Stinger's Ny-Quil Induced Thoughts for Week 4: Ravens Vs. 49'ers

[StingerNLG]

Having a cold absolutely sucks. I have been under the weather since Friday, and it's been complicated with a band gig on Saturday in Great Falls, VA and band practice on Sunday right in the middle of the damn game. And although I didn't miss much, I at least DVR'd it so I could finish it when I got home.

Around the league we go!

- How did the Cowboys win tonight? But more importantly, the Bills put up 24 points on the 4-0 Cowboys. The Cowboys led for all of 2 seconds in the entire game! The Bills aren't a "gimme" team. Two defensive returns for touchdowns, kids. And we play them right before the bye.

- Let's play "If I knew then what I know now". It's one of my favorite games. Ok, I'll start. If I knew then what I know now, I would have been all for taking a serious shot at landing Randy Moss. I would have traded the potential for him to be a smartass with his ability to jump over 100% of the cornerbacks in the league, and still be able to outrun about 75% of them. Don't get me wrong, Tom Brady throwing the ball to him hasn't hurt. But wow.

- Speaking of Tom Brady. 74.1% passing. 16 TD's, 2 INT's. 19 passes over 20 yards. Passer rating of 128.7. The only person with a better passing competion than Tom Brady is LaDainian Tomlinson; who's 1 for 1. Look over this stat line one more time. If Tom Brady breaks his leg walking out of his front door one day and misses the rest of the season, the Patriots might be DONE. And something like that will be how it happens, because he'll never get hurt behind that OL of his.

- 41 to 3??? Are you kidding me? No, that wasn't the VA Tech/Clemson game score. At least Clemson scored 13 points. No, I'm talking about the Chargers and Broncos. And in case you missed the game, Denver scored the 3 points. 41-3. Erf. And we play the Chargers. Remember, the Broncos have Champ Bailey and Dre Bly. We don't even know if Samari Rolle will be playing by then.

- And finally, the Saints are done. 0-4 ain't getting you to the playoffs. I still also think the Bears are done despite Sunday's dramatic win over the Packers. In my Ny-Quill induced stooper, I turned the game off and fell asleep right after the Bears tied the game.

- While I'm at it you can cross off the Bengals, the Jets, and maybe still the Chargers from the playoffs. I will be surprised if they make it. Especially with some surprise teams out there that MIGHT shock people this year. The Texans are 3-2. The Titans are 3-1. For that matter, NO TEAM in the AFC South has a losing record yet. I'm just saying.


Ok, onto the Ravens:

- Let me start with some good stuff this time. Massive props to the offensive line Sunday. Yeah, I know it's the 49'ers. But think about the guys that ended up in the game. Gaither, Brown, Chester, Grubbs, Yanda. And for all of them having to step in and play under these circumstances and be able to protect the QB like they have all year, they stepped up! Adam Terry included. I hope he gets healthy soon too, because he will be one of the anchors of the line for our future. And I'm more ok with that this year than last. Now, I want to see how this OL works against the Steelers, and the Patriots, and the Colts. But I am not as worried about the offensive line as I have been in years past.

- Thumbs up to the defense for stepping up to the plate and getting some of their groove back. Call it what you want, an easy game, or a tool up for the coming weeks. I know the 49'ers had no offense Sunday, well except they were the only team to score a touchdown Sunday but I am not to my angry Stinger part yet, but the defense had to stop a very good Frank Gore. And they did. And that touchdown was just a good hard throw, because McAlister had good coverage on his man and just couldn't get the hand swat in time. Filmstudy is going to do a much much better job than me with analyzing the defense. But it did look to me like they buckled down and started playing straight-up no-trick defense. They swarmed to the ball, and finally picked up some non-corner sacks. Now, show me against the Rams and the Bills and I'll breathe easier about post-bye games.

