Hindsight on the 2010 roster moves

he did the same with Seifert, essentially.
I don't know what to say about the O. the gambles seemed worth it - I would've kept Moose but Jake needed to go. Distracting. did feel we needed a vet WR and maybe QB - even Mccown. But Vincent doesn't save this team, maybe not Moose.
I've lost confidence in the O, and Davidson, but not for playcalls. It's just his. Defense is young but prepared, led. I hate to lose Meeks, Baker, they're still doing it. I look at this defense and see the best we've fielded since 05 despite pass rush.
But O? it's awful.

 

I am very impressed with the defense. It's not as sexy as it was in the preseason, but nothing is. They play fast, hard, and they have kept us on life support all year, not that we even have life.

You're spot on. It's not just the playcalling: it's his. Best I've seen it. The concepts, the lack of timing and rhythm. Just the entire package is below a standard that I would deem acceptable. I'm shocked Smith hasn't punched his fat face yet.

 

If you're hardcore, think back to the Oakland loss in 2004, where we dropped to 1-7. I was at that game, and of course, it was a competetive game--only because we rallied from 2 scores down with 5 minutes to play with miraculous, bullshit Jake throws.

After that game, I remember driving home feeling that we would never win another game. Soft schedule helped, but we missed the playoffs by a blocked FG.

8-8 ain't getting you into the playoffs in 2010. Much better conference overall now.

I am trying, as a fan, to use past losing streaks under Fox--followed by the eventual rebound--as hope that we will, at the least, be able to enjoy a few Sundays this year. What you always want (as Paul Brown once said) is to enter the home stretch of a season playing in games that matter. In 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, *2007, 2008--this was the case.

2009, we were too deep in the hole to recover. 2010, we can't score points. So, as opposed to 2004, where Jake and Moose began their almost historical 8-game stretch, 2010 doesn't show me any tangible signs of hope. Even with 89, and arguably a better offensive line, better defense and better special teams unit.

That's just how bad this offense is. All time low.

 

FWIW, I don't think Moore's game has dropped off that much. I think we asked him to do way too much against NY, and wasn't really terrible against Tampa aside from the one int. Not that he's the answer, but Clausen is clearly, clearly not ready. At least Moore can handle the QB/center exchange and the handoffs. I think we're doing Clausen more harm than good by keeping him on the field right now.

 

The Saints rally was cute, and he made some decent throws in that game, especially to Gettis. But Clausen is very below-average as the basics:

-Clock management
-Pre-snap reads
-Center/QB exchange
-QB/HB exchange
-Presence

Presence is probably the thing that all these scouts were worried about. It's one thing to see the game on TV. When the team is backed up 30 feet from you in person, and you see a dead huddle with no life, it's discouraging. Moore was, BY FAR, the most prepared and most consistent quarterback in camp. Then, we had to play the Ravens (in the rain), and the Jets in our first two preseason games. Neither coach has any mercy, and probably made an effort to make Moore's life miserable. With no Smith to work with, and Otah out, it wasn't exactly the best long-range barometer by which to judge Moore. A better sample of judgement would have been looking back and considering Moore's presence in some pretty tough spots for a young QB. The 2007 Seattle game was rock solid, if not spectacular. The Dallas game that followed--he threw a pick, but also made some remarkable reads and throws against a very good defense.

Then, he won 80% of his starts last season, with the only loss coming in the rain at New England.

Shit, I kinda like those trends/chances, vs. 6 quarters of 2010 mediocre regular season play.

As far as Clausen goes, that's all just stuff that can't be happening. Particularly when your defense is ranked near the top-10, is forcing turnovers, and your kickoff returner is giving you very good FP.

B&B's right. The gameplan for the Giants game was just flawed. Maybe a little too much confidence from their last trip to Jersey, but the types of protections and pass plays we called after halftime were just insane, particularly against that front seven.

 

It's just hard for me to conceive us winning a single game with Clausen. With Moore, I can sort of see it. We were beating the Giants at halftime, and we were moving the ball at a pretty decent clip. Haven't seen that from Clausen.

 

Biggest reason we almost beat the Saints were our takeaways and ability to keep them out of the end zone.

Maybe we can just put Moore back in, as a relief pitcher--where he's at his best, it seems, and just gameplan a tad better.

I go back to the Tampa game. I don't know if I have ever seen any NFL team start each of their first NINE drives with a 1st and 10 running play. I am not opposed to running the ball. But at least try to diversify. Hell, Davidson, you've had three full seasons with Moore.

 

I don't think Clausen is terminal. Anytime you have this much going wrong on one side, it's not one thing. Of what we have, he may be as talented as any other piece we could field. Why he can't do basic stuff like snap and getting to the line is beyond me, but I don't see it dooming him. He looked solid against the Saints, in a "I'm learning how to do this right" way, not a "remember when Jake would light up the Falcons because they were goddamned awful" way. One game doesn't make a rookie.

But, maybe Moore can act like he's fucking done this before, and we can go back to having Clausen working on basics in the background.


It really fucked us, the idea that Moore couldn't be the guy. Of course, even with that, who is getting open? Smith, double covered? No. Jarrett, lazy and slow? No. Three rookies? Not consistently. And then we didn't go to the TE until it was too late.

I don't get it. I like Davidson, I like Fox. I think they're both solid coaches, and that for the most part Davidson calls roughly what Fox wants. I think without the 9 in the box, we'd be a lot more varied - there seems to be a lot less we seem to be able to do with it right now - and spreading doesn't make it any better if we can't pass. Being more exotic isn't the answer, because we still have to force the issue running while we can. I mean, we had good results on the first drive without a pass.

But we gotta stop with that fucking bunch formation, I've never seen good things there.

 

Clausen's talented, and probably has a stronger arm than Moore. But he's not doing the things that we put him in there to do--the things that we all assumed that Moore was falling short on.

Like you said, it's not just one guy. But the QB is in the driver's seat, and there's only one QB on our roster who lit up the Vikings and Giants on a national stage in 2009. And it's not JC.

 

Aside from the fact that he's not very good, Clausen is getting killed out there. I just don't see what positive comes from playing him right now. And yeah, he's not the only reason we're sucking, but he's obviously not ready to be part of the solution.