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- The Dude
[mp3]http://www.insidestlaudio.com/Pressbox/091813-2PB.mp3[/mp3]
Starts at 5:10 in....
Will we see some no huddle to start the game?
Judging by Fisher's comments, no. It's been successful, but it doesn't seem like Fisher wants to go there. I think we reached a philosophical cross-roads. Schottenheimer had that ground & pound team in New York, and Fisher had run-oriented teams in Tennessee. How do you mesh that philosophical difference between what they did, and the talent they have now? Maybe it's a huge set-up to throw the Cowboys off, but it just doesn't seem like he's ready to do that.
Why draft and sign so many speed guys?
I thought Burwell made an interesting point. You see all around the league, how teams incorporate what QBs do best into the offenses. What Sam Bradford did best was run a hurry up offense out of the shotgun, so why wouldn't you do what your QB does best and feels more comfortable doing. It's an interesting discussion. I wrote back in December how well Bradford looks in hurry-up and in the end of the half or game. To me, it's pretty obvious what Bradford feels comfortable doing.
It's no longer defenses win Championships. It's offenses win Championships.
It's funny. Let's go back 15 years ago when Martz was the OC. They get to the Superbowl and they're a finesse team, and nobody thought they could win that way. Well, they had 29 yards rushing and they still won the game. And now, all those prognosticators are saying to do it THAT way. That's the way it became. The GSOT changed the way the game is played. Maybe you'll get a defense that dominates like the Ravens did, but it's more offense oriented now.
Sam has got to be lobbying for a different approach.
Doesn't every basketball player want to run and do the fast break? Well, every offensive skill position player in football wants to do that too. There's more touches, more plays. I'm not saying you have to be Jim Kelly or anything, or like Adam Gage, the coordinator in Denver who worked under Martz, but you'd think even mixing it in ... why not start the game out like that? Or sprinkle it in in the second quarter? There's no cardinal rule that you have to do be trailing double digits to go no-huddle.
On Jared Cook
He had 6 targets and the one catch for 10 yards. Early on ATL was mugging him at the LOS. Some legal, some should have been penalties, but once he cleared they brought a safety down. He had a couple of chances to make some nice catches, like the one where he stumbled and that could have been a TD. The other guys did pretty well. Austin, 2 TD's, Givens, and Pettis falls off the milk carton to get 78 and a TD. So I think it shows that other guys can step up if they shut down Cook, but they need to find more ways to get him open.
On Pettis.
Austin kind of tailed off in camp when Quick was picking it up in camp, but he's got great hands - maybe the best on the team - and Bradford has a great chemistry with him. That's very important. We kind of get hung up on the receivers themselves, but the second half of that equation is that the QB has to trust you. Be where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there, and Pettis is that kind of guy. Bradford has that with Pettis. I was ready to write the guy off too, but you can't ignore what he did in that game. Almost half of his yardage against ATL was YAC. Maybe they should incorporate him more in what they're doing.
On Dez Bryant
If you life depended on ONE Rams CB containing him, who would you choose? Jenkins. 81 yard TD catch given up to Julio Jones not withstanding, every week Jenkins has the other team's top receiver. Now Jenkins still has some technique issues, and sometimes he'll gamble and get burned, but he's competitive as hell. He'll bite and scratch and it'll pay off. You have to give him help though. Part of the problem is that they haven't had safety help for him. That young tandem of McDonald and McLeod are still feeling their way, and sometimes that safety help comes late. Jones and Fitzgerald took advantage of that. It's not just the corners, it's the whole secondary. They've had some breakdowns on the back end, and they need to shore that up with Witten, Bryant and Austin showing up next week.
On Quinn - can he get 20 sacks?
He's on pace for 32 (chuckles). It definitely looks like he's gonna hit 15+ sacks this year. He had 5 QB hits in Sunday's game, and that's a lot. It's another good matchup this week because Dallas' offensive line is weak. It's been 3 weeks in a row where they faced a team with a not so great O-line. It's pretty amazing - even last year and to a degree this year - they get a lot of sacks when they're trailing. 20 sacks is a big number though.
How do you feel about this game coming up?
I like their chances - at least right now - better last week against Atlanta because of the injuries they had, and just because I knew their O-line was vulnerable. When you look at it at face value, Witten is the best TE in football, and DeMarco Murray set a franchise record against the Rams in 2011, plus he's very good out of the backfield. BUT. Romo is up and down, and he can do some bonehead things when he gets under pressure. I still think Dallas wins this game, but it's another winnable one for the Rams.
Starts at 5:10 in....
Will we see some no huddle to start the game?
Judging by Fisher's comments, no. It's been successful, but it doesn't seem like Fisher wants to go there. I think we reached a philosophical cross-roads. Schottenheimer had that ground & pound team in New York, and Fisher had run-oriented teams in Tennessee. How do you mesh that philosophical difference between what they did, and the talent they have now? Maybe it's a huge set-up to throw the Cowboys off, but it just doesn't seem like he's ready to do that.
Why draft and sign so many speed guys?
I thought Burwell made an interesting point. You see all around the league, how teams incorporate what QBs do best into the offenses. What Sam Bradford did best was run a hurry up offense out of the shotgun, so why wouldn't you do what your QB does best and feels more comfortable doing. It's an interesting discussion. I wrote back in December how well Bradford looks in hurry-up and in the end of the half or game. To me, it's pretty obvious what Bradford feels comfortable doing.
It's no longer defenses win Championships. It's offenses win Championships.
It's funny. Let's go back 15 years ago when Martz was the OC. They get to the Superbowl and they're a finesse team, and nobody thought they could win that way. Well, they had 29 yards rushing and they still won the game. And now, all those prognosticators are saying to do it THAT way. That's the way it became. The GSOT changed the way the game is played. Maybe you'll get a defense that dominates like the Ravens did, but it's more offense oriented now.
Sam has got to be lobbying for a different approach.
Doesn't every basketball player want to run and do the fast break? Well, every offensive skill position player in football wants to do that too. There's more touches, more plays. I'm not saying you have to be Jim Kelly or anything, or like Adam Gage, the coordinator in Denver who worked under Martz, but you'd think even mixing it in ... why not start the game out like that? Or sprinkle it in in the second quarter? There's no cardinal rule that you have to do be trailing double digits to go no-huddle.
On Jared Cook
He had 6 targets and the one catch for 10 yards. Early on ATL was mugging him at the LOS. Some legal, some should have been penalties, but once he cleared they brought a safety down. He had a couple of chances to make some nice catches, like the one where he stumbled and that could have been a TD. The other guys did pretty well. Austin, 2 TD's, Givens, and Pettis falls off the milk carton to get 78 and a TD. So I think it shows that other guys can step up if they shut down Cook, but they need to find more ways to get him open.
On Pettis.
Austin kind of tailed off in camp when Quick was picking it up in camp, but he's got great hands - maybe the best on the team - and Bradford has a great chemistry with him. That's very important. We kind of get hung up on the receivers themselves, but the second half of that equation is that the QB has to trust you. Be where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there, and Pettis is that kind of guy. Bradford has that with Pettis. I was ready to write the guy off too, but you can't ignore what he did in that game. Almost half of his yardage against ATL was YAC. Maybe they should incorporate him more in what they're doing.
On Dez Bryant
If you life depended on ONE Rams CB containing him, who would you choose? Jenkins. 81 yard TD catch given up to Julio Jones not withstanding, every week Jenkins has the other team's top receiver. Now Jenkins still has some technique issues, and sometimes he'll gamble and get burned, but he's competitive as hell. He'll bite and scratch and it'll pay off. You have to give him help though. Part of the problem is that they haven't had safety help for him. That young tandem of McDonald and McLeod are still feeling their way, and sometimes that safety help comes late. Jones and Fitzgerald took advantage of that. It's not just the corners, it's the whole secondary. They've had some breakdowns on the back end, and they need to shore that up with Witten, Bryant and Austin showing up next week.
On Quinn - can he get 20 sacks?
He's on pace for 32 (chuckles). It definitely looks like he's gonna hit 15+ sacks this year. He had 5 QB hits in Sunday's game, and that's a lot. It's another good matchup this week because Dallas' offensive line is weak. It's been 3 weeks in a row where they faced a team with a not so great O-line. It's pretty amazing - even last year and to a degree this year - they get a lot of sacks when they're trailing. 20 sacks is a big number though.
How do you feel about this game coming up?
I like their chances - at least right now - better last week against Atlanta because of the injuries they had, and just because I knew their O-line was vulnerable. When you look at it at face value, Witten is the best TE in football, and DeMarco Murray set a franchise record against the Rams in 2011, plus he's very good out of the backfield. BUT. Romo is up and down, and he can do some bonehead things when he gets under pressure. I still think Dallas wins this game, but it's another winnable one for the Rams.