Archive for the ‘Week Recap’ Category

NFL | 2006 | Week 11 - Review Notes

Injuries were certainly the theme in Week 11.

Donovan McNabb, Aaron Rodgers, LaMont Jordan, Bertrand Berry were all lost for the season. In addition, Brett Favre, Issac Bruce, Marques Colston, Alex Smith (TE), Hines Ward, Najeh Davenport, Kevin Jones, Deshaun Foster, David Martin, Adewale Ogunleye, Troy Vincent, Juran Bolden, Robert Gallery all were injured in action yesterday.

Here’s a run down of the monday morning notes at Pro Football Weekly:


• The Patriots’ new field turf is expected to help their offense.

  First of all, QB Tom Brady has a 19-1 lifetime record on artificial turf. Secondly, the team has traditionally scored a lot of points on turf — with 38 points at Cincinnati, 28 points at Buffalo and 31 at Minnesota this season.

• The Ravens plan on continuing their recent passing surge, even though they have many cold weather, outdoor games left. As as Jamal Lewis’ big day yesterday will attest, a increased focus on throwing the ball has opened up the running game for Lewis.
• Colts’ owner speaks about Peyton Manning and his improved mobility this season.
• Reggie Bush has been working on his straight ahead running game.
• This is a great line about what’s going on in Detriot:

  As if pulling recently released Corey Bradford off a fishing dock in Texas last week weren’t bizarre enough, the Lions’ mind-boggling handling of their wide receivers took an even more ludicrous turn when Mike Martz revealed that he’s worked backup QB Josh McCown in running routes in practice and won’t hesitate to use him in special circumstances on game day.

• New York Jets:

  We hear that the Jets’ victory at New England helped solidify the players’ trust in head coach Eric Mangini. Word is many of the players were really impressed with the Jets’ game plan and that excitement was building throughout the week of practice leading up to the game. When things went just as Mangini had planned, his hold as their leader grew exponentially in their minds.”

• T.J. Duckett:

  Our Redskins moles say that RB T.J. Duckett, long in hibernation, has looked good in practice and could warrant some more carries than just in a short-yardage role. Duckett, a free-agent-to-be, would love the opportunity to improve his stock in what could be a weak RB market in 2007. He led the Skins in rushing in Week 11 with 26 yards on five carries.

One final note, from Gary Kubiak’s press notes from week 11:

(on rotating RBs Samkon Gado and Wali Lundy) “We’re just trying to make sure those two guys play right down the middle. If we think one of them is getting winded we’ll put the other one in. It’s easy when you’re doing something good to say leave that guy in, but we told ourselves we’d stay committed to playing two of them. And we’re going to try to continue to do that.”

NFL | 2006 | Week 10 - New Orleans Saints

31-38 at PIT

Don’t slight New Orleans because they lost this game. The Saints offense traded blow for blow with what is still a good Steelers’ defense. They were driving to tie the game until Terrance Copper fumbled on the 26 yard line with 39 seconds yet.

They turned the ball over too much on offense and can’t stop the run very well, but this team has first round playoff loss written all over them. And getting there will be an accomplishment for them in Payton’s first season.

Drew Brees said in his post-game conference that the 2nd McAlister TD was not a designed play. The center just had the ball stick into the ground and it bounced to Duece. Brees was looking at the ground trying to find the ball and said he didn’t know what had happened until he looked up at the scoreboard and saw Duece in the end zone with it.

I can’t believe Jason Craft caught Willie Parker from behind. He didn’t really have an angle on Parker. He didn’t really have a head start. He just caught him. How fast is Jason Craft? I mean, he’s 30 years old!

Here’s another question: Has Charles Grant made a Pro Bowl yet? I’ve seen him make some very good plays this year and he was strong in this game as well. Turns out it’s a contract year for him as well. New Orleans was upset with Grant last year but he seems to be producing this season.

NFL | 2006 | Week 10 - Minnesota Vikings

17-23 vs GB

The Vikings have proven they are one of the best run stopping teams in the league. Pat and Kevin Williams inside are monsters. If you get a chance to watch Minnesota play, keep an eye on what #94 does inside there. He is the cog that makes this defense as good as it is. That said, there are all kinds of problems with this defense, their secondary, and their unhappiness with the production of the offense.

