Bennett--why force it?

[RamWraith]

Any buddy else think Bulger is trying to force the ball to Bennett, especially in short yardage and Red Zone. I have been noticing this during the preseason and now this game. Even when it clearly looks like he is not open...it looks like we are forcing the ball.

[bruce4life]

i know jackson was wide open in the flat on that 3rd and 5 in the 2nd quarter

[laram0]

Any buddy else think Bulger is trying to force the ball to Bennett, especially in short yardage and Red Zone. I have been noticing this during the preseason and now this game. Even when it clearly looks like he is not open...it looks like we are forcing the ball.

Bennett was brought here to haul in those types of balls.

[renrawtruk]

This is on my list of things this coaching staff has not grasped yet...When and how to use the talent we have on this team.

There are 2 players on this team that are better fit for running 3rd and 5 plays to get separation....

Dane Looker and Marcus Hagans.

Looker is a possesion guy who can get open on 3rd down and more importantly does not drop the ball. Why were we using Dante Hall in the season opener instead of Looker?

And Hagans should be the one running the end arounds and the wide receiver screens....not Bennett, or the 35 year old Bruce.

Man the play calling with all the fake end arounds and then a real end around (in the red zone?) was killing me. For a brief period in the middle of the game it looked like our old Rams with the deep crossing routes, but this was sandwiched in between Olsens great scheme of "I know, if we run the fake end around early, we can use it for real later on" (please insert snoring sound here). Pathetic.

[r8rh8rmike]

Any buddy else think Bulger is trying to force the ball to Bennett, especially in short yardage and Red Zone. I have been noticing this during the preseason and now this game. Even when it clearly looks like he is not open...it looks like we are forcing the ball.

Yep, I noticed the same thing yesterday. More than a few risky throws to Bennett. I've got to believe these two will develop a better chemistry in the next few weeks, then the opposition better look out.

[TekeRam]

Bennett was indeed brought in to be that exact thing though, a tall possession type who can be used on 3rd and in the red zone. The problem is that he does seem to be focused too much on him.

[rams 24/7]

Does drew bennett even have a catch for the year yet!, for that 30$ million he better.

[r8rh8rmike]

Does drew bennett even have a catch for the year yet!, for that 30$ million he better.

After his first game on Sunday against the whiners, he's got 3 catches for 42 yards and a 14 yard average as the number 3 receiver. Make no mistake about it, Drew Bennett is going to pay dividends.

[Goldenfleece]

I hadn't really noticed, but I only recall two redzone possessions where we didn't score: the Holt fumble and the possession that resulted in a field goal.

Re:

And Hagans should be the one running the end arounds and the wide receiver screens....not Bennett, or the 35 year old Bruce.

I think the problem there is that we have only so many gameday actives. When Holt, Bruce, Bennett, Hall, and Looker are all healthy, Hagans may not even dress for the game. For example, he was on the inactive list for the ***** game.

[HUbison]

Any buddy else think Bulger is trying to force the ball to Bennett, especially in short yardage and Red Zone. I have been noticing this during the preseason and now this game. Even when it clearly looks like he is not open...it looks like we are forcing the ball.

My guess is that Bennett is option 1 in those situations. And as Bulger himself said, he didn't have time to look for options 2 and 3 on most downs, so option 1 was forced. So to answer the question.......yes, Bulger is forcing the ball to Bennett on short yardage and red zone passing downs.

A porous line changes everything.

[sprtsmac]

A porous line changes everything.

This is probably the best comment of them all. The O-line is often overlooked but is really the differenence between being Super Bowl champs and having the 1st pick in the draft. This was more than evident during Sunday's game. We can have all the playmakers in the world on offense, but if the line doesn't hold up then those playmakers are not going to be making plays.