Larry Gude
Strung Out
...this is a post to pile on the decision to start this season with Brunell at the helm.
Does anyone recall the excuses? Why, Clinton was hurt! Santana was hurt! Shawn was hurt! The d line isn't doing this, the o line isn't doing that! It's not just Mark! QB's get too much credit when things are going good, too much blame for the bad. Ya da ya...
Well, who hasn't played the last two weeks? Who was pretty much ineffective yesterday? Are the two lines playing better? Yes. Is Shawn getting back to 100%? Yes.
And what else is going on?
Hope. HOPE. Jason Campbell is hope, he is a stud on your team that tells everyone he can make a play when we gotta have it. His playing takes away the titanic pressure of everyone feeling like there is no room for error, like no one can afford even one mistake. That kind of pressure often leads to more mistakes, often leads to over thinking and sluggish play because your not JUST playing.
More than any other single position, far more, a qb who makes you feel like he can and will make plays when you gotta have it allows everyone else the room, the freedom to just do their job and not be so damn tight. Rb's don't give the whole team that confidence. Not linebackers. Not kickers.
Did Shawn Taylor suddenly learn how to make a break on a wr and take him down two yards short on 4th down? Did a brand new fs, Fox, suddenly know what AA didn't seem to know, first and foremost, don't allow anyone to get behind you?
Did the o line, all of a sudden, figure out how to push people around, one of the better d lines in football? Did lb's just now figure out how to get people on the ground? Did the d line find some map that showed where the qb is or how to clog holes?
The papers are making a big deal out of the Cooley play; Jason's head set went dead before the play call made it's way to him. He only heard part of the call. Jason, on his own, with the game perhaps on the line, called a mid depth crossing pattern and Cooley was the second read.
What Mark have done? Call a screen? A time out? Another 'what's wrong now' play. Sure as hell not a mid depth crossing pattern. When was the last time he threw across the middle 20 yards deep? 1996?
Prior to this he, JC, had made a rookie mistake heaving one into double coverage to Moss that was picked off. What would otherwise be a deflating mistake was simply cause for the d to step up because all they had to do was their job and get the kid the ball back. Because he's play maker, not a caretaker.
These people work together every day. They know what's what. They know who can do this or that. Or, not this or that. They know Marks limits and they know all the disruptions and changes. They know how big a deal it is to do their own job but they also know the margin for error just wasn't there.
Now, it is. Now they are free of a tremendous amount of weight because if they get beat on a play or make a mistake Jason CAN step away and make time. He can rifle a pass when someone draped around his feet. He can throw a rainbow 60 yards down field. He can step in the huddle at crunch time, call a play, on his own, like it's no more than chewing bubble gum and can make a PERFECT throw.
Cooley was covered by a cb, not a lb. If that pass was a bit behind, it's either knocked down or Chris gets tackled right away. As it was, in full stride, a crossing pattern, Chris just got it and motored.
Hope has arrived and before long, that hope just may well grow into expectations that you KNOW he'll make plays. And the opponent knows it. And they start pressing.
I almost feel like singing.
Does anyone recall the excuses? Why, Clinton was hurt! Santana was hurt! Shawn was hurt! The d line isn't doing this, the o line isn't doing that! It's not just Mark! QB's get too much credit when things are going good, too much blame for the bad. Ya da ya...
Well, who hasn't played the last two weeks? Who was pretty much ineffective yesterday? Are the two lines playing better? Yes. Is Shawn getting back to 100%? Yes.
And what else is going on?
Hope. HOPE. Jason Campbell is hope, he is a stud on your team that tells everyone he can make a play when we gotta have it. His playing takes away the titanic pressure of everyone feeling like there is no room for error, like no one can afford even one mistake. That kind of pressure often leads to more mistakes, often leads to over thinking and sluggish play because your not JUST playing.
More than any other single position, far more, a qb who makes you feel like he can and will make plays when you gotta have it allows everyone else the room, the freedom to just do their job and not be so damn tight. Rb's don't give the whole team that confidence. Not linebackers. Not kickers.
Did Shawn Taylor suddenly learn how to make a break on a wr and take him down two yards short on 4th down? Did a brand new fs, Fox, suddenly know what AA didn't seem to know, first and foremost, don't allow anyone to get behind you?
Did the o line, all of a sudden, figure out how to push people around, one of the better d lines in football? Did lb's just now figure out how to get people on the ground? Did the d line find some map that showed where the qb is or how to clog holes?
The papers are making a big deal out of the Cooley play; Jason's head set went dead before the play call made it's way to him. He only heard part of the call. Jason, on his own, with the game perhaps on the line, called a mid depth crossing pattern and Cooley was the second read.
What Mark have done? Call a screen? A time out? Another 'what's wrong now' play. Sure as hell not a mid depth crossing pattern. When was the last time he threw across the middle 20 yards deep? 1996?
Prior to this he, JC, had made a rookie mistake heaving one into double coverage to Moss that was picked off. What would otherwise be a deflating mistake was simply cause for the d to step up because all they had to do was their job and get the kid the ball back. Because he's play maker, not a caretaker.
These people work together every day. They know what's what. They know who can do this or that. Or, not this or that. They know Marks limits and they know all the disruptions and changes. They know how big a deal it is to do their own job but they also know the margin for error just wasn't there.
Now, it is. Now they are free of a tremendous amount of weight because if they get beat on a play or make a mistake Jason CAN step away and make time. He can rifle a pass when someone draped around his feet. He can throw a rainbow 60 yards down field. He can step in the huddle at crunch time, call a play, on his own, like it's no more than chewing bubble gum and can make a PERFECT throw.
Cooley was covered by a cb, not a lb. If that pass was a bit behind, it's either knocked down or Chris gets tackled right away. As it was, in full stride, a crossing pattern, Chris just got it and motored.
Hope has arrived and before long, that hope just may well grow into expectations that you KNOW he'll make plays. And the opponent knows it. And they start pressing.
I almost feel like singing.
