Next Day Thread (Same Day Edition): The Team vs. Chargers

[KDawg]

 

I think that picture is worth a thousand words. Since that video FedEx Field has come out and said that it was rain water and not sewage water. So you have to take them at their word. But if I had a sewage pipe in my stadium burst I'd say it was anything other than that, too. 

 

Anyways, there was apparently a football game tonight featuring a football team but it wasn't THE Football Team it was the Chargers.

 

The Good

DeAndre Carter looked good.

 

Heinicke played as well as he could. He is a solid spark and probably the best option for this team at quarterback if he can remain healthy. 

 

When McLaurin had chances he made things happen.

 

Antonio Gibson looks like a much improved back. Explosive, strong and athletic. (See the ugly section for more on him, but things I don't necessarily put on him).

 

Kam Curl is a legit player. As is William Jackson III.

 

We have Tress Way.

 

The Bad:

Ryan Fitzpatrick going down isn't a great omen. The offense may be better with Heinicke's mobility, but if he can't stay healthy Fitz's injury becomes a much bigger deal.

 

Kendall Fuller in man coverage is maddening. He's just not good at it. He is a zone corner. Through and through. 

 

Our linebackers don't play downhill at all (see the Ugly for more on this). 

 

Our tackling is deplorable.

 

We have showed no creativity to get the ball to our playmakers. 

 

We didn't get the ball to McLaurin or Logan Thomas anywhere near enough.

 

The Ugly:

The defense. I could just leave it at that. But let's talk about the announcer's comment that Del Rio utilizes a 2-gap system, shall we? A 2-gap system means that each DL is responsible for two gaps. It is generally utilized in an odd front, but sometimes can be used in an even front. However, it turns your tackles into read and react types of players and generally it is used to get your backers to be less run inclined and more coverage inclined and it is paired with aggressive pressure schemes. So, if true, Del Rio is employing a read and react scheme for our two defensive tackles, basically telling our backers to not be down hill players (which explains so much) and doesn't bring much pressure. In my opinion it is a poor utilization of our talent and if true is a major problem moving forward. I don't know if its true, it adds up and makes sense, but I can't say whether or not its actually true. 

 

The defensive line. They get their own blurb. The Chargers got rid of the ball quickly, which is an excellent gameplan, but the DL was completely neutralized even when Herbert took 5-step drops and held the ball longer. The last time Chase Young met Rashawn Slater was Northwestern and Ohio State. And Slater shut him down. Today was no different. So WFT swapped he and Sweat. And a backup RT shut Young down. To be fair, Young was getting chipped and doubled. But there was one play where Young came off the edge and the running back step up and he rocked backward from the impact of the block. Smith-Williams was more impactful today than Chase Young. Sweat made an appearance on the strip sack but was semi quiet otherwise. The only DL that looked consistently active was Daron Payne. This is a starting defensive line of FOUR first rounders. Last year was their first year together. But this is year two and needs to be better. And Rivera saying they subbed some of our better players out because they were dragging? The guy I saw out more often than others seemed to be Young. Is this really the case? If so: Not good.

 

We are giving the ball to Gibson entirely too often. He is not used to or currently built for 25-30 touches a game. He will wear down during the course of a game and the season. I have confidence Patterson can get the job done but then the question is: can he hold up with a heavy work load of Gibson goes down? We don't have a true bellcow.

 

How about the 51-yard field goal attempt? I'm not entirely sure why we thought that was a good plan given Hopkins overall level of play the last few years. And I'm not blaming Hopkins here, aside from that FG attempt he played well. This is a coaching miscue. 

 

Closing:

This team was mired in problems today. Bad coaching, decision making, creativity. But the Chargers were also pretty good. They had problems finishing drives and that will haunt them if they don't fix it. But they are a legit football team with a very good quarterback at the helm, a good OL and a good defense. I'm not going to sit and type another essay in this section. We were bad, have to do better and its a short week to shake it off and make us forget about this horrendous outing.

