Fingerpointing

That little time left on the clock? It was the first damn possession in overtime which is 15 minutes long. How little time could there have been? A crossing route on 3rd and short isn't a bad call at all. It just got fucked up.

 

I think it was the way Fox said what he did that made me believe a problem exists.

Personally, I think Moose is a better receiver than he has shown this year. I think being relegated to 2nd behind Smith hasn't set well with Mohammad. JMHO

The following is a cut and paste from a Scott Fowler article on Charlotte.com
________________________________________________

He made a mistake," Carolina coach John Fox said of Muhammad Monday afternoon.

The tightness in Fox's voice told you more. It told you the coach, whose 8-5 team has lost three in a row, thought this was inexcusable. For Fox to admit any of his players specifically did anything wrong is a rarity.

"The guy did have him cut off," Fox continued. "But I don't think (Muhammad) realized Jake was going to be under duress like that, which he very well should have realized. He needed to keep running and didn't."

What would have happened if Muhammad did?

"Your guess is as good as mine," Fox said. "There could have been a collision or an incomplete pass. But who knows? That's not what happened."

 

Well, if its a hot route, to be fair that may not have been what was originally designed in the play call. The reciever recognizes blitz and adjusts his route accordingly. Unfortunately, the design of the defense also had the safety ready to jump on any over the middle route. Anything else was single covered.

This is why Jake should have read that the first read was covered. That's tough to recognize, and doesn't excuse Moose from his equally bad mistake, but, it is what it is.

 

If you look at the play, Jake has his eyes locked on Moose from the time the ball is snapped. Stephen Davis was open in the flat, and Jake had time to find him, if he would have tried to read the coverage. Instead he forced a bad pass to a receiver that, stopped route or not, was very covered. There were two options on the play that would have resulted in a first down, and a pass to Moose wasn't one of them. Finger pointing does no good now, but if we're going to do it I'm pointing to Jake.

 

My read on Fox's statement is that Moose stopped his route and shouldn't have, BUT Jake should NOT have thrown the ball there since coverage was good. From what I saw on tape, Moose was well covered, it appeared to me Moose was trying to cut back to his left to "get clear" and Jake threw where he anticipated Moose being - letting the ball go at almost the same moment Moose made his stop & pivot. I do not see it as Moose just stopped and stood there looking stupid, it seemed to me that he was trying to break away from coverage. I think the most we could hope for had Moose stayed on course was an incompletion, and since the defender had the inside route, I think it would have been an INT unless Moose knocked it loose or interfered.

 

>> I think the problem is Moose

ditto. the cause of the INT, plain and simple, was that Moose stopped. it might not have been Jake's best choice but a QB has got to be able to trust his receiver to continue his route. it's as bad a mistake as was Grant's in Dallas last year. i could see them sitting Moose ... or give up calling anything other than a curl for him where the QB doesn't have to count on him to continue his route. (could make some in the dark-side camp happy that we start eliminating more options in the passing game.)

you don't expect crap like that from your (overpriced) vets. i can forgive him for not being blessed with soft hands, not being able to gain separation and for us paying him too much but not for stopping on his routes. oh well, at least he can block a little.

in terms of the woulda been a giant collision, moose is a big guy that is suppose to win those battles ... otherwise what value is he? we might as well have another Stevie running the crossing route and gaining separation (only to drop the pass). or another ricky, at least he goes where he is suppose to and will catch the ball ... tomorrow, when he gets there.

>> It will become standard practice for defenses to jump on short hot routes and blitz

and where have you been the last 2 years?

>> In Henning's O, there's no such thing as a progression.

on the TD to the TE, Jake looked to the left first and then came back to the middle. appeared to be progression.

it takes time, for a QB to be able to learn to go thru his progressions and make good decisions. Jake doesn't yet have the game experience nor has he had great protection. nor does he have the great receiver(s) that can bail him out. my guess is that the offense is simple by plan due to having Jake at QB. as he gains experience, we will see a more dynamic offense ... of course it would help if we had some legit receivers ... I do find fault with whoever is to blame there.

 

DOH! :anon:

You are totally right. I was thinking another 2 minute drill. Plenty of time. That was pretty stupid of me. :shakehead

 

That's why he did it. On a hot route, not a great idea with a young QB.

Other QB and WR, Manning to Harrison for instance, commonly change their routes due to the coverage and the trust that they will see the same thing.

We just aren't their yet.



And Jake had, and has had, plenty of time. Sure it would be great to have six seconds to throw each down. That's not going to happen on most teams. We have had above average pass protection.

 

we will not get there with moose. He simply does not have the IQ for that. Jake on the other hand has it as we speak.

 

>>>> I think the problem is Moose

>>ditto. the cause of the INT, plain and simple, was that Moose stopped.

Yep. No way that ball gets picked otherwise, right? Even though the defender had position and Jake wasn't going to read it anyway. Jake's absolved from any wrong doing. We can all go home now.



>>i could see them sitting Moose ... or give up calling anything other than a curl for him where the QB doesn't have to count on him to continue his route.

Well don't go being rational on me now. Muhammad's been the better receiver of the two this past month, but he tried to improv and expected his QB to make

>>it takes time, for a QB to be able to learn to go thru his progressions and make good decisions.

Bullshit. He can do it fine, he did it plenty in the West Coast and has done it when allowed here. I question his reading skills sometimes, in throwing to covered receivers - even with a defensive lineman - but can he progress? More than this O allows him to, in most cases. He's been missing the open man for that person not being the #1 receiver. Excuse that.


>>Jake doesn't yet have the game experience nor has he had great protection.

Bullshit once again. Above average.

>>nor does he have the great receiver(s) that can bail him out.

Once again. Bullshit, this is the NFL, and to hell with anyone still making excuses that we can't do this or that. Our receivers are good enough to do what we must do. Could they be better? Yeah. We won't use them, much like our backs and TEs in the passing game.

Plus, both on the play in question and in others that were more successful, Muhammad and Smith both have had to improvise to bail Jake out. Jake didn't read this one, but he's absolved so it didn't happen.



>>on the TD to the TE, Jake looked to the left first and then came back to the middle. appeared to be progression.

Neat. A play. And sure, he makes progressions on plays he has to fake with. That we don't do that? Troubling. That we don't do it otherwise? More troubling.
That so many times in the past two years, every single QB we've played has gotten called out for staring down a receiver? Inexcusable. But you can try if you want



I don't believe that IQ is a problem. Anyone who's ever talked to Muhammad for over a minute knows the guy has intellect. Is he over-thinking? Sometimes, certainly. Maybe he did in this case, maybe he trusted his QB to read his route being covered and would notice him cut back.
Doesn't mean he wasn't half to blame, but the quarterback didn't do his job, either.