- If Matt Stover breaks HIS leg walking out his front door, we are absolutely screwed. He is the greatest player in Baltimore Raven's history. He should be in the Ring of Honor right now, and he's still playing!! That's all I need to say.


Update: Good night New York Yankees. The party is over. Cleveland wins. Good night Joe Torre. You managed your last game in Pinstripes. Oh, and I wouldn't answer your phone for a couple of weeks Brian Cashman. I don't know that your job is safe either.

And on MNF the Cowboys almost tied the game! Romo led the team to a touchdown, but couldn't convert the 2 points and it's now 24-23 Buffalo!


- Ok, so now I have to talk about it. As it was said by the baseball announcer (who played Squiggy in Laverne and Shirley) in "A League of Their Own", I have seen enough to know I've seen too much. I watched Steve McNair try to run for a first down in open space, and not able to accellerate to the marker and get tackled well short. Then I watched him throw a pass that was batted straight up in the air, and almost picked off right in front of him. The problem was that while McNair's arm motion looked like a full pass, the ball seemed to come out of his hand like it was a nerf ball. Then I watched a ball sail over D-Will's head in the endzone. And while McNair completed 29 passes, he was once again overthrowing receivers and checking down almost without even waiting to see if his main guys were even open! I don't know what is wrong with McNair right now. Is it his groin? Is his groin causing him mental breakdowns as well? Whatever it is, it's time for him to sit. It just is. I just don't think he's got it right now. And I am not sure if he's got it at all anymore. You CAN NOT take away what McNair has done in his career. And I won't do it either. But he isn't that guy anymore.

And ok, I know Boller still scares some of you. Fine. But take your pick. See if he has improved enough to give you hope for the future against the Rams and the Bills and then have a hopefully fully healthy McNair for the stretch run? Or do you want to risk someone sacking McNair one time and losing him for 6-8 weeks? Many people, even those who hated Boller in the past are starting to see the improvement in him. And as I continue to say, credit Steve McNair's being here for that. And now we have an opportunity to take some time to see if that's real. If we don't, I am not sure we're going to survive after the bye. Billick and the team needs to do the right thing.


- Now, there is one thing that clouds the offensive woes that I can't figure out. I just can't figure out why we can't throw the ball more than 5 yards. Seriously. Can McNair simply not get the ball down there? Can the receivers not get down there in time? Or have we finally seen that Billick has zero confidence in either? I have a couple questions. Why did we waste a 1st round pick on Mark Clayton to be a possession receiver? Why did we draft Demetrius Williams again? So that all three of our receivers can run 5-7 yard zone patterns?

Let me put it this way. Yamon Figurs came in for a play on offense. He caught a HITCH PASS BEHIND THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE! It was listed as a BACKWARDS PASS for -1 YARDS!! Now let me get this straight. Figurs was the fastest guy at the entire combine. Ran the 40 in 4.29. Was considered one of the Big 12’s top deep threats. A backwards pass for -1 yards.

I am not a big "Brian Billick sucks, he has to go" kind of guy. I never really have been. But when I continue to see this 9 years after he gets here, I start to wonder if the problem really does stem from the source. We've been promised a more prolific offense now for years. The QB is the problem, so we draft, draft, and then replace the QB. The OL was a problem. But now we've gotten younger and more athletic, and they are protecting the QB. The coordinators were the problem, so they fired Cavanaugh and Fassel, and made sure Newheisel was basically give an empty title. We upgraded the receivers. And yet we just won a game 9-7, and the team that was missing it's left tackle, tight end, and starting 1st overall pick QB scored the only touchdown of the game. And we had to once again settle for 3 field goals.


Update: I can't believe the Cowboys pulled the game out! 25-24, and it was a wild WILD ending. How the Bills lost that game is beyond me! How do you force 5 turnovers and still lose???


- Ok, my final thought for the night. This is not the week for me to hear "A win is a win". Let me tell you how many points the teams we are about to play scored this week:

St. Louis: 31
Buffalo: 24
Pittsburgh: 21 (and shut out the Seahawks without their all-pro safety)

And that doesn't even factor in us playing the Patriots, Colts, Browns again, Bengals again, and Pittsburgh a second time. If we can't score more than 9 points and get a touchdown against the lowly 49'ers, who's expecting us to score anything on these other teams?

Can anyone honestly tell me we'll be fine against these teams? That we'll be able to play dink-and-dunk-and-FG against the Patriots or Steelers? What happens when a good team stops Willis McGahee and forces us to beat them in the air?

I'm sorry guys, but while I want to breathe easy and say we're 3-2 and that's ok, it's not for me. I have legitimate fears about coming out of bye 5-2 at best (and even that isn't a given), and then having a tough time getting to the playoffs after that. Something NEEDS to change on this offense or we're not going anywhere this week.


Ok guys, your turn. Take it away!!

[purplepoe]

Good post Stinger.

Couple of things about tonight's game.

Not only did the Bills have 2 defensive TDs but a kickoff return as well. Their offense mustered a whopping 3 points.

And they forced 6 turnovers. 5 INTs and a Romo fumble.

I think the Chargers will win the AFC West. The Broncos are a shell of the teams' we've seen in the past, the Raiders are still the Raiders and the Chargers will spank KC when they see them in KC.

Onto the Ravens.

I pretty much agree with what you said. The thing is, McNair isn't gonna sit. Period.

Billick waivered a bit after the Cardinals game but he's come out and not only endorsed McNair but he's told us for 2 weeks in a row that McNair is playing very well.

He hasn't been asked if he's playing very well, he's just come out unsolicited and said it.

Of course most of us can see that he's playing far from well let alone very well. But IMO we're riding this horse no matter what.

I've said since he game 1 that we should've rested McNair until he was fully healthy.

The only way I see him sitting is if he really aggravates that groin of suffers another injury.

Also, we've gotta stop with these procedure penalties. We started off the game with one and continued them throughout. Also, even if people think it's a dumb rule etc..... Billick MUST rip into these guys about throwing the ball after a play. Granted, Mason's was very questionable as he was in pain after getting tackled and was obviously not spiking or throwing the ball with any malicious intent. The refs should be able to use some judgement on that. But really, enough is enough. We've had this called on us numerous times and the one called on Reed set us back 15 yards and pretty much guaranteed just a FG. (with this offense, a FG is pretty much a guaranteed anyway).

This week is a game where the visiting team has nothing to lose. The Rams are 0-5 and completely banged up. We need to win our next 2 games and Buffalo showed us tonight that nothing is easy in the NFL.

PP

[Gabrosin]

Stinger, I'm with you on Billick. I've always been one to defend him, even when times have been tough, but I simply cannot defend him after what I've seen so far this season. Even the 49ers, one of the most putrid offenses in the league, is a bigger threat to go deep successfully than we are. With their backup QB no less. I love a good long drive but against the top teams in the league we cannot win unless those drives end with a touchdown, and that's just not happening. McNair is NOT RIGHT. We've ALL seen him play way better than this. He has no zip on his passes, which is why we can't go deep. His accuracy and his passing strength are both fouled up, either because he's getting old or because he's still injured or both. His mechanics are miserable. We desperately need to be 5-2 going into the bye week to be able to survive the rough schedule beyond it and I have no confidence in McNair to get it done. Our defense is not what it once was, though they had a solid bounce-back sort of game against the 49ers... but again, one of the league's worst offenses missing at least three key starters (QB, TE, LT). I have no explanation for why Billick hasn't turned things over to Boller yet. Let McNair get full healthy from the bench. Boller certainly played well against the Jets and Cardinals, both victories. McNair's only good game this year, against the Cardinals, he wasn't even able to finish. If we blow these next two games because Billick's stubbornness stops him from benching Steve McNair, we can not only forget the playoffs, we can forget making it to 8-8.

