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-I'm concerned about our running game with Marshall Faulk in the backfield. I'd feel much better about the offense with Jackson in the backfield, if only because he seems to be able to pick up some yards. Marshall looks hesitant and seems to have lost any explosiveness he may have had. At least with Jackson he'll hit a hole and shed the initial tackle, plus some of his cutbacks looked great. He's really impressed me thus far in the preseason.
-Overall, I think Marc Bulger looked good tonight. On the first drive, I thought he did well. The second drive, well, he missed three receivers completely. Not impressive. The third drive was magic, IMO. He missed Curtis on what looked like a miscommunication, but was rock solid from there. Bulger's gotta have more accuracy on those open passes. There's no excuse for not being able to hit a wide open Holt for a gain of 20+. But I think looking at the entire game, he looked good tonight.
-Chandler's deep pass to Holt on the post... I think I shed a tear. It was like God was singing. It seems obvious that Chandler's more comfortable and accurate than Bulger is right now. Both have had their miscues, but Chandler has looked more accurate and more decisive. I have to wonder what role (1) his veteran experience and (2) the defenses he's going against play in this, though. I wasn't impressed by the deep pass that was intercepted. Way too much air under the ball, I thought. But that floater to McDonald in stride for the touchdown was a thing of beauty.
-Speaking of McDonald, he and Curtis are really coming into their own this preseason. I'm very excited about what the two of these guys will be able to do for the offense. Both of them look pretty speedy with great sets of hands.
-The blocking was much better this evening. Looked like the blitzes were being picked up well (I remember Goodspeed picking up a great inside rush), but I think the dreams of having Tercero at right tackle need to end NOW. The only memories I have about him for the game was whiffing on a rush that got Bulger sacked on the first drive, and a false start penalty. Move him back into the interior, I say, because he didn't look good as a tackle at all in my opinion. Furthermore, it wasn't that great to see Nutten leave the game with an injury. This was a concern when he decided to retire from the Jets, right? Not a good sign to see it so shortly after his coming back on the field.
-Defensively, I loved what we did with our first unit. Bryce Fisher was ALL OVER THE FIELD, or so it seemed. Pisa Tinoisamoa looks like a leader on defense. He had a couple of nice tackles and a great hit early in the game. Robert Thomas had a nice play where he penetrated into the backfield and tackled Portis for a loss. I thought our run defense was improved by 200%, but I'm not convinced whether we played better pass defense or Ramsey just struggled out there. He's been unimpressive this year so I can't really credit the pass defense too much. I think the roughing the passer penalty on Lewis was [email protected]#%, as was the overruled challenge on the Bulger/Holt third down pass.
-I'm not any more secure about Kevin Garrett after tonight. I didn't pay as close attention as I should have, but he didn't seem to be as efficient as a defender as he was against KC. He got flat-out beat on that one pass where he forced the fumble, and I don't think he would have caught the receiver had Aeneas not been flanking the guy and forced him to slow down a bit. I guess it's good Garrett is getting this experience now, because he'll need it when the season starts.
-Would it be at all possible for the Rams to get some good field position on a kickoff? Our kickoff coverage looked much improved, but I think we really need to get some better field position to start drives. It doesn't help the offense when they're starting half their drives inside their own 25.
I think that about covers it. I probably missed some stuff, but that's all I could remember when writing this. As always, opinions are welcome and appreciated.
-Overall, I think Marc Bulger looked good tonight. On the first drive, I thought he did well. The second drive, well, he missed three receivers completely. Not impressive. The third drive was magic, IMO. He missed Curtis on what looked like a miscommunication, but was rock solid from there. Bulger's gotta have more accuracy on those open passes. There's no excuse for not being able to hit a wide open Holt for a gain of 20+. But I think looking at the entire game, he looked good tonight.
-Chandler's deep pass to Holt on the post... I think I shed a tear. It was like God was singing. It seems obvious that Chandler's more comfortable and accurate than Bulger is right now. Both have had their miscues, but Chandler has looked more accurate and more decisive. I have to wonder what role (1) his veteran experience and (2) the defenses he's going against play in this, though. I wasn't impressed by the deep pass that was intercepted. Way too much air under the ball, I thought. But that floater to McDonald in stride for the touchdown was a thing of beauty.
-Speaking of McDonald, he and Curtis are really coming into their own this preseason. I'm very excited about what the two of these guys will be able to do for the offense. Both of them look pretty speedy with great sets of hands.
-The blocking was much better this evening. Looked like the blitzes were being picked up well (I remember Goodspeed picking up a great inside rush), but I think the dreams of having Tercero at right tackle need to end NOW. The only memories I have about him for the game was whiffing on a rush that got Bulger sacked on the first drive, and a false start penalty. Move him back into the interior, I say, because he didn't look good as a tackle at all in my opinion. Furthermore, it wasn't that great to see Nutten leave the game with an injury. This was a concern when he decided to retire from the Jets, right? Not a good sign to see it so shortly after his coming back on the field.
-Defensively, I loved what we did with our first unit. Bryce Fisher was ALL OVER THE FIELD, or so it seemed. Pisa Tinoisamoa looks like a leader on defense. He had a couple of nice tackles and a great hit early in the game. Robert Thomas had a nice play where he penetrated into the backfield and tackled Portis for a loss. I thought our run defense was improved by 200%, but I'm not convinced whether we played better pass defense or Ramsey just struggled out there. He's been unimpressive this year so I can't really credit the pass defense too much. I think the roughing the passer penalty on Lewis was [email protected]#%, as was the overruled challenge on the Bulger/Holt third down pass.
-I'm not any more secure about Kevin Garrett after tonight. I didn't pay as close attention as I should have, but he didn't seem to be as efficient as a defender as he was against KC. He got flat-out beat on that one pass where he forced the fumble, and I don't think he would have caught the receiver had Aeneas not been flanking the guy and forced him to slow down a bit. I guess it's good Garrett is getting this experience now, because he'll need it when the season starts.
-Would it be at all possible for the Rams to get some good field position on a kickoff? Our kickoff coverage looked much improved, but I think we really need to get some better field position to start drives. It doesn't help the offense when they're starting half their drives inside their own 25.
I think that about covers it. I probably missed some stuff, but that's all I could remember when writing this. As always, opinions are welcome and appreciated.
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