Observations from the Game

[Tron]

I didnt get to watch all of it closely as company came over a lil bit into the 2nd half, so hopefully some can fill me in on the finer details of the 2nd half. But this is what I saw and think.

- 1st team offense is head and shoulders above 2nd team offense(not talking about qb's), O-line and wr's kinda suck outside of the top 4.

-Saffold did not do a good job at RT, got beat like a very very very slow drum over and over and over by Von Miller.

-D. Williams did not do a good job at LT when he replaced GROB. He got beat over and over and over and over almost every time Goff dropped back to pass. He is the reason why Goff got hurt.

-M. Thomas needs to learn how to catch, I dont care if he has to rent a Juggs machine and put it in his room, hire some random asshole off the street to feed it balls, and stand in his living room for 5 hours a night and a few more hours in the morning till he learns how to catch the fucking ball!!! He knows how to get open! YAY!!! but thats only half the fucking battle!! Dont matter how open you get if you CANT CATCH THE FUCKING BALL!!!!

-Longacre is a stud!! Constant pressure from him. He makes the team easy.

-GZ looked ok. First two fg's were close to missing, the last and longer one was perfect.

-Duke Williams, go hangout with Thomas in his living room, take turns on the juggs machine.

-P. Cooper had an amazing circus catch.

- Goff looked more comfortable in the pocket, just sucks his wr's and o-line dont know how to do their job.

-Higbee looked meh, not his best game so far thats for sure. Still looked better than most of our wr's out there.

-Joyner was absolutely horrible!!! He couldnt tackle and couldnt cover worth a shit. It was a bad day for him. Hope he can turn it around, seems as if he has gotten worse and regressed every week since we drafted him.

-Sensabaugh.......yea, I am not liking that signing more and more each week.

-Quick caught some balls yay!!!!! Caught everything thrown his way, though they were all under 5 yard passes.....yay?



Thats all i can remember at the moment, anyone want to help fill in the blanks?

 

[VeteranRamFan]

Saffold at RT getting beat my Miller, not what I expected. They later gave him TE help on passing downs.

D. Williams.....next topic.

GRob has improved tremendously. No penalties and he provided very good pass protection.

Higbee was targeted about 6 times, made one catch. If I remember four of the six were not thrown well, out of reach, behind, over his head but he came off the field upset with what I think is he felt he should have caught some of them. Good for him.

Quick had a long of 8 yards, total 3 catches for 15 yards. What i want to know was his routes supposed to be 5 yards down and out because he was running 3 yards down and out. Film review by the coaches will be necessary. I like the fact he stepped up and made those catches.

Hemingway and Duke, both had opportunities and didn't capitalize on them.

Kendricks was good in the passing game. Looked fluid. I liked it.

Britt also was looking good. Nice to see.

Kush was serviceable at center. I do recall one or maybe two high snaps from the shotgun.

Penalties - O line, none? D line a couple but much better than last week.

Goff - What I liked was his command of the huddle, his calling out of the defense alignment. I don't recall any audibles, wish he would have but that may have been by design. He did take snaps under center and threw from that formation. His hand offs were spot on. I think his pocket presence was very good. Many a time I'm getting nervous as the pocket collapsed around him but he got the ball out. The hits and sack he took were breakdowns in blocking IMO. He sure did miss on a couple of throws and still was very accurate on others only to be denied by our WR's.

Like I reported from Tuesday's camp, he looked much better than the KC game. Wish we could see him with the complete first team.

I'm sure there is more but I just can't recall them at this time.

 

[Tron]

Saffold at RT getting beat my Miller, not what I expected. They later gave him TE help on passing downs.

D. Williams.....next topic.

GRob has improved tremendously. No penalties and he provided very good pass protection.

Higbee was targeted about 6 times, made one catch. If I remember four of the six were not thrown well, out of reach, behind, over his head but he came off the field upset with what I think is he felt he should have caught some of them. Good for him.

Quick had a long of 8 yards, total 3 catches for 15 yards. What i want to know was his routes supposed to be 5 yards down and out because he was running 3 yards down and out. Film review by the coaches will be necessary. I like the fact he stepped up and made those catches.

Hemingway and Duke, both had opportunities and didn't capitalize on them.

Kendricks was good in the passing game. Looked fluid. I liked it.

Britt also was looking good. Nice to see.

Kush was serviceable at center. I do recall one or maybe two high snaps from the shotgun.

Penalties - O line, none? D line a couple but much better than last week.

Goff - What I liked was his command of the huddle, his calling out of the defense alignment. I don't recall any audibles, wish he would have but that may have been by design. He did take snaps under center and threw from that formation. His hand offs were spot on. I think his pocket presence was very good. Many a time I'm getting nervous as the pocket collapsed around him but he got the ball out. The hits and sack he took were breakdowns in blocking IMO. He sure did miss on a couple of throws and still was very accurate on others only to be denied by our WR's.

