Quote:
Originally Posted by Beemnseven
Retreads? You mean Parker and Larry Johnson? Parker didn't make the team and Johnson lasted, what, 3 games? Are Torain and Williams retreads? What else was he supposed to do at RB with the available draft picks and corresponding needs?
The O-line was shuffled in part because of injury -- and that's what just about every coaching staff all over the league has to do -- also to give the other guys a shot to see what they have. If he'd have stuck with one group who got run over and couldn't protect all season long, the fans would be up in arms. I have no complaints about what he did with what he had up front.
McNabb? Outside of pulling him in Detroit, he has shown remarkable patience despite reports of being disenchanted with his play and lingering injury issues.
He came to an organization that had been woefully mismanaged for 11 straight years, an old, overpaid, roster and season after season with depleted draft picks -- and because Shanahan hasn't corrected it in one offseason and 13 games he might not be "on his game"? Seriously?
Honestly, what did you expect with a 4-12 team?
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Improved on offense from last year, and if not improved, than at least as good as last year, with all the production coming from young players. That was the expectation.
When you isolate the receivers, they are doing better than last year. When you isolate the offensive line, they are doing better than last year. When you isolate the RBs, they are better than last year. Why are we, at best, no better than last year? It leaves a couple of options:
1) The tight ends have underachieved. This is unlikely. Cooley is a much better blocker than he was last season. Sure, he's having a dreadful receiving year and is frustrated with his role in the offense. But Fred Davis, who has been underutlized, plays like Antonio Gates out there when he gets reps. And Logan Paulsen is so much better than Todd Yoder that it's not even a fair comparison.
2) The quarterback play has declined from last season. If this is true, it's not showing up in the stats. McNabb is getting picked off more often than Jason Campbell ever did, but he's throwing more TDs, getting sacked less, and is creating more big plays. Overall, the production is statistically similar. Any argument that McNabb is playing worse than Campbell would have to be built around the fact that he has more help, like, Anthony Armstrong>Randle El. But I think the third option nullifies this fact.
3) The offensive coaching has declined. I think this is it. We went through 8 games with a crazy, gimmicky progression system that a veteran QB couldn't learn. We've improved the running scheme, but even in games where we do it well, we give up on it because we think we're a passing team. We probably are, but we waste a lot of plays stupidly, and we only trust McNabb as much as we have to. Which is more than we trust the running game. But not much. We refused to take Joey Galloway off the field no matter how poorly he played, decided Larry Johnson should make the team at the beginning, possibly costing the Texans game. We have no idea how to best use either Cooley or Davis. We have a Mike Sellers offensive package, for crying out loud. We won't give Keiland Williams, our best RB, the ball ever despite all the time Torain missed. We liked what we saw on film with Casey Rabach, somehow, and decided that he should be the center of this team (literally, and figuratively). They started Artis Hicks twice after pulling him for performance. They benched McNabb for Rex Grossman, and both Shanahan's think the world of Grossman.
It's been one mistake after another with these two. I'm not sure where the evidence is that either Shanahan can critically evaluate their OWN talent.