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How much did Zorn's Training Camp Affect Us?


Thinking Skins

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well my dad has said the same thing and this is a guy who predicts plays with incredible accuracy so I'm inclined to agree. He thinks it's because others teams finally had enough film to properly prepare and the Skins didn't have anything else.

I tend to agree with this theory. I coach football, and once teams get film on you, they tend to recognize the small things that will give a play away. I understand that this is a professional level of football, but the basics of the game stay the same, no matter the level. Its like blocking in the back, players are taught from little league that if you can see the number on the back of the Jersey dont touch the defender, but every week or almost every return, someone in the NFL gets flagged for doing it.

I think it was a combination of things, teams getting film and being able to game plan better, nagging injuries always play apart, OL breaking down. Due to all of these things Zorn lost the aggressivness in his play calling, I do expect things will be alot better this year though. Just my two cents

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And you know this how?

Well, anyone with two eyes could see the starters didn't play a ton in the pre-season.

The team finished 2-6 after starting 6-2. Do you honestly want me to believe that one extra pre-season game and a slightly earlier start to camp (and Camp Zorn wasn't exactly Camp Schottenheimer) caused that kind of collapse. No other team in the league that so much an easier time of things compared to us. The Titans certainly didn't seem affected by that extra game, anyway.

What killed us was Zorn's lack of imagination as the season went on. Teams got film and he didn't adjust. We had O-Lineman hurt and a QB whose overall NFL ability is still in-question.

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Hall of Fame Weekend Games, and how the teams finished their season:

2001 STL vs. MIA - Rams lose in SB, Phins lose in WC Playoff game

2002 HOU vs. NYG - Texans (4-12), Giants lose in WC Playoff game

2003 GB vs. KC - Both lose in divisional round of playoffs

2004 DEN vs. WAS - Broncos lose WC Game, Skins (6-10)

2005 CHI vs. MIA - Bears lose divisional round of playoffs, Dolphins miss playoffs (9-7)

2006 LA vs. PHI - Raiders (2-14), Eagles lose Divisional Round of Playoffs

2007 NO vs. PIT - Saints (7-9), Steelers lose WC Playoff game

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Not to mention that we played the first game of the 2008 season. All of that extra work turned out to be a brutal way to start the season. There is no denying that it affected the team down the stretch.

True, we started out 6-2, but that was probably because we got extra work in the preseason and had better chemistry for the first 8 games. But after the midpoint, our older guys just completely ran out of gas.

I'm looking forward to 2009 when we'll have a much more conventional start to the season.

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don't know about the length of camp and it's effect on us, but do know that mike tomlin admitted in his first year he pushed his players too hard and saw how it affected his team down the stretch... big ben said the difference between how the team felt towards the end of season the first year versus the second was night and day... I do believe though that whether we were fresh or not, teams figured our offense out and training camp had no effect on that whatsoever...

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Well, anyone with two eyes could see the starters didn't play a ton in the pre-season.

The team finished 2-6 after starting 6-2. Do you honestly want me to believe that one extra pre-season game and a slightly earlier start to camp (and Camp Zorn wasn't exactly Camp Schottenheimer) caused that kind of collapse. No other team in the league that so much an easier time of things compared to us. The Titans certainly didn't seem affected by that extra game, anyway.

What killed us was Zorn's lack of imagination as the season went on. Teams got film and he didn't adjust. We had O-Lineman hurt and a QB whose overall NFL ability is still in-question.

But see, I remember my childhood where I as a 1 or 2 year old child was sittin there saying "dey gonna run Riggo" and that was the play all day every day. The thing was nobody could stop that play.

I understand that part of the problem was the lack of imagination in the offense, there have been several times when teams know where the ball's going and can't stop it. Look at the Super Bowl and the Cardinals last TD. Who wasn't calling for a deep ball to Fitz? Most of the time when a team has such a disparity between the #1 and #2 WRs, teams can guess that the ball's going to the #1. Thats how (some) teams were stopping Dallas, by just covering T.O. But Dallas still managed to win 9 games (not that 9 games is such a big accomplishment).

And add to that that we weren't blown out of many games. We were still moving the ball and had chances to win some of those games in that 2-6 finish (Cincy, SF to name two off my head). The others (Dallas, Pitt, Balt, NY) were against some really good to dominant defenses.

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