 

Awards:

 

*** - William Jackson III

** - Tress Way

* -  Terry McLaurin (because when he got the chances he made the most he could out of them)

 - Jon Bostic (We aren't putting him in positions to be successful)

  - Kendall Fuller

   - Chase Young

 

Season to Date:

 

*** - William Jackson III

** - Tress Way

* -  Terry McLaurin 

 - Jon Bostic 

  - Kendall Fuller

   - Chase Young

 

 

Edited September 12, 2021 by KDawg

[Reaper Skins]

It seemed like they gameplanned expecting to have Samuels in the lineup, and when he was ruled out they just panicked and gave all his touches to Gibson on top of his normal ones.

 

 

[CobraCommander]

4 minutes ago, Reaper Skins said:

It seemed like they gameplanned expecting to have Samuels in the lineup, and when he was ruled out they just panicked and gave all his touches to Gibson on top of his normal ones.

 

 

If that’s true then Turner is even worse than I feared. 

[KDawg]

Also,

 

I didn't say it in the OP, but I'll say it here: The OL stunk. Scherff's false start was a drive killer. They looked porous at best. I just don't know how to even start singling out any of them without watching the film. 

[PartyPosse]

A giant turd for Turner and JDR making zero adjustments as per par for the course.

12 minutes ago, KDawg said:

Also,

 

I didn't say it in the OP, but I'll say it here: The OL stunk. Scherff's false start was a drive killer. They looked porous at best. I just don't know how to even start singling out any of them without watching the film. 

Sure makes the Moses cut look foolish now doesn’t it?

[KDawg]

1 minute ago, PartyPosse said:

A giant turd for Turner and JDR making zero adjustments as per par for the course.

Sure makes the Moses cut look foolish now doesn’t it?

 

Not necessarily. I don't know that Moses would have been much better or not. But the line wasn't good.

 

Initial reaction: I'm more worried about Leno than Cosmi. 

[Warhead36]

We're entirely reliant on our DL to win their matchups. If they do the D thrives. If they don't we struggle. And the problem is they always get dominated by quality opposition. You're not gonna face an Eagle OL featuring 4 backups every week or the likes of Nick Mullens and Andy Dalton.

 

The offense has a couple good pieces in McLaurin and Gibson but needs a lot more. And we don't have a legitimate QB. That is a big concern.

 

We're mostly the same team as last year but the record will likely be worse because of stronger competition. OR it could be that we just faced a Charger team that is gonna end up being really good and we ran into a bit of a buzzsaw. Week 1 tends to be pretty wacky as well.

[Redd]

Heinicke had noooooo time back there.  Herbert's line was giving him all day.

[profusion]

A lot of concerns, but I'm not willing to be more definitive than that in Week 1.

[method man]

What I'm encouraged by with the OL is that the RBs could seemingly pick up 3-5 yards at will on the ground but, yes, I am worried about the pass pro. It is obvious we will need to upgrade at left tackle next offseason. 

[FootballZombie]

Even before Fitz went down it was clear the gameplan was to give the ball to Gibson early, often and always.

 

That usage was by design, and it came at the expense of every other playmaker on our offense. Waaaay to much reliance on Gibby.

Edited September 12, 2021 by FootballZombie

[justice98]

34 minutes ago, Reaper Skins said:

It seemed like they gameplanned expecting to have Samuels in the lineup, and when he was ruled out they just panicked and gave all his touches to Gibson on top of his normal ones.

 

 

 

I woulda thought that they coulda just inserted McKissic in to those situations.  He was basically invisible.  

 

My concern is that even when Samuels comes back, it's gonna be a lot of gimmickry trying to trick people.  I dont envision him doing a lot downfield, even with his speed.  Mclaurin is the only guy I trust to beat somebody one on one on the outside.  

[PartyPosse]

21 minutes ago, KDawg said:

 

Not necessarily. I don't know that Moses would have been much better or not. But the line wasn't good.

 

Initial reaction: I'm more worried about Leno than Cosmi. 

Moses would have been a much better option for that game. Dunno about the long run but putting the keys to the RT in the hands of a rookie is risky and we paid the price so far.

[KDawg]

Just now, PartyPosse said:

Moses would have been a much better option for that game. Dunno about the long run but putting the keys to the RT in the hands of a rookie is risky and we paid the price so far.

I think Cosmi did “okay” all things considered drawing Bosa game one. Not good enough, I’d agree. But Leno… he broke the lineman commandment of “thou shalt not open thy floodgate” and wound up getting Fitzy’s hip possibly subluxed.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Man, I’m just so disappointed in the DL. They cannot have games like this against good QBs. They’ll lose every single time. 
 