Brad Johnson is turning the ball over an uncharacteristically high amount of times. He started 9 games last year and ended up with just 4 INTs on the season. This year, after nine game, Johnson has thrown 9 INTs and has fumbled 8 times, losing for of them.

I linked on Monday the note about Troy Williamson’s decline in Minnesota. It looks like Billy McMullen, a former Eagle with Brad Childress, has stepped into a key role for the Vikings. McMullen is a tall, lanky, 4 year NFL veteran who has proven to be a reliable option for the WR-starved Vikings. He’s a stop gap, but will probably get looks as long as Marcus Robinson is injured - maybe even after the way he’s playing. Bethel Johnson is also making some big plays with his time on the field. Johnson returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown, but it was called back on an illegal block penalty. He’s got such elite speed, the Vikings are finding ways to use him. And he hasn’t drop as many passes as Williamson has.

On 2nd and 7, late in the third quarter, Brad Johnson completed a pass to McMullen just short of the first down. So on third and one, the Vikings come out with a bunch-left formation and Williamson ends up wide open for the first down. But he read the zone late and moved out of his area at the last moment, leading to Johnson throwing the pass behind Williamson and incomplete. It was the first possession after the Packers went up 20-14 and the Vikings ended up having to punt. Somehow, I think McMullen runs that route properly and makes that catch.

NFL | 2006 | Week 10 - Green Bay Packers

23-17 at MIN

The Packers tried to come out throwing against the Vikings, just like the Patriots did on Monday Night Football. But the Packers struggled early to make it work. They went three and out on their first drive. On the first two plays of their second drive, Green Bay ran the ball twice and got 2 yards on those 2 runs.

6 out of their next 7 plays, naturally, were pass plays. But when they got into the red zone, it was run, run, run, field goal. Strange play calling.

Eventually, it paid off though. When pinned inside their 5 yard line with 2 minutes left in the first half, Favre came out throwing and on their third play out he hit Driver for an 82 yard pass on what was only designed to be a 10 yard slant. Minnesota’s defense is clearly struggling.

Greg Jennings continues to play through his injury, although he doesn’t look 100%. Donald Driver, who could have had another TD if it weren’t for a dropped slant pass in the end zone, leads the Packers with 94 targets on the season. He got 11 for 6 catches in this game against Minnesota.

NFL | 2006 | Week 10 - Baltimore Ravens

27-26 vs TEN

Mark Clayton is officially more dangerous than Derrick Mason. I’ve been a big fan of Clayton’s since he was in college and after what I saw at the 2006 Combine, I knew he’d be a real good WR. But hamstring problems during the preseason scared me away from him a bit this season. He worked his way through those and now leads the Ravens in targets (68) and catches (41). He is showing the top end speed and short area quickness to be a top NFL WR threat.

Clayton’s TD catch in this game was a gimmie, after the Titans’ blew their coverage and jumped a McNair pump fake into the flat. Clayton has a similar skill set to Marvin Harrison and could put up even bigger numbers in a more friendly offense.

In the last two weeks since Brian Billick has taken over the offense, Clayton has seen 13 passes go his way in each of those games. He has 68 on the year, so 38% of his targets this season have come since Billick has taken over.

The Ravens gave up on the run very early in this game. They weren’t very successful when they tried to come out running and were forced to put the ball up after falling behind. The Ravens’ offensive line gave McNair time to throw all day long. In 47 attempts, he was sacked just once.

NFL | 2006 | Week 10 - Tennessee Titans

26-27 vs BAL

Some may have been impressed by the way the Titans built a 26-7 lead in this game, but it was basically smoke and mirrors. Vince Young played… about average. He looked real comfortable when throwing from the shotgun, but not so comfortable when dropping back from under center. That was, of course, a big concern of Young’s when coming out of college. Vince just looked like he was rushing his throws a little too much when dropping back.

Even on his TD run, it took Young three straight downs from inside the 5 to punch the ball in - and even on his third keeper replays showed that he probably was down before he got in.

The Titans’ defense is doing a good job at stopping the run, but they can’t generate a pass rush at all and it’s hard to tell if they’re secondary is any good because their front four have been giving QBs too much time to throw.