Like I reported from Tuesday's camp, he looked much better than the KC game. Wish we could see him with the complete first team.

I'm sure there is more but I just can't recall them at this time.

I noticed at least one high snap from Kush as well.

Britt did look good, that one where he went over the middle was really nice.

Noticed the TE help for Saffold as well, should have happened earlier.

Thanks for the observations, much appreciated

 

[tahoe]

Way too many drops, second team defense was second team quality..., Goff looked better than last game, offense wasn't as good overall though.

 

[ramfan46]

Tru with a nice PBU and Cody Davis in the right spot at the right moment to make a play. I've been a Cody Davis fan all off season and I really like the idea of him starting at FS and Mo taking over Barron's Big Nickel role as the Hybrid. Cody isn't flashy, but will know where he's supposed to be 9 outta 10 times. Let Gregg Williams move Mo around and use that physicality closer to the LOS. Just my opinion, if Mo starts at FS, let's go!

 

[DR RAM]

Feel much better about our RB position. We have to stop getting penalties on teams, because if we do, then we will be a better team overall. Westbrooks played well again, we have DE's up the yang-yang, which I love. Can't wait to see Havenstein back, to see where everyone will really play.

Lots of Guard depth, and Barnes looks pretty good.

Our offense was horribly called after the first couple series, could be by design, but how many 3 yd comebackers are you gonna call? Could be by design, I sure as hell hope so.

Christian Bryant was flashing, before he got hurt, and Cody made a few plays, so a little relief there, and we still have Mo.

Those are the things that jumped out, other than what you guys have mentioned.

 

[LACHAMP46]

-Saffold did not do a good job at RT, got beat like a very very very slow drum over and over and over by Von Miller.

Say that again slowly, Saff got beat over and over by Von "SB_MVP" Miller....not so bad...I saw when he got help from Harkey, Miller beat him too...
Cody Davis made an effin play... @CoachO you do see him getting int's at practice, huh... But he really dropped that one...int's are big to me...speaking of which, Carson Palmer hit that wall...father time caught him last year in the playoffs....so, unless Mo is like super human, Cody may have won the FS role...
thought we played well on D...finally...pretty well on O...Barnes is looking good...Not sure if Wichman is ever losing his spot...Havenstein better come back healthy...Told yall Quick can catch...seriously...I wish we ran some less vanilla routes...but hey, progress is progress....Keenum is just...I woulda forced the ball to Kendricks all day...seams were wide open...Goff is getting a lil better...Mike Thomas isn't as bad as he looks...Duke is finished...McRoberts is not as good as those 2...but seems more mature...guess after Hard Knocks, I see why...Malcolm Brown needs a bunch of passes in game 4...he's still a stud. Goff...keep going to Thomas & Hemingway...feed them...feed Quick...Is SPRUCE still hurt?!? Geez, catch 5 passes, go on the pup list. Really don't blame him...Huge men...Same with Higbee...he was getting hit too...bet he was thinking about it...the hits...when he's missing those high balls... Drops happen...
Love the D (twss), but need to see more..Like, Joyner has just fallen off the map...Shame about Hill...Troy...The DB from Iowa..just like TJ, only slower...I liked #55... $58 couldn't sustain the energy from game 2...Chubbs, Hagar, and...and...whoever, can't hold a candle to Ray Ray Anderson, errr, McDonald, err Armstrong...Bates looked good too...I see some serious backers that'll be on the waiver wire in 48 hours...
Goff needs all of game 4...so does the linemen...I'd cut some of those dudes on the field...
oh yeah, Battle played...Sensabaugh got a lil better...coverage was tighter overall...something about trying to limit yards...think they saw a long conversation about that....ahahahahahah...ask me anything Tronie!

 

[DR RAM]

I saw when he got help from Harkey, Miller beat him too...

I'm not sure, #1, why we gave Miller a free release when he had a TE over him. #2, if it was Harkey, or Keenum who setup the really bad blocking angle that Harkey took. Either Keenum was too late, or too deep, or Harkey just blew chunks on that play.

On the big play to Britt, the right side of our OL, Saffold and Brown, did a pretty nice job on picking up a twist, also good help from Benny on the play.

Oh, and on Vonn, he was lined up way-way outside, which his tremendous athleticism allows him to do, really makes it hard for any OT to block him at all, just too much space, and too much speed. You have to try and run inside of him.

 

[Tron]

It's not so much that Saffold didn't stop him ever, it's that he didn't even slow him down hardly ever. Can't wait to have Havenstein back starting at RT.

 

[DR RAM]

Easley, and Cam Thomas should be mentioned, along with Tree, who had a few outstanding plays, and everybody did a better job of getting into defensive plays . I don't think Coples makes the cut. Our interior DL is looking potentially, pretty strong.

