Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick
Interesting and well-written article. But let me ask you, did the system suddenly just disappear into thin air?
Because last season, Marc Bulger threw for a career high 4,301 yards and 24 TDs with a QB rating of 92.9. Steven Jackson broke out into a star by leading the league and ranking fifth all time in all-purpose yards. Both Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark.
I simply have a hard time believing they did all this without a capable system or in spite of a poor one. It would seem to me that we were able to achieve quite a bit of offensive efficiency in Linehan's system last year when we weren't ravaged by all of these injuries. Now we're practically fielding a new offensive line every week with skill position players in and out of the line-up, and the system is failing. Is that really all that surprising?
I would agree that, should Linehan come back next year and he can't make his plan work with a healthier team, then that's going to be a big, big problem. But the results of last season lead me to believe that there is something here that can work when we have the players to execute it. |
This would represent my position on the issues at hand. Well written article AV, but I can't identify with its premise.
The weight of statisitical evidence, more than anything else, would point to a system that toward the end of last season was really starting to click. As Nick attests, Bulger enjoyed his best season and Jackson profited to such an extent that he took his place in the pro-bowl by right and had started to talk of topping 2500 all -purpose yardage. Turnovers were low, red-zone efficiency was high (8th in the league), Torry topped a 1000 yards, Klopf had shown progress, and our young linemen had looked like they were gelling into a fiery young unit.
If we place that season in the context of Linehan's previous offensive units which were famed for their productivity, then I feel that there is a track record of achievment which points to a system.
On that basis, a rash of injuries and Linehans current struggles cannot be entirely unrelated.