What can you say? It was Rexy at his worst. Four INTs in 3 quarters just isn't going to cut it. There were other issues but the turnovers are killers. Lets start with Rexy and the INTs. Honestly, I was okay with the first one because it was a pretty well thrown ball albeit in double coverage but the receiver still had a chance to make a play. Also, it was a 3rd and 16 and the INT was made inside the Eagles 5 yard line so it was like a punt. Again, I was okay with that one.
The second one hurt bad. We were down 17-0 and Rexy had Gaffney open for a long TD. He had gotten behind the defense and had a couple of steps on the DB right down the middle of the field and Rexy threw it to the inside and short for a pretty easy INT. That one hurt because we were down. The offense was sputtering and we had a chance to really change the momentum and it was just a poorly thrown ball.
The third one hurt as well. We closed out the half with a FB to make it a 20-3 game. We opened up the second half with a nice Banks return followed by a deep flea flicker to set up another FG. Defense was playing much better. We get an INT off of VY and the crowd is starting to come to life. Two plays later Grossman tried to gun one in there and the safety stepped in for an easy pick. That took away at least another 3 points.
The fourth one didn't understand. It was a broken play and Rexy rolled out to his left and threw it right to the safety. I suppose he wasn't sure where Gaffney was going to go. Whether he was going to come back to the QB or go downfield but the ball really wasn't close to Gaffney and the safety was the only one who had a chance to get the ball. From the replays we were shown, if he had thrown it deeper, it looked like it could have been a TD but you can't say unless you look at the game film and talk to the players. Doesn't really matter. After that, you really had no choice but to make a QB switch. I mean the defense really stepped up and contained the Eagle offense in the second half but our offense did nothing to help them out.
I know no QB decision has been made but seems safe to assume that Beck is going to get the start next Sunday.
As far as other points to the game:
1. Tough injuries. We ended up losing the left side of our line. Lichtensteiger to torn ligaments and Williams to an ankle sprain. Hopefully Williams can return soon although I imagine he will be out a couple of weeks. Starting C, Montgomery, had to move to LG and we put in some new guy at C. That's a tough move mid game but the O line held up pretty well. We also lost Cooley but I'm good with Fred Davis.
2. No running game. I kind of expected this. The Eagle D Coordinator said that he was going to take the run away. They did a good job of that. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the passing game going to open up the run game. Not being able to get much in the runs on early downs and then falling behind 20-0 forced a change in game plan and more passing. Unfortunately, Rexy did his thing.
3. Defense was okay. First half, we struggled. We tried sending a lot of pressure and it is high risk, high reward with the Eagles. They have too many playmakers that if you don't get them right away, they will make you pay. However, it looked like adjustments were made at halftime and the defense blanked them in the second half. We ended up not using the Zero defense look as much and were able to have better success.
4. Special teams was solid. Gano made his kicks including a couple of longer ones. Banks had a nice return. All in all, solid effort from this group.
Still, the story is Rexy and his poor play. It's disappointing. His performance has progressively declined the last few weeks. I like his confidence but his play does not match it. We cannot win if our QB is turning the ball over as often as he is. I'm not a Beck fan but he deserves a shot and I will support him and hopefully he proves me wrong. He did have a nice scoring drive and he certainly provides much better mobility. I have always said that he runs that naked bootleg very well and that is something the Shannys like to run so I expect to see that often against Carolina. However, I'm not sold on the guy. He engineered the scoring drive but his throws were like end over end kickoffs. He couldn't throw spirals and he throws his deep balls way up high. I understand he hasn't practiced with the starters and he is rusty so hopefully time with them this week will help. Again, I do like the mobility. I do like that he will run those bootlegs as that will bring a new option to the offense we did not have with Rexy. It's good that this offense suits Beck so maybe he will surprise me but in the end, it's too bad it didn't work out with Rexy. This may not be the last time we see him so hopefully he learns from this and when he gets back in there, he is better. The problem is that this has been what he does his entire career so it is hard to imagine him learning now. We'll see.
Monday 17 October 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment