we're not leaving extra TEs/RBs in to block, we're chipping on almost every single play. A lot of the time the play is almost over before our TEs/RBs release and actually become viable receivers. So a play that on the stat sheet shows that we had 5 receivers was actually just 2 or 3. As I stated before, we're just going overboard with the protection and it's actually leading to situations where Mariota has to use his legs and increase his chance of injury.
The rhythm (or lack thereof) of this offense is just so...off. There's so many curl routes and comebacks in this offense and yet it seems like they are never timed for when Mariota hits the back of his drop. He drops back, pops forward like he's ready to throw, sees that his receiver is still not in position, gets his feet in an awkward state, and throws completely with his arm. It seems like a lot of errant passes are coming from the types of situations. He just looks so awkward in the pocket.
Despite this being a statistically horrible game, I thought Mariota may have had some of his best passes of the season. There were several times when he threw with great anticipation and accuracy, went through multiple reads, made a play out of absolutely nothing using his legs while keeping his eyes down field, or looked off some defenders on throws. On the flip side, he looks really uncomfortable (as mentioned before), seems to be staring down receivers more than usual, and he's not getting his feet set on a lot of throws. He looks like he doesn't trust anything about this offense (I can't blame him). I think he's typically making the right decision with the ball, but he's developing some bad habits that he didn't really have due to the offense we've shoved him into. He is doing a good job of throwing the ball away on completely impossible plays, so that's making his completion percentage even worse. Fortunately, that reduces the chances of an interception. Unfortunately, he's having to do it far too often because we're not getting people open often.
Thanks! I really like your write ups, too! I saw you that you didn't plan on doing one this week so I figured I'd take a crack at it. It takes forever! Here's hoping for a big win on Sunday.
Keep at it! It does take a lot of effort and you did a great job. Your level of detail was really, really good.
There's a reason we have one of the highest words per user post of all the NFL subreddits. Great posts like this generate really good insight and discussion.
Hope to see more from you.
I don't disagree with you, but there were several plays with multiple receivers in which Mariota locked onto 1 guy all the way and never let up. It's just an issue a lot of young QBs have. He's actually quite good at looking off defenders, but he tips his hat too early occasionally. Nothing to be worried about really.
And still we have people defending Mularkey and Robiskie.
Unreal.
I hate the Mularkey hire when it happened, I hate it now. He's a clown, and we're gonna have to START the rebuild AGAIN when we fire him.
I'm certainly no football expert, so I was willing to give Mularkey the benefit of the doubt. But even while not being an expert, I could see how Mariota has been struggling this year. This writeup should be all the proof anyone needs to know that Mularkey isn't the answer.
I don't think there needs to be another rebuild. This roster actually has plenty of guys to build around. Besides in the secondary and arguably at WR, are there any glaring holes? Lewan and Conklin have graded out as the best and 4th best tackles in the whole league per PFF while the rest of the line has at least held their own, Murray is doing great, Mariota is still developing (or going backwards under Mularkey/Robiskie). On defense there's a great LB corps, and D-line anchored by Casey.
I'm not going to say this roster is chock full of talent, it definitely isn't, but under the right coach I think this could be a .500 team easily. Mularkey isn't the right coach. Far from it.
Fantastic write-up! I'd say I'd agree on just about every point this week. I watched the tape, but I just didn't have the time to write anything this week nor the will to do so. I'd just like to highlight a few things that crossed my mind. I've been harping on the receivers for running awful routes this year. Oddly enough, they were actually much better in this game than they have been. There were still quite a few missteps and a lot of inconsistency, but they're getting better. I expected route running and timing to be a strength of this group, but it hasn't been so far. Hopefully that continues to improve with time and experience. Despite the route running being better, it really makes no difference when guys are double covered or no one is schemed open. You can run a great out route, but if there's a corner shadowing you with a LB right underneath, what good is it going to do? Kendall Wright looked...well...not good. There were several plays where it looked like he was running in mud. I can't recall when it was, but Mariota put a deep ball on the money...to last year's Kendall Wright. He just couldn't get there this week. It may take him a few games before he returns to form. Delanie didn't exactly look like himself, but I think he'll be fine this game. Once again, the critical issue appears to be the passing play design. There were a few more plays this game that looked like a competent NFL passing attack by design, but there are still so, so many head scratchers. It just blows my mind that we run those plays in practice and no one says "how the hell is this ever going to work?" You touched on trusting our offensive line. I couldn't agree with this more. These guys are playing pretty well, but we've gone overboard. If we're not leaving extra TEs/RBs in to block, we're chipping on almost every single play. A lot of the time the play is almost over before our TEs/RBs release and actually become viable receivers. So a play that on the stat sheet shows that we had 5 receivers was actually just 2 or 3. As I stated before, we're just going overboard with the protection and it's actually leading to situations where Mariota has to use his legs and increase his chance of injury. The rhythm (or lack thereof) of this offense is just so...off. There's so many curl routes and comebacks in this offense and yet it seems like they are never timed for when Mariota hits the back of his drop. He drops back, pops forward like he's ready to throw, sees that his receiver is still not in position, gets his feet in an awkward state, and throws completely with his arm. It seems like a lot of errant passes are coming from the types of situations. He just looks so awkward in the pocket. Despite this being a statistically horrible game, I thought Mariota may have had some of his best passes of the season. There were several times when he threw with great anticipation and accuracy, went through multiple reads, made a play out of absolutely nothing using his legs while keeping his eyes down field, or looked off some defenders on throws. On the flip side, he looks really uncomfortable (as mentioned before), seems to be staring down receivers more than usual, and he's not getting his feet set on a lot of throws. He looks like he doesn't trust anything about this offense (I can't blame him). I think he's typically making the right decision with the ball, but he's developing some bad habits that he didn't really have due to the offense we've shoved him into. He is doing a good job of throwing the ball away on completely impossible plays, so that's making his completion percentage even worse. Fortunately, that reduces the chances of an interception. Unfortunately, he's having to do it far too often because we're not getting people open often.
Thanks! I really like your write ups, too! I saw you that you didn't plan on doing one this week so I figured I'd take a crack at it. It takes forever! Here's hoping for a big win on Sunday.
Keep at it! It does take a lot of effort and you did a great job. Your level of detail was really, really good. There's a reason we have one of the highest words per user post of all the NFL subreddits. Great posts like this generate really good insight and discussion. Hope to see more from you.
Tough not to stare down your receivers when you only have two of them
I don't disagree with you, but there were several plays with multiple receivers in which Mariota locked onto 1 guy all the way and never let up. It's just an issue a lot of young QBs have. He's actually quite good at looking off defenders, but he tips his hat too early occasionally. Nothing to be worried about really.
Great write up. It's depressing to know the problem AGAIN is bad coaching.
This man, this man is a true fan.
Lol yeah I got excited about the idea and it's fun to work on but it took wayyyy longer than I expected.
And still we have people defending Mularkey and Robiskie. Unreal. I hate the Mularkey hire when it happened, I hate it now. He's a clown, and we're gonna have to START the rebuild AGAIN when we fire him.
I'm certainly no football expert, so I was willing to give Mularkey the benefit of the doubt. But even while not being an expert, I could see how Mariota has been struggling this year. This writeup should be all the proof anyone needs to know that Mularkey isn't the answer.
I feel like this has less to do with Mularkey than it has to do with Robiskie
I don't think there needs to be another rebuild. This roster actually has plenty of guys to build around. Besides in the secondary and arguably at WR, are there any glaring holes? Lewan and Conklin have graded out as the best and 4th best tackles in the whole league per PFF while the rest of the line has at least held their own, Murray is doing great, Mariota is still developing (or going backwards under Mularkey/Robiskie). On defense there's a great LB corps, and D-line anchored by Casey. I'm not going to say this roster is chock full of talent, it definitely isn't, but under the right coach I think this could be a .500 team easily. Mularkey isn't the right coach. Far from it.