We have been through QBs, OLs, WRs, RBs, and coordinators. If we still can't get it done on offense, then the only change that's left is the head coach. I like Billick a lot and I don't want to see him go, but another performance like the one we saw in San Francisco, one that results in a loss to an inferior team... he's in real danger of losing this locker room altogether. You hear the rumblings from the defense, from the receivers, from every veteran who knows they only have a couple shots left at a ring.

These next two games are extremely dangerous. There's NOTHING we can do to get our confidence back against these opponents; even blowing them out 35-0 is little more than what's expected of us. But stumbling here can very well sink us. We're facing an unbelievably brutal six-week stretch after the bye, starting with a Monday night game in Pittsburgh, then two games against divisional foes who have beaten us once each already, and capped with three games in a row against last year's finest teams, two of which are still undefeated; the only one that's struggling, we're playing on the road. We'll be pretty damn lucky to get out of that stretch at 3-3; the team that played the 49ers this past weekend would come out of it 0-6.

Billick, please, wake up. McNair is not right out there. Make the change before you lose your team and your job.

[sailorsam]

I wonder if the last half of last year was an illusion.
I suspect BB KNOWS McNair is doing awful, but he can't exactly come out and say it ('yeah, our qb sucks noodles, but...'). I for one would like to see KBol in more.
could BB be 'dumbing down' the offense for the sake of the young linemen (plus McGahee, who's new)? and is Mark Clayton anything more than a decoy?
rest of the league...I can't imagine anything to prevent a Patriots-Colts showdown for the AFC title (which will lead to an easy SB win over whomever the NFC produces). not crazy about Team Irsay, but I'd root for anyone now over the Patriots, even the Squealers (did I just say that?)...the Cowboys look like the class of the NFC. as you mentioned, the Pats-Cboys game will tell us a lot about both teams...Chargers might have rebounded; I have no idea what happened to the Broncs. With Cutler getting another year I thot they might be a sleeper...Da Bears still a playah in that wild NFC, but no one wants a piece of the Bucs. Why oh why didn't we sign Jeff Garcia...any questions about Del Rio dumping Leftwich? (yes, one question in the back...why didn't you dump him last year?)
Randy Dandy would be a great pickup for a winning team with strong leadership, but would probably have been a distraction at best or poison at worst for a lesser team (Broncos?)...meanwhile, Terrell Owens is becoming a model citizen. maturation happens...Bengals and Jets took big steps backwards; Saints just...collapsing?
how's this for coincidence? Sunday the Ravens had a late lead but almost lost in last couple minutes before the opponent missed a 52 yard fg attempt. flashback to Saturday; the Terps had a late lead but almost lost when their opponent...missed a 52 yd fg attempt. ha, a win's a win.
(and a few weeks ago the Terps beat Rutgers and the Ravens beat the Jets)

[Baltoman07]

Let's see how much Terrell has matured when his team starts losing.

[Raveninwoodlawn]

This has been an incredibly disapointing season...and it feels dumb to say that considering we are 3-2, but I think we all know we are not a very good football team right now.

All offseason, I felt that we weren't given the proper respect...especially with all the sports guys declaring a big 3 in the AFC and not including the team with the 2nd best record last year. Now, you just feel as if the team is letting you down for sticking up for them all offseason.

I'm tired of this lame ass dink and dunk shit too. I would jump on blame McNair badnwagon that is growing by the second (does this town turn quickly on Qb's or what? lol), but this has been the same shit every single fucking year.

Every year we average 5 and a half yards a pass no matter who the personel is. Every offseason, we hear the same shit about us trying to go up field more. And every offseason, it's the same shit.

We have changed QB's year after year...we have changed WR's year after year...we have changed OC's year after year, yet we still are throwing 2 yard slants.

What the hell is up with this route tree? Its like every play, Demitrious is the only one who runs a deep pattern, Clayton runs 8 yards up field and Mason runs 5 yard crossing patterns.

