Have we discussed???

Last year, we lost too many games, and this is something we all know. Since I've joined this site (not that long ago) I have learned and heard just about every reason we didn't pull out more wins last year. One thing I haven't seen discussed is how we couldn't hold on to a lead in the second half, or score/hold the oppenents on key drives. Our discussions have been about free agents, trades, and the draft. I'm pretty concerned about this and I wish I had the figures to back up my thread, but I'm not any good at getting stats together.

Do you think we have addressed these problems? I don't think this is something we can fix just through the draft and free angency alone.

Fixing our team is not oing to be enough. Going down the stretch, we blew a lot of really close games, and we continued to because we more-likely-than-not, lost them. The only two games we hung on in the clutch were HOME aginst our biggest rival, and vs Jacksonville in Week 4, with our only win, close v.s. Houston. We just assumed that we were going to lose. Team chemistry is increibly important, and we need to build confidence. We will be able to becaus of our early season schedule.

The one hing the skins have to stop doing in close games is giving up stupid penalties. They cost us tons. We were the NFL's most penalized team.

I think its because teams made better half time adjustments than we did in the games that we dominated in the first half. I blame that on the coordinators. Or should I say Assistant Head Coaches Offense/Defense.

Can we all agree on this point:

No matter what the playcall is, or how conservative it is, we should be able to execute it for a first down a reasonable amount of times...and we certainly didn't execute this year.

Can we all agree on this point:

No matter what the playcall is, or how conservative it is, we should be able to execute it for a first down a reasonable amount of times...and we certainly didn't execute this year.

While a well oiled machine will execute the majority of the time, our team just isn't there yet. So in essence there are more issues than originally stated. To sum it up I concur.

While a well oiled machine will execute the majority of the time, our team just isn't there yet. So in essence there are more issues than originally stated. To sum it up I concur.Yeah, we pretty much need to bring our personel to the next level to be a playoff contender.

Yeah, we pretty much need to bring our personel to the next level to be a playoff contender.

After watching offenses such as SD and INDY, and then looking at ours, we were lathargic.

After watching offenses such as SD and INDY, and then looking at ours, we were lathargic.Offensively we do a lot of stuff well. We have great YAC receivers and a wonderful QB situation. We have a two headed monster at RB, possibly the leagues' top TE, and an offensive line that is one of the better lines in the league. We just have flaws in the little points of offense that make scoring in the redzone and sustaining drives difficult. We were horrible on 3rd/4th and short last year and at running the ball in the red zone as there are numerous examples. Those things are really critical to being a successful offense, and are not easily fixed.

A talented blocking TE would be a good start though.

Offensively we do a lot of stuff well. We have great YAC receivers and a wonderful QB situation. We have a two headed monster at RB, possibly the leagues' top TE, and an offensive line that is one of the better lines in the league. We just have flaws in the little points of offense that make scoring in the redzone and sustaining drives difficult. We were horrible on 3rd/4th and short last year and at running the ball in the red zone as there are numerous examples. Those things are really critical to being a successful offense, and are not easily fixed.

A talented blocking TE would be a good start though.

I dont know about that. Fauria was supposed to be a good blocking TE. I do not know yet how much he really helped.

I dont know about that. Fauria was supposed to be a good blocking TE. I do not know yet how much he really helped.Well, he certainly failed the eyeball test.

Fauria is and was not ever a good blocker. It shouldn't be shocking to us that he sucked at blocking. He was a short range goalline target in his heyday, and that never changed.

I didn't like the signing when we made it, and I'm glad he's gone.