10:09 PM Sun, Sep 14, 2008 | Permalink
Mike McDermott  Email
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By Michael Salfino
We lead off the week of analysis here by focusing our scouting eye on Sunday's action.
Rookie Matt Forte's Tulane run blocking scheme was zone just like the Bears, which is why, he says, he's picked up the NFL pace so quickly.
The Rams are again the worst team in football at blitz pickup. It's taking a toll on Marc Bulger, who on his first 10 drop-backs Sunday against the Giants was sacked four times and knocked down four more.
Saints second-year man Robert Meachem scored but had just that one catch, which came as a fourth WR courtesy of a terrible read by the safety. The Saints don't seem to trust him even with Marques Colston out. The trouble with guys like Meachem having an impact in preseason games is that coaches don't treat these games seriously. The important stuff happens on the practice fields and in classrooms.
Aaron Rodgers is not just a scrambler but showed Favre-like escapability while maintaining his downfield focus. His owners have to especially love Mike McCarthy spreading out the Lions and calling for a pass that resulted in a TD on third and short near the goal line.
Wednesday, Clinton Portis said he wished he "could go to a team for one week with the best offensive line, or the team with the best scheme, and switch places with their back and see how others would do in this system." Maybe Jim Zorn is a bigger man than me, but you can't accept that kind of insubordination as a head coach, especially a first-year one. Portis, despite his two TDs Sunday, is no longer good enough to warrant looking the other way.
Analyst Rich Gannon doing the Chiefs-Raiders game said Larry Johnson "needs to get his confidence level back to where it was in 2005." No, Rich, he needs his offensive line from 2005, and something like Trent Green (sparkling 7.9 YPA that year) at QB instead of Tyler Thigpen.
Just when I thought that maybe practice is what made Peyton Manning perfect and that his receivers, especially Marvin Harrison, can't get separation, he flips a switch and coldly assassinates the Vikings. Harrison looked shot the whole game, though.
David Garrard is undermanned on offense now but made a terrible decision robbing his Jaguars of a certain three points by throwing it up into double coverage and getting picked in the final seconds of the first half.
The NFL is making a classic economics mistake with this new rule that all facemasks are 15-yard penalties. In the past, you had an incentive to let go when you accidentally grabbed so as to limit the foul to five yards. Now, why not just hold on and rip the guy's head off, like the Bills nearly did to Maurice Jones-Drew? It's 15 yards either way.
Tarvaris Jackson can't come close to moving the chains and costs Adrian Peterson 30 percent of his potential value, at least, with his putrid third-down passing.
Darren McFadden (21 rushes for 164 yards and a score) is similarly cursed, at least for 2008, at QB. His day didn't really begin until Justin Fargas (groin) limped off, and it ended on the sidelines watching Michael Bush (16 attempts for 90 yards and a long TD).
McFadden's QB, JaMarcus Russell, needs to learn that, in the NFL, "when you wait, you're late." And his end-over-end dying quail into the end zone while rolling out of the pocket is more proof that he can't throw on the move.
Miami's Ted Ginn (1 catch, 9 yards) has play-making speed but is being knocked five yards off his routes on jams, which completely takes him out of passing plays called for him. If he can't play more physically, he has no chance to have an impact from scrimmage.
Take a running back's longest gain and subtract that from their totals and see how many yards they averaged then. If it's under 3.0, there's hidden trouble. The trouble's not even hidden with Edgerrin James, too old with too much mileage and not getting goal-line carries. But this week, subtracting his longest carry, James gained 42 yards on 17 rushes (2.47 per attempt).
Kurt Warner's explosive passing (361 yards on only 24 attempts) didn't help James. But note that there's no statistical evidence that passing well helps you run better, and vice versa. For example, in the vast majority of years, the best running teams (yards per carry) throw it about average (yards per attempt). Defenses seem to react to the play, not think about what's transpired before it.
Brandon Marshall (18 catches for 166 yards and a TD) is officially a Freak WR. That means he's got size, speed, wingspan, leaping ability - too much athleticism to ever truly be covered. The club has few members: Calvin Johnson, Roy Williams, Plaxico Burress, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Braylon Edwards and Larry Fitzgerald. Buffalo rookie James Hardy has the makings of a Future Freak.
Monday night in Dallas, notice how Jason Witten is Tony Romo's default read whenever he feels pressure.
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