Man the Raiders really took them to woodshed physically.
The trainer’s room in the Eagles Novacare complex is gonna be a busy place this week.

Needs to be more involved. But again… our QB sucks, so will we ever know if he is any good?

I’ve been touting Mr. Johnson since he got here, and I feel like he’s ready to take the starting spot. He’s able to rush the passer much better than Brayton, and with his strength and speed I feel like he would be more effective against the run. I feel like Brayton should be in the rotation at both DE and DT, but not starting.

maybe an old one?

Regardless it sounds like he’s not happy…
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=NFL&id=2386&line=155723&spln=1

dually noted, and corrected.

Thanks

Passing Defense is probably a bit skewed (we’ll find out in 2 weeks vs Arz). However, we look better each week. Were getting a fairly consistent pass rush, not giving up too many big plays, And our rushing defense seems to be getting better too. Really points off turn overs are what’s killing us, and you can’t blame the defense for that. I think this is definitely an area to be optimistic about.

He is a converted safety, who for awhile looked like a potential bust. But now he is in a defense built around his position, and he is making the most of the opportunity.

His play was so spirited the league will probably give him a few weeks off for his effort!

And split Pep’s salary with him while your at it.

Your statement is insinuating that if Jake Delhomme were African American that John Fox would have benched him, thus depicting Fox as a racist. There is simply no evidence that supports anything you have said.

Please keep your comments to yourself. It’s not my place to tell anyone what they should and shouldn’t think, but your inflammatory statements have no place on a modern football forum. What year do you think this is anyway?

Leave that prejudicial stuff at home and come chat with us. We would love to talk about football with you. Just football. :)

as long as you follow it with “Yeah, I said it”?

They Bucs got very little running up the middle, they could get the edge early

We lead the league in points given up by turnovers.

nobody is mentioning Jonathan Stewart’s fumble inside the 10 yard line. If he held on to that ball it probably would have been another TD by the Panthers.

We need to secure the ball better at all positions.

For some people, there is no doubt that things would be different if some people had darker or lighter skin. But I don’t think any of them work for the Panthers. So the product on the field would be the same, for better or worse. And for better or worse, the knuckleheads out there who think that skin color equates to performance in one category or another are still throwing stupid arguments around, except about different topics. :)

He’d probably be less of a sack of potatoes back there. And please, get it right… Smitty wouldn’t be Pakastani, Muhammad would be ;)

I find it amusing that over 40 million white people just voted a black man into the most powerful position in the country, and we are still having this conversation.

Great point, I really had forgotten about that parallel.

Thanks for giving me a little something to hang some hope on. :)

Honestly, I’ve been a big believer in Jake for a long time, despite his less-than-traditional throwing style, his reliance on back-shoulder throws and lobbing the ball up for Smitty to just “make a play”, all of that. I think he’s been an unorthodox-but-effective player at his position and a great leader. But I’m at the end of my rope, too.

However, let’s get our facts straight.

On Offense, Jake Delhomme threw another pick six against a receiver that was in TRIPLE coverage when he let go of the football. Meanwhile Moose was in one on one coverage over to the left side, and Steve Smith would have been in the same position on the other side if he was given a second or so more time to throw.

I covered it in a comment up above, but his pick-six was thrown to a single-covered Moose on a crossing route. The safety over the top of Smith cheated up hard because they had a six-man blitz on, and he knew Jake would release it early. Cheating up put him directly in the path of Moose’s route, and Jake’s throw would have been a perfect strike to Moose except for the safety cheating up.

But like I also said, that’s on Jake. He should have recognized the blitz, known what their defense was up to, known that their route combination was beaten and taken the sack. And of course it’s really on Davidson, who came up with a bad route combination against a defense that was focused on stopping Smitty.

Anyway, I’m frustrated and fearful of what Jake’s going to do next when he has the ball. He can no longer hit his receivers on deep routes the way he has in the past. Is that on Smith for losing his edge, losing his top-end speed? Or has Jake lost the touch on his deep ball? I have no idea. Maybe both. But our passing game, whether it’s by design (Davidson) or execution (Jake, Steve), is a liability to our team right now.

No offense of course, neither am I. All we get to do is sit helpless and scream at the TV in frustration.

So what do you think the coaches need to do? What do you think they will do? Assuming Jake remains the starter, of course.

I’ll be at the game Sunday, and I hope to see a few screens and quick slants to Smitty early, just to get him in the groove of the game. I would love to see more single-back sets with Smitty, Moore, and Moose wide and Rosario in the slot. And I want to see them RUN out of it too. Buffalo is the perfect opponent for that.

If the Panthers can get Smitty involved with short passes early, then maybe they’ll get brave and start on some intermediate routes. If those work, THEN let Jake throw deep.

I really don’t believe Jake is physically done. I think that from a purely physical standpoint, he has years left. But his head is somewhere out in Belmont and needs to be put back on straight. Maybe it’s the new QB coach, maybe Davidson is hanging him out to dry. But Jake is a wasted asset.

Yes, I used the word asset. He was the leader of a 12-4 team and was directly responsible for at least four of those wins last year. And then in the playoffs and again early this year he was asked to be something he isn’t. A lot of damage has been done as a result.

So what do they do to fix it? Can it be fixed? I want to hear about that, and hope to see signs of the likely solutions this Sunday.

Our WRs are great blockers first and foremost. On several occasions Sunday I saw Moose throw excellent blocks (as usual) and caught glimpses of Smitty and even Jarrett tossing an effective block on someone. You know what formation works great when you have receivers who can block? The Bunch formation.

TE OT OG C OG OT WR2-WR3-WR1 (upside down V alignment)
                   QB

                   RB

From this formation you can break out into a variety of routes for intermediate and long pass plays, but the true beauty resides in the short passing game, where you can use those WRs as blockers for one another. Assuming the WR1 in the above formation is Smitty, he simply comes in to the left after the ball is snapped while Moose and Moore/Jarrett take on blocking duty. With the speed of Smitty, that has to be good for 5 yards everytime.