Jags Game Thoughts
- Posted by Derek -
Wife's out of town, leaving me as solo dad for a couple days. Not much time here, so focusing on quick hits you (hopefully) won't get everywhere else:
Stacy Andrews is the real deal. I was a little disappointed to see him get such limited action -- fingers crossed that was the plan all along -- but when he was in there, he was really, really solid. We knew he was a big dude who could move people, but we learned tonight that he can also really run. He was pulling all over the place. Most encouraging thing I've seen this offseason.
I don't get the Nick Cole thing. He just doesn't look good to me. Missing blocks in the open field, not really dominating at the point of attack. With the news that Herremans is going to be out for a few weeks, this all gets very, very interesting. I wonder how quickly The Enigma could get prepped to play left guard.
I like the way McDermott's using Gocong. When Gabe and I finally met face-to-face for the first time ever last weekend -- that's right -- he pushed me on the idea that I wasn't worrying enough about the impact of the new defensive coordinator. That may be so, but I love the flexibility he's showing with Gocong. If you have a quick-twitch freak who's much better playing downhill, rather than reading and reacting, it's probably not a bad idea to get him right up into the action. McDermott did that tonight more than a few times, both inside and outside. If Gocong takes a big step forward this year, this could be why.
Joe Mays lost his job tonight. You can put up with some issues in coverage if the guy is dominating in the run game. Mays is not dominating in the run game.
Two rookies switching places. As Maclin gets more comfortable in the offense, he plays faster and faster. As being the focal point of every practice and getting all the extra reps takes its toll on McCoy, he's looking a step slower. Shouldn't be a problem once the real games begin. Just don't forget how fast he was a couple weeks ago when he was fresh.
A few thoughts on the red zone. 1) Ok, that sucked. 2) On the other hand, things should get somewhat better when Weaver comes back and they give up the crazy pass happy ways of the preseason (58 - 19 last night). 3) They're clearly not going to give away what they plan to do with Vick down there. 4) They really are going to miss Ingram. 5) I actually like the idea of the "extended handoff" they ran to McCoy, but that was some seriously crappy blocking. 6) Shouldn't we at least try splitting Jackson out by himself to one side where he can go inside or outside on a corner who frankly has zero chance to stay with him? Put trips up top, Jackson at the bottom, then build things off the slant. Generally, I'm a big believer in the theory of throwing to your best guy when you need a play.
Weirdness from the two early quarterbacks. McNabb looked much faster than we've seen in a few years, while Vick looked a little slow. But if teams are really going to mush-rush three against Vick and drop a guy into a spy position (like the Jags did) he will need to throw the ball. And since he should have all day to do so, that might not be a bad thing.
Jason Peters' only real problem is unrealistic expectations. Of course, if Reid hadn't called him the best left tackle in football, we might not have those unrealistic expectations.
There's a fine line between being fired up and preening. I'd respectfully suggest you should look a couple steps behind you, Asante. Or at least that's how it came across on television.
Admit it. This no longer looks quite as crazy as you first thought, does it?
Lastly, get ready for this week's manufactured controversy. Key line: "I know what we were trying to do [with Vick] and we were able to get that done." Not to mention McNabb put up McNabbian numbers as the Eagles offensively dominated this game. Don't worry, though, none of that will stop anybody. We shall have sports talk this weekend.