My guess is that the secondary must be bad because the Titans seem almost afraid to blitz. They rushed just their front four almost all game and the Ravens’ line had no trouble protecting McNair with 5.

The Titans’ second half possessions went: punt, downs, int, punt, punt, punt, and blocked field goal.

LenDale White is showing a good burst whenever he gets a chance to run the ball, but Tennessee has been very slow to involve him into the offense.

NFL | 2006 | Week 10 - Jacksonville Jaguars

10-13 vs HOU

This game encapsulated just about every reason why I don’t like this Jags team. Their defense is too vanilla, and injuries in their front seven aren’t being compensated for enough by the gameplan.

Their offense is terrible - featuring now two inconsistent quarterbacks who don’t even look like they’ll be ever to win a playoff game. There’s no diversity of skill in their receivers - instead they’ve got three #2’s who aren’t quick enough to get consistent separation. One of those, Matt Jones, has serious questions still looming concerning his toughness (see the two drops on slant passes against Houston that led to Texans’ INTs) and another, Reggie Williams, has struggled to be a consistent target over his 3 year NFL career.

David Garrard faced a mediocre pass rush and a below average secondary in this game. He made a lot of bad throws and when he was able to make a good one, his receivers usually dropped it. The only two worthwhile skill players on this offense play the same position - Jones and Taylor. It’s a problem, however, that they are the team’s best runners and receivers.

For the season, none of the Jags’ top 3 WRs have a target to catch completion rate above 55%. You’ve got to at least rely one of those guys to be at 65%.

UPDATE: KC Joyner did a drive success analysis comparison between Leftwich and Garrard and Leftwich came out as being more effective. The distance between the totals was not dramatic, but it could be argued that the talent Garrard has faced hasn’t been nearly as tough as the talent Leftwich has lined up against. Either way, I’d rather have someone else leading my team. But if I had to choose between the two, Leftwich is still the better leader and the better quarterback.

NFL | 2006 | Week 10 - Houston Texans

13-10 at JAX

Houston won their first game on the road since December of 2004. They did it by continuing to use a quick passing game and David Carr’s mobility to their advantage. Coach Kubiak has done a good job in getting Carr to deliver the ball on time - and when the play isn’t there Carr is learning well when it’s time to move out of the pocket and try to make something happen.

Samkon Gado got the bulk of the carries in the second half, although he wasn’t particularly effective. He wasn’t bad either, but he did fumble once. By my count, all 17 of his carries came in the second half and many were in the fourth quarter. This Houston Chronicle article notes:

Gado, who weighs 226, is heavier and stronger than Wali Lundy, who goes about 211. Gado played his best game since being acquired from Green Bay at Sherman’s suggestion. Gado came to Houston for running back Vernand Morency. He carried 17 times for 67 yards. Lundy is still the starter, though. Expect to see more and more of Gado if he continues to run the way he did Sunday.

Andre Johnson leads the NFL in targets (98), and his catch rate (67%) is high up on the list as well. He only managed 3 catches on 11 targets against the Jags in week 10.

One guy who I hadn’t had a chance to watch play yet until week 10 was Owen Daniels. If you need a tight end, I’d pick him up. Carr looks for him and Daniels is a shifty, 247 lbs rookie TE out of Wisconsin. He’s already third on the team in targets with 37 despite only being a full time player for 7 of the team’s 9 games.

NFL | 2006 | Week 10 - Review Notes

And we’re back after a two week, work-mandated break.
A run down of the monday morning key notes at Pro Football Weekly:


