Game 4 @DAL Goat Thread
- Thread starter DeadlySplitter
- Start date
As a group it’s just embarrassing but the trend of a different but specific lineman falling completely apart each week is even weirder. One week it’s Strange getting smoked and leaving open runners up the middle. Then its Onwenu becoming a turnstile. I guess Lowe breaks the trend by being appalling back to back with 17 quarterback pressures over the last two games
As a relative beginner compared to others with charts like this, out of curiosity is this grading blocking by the O line only? Here is where Im thinking - those run blocking grades are ok, but the running game is still way below average because the entire D can play somewhat close to the LoS against the patriots that any holes the line creates gets closed up pretty quickly by Dmen they ultimately arent responsible for? Obviously Im simplifying things a bit but just trying to more accurately pin point why the running game has been pretty bad as well.
THis was a good breakdown, if I think he missed one thing in his broader discussion, it is that he doesn't note that one of the reasons teams have played us the way they have te last 4 years is that we've had QBs who struggled to make certain throws as well. Broken Cam, then Mac, you aren't going to worry as much about him throwing guys open to the outside, or zipping it in to guys without much separation.
Not sure where Lazar is the definitive voice. I like the guy but he is hardly dispassionate. There are and have been guys open, we just cant get it to them. Last year, it felt like it was due to the coordinators more than Mac (though I was less sure about that than others) but this year it is mostly just on Mac.
Good question and I'm unsure of the answer as well. You would almost have to adjust to how many players in the box. With the Pats O, the line is most certainly seeing more stacked boxes than most.
Taylor Kyles is pretty good too. Unsure of any others who watch the all 22. Taylor's film review is here for the offensive side of the ball.
The WRs tend to struggle to get open and when they do get open Mac either misses them or hits them but they drop the ball, ala the Bourne deep pass that hit his forearm a game or to ago. Thought JuJu actually had a nice catch on the 3rd and long vs. DAL just before the ill-fated Mac rugby dive but by and large the WR are making the catches they should and not much else. Mac being slow to get them the ball not helping either. This isn't a chicken or the egg problem, it is a chicken and the egg and the whole damn farm problem.
I don't get how people can look at what they produce on offense and believe it would be possible to be this terrible if the QB, the receivers or the OL weren't the problem. They're all the problem. That's how you get to 30th in the league in points per drive and 32nd in drives resulting in a score. I'm sorry, the context around Mac is awful, but if Mac were a good NFL QB they wouldn't look this bad. If they had good receivers or a good OL they wouldn't either, but I don't know how you look at the way teams have defended the Patriots and put that solely on the weapons and not on the QB who can't hit the broadside of a barn past 20 yards, throws off his back foot constantly, and is never lined up on throws to the sidelines. Yeah, of course defenses will sit on short passes to the middle of the field. And it's not just due to the receivers (who also suck).
Yeah I don't know if he's definitive in any way, but I agree with a lot of his takeaways there... teams do go man and flood the middle because they don't respect our passcatchers or QB's ability to beat them. I thought he had a nice balance, he noted Mac missing an open Parker multiple times, failure to make certain throws, and just a general lack of explosive passing game
I'm not sure how you read my post and didn't think I was including Mac in the list of problems?
I know it was one throw, but the Zappe pass to (I forget) where he hit the receiver in stride was jarring because we haven't seen much of that in the past two seasons. It was almost like "whoa, this is how it's supposed to look". This isn't a vote of confidence for Zappe, more that I think the WR struggles are a combination of factors, including poor ball placement and/or inability to get the ball where it needs to be.