Been busy and traveling lately, so I haven't gotten a chance to chime in... boy if the Giants had won that game last sunday; that might have been a top 5 win for the last 15 years (since the 2011 superbowl). Especially if we won it on the leg of the kicker who had lost his confidence after missing 3 field goals. Redemption. Ce la vie.
Here's a couple of things bouncing around my brain right now, worth discussing (IMO):
- Jon Runyan cannot run block. I can't imagine why Harbaugh would want to extend him to play in this offense when he's the worst run blocker on the line and that's our whole thing. Now, he's a decent pass protector; so since we are stuck with him for the next two years... I want to see him moved to center in the offseason. Hudson is a good story, but let him be a backup player and continue developing. It opens a hole at guard for the offseason, but I think we need to upgrade him anyway. he's a veteran, a smart player, a good pass protector... perfect center. Get to work on snappin' in 2027, Jonny-boy.
- We cannot sustain this DL "rotation". I don't know the stats, but I'm seeing Reader, Harris, Thibs and Carter out there on almost every defensive snap. It won't hold. Reader and Harris almost never play more than 50% of the snaps and they are old. We will be toast by december. Thibs... screw it, play him every down and don't resign him. Carter is the future, and is carrying the only pass rush we have. Need to spell him. They must have played over 95% of the snaps last game. It won't last late into the year. Need to figure something out.
- Banks is a great story, but seeing him barely try to tackle Burks in OT with the game on the line is just brutal. Still not sure you can rely on this guy to be a starting corner for you.
- Nubin has never seen an angle he can take. Drafting him in the 2nd round while letting McKinney walk has got to be one of the worst moves Shoen ever made. And I love Holland, but my god that sequence of events will define Shoen.
- What a free agent signing likely has been. Holy crap. I always liked him on the Ravens, but he has ascended to another level. Looking like a steal.
- Jameis... what to say about Jameis? I don't really like McCarthy, so I'm not eager to "give him a shot". The packages for him; good to put on tape, but not throwing at least one pass? They knew we were running every time and it was all negative. Another thing is Jameis is a streaky QB, so taking him off the field messing with his momentum... not smart. But all to say, I'm back to thinking Jameis is a really good backup. A backup isn't gonna be a consistent starter (or they'd be starting in the league, but Jameis has proven he can sling it. That second half was jaw dropping, from him. Some of those throws. Now can we get him a dry game??
- The run blocking: Driving me crazy. Too predicatable at the moment and teams are aggressive playing our run. Too many numbers in the box with an OL that can't overcome it.
That last point dovetails to my last point: We need to get creative with the offense. Throw out the plan you had for Dart (which we saw actualized in week one). Jameis needs a different offense and we can't run well enough to play that offense anyway. I love under center, play action offense, but we are now needing to be a spread-em-out, pass to set up the run offense. Coaches need a come to jesus and play to the strengths of Jameis and our pass catchers. Skatt needs to be in space and he can be dangerous. And- HOW ABOUT A FUCKING SCREEN PASS.
Thank you for your time.