• Read in between the lines of what this says about the Bills’ running back situation and it sounds like McGahee owners should definitely be concerned about Willis’ production for the rest of the season.
• Part of Miami’s recent turnaround is being attributed to Mike Mularkey’s involvement in the offense.
• Following the Browns game in week 9, the Jets will look to use TE Chris Baker more during the season’s second half. Baker is 10-12 pounds lighter and has shown more quickness than he did last season. In week 10 against NE, however, Baker was targeted just twice and caught 1 pass. Both throws were in the red zone, at least.
• The past week’s release of veteran FS and former cover corner Marcus Coleman has once again opened up a hole at FS for Dallas. They are struggling to find a center fielder type safety who can allow the team to move Roy Williams around the field. If they can be more patient with rookie Pat Watkins, he can fill that spot nicely. But Parcells doesn’t seem to be willing to let the kid learn by mistake this season.
• Mark Bradley is the guy who has to step up while Bernard Berrian is out. The Bears want to keep former DB Rashied Davis operating out of the slot. This is a good move for Chicago. Bradley has the physical tools to compliment Muhammad and keep defenses honest. He caught 4 of 6 passes for 79 yards (including a 38 yard TD) Sunday night against NYG. More importantly, Muhammad was open all night, catching 7 passes for 123.
• Ruvell Martin got the second most targets from Brett Favre in week 10. PFW describes Martin as someone who “has shown a clear propensity for playing physical football, taking advantage of his 6-4, 217-pound frame and getting after people in the ground game.” Martin caught just 3 of his 8 passes.
• Why Minnesota took Troy Williamson with the #7 overall pick a couple years ago, I’ll never understand. PFW reports he’s still struggling with confidence issues after dropping a number of balls this season. He’s just not a complete receiver.
• Rumors that Jim Fassell may join the staff in Carolina.
• Nate Burleson: “There’s no hiding the Seahawks’ disappointment in WR Nate Burle­son, a local product whose contributions to the team’s passing attack have been negligible. With Burleson’s impact as a receiver not expected to increase any time soon, it looks like he will now be mostly counted on to be the team’s primary punt returner. He returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown in a Week 10 win over St. Louis.” Other than an early season injury that had Nate’s left hand in a cast, I’m at a loss as well as to why he’s struggled.
• Texans DL: “While rookie Texans DE Mario Williams starts to kick it into gear, don’t overlook the play of Anthony Weaver, the other end, who has been a steady performer vs. the run. Weaver is never going to be regarded as a top pass rusher, but the Texans like what he’s doing in his first season in Houston.”

2006 | Week 5 - Arizona Cardinals

20-23 vs KC

Matt Leinart’s debut went pretty much as expected. He showed great poise in the pocket, felt the pass rush very well - good compared even to most of the veteran quarterbacks around. The Cardinals didn’t ask him throw down field as much as it seemed he was ready to. They called a lot of WR screens and Leinart checked down to the RB frequently. Still, he took care of the football pretty well and showed plenty his trademark accuracy. The one INT he threw, however, was certainly a pass he should not have made. The Cards’ downfall in this game was not his play, but their inability to hold a lead on defense and with their ground game.

Arizona had essentially held KC to 3 points through the first three quarters (KC scored their first TD off a blocked punt that they took over at the ARZ 10). As the fourth quarter began, the Cards couldn’t pick up 1 yard for a first down on two consecutive plays and had to punt. The Chiefs took the ball over from there and marched downfield and scored to make it 20-17 and soon after tied the game.

This was certainly another game the Arizona gave away. Rackers had a chance to tie it up with seconds remaining, but his 51 yard FG attempt was wide right. Nonetheless, the Cards are better equiped with Leinart behind center. His ability to read the defense and deliver the football will be a necessary skill with the offensive line they have this season.

Bryan Johnson has a chance to step up now that Larry Fitzgerald is out for the next few weeks. Johnson had a strong preseason and has made plays this season when given chances. He filled in well on Sunday against the Chiefs, but dropped a long touchdown pass in the end zone that could have made the score 27-10 late in the third quarter.

If Johnson was having to step into Boldin’s role, I’d be more concerned. But he should be able to put up solid numbers playing in Fitzgerald’s position. With Troy Walters moving in to the slot, and their solid depth at tight end, the Cards’ skill position players are still better than most.

Targets:
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2006 | Week 4 - Detroit Lions

34-41 at STL

For as many passes as Mike Furrey has received and caught so far this season, he’s still more of a 3rd option / possession receiver and will probably see his opportunities fall off as the Lions try to work Mike Williams or others into the offense.

He’s a high effort, good hands, undersized guy who probably has already had the best game of his season. He was a former Rams safety and looked pretty fired to score twice against his former team. Not a bad player, but if you’re picking him up now i worry that the boat has already left the port.