I understand Mason isn't the fastest guy and won't outrun most DB's in the league...but niether will Hines Ward, or guys like TJ Whosyourmama or Keyshawn Johnson in his prime.

What the hell happened to Claytons ability to run after the catch? I remember before the draft that year, his highlight films were clinic's in RAC skills. Where is it now? He catches the ball and then basically falls down. Maybe this dink and dunk would work if we had guys who could make some defenders miss.

And McNair...I dunno. It's obvious something is wrong...I don't get this "he is playing great BS from Billick. That tells me one of a couple things...
A: This offense is actually designed to be this crappy. We don't have big plays because we don't call them and McNair is just doing as he is told.
B: Billick feels as if he cannot critisize McNAir based on his history and is afraid of the reprecussions if he actually says something not positive about him.
C: Billick is just gonna ride or die with McNair just like we did with Grbac.

Whatever the reason, we aren't very good if we can't score TD's...TOP and yardage be damned

[Raveninwoodlawn]

Check out this quote by Tony who was at the game...


On third and goal from the 10 the Ravens had to get in the end zone yet there wasn’t a single receiver in the end zone. Was that two down territory with 3:26 to play in the second quarter? Of course not yet the Ravens opt instead to throw a three yard pass to McGahee on a third and goal from the eleven.

[festivus]

And McNair...I dunno. It's obvious something is wrong...I don't get this "he is playing great BS from Billick. That tells me one of a couple things...
A: This offense is actually designed to be this crappy. We don't have big plays because we don't call them and McNair is just doing as he is told.
B: Billick feels as if he cannot critisize McNAir based on his history and is afraid of the reprecussions if he actually says something not positive about him.
C: Billick is just gonna ride or die with McNair just like we did with Grbac.

Whatever the reason, we aren't very good if we can't score TD's...TOP and yardage be damned

Interesting thread as usual Stinger. I'll pick up where RIW left off. . .

Billick will *not* talk bad about his players. He just won't. One possible reason is not to tip his hand to future opponents, though I think a lot of the reason is he sees his role as that of firewall: when things got hot under the hood, it is his job to protect the players in the cabin of the car. He's always been that way. Behind closed doors he might think Boller is a bust and/or a knucklehead, but hell if he will ***ever*** express that opinion in such a way that it shows to us. So he will not say McNair did anything less then what was asked of him. He just won't. It's not in his nature.

A: TOP and yardage *are* important because they keep other team's offenses off the field, and they keep our defense fresh. I do think to some extent the low number of big plays downfield is by design. Obviously the futility in the red zone is by now a frustrating *joke*, but I think our offensive scheme is literally built to win relatively low scoring games, not shootouts. Not saying we can't, or we should be satisfied with our red zone production, but. . . Some basketball teams prefer to win 108-92, and some prefer to win 94-84. Rarer are the ones who routinely win 108-84. It's about the speed of the game.

B: This "dink and dunk crap" frustrates the fans, bores the fans, and irritates the fans. But *if* they can get over the red zone problem, and win often enough with it, then McNair is fine.

C: The irony is, people used to say, Billick can't see the problems with Boller and won't bench him no matter how badly it hurts the team. Now Boller is the backup and some people say the same about McNair. Not saying it's *wrong*, it's just worth noting.

I was disappointed in the quality of the offense on Sunday like everyone else. That said, the absence of Heap and Wilcox hurt both the running and passing games. No two tight end sets limits the running game substantially and we are not *big* at wideout, so at those times when a big receiver is called for, we normally are looking for a TE.

Hopefully we will get healthy over the next few weeks, because if we don't, we will not make the playoffs. We are not good enough with all these players out.

I am most deeply concerned about the injury to Terry. As well as the OL played Sunday, the offense will continue to be hamstrung if we end up with Yanda and Gaither as the bookends. They will be exposed, and our offense will suffer for the adjustments it has to make to help them. Fewer deep drops, more TE assistance blocking, etc.

Anyway with all our injuries I'm pleased to come out of Sunday with a win, with an asterisk for 'atrocious performance by offense.'

[ClericBlackDave]

Brian Billick is loyal to veterans to a fault. That is perhaps his biggest flaw.

I dont' believe the offense is "set up" to be this crappy. Because when Boller was in against the Jets, 17 points in a quarter and half. Maybe an abberation, but points are possible.

What's killing is McNair is ok to check the ball down consistenly.

Again, his superbowl legacy was throwing short of the TD with the game on the line.

Most franchises that are successful would make the move when given the chance. The Patriots, the NFL's favorite franchise right now, are great at letting veterans sit/give way to youth when its time.


If McNair continues to be inacurate on passes longer than 10 yards, then at somepoint the major three, Billick Newsome and Bisciotti need to come together to figure out what to do about this. Because we will not beat elite teams like this.

[festivus]

Solving the red zone problem would put more points on the board without removing the 'dink and dunk crap.' Nowhere did I write the offense was atrocious by design.

[StingerNLG]

BTW, can a MOD please change the title name to Week 5? See, this is what a cold and medicine will do to you!! :)


Couple of things about tonight's game.

Not only did the Bills have 2 defensive TDs but a kickoff return as well. Their offense mustered a whopping 3 points.

And they forced 6 turnovers. 5 INTs and a Romo fumble.

Ahhh, I must have been on the Indians/Yankees game when that happened. Ok, so how does a team that turns the ball over 6 times still win?? I'll say this, I was GLUED to the end of that game.



I think the Chargers will win the AFC West. The Broncos are a shell of the teams' we've seen in the past, the Raiders are still the Raiders and the Chargers will spank KC when they see them in KC.

Good point. I guess winning by being the best of the worst is still winning. Blech.



Also, we've gotta stop with these procedure penalties. We started off the game with one and continued them throughout. Also, even if people think it's a dumb rule etc..... Billick MUST rip into these guys about throwing the ball after a play. Granted, Mason's was very questionable as he was in pain after getting tackled and was obviously not spiking or throwing the ball with any malicious intent. The refs should be able to use some judgement on that. But really, enough is enough. We've had this called on us numerous times and the one called on Reed set us back 15 yards and pretty much guaranteed just a FG. (with this offense, a FG is pretty much a guaranteed anyway).

This week is a game where the visiting team has nothing to lose. The Rams are 0-5 and completely banged up. We need to win our next 2 games and Buffalo showed us tonight that nothing is easy in the NFL.

PP

I only had a 10,000 character limit in my post, and I didn't have room for this, but you nailed it on the head. Starting the game with a false start doesn't help either. But the refs for their part have been AWFUL with their selective penalty calling. Last night, Roy Williams horse-collared a guy right in front of the ref, and the ref flagged him for a 5 yard face mask. Rediculous!



I'm tired of this lame ass dink and dunk shit too. I would jump on blame McNair badnwagon that is growing by the second (does this town turn quickly on Qb's or what? lol), but this has been the same shit every single fucking year.

And that's the thing. I don't think any one aspect is responsible for this, but what in the WORLD is the problem? That Yamon Figurs play just blew my mind.



Solving the red zone problem would put more points on the board without removing the 'dink and dunk crap.' Nowhere did I write the offense was atrocious by design.

I would agree, except the dink and dunk also shows what's wrong with our red zone offense. And really, if we can't go downfield at all in a game, how long before defenses simply start keying on that and stepping in front of more short routes? It's not going to be long before an opposing team takes that away from us and makes us either beat them deep, which we can't do, or run the ball at them which we might be able to do.

[b-more_4_Life]

I would agree, except the dink and dunk also shows what's wrong with our red zone offense. And really, if we can't go downfield at all in a game, how long before defenses simply start keying on that and stepping in front of more short routes? It's not going to be long before an opposing team takes that away from us and makes us either beat them deep, which we can't do, or run the ball at them which we might be able to do.


I think this is a major point that everyone is missing right now. Why in the hell are we passing the ball over 40 times a game in the past 2 games when we have a running back that is averaging well over 4 yds a carry in those games and for the year.

I really dont understand why we wont run the ball more. We have a hurt QB and a Defense that is also hurt but yet we keep passing the ball.

I think a major reason for this is because Neuheisel hates running as much as Billick does and we dont even game plan for it.

I dont see this changing anytime soon.

Run Willis, Billick and stop being so damn pass happy!

[Raveninwoodlawn]

One thing I have been noticed this year...our second half run game is often completely shut down.

I understand teams commit more to the run when you are up and know you will be running it, but one thing I have always admired about the Steelers was that no matter how many people you commit to the run, most of the time, they are successful running the ball in the second half with a lead.

We used to be able to do that.

This year though...and I think this is a reason why Billick continues to be pass happy with leads in the second half...Willis gets good yardage in the first half, in the second, he can barely get to the LOS.

Does our run game get as prediectable as our passing game?

[Raveninwoodlawn]

I also want to say that as much of a big deal we all make about our deep passing game...re-read the report card from Tony today.

I highlighted a part that is just baffling to me...3rd and 10 from the 11 and we don't run a single WR/TE/RB into the end zone.

No McNair didn't choose to dump the ball short or lack the arm strength...he didn't even get a freaking opportunity!

What the hell?

[RavensNTerps]

The Figurs play makes sense...it was a sort of reverse...

I wouldn't really send him downfield too often, I doubt he's the best route runner...

[StingerNLG]

The Figurs play makes sense...it was a sort of reverse...

I wouldn't really send him downfield too often, I doubt he's the best route runner...

It looked like a swing pass to me. Figurs never moved toward the QB. It looked a lot like a hitch pattern.

Besides, how hard is it to run down the sideline?



I also want to say that as much of a big deal we all make about our deep passing game...re-read the report card from Tony today.

I highlighted a part that is just baffling to me...3rd and 10 from the 11 and we don't run a single WR/TE/RB into the end zone.

No McNair didn't choose to dump the ball short or lack the arm strength...he didn't even get a freaking opportunity!

What the hell?

A great question which no media reporter has the balls to actually ask Billick. That's why I said I also thought our dink/dunk style had a direct effect on our red zone offense.



I think a major reason for this is because Neuheisel hates running as much as Billick does and we dont even game plan for it.

I'm not at all convinced Neuheisel currently has any say in this offense. I think he's just a prop with an important sounding title right now.

[festivus]

A great question which no media reporter has the balls to actually ask Billick. That's why I said I also thought our dink/dunk style had a direct effect on our red zone offense.

I'm not at all convinced Neuheisel currently has any say in this offense. I think he's just a prop with an important sounding title right now.

We routinely have red zone plays calling for passes to the back of the endzone. Isolating one red zone play and saying the receivers were not deep enough is not the same as saying we don't *normally* send receivers into the end zone when we are at the 11. Because we normally *do*, and you all (most of you, anyway) know it.

Concerning what Neuheisel does all week. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe there is a difference between installing a scheme each week and calling the plays. The scheme is basically the set of plays to be run at various down-and-distances, and then during game time the plays are called from the offensive scheme.

While Billick might be calling the plays, he is calling them from the scheme he worked on with the various assistant coaches, including Neuheisel.

What happens during those sessions behind closed doors I couldn't guess, but I will point out that in the past when we've had an OC who didn't contribute - Jim Fassell - the players got word out to the media. So from the absence of those kinds of leaks I am prepared to give Neuheisel the benefit of the doubt and guess he is doing something productive during the week besides picking his nose and nodding along with BB.

[b-more_4_Life]

[QUOTE=festivus;Concerning what Neuheisel does all week. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