On the other side, Scott Turner….yikes. We never scheme guys open. I see a lot of similarly talented offenses scheming guys open. We rarely do this. Every good play seems like it was a struggle. 
 

Giants looked really bad tonight. If they come in and crush us, we’re really in trouble. 

[RVAskins]

20 minutes ago, FootballZombie said:

Even before Fitz went down it was clear the gameplan was to give the ball to Gibson early, often and always.

 

That usage was by design, and it came at the expense of every other playmaker on our offense. Waaaay to much reliance on Gibby.

My guess is that they were trying to win time of possession and keep the ball out of Herbert's hands.

 

The biggest problem we had was giving up all those 3rd down possessions. The Chargers were picking up 1st downs at will. It was ugly.

[illone]

It was definitely ugly…

 

that said, if gibson doesnt fumble right back to them, could have easily won the game. 
 

close one, but good game plan by the bolts. And herbert is a dealer. Guy makes plays. 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Kam Curl gets some love today.

 

Did Jamin Davis show up anywhere except on the side of a milk carton?

[Skinsinparadise]

Moses is a backup in NY but played today because of an injury

 

 

 

 

 

standig

 

 

[Warhead36]

35 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

Kam Curl gets some love today.

 

Did Jamin Davis show up anywhere except on the side of a milk carton?

I don't recall Davis making a single play, but on the flip side I don't recall seeing him get picked on or looking terribly either. So I guess that at least makes him better then Bostic...lolol.

[Skinsinparadise]

As for the 1 gap-2 gap, i haven't bothered to study what Del Rio has done but I'll try to take a look this week.  If I recall I read somewhere he mixes it up but I believe he does like to do some one gap in the mix because he's talked about liking his D lineman to let loose and penetrate.    I recall watching some Allen clips in the off season and definitely he was playing 1 gap in a bunch of them.  He actually had a good season at least by PFF metrics as to pass rushing last season and they touted Allen on that front as to making a good impact as a pass rusher. 

Edited September 13, 2021 by Skinsinparadise

[Ball Security]

5 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

Moses is a backup in NY but played today because of an injury

 

 

 

 

 

I think I heard that their giant LT got hurt.  Did Moses get in then?

[KDawg]

1 minute ago, Skinsinparadise said:

As for the 1 gap-2 gap, i haven't bothered to study what Del Rio has done but I'll try to take a look this week.  If I recall I read somewhere he mixes it up but I believe he does like to do some one gap in the mix because he's talked about liking his D lineman to let loose and penetrate.    I recall watching some Allen clips in the off season and definitely he was playing 1 gap in a bunch of them.  He actually had a good season at least by PFF metrics as to pass rushing last season and they touted Allen on that front as to making a good impact as a pass rusher. 

Any time they blitz they have to be in one gap. The way it looks is that we two gap when we aren’t bringing heat. Which is way too often for my taste.

[Skinsinparadise]

5 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

I think I heard that their giant LT got hurt.  Did Moses get in then?

yep

4 minutes ago, KDawg said:

Any time they blitz they have to be in one gap. The way it looks is that we two gap when we aren’t bringing heat. Which is way too often for my taste.

 

I haven't sat and charted the plays, I did it one year.  But I recall rewatching some Allen for a debate I was having and noticed he was playing a lot (per usual) on the right side.  3 or 2 technique.  Plenty of 1 gap from what I saw but it was a small sample.  i know he 2 gaps at times but got some doubts Del Rio primarily used him that way.  But I'll rewatch, I can't say for certain.  Not just blitzes. 

Edited September 13, 2021 by Skinsinparadise

[KDawg]

3 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

yep

 

I haven't sat and charted the plays, I did it one year.  But I recall rewatching some Allen for a debate I was having and noticed he was playing a lot (per usual) on the right side.  3 technique.  1 gap.  i know he 2 gaps at times but got some doubts Del Rio primarily used him that way.  But I'll rewatch, I can't say for certain.  Not just blitzes. 

A 3-tech wouldn’t typically be 2-gapping. It’s usually the nose/2i and an end. You generally want the 3-tech getting up field. 
 

Having said that… I’d have to actually watch a lot more to determine if we’re actually doing it. But the announcers got that from somewhere. They sit in on interviews with these guys.