Targets:
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2006 | Week 4 - St. Louis Rams

41-34 vs DET

Of course, the week after I wrote that these Rams were for real, they laid an giant egg in week 2. But they’ve bounced back, are 3-1 a quarter into the season, and are looking at the opportunity to take the NFC West.

One comment I overheard during the week 4 broadcast is that Scott Linehan worked with his offense a bit to change some of his terminology back to what the Rams’ players were used to under Mike Martz. The offense now looks like its back on track.

Steven Jackson continues to impress. He’s a great runner up the middle, but struggles when asked to run off tackle. He usually breaks his run too far outside. I think that may be a reason why the Rams brought in Stephen Davis. He’s a more patient and experience behind blockers.

Targets:
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2006 | Week 4 - Miami Dolphins

15-17 at HOU

Something interesting about the way things are going for Miami…. when Daunte Culpepper struggled in Minnesota after Randy Moss left, he did it in a different way than he’s struggling now. Back then, he’d try to do too much on every play - running when he didn’t need to, throwing passes he shouldn’t. Now, he’s a literal statue in the pocket; almost dazed at the lack of execution in front of him.

I’ve had fun watching the Texans’ defense this season (1, 2), so when it was Miami’s turn to right their wrongs against this practice squad, a lot of people in South Florida and Vegas probably thought that it would happen. It didn’t. Unlike the Redskins the week before, this Dolphins team is showing no signs of life at all and they could even be getting worse on offense.

First off, their stadium is falling apart. They’re giving up sacks like they’re the Oakland Raiders, and their game philosophy is ridiculously bad. Ronnie Brown had 12 carries against Houston? There are a lot of people on the street who can call a better game than that.

Before the game:

“We are definitely going to have our opportunities,” Chambers said. “We need to get them early.”

But Culpepper perhaps thought differently.

“It’s kind of misleading when you’re playing a team who’s the last-ranked defense. It doesn’t really matter because these guys are pros.”

What I think he meant there, is that the guys in front of him aren’t any better than the guys who are on the other side ranked as one of the worst defenses in the league.

So how do they get better?
At some point, they’ll have to realize that the defense is still the strength of the team and stop trying run a wide open offensive attack. They have injuries on the offensive line, sure, but they’re not helping things with the formations they’re sending out there. Line up and run the ball. Shorten the length of the game and wait for Culpepper’s knee to heal so that he can begin to lose games on his own again.

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2006 | Week 4 - Atlanta Falcons

32-10 vs ARZ

This was certainly not as impressive as the score indicated. Atlanta’s defense was in control, but that was in part due to Kurt Warner’s day in hell. He really struggles against defenses that are fast - and this Falcons’ team is as fast as any.

Atlanta’s offense could not move 1 of their drives into the end zone. They settled for FGs 6 times, threw a INT on the 1 yard line, and punted 2 other times. Only Jerious Norwood’s 78 yard TD run produced the Falcons offensive touchdown. But that was more due to Norwood’s sprinter speed and terrible tackling angles by the Cardinals than anything else.

Ashlie Lelie again showed he’s one of the best deep threats in the game. He just has this natural talent to pick up the path of a deep ball before almost anyone else does. And he’s tall, with great control of his body. It really makes him a weapon.

Michael Boley had his second strong game in a row. Boley was a force rushing the QB from the edge, and also dropped back in coverage well - including the play he made to break up Warner’s pass that ended up falling to DeAngelo Hall for the TD that broke this game open.

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2006 | Week 4 - Arizona Cardinals

10-32 at ATL

Kurt Warner was terrible. He tripped over himself more than once, threw into coverage more than once, and practically held on to the football too long for the entire game. And now Matt Leinart is starting.

Larry Fitzgerald beat DeAngelo Hall one on one in the first quarter for a 46 yard reception that would have gone for 56 yards and a TD had Warner not underthrown him. It was nice to see Fitzgerald show the moves off the line, the long speed, and the ball judgement and jumping ability in all one play against one of the best corners in the game.

Out of 20 carries, Edgerrin James was held to zero or negative yards 7 times.

Matt Leinart will be able come in and spark this offense, I think. The biggest thing right now is that the offensive line is a little better, but not great. Leinart coming in and getting the ball out of his hands on time will be a big improvement.

Targets:
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