 

[OntarioRam]

I will say that I'm quite optimistic for the offense this year. It's only pre-season, but the 1s finally seem able to move the ball, and they've been doing it without Tavon Austin and Todd Gurley. Unsurprisingly, this is also the first time in years we appear to have a competent o-line...

 

[12intheBox]

Feel much better about our RB position. We have to stop getting penalties on teams, because if we do, then we will be a better team overall. Westbrooks played well again, we have DE's up the yang-yang, which I love. Can't wait to see Havenstein back, to see where everyone will really play.

Lots of Guard depth, and Barnes looks pretty good.

Our offense was horribly called after the first couple series, could be by design, but how many 3 yd comebackers are you gonna call? Could be by design, I sure as hell hope so.

Christian Bryant was flashing, before he got hurt, and Cody made a few plays, so a little relief there, and we still have Mo.

Those are the things that jumped out, other than what you guys have mentioned.

This is baffling to me. If Rob was going to be put back with the 1s as soon as he was ready, it would seem we would see Saffold working at guard.

I have thought that Brown would play LG, Saffold RG and Hav at RT but we are seeing no evidence of that at all.

Maybe they like the continuity of the current 5 and are just going to ride it out.

 

[FaulkSF]

I also thought the play calling on offense was awful. With better play calling, even vanilla, we could have had a couple tds.

There was one play by Case that was almost picked. Very predictable route. The double hooks on the Goff near interception almost picked. Very predictable, Stewart and the other DB sitting on it.

I hope Boras learns from his mistake of putting the QBs in a position of failure. His play calling was a bit better in the first two games where we were 7 for 7 in red zone.

 

[tavian]

M. Thomas needs to learn how to catch, I dont care if he has to rent a Juggs machine and put it in his room, hire some random icehole off the street to feed it balls, and stand in his living room for 5 hours a night and a few more hours in the morning till he learns how to catch the freaking ball!!! He knows how to get open! YAY!!! but thats only half the freaking battle!! Dont matter how open you get if you CANT CATCH THE freaking BALL!!!!

This is not something new for Thomas.Some are suggesting that it comes from being a
rookie,nerves or what have you.The truth is he was never consistent in college either.
he struggled with drops throughout his college career.

 

[Tron]

This is not something new for Thomas.Some are suggesting that it comes from being a
rookie,nerves or what have you.The truth is he was never consistent in college either.
he struggled with drops throughout his college career.

I had heard that too, but didn't think it was this bad. Wide open he has a 50/50 chance of catching or dropping. That's 7-9 bs. PS his ass

 

[tavian]

I had heard that too, but didn't think it was this bad. Wide open he has a 50/50 chance of catching or dropping. That's 7-9 bs. PS his ass

In game 1 preseason he had two targets two drops.Not sure what combined stats are so far

 

[Tron]

In game 1 preseason he had two targets two drops.Not sure what combined stats are so far

I'm guessing they are very ugly.

 

[leoram]

This is baffling to me. If Rob was going to be put back with the 1s as soon as he was ready, it would seem we would see Saffold working at guard.

I have thought that Brown would play LG, Saffold RG and Hav at RT but we are seeing no evidence of that at all.

Maybe they like the continuity of the current 5 and are just going to ride it out.

So many of us have advocated Saffold at RG but this staff stubbornly prefers Brown there. Wichmann is so solid that Reynolds has become an afterthought. I even wonder if Rodger is really better than Cody. To me, and I rarely think I see things better than Coach Bou, but I believe Saffold is sooooo much better than Brown at RG than he is better than Wich at LG. The only consideration I can fathom is that either A) Robinson needs Rodger next to him to maximize his talent or B) the staff is committed to Brown long term because Fisher sees a future Pro Bowler that just needs time to develop.

The fact that I am self debating OLine depth makes this Ram fan reminisce the days of Mack, Slater, Pace, Timmerman, Saul, Harrah, Inman, Cowan... Hell, maybe guys like Robinson and Havenstein may someday make my list. Perchance to dream...

 

[fearsomefour]

I noticed at least one high snap from Kush as well.

Britt did look good, that one where he went over the middle was really nice.

Noticed the TE help for Saffold as well, should have happened earlier.

Thanks for the observations, much appreciated

They brought TE help at T (including Harkey being late and giving up pressure when the RT blocked down. They also gave Brown help at G, usually with the C.

 

[DR RAM]

They brought TE help at T (including Harkey being late and giving up pressure when the RT blocked down. They also gave Brown help at G, usually with the C.

IMO, G/C help is rather common practice on a good NG, especially with the looks Denver was giving on the inside. The Harkey help was from an offset, oppo fullback position, very tough against an perennial, All-Pro, IMO. Vonn Miller takes the wide 9 position, to the wide 11 position.

I should find a Cam Newton sad face, when posting about Miller.