Let's talk Zorn/offense

Stephon Heyer got owned a few times, (once for the sack on Campbell) but the run blocking was tight across the line.

i have to respectfully disagree with you here. Heyer's man tried to go inside on him and he stopped him so the DE then went outside (which is what a tackle wants, to push the guy outside or past the pocket). Jansen was the one who got burned and it was his man that forced campbell to step to his left outside the pocket where heyers guy was.

i watched it a bunch of times but i could be wrong.

1. Campbell having to learn so many different offenses and his familiarity with the WCO is paying off. I think that's why Collins is struggling, this is the first new offense he's had to learn in 10 years.

2. The tempo was great. Collins struggled when there was pressure as he is unable to evade pressure at all. Campbell looked like he knew where everybody was and quickly made decisions in the pocket, Collins didn't have that same feel.

3. Good run/pass mix, good control by Zorn, and the team looked like they were having fun. Great start, especially if Heyer and Wade only have sprains and not tears.

I'm just glad we arent running that stupid WR screen on every first down, like we have done for the past 2-3 years.

overall i liked the energy the team showed... the offense for the most part looked sharp.the rookies looked good also...

i have to respectfully disagree with you here. Heyer's man tried to go inside on him and he stopped him so the DE then went outside (which is what a tackle wants, to push the guy outside or past the pocket). Jansen was the one who got burned and it was his man that forced campbell to step to his left outside the pocket where heyers guy was.

i watched it a bunch of times but i could be wrong.

Doesn't Heyer play RT -- same as Jansen? I could have missed it, but I don't remember seeing them both on the field at the same time.

Anyways, I do remember Jansen getting beat (not sure if a sack resulted) on the inside. He got the guy to the outside, and then fell over when the DE moved back inside.

Heyer played some LT last night

I was definitely pleased with our performance overall. I want to make sure we keep things rather close to the vest though. I don't want us to show all or cards too early. Zorn seems like he has a lot of good ideas of how to use the talent on this team, but there's a fine balance between showing it all on day one of preseason (a la Spurrier) or waiting approximately 24 regular season games (a la Gibbs/Saunders).

That said, I don't have many complaints, if any. I thought Jansen looked a little off at times. To be expected though coming off a major injury for a minor game. I was a bit disappointed by Todd Collins. He looked a little lost out there. I've been convinced that he'd have no problem learning the WCO, but maybe it will take a bit more time than I thought.

At a team level, the thing that impressed me most was the crispness and the discipline. This was the first preseason game and we didn't have a penalty until the 2nd quarter. That says a lot to me, because one worry with a "players' coach" is that people will take a casual approach and not be focused. That was most certainly not the case. We played against one of the best coached teams in the league (and one of the classiest from top to bottom) and looked just as good, IMO, in terms of professionalism. That comes from the coach, and from the players being psyched to play for the coach. We'll see how it all plays out, but that was a good sign.

As for playcalling, it's early, no doubt, but I loved the pace and I loved the 2 TE stuff. Seems like for years teams have used that on us but we've never struck back. With Cooley and Davis we're going to gobble up some yards. And that frees up everything else. (Davis looked good, btw.) Hard to judge much else, given the circumstances.

Remember, folks: it's VERY early and we are going to have set backs, trials, missteps, etc. We've got to give this thing time to gel, and we may have something good. But be ready for ups and downs. That's the nature of the game.

PS Very psyched to see how Zorn continues to coach and teach the QBs all game long. I am very confident that he'll correct any problems with JC et al. And if you have good QB play you can go far.

PPS How many of you screamed in sheer joy at the TV when we hit that first TD? Man, it's good to have some productive skins offense!

It definately seemed a lot faster paced than the past years which I like. I think this will be a pretty exciting offensive year for us and this offense can be effective.

I just heard B. Mitch on John Thompson, and they pretty much agreed that this is a different team under Zorn; in terms of how they approach the preseason in general is what B.Mitch and Thompson pointed out.

B.Mitch said that under the "previous administration" (I chuckled) that the team approached preseason as if it was "a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of their shoe." This year, he said you can tell this team is preparing differently and they want to strike the right tone early. He also said he was impressed with Rock and Mason.

Thompson, too, pointed out how it's important for Zorn to get out to a good start so both the fans and the players will have a comfort level with him from the start.