[CBFF] Well.... That Sucked.

[Steve Behrens]

1st option was to be able to shut down the Colts offense, I agree... but we
all knew that was going to be a tough task.  2nd option, though, was to have
some kind of an effective/ aggressive offense that stayed on the field
longer to give our defense a break and to score some points (if it was going
to turn into a shootout).  I thought Turner had a game plan, it wasn't
working, but stayed way too long with it.  The short passing game that we
saw on the last couple of drives... where was it early on!?!?  That's what
we should have mixed in early when it was apparent nothing else was working
(can't beat 20/20 hindsight).  You cannot be afraid of your QB, and it was
obvious Turner was...  so he went with the Chinese torture method of getting
beat rather than seeing if Rex could get hot and play shootout.  Rex was 6-8
in the first half... *ONLY 8 PASSES!*  With virtually no offense to show for
it.  Probably the worst think that could have happened was Jones breaking
off that long run because it kept Turner from airing it out, which, IMO, was
the only chance we had, it was the only chance our defense had of getting
some rest.. because Peyton had their number.


I thought the defense played fairly well early on, but just got worn down.
Yes, as I was telling my son, "Not another 3rd down..... I hate third
downs... we can't stop them on third downs"...*that* was poor strategy on
our part, not pressuring Manning more and playing too deep on their rec's.

I guess we can come away from this game hoping it was just another learning
experience to help us climb to the next step, like last years loss was.  But
this was a tough, painful lesson.

-Behr


On 2/4/07, westmalle at comcast.net <westmalle at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > as bad as Rex was, you can't
> > expect a QB to come up with a great pass when you don't get him in a
> rhythm
> > earlier in the game.
> >
> > There's more to point out, and blame to go all 'round for this game, but
> > that's the first thing that comes to mind.
>
> Part of the reason why the offense did not get in a rhythm was that our
> defense could not get off the field.  That's their fault, not Rex's or
> anyone else.  I would love to see the stats but what was our 3rd down stop
> rate.  My guess is that it was paltry verging on pathetic.  We gave up 3rd
> and longs, 3rd and shorts, 3rd and whatevers all night.  The defense had
> themselves to blame as much as the offense for why they were on the field so
> much.  I'd be willing to blame Rex and the offense for no offensive rhythm
> if they had more than what? 4 possessions in the first half?  And only
> another 6 or 8 for the rest of the game?
>
> You could easily make a case that an offense cannot get on track--with
> either a running game or West Coast passing game--on the basis of how few
> opportunities our offense had to do so.
>
> Steve
>
> --
> http://drlake.blogspot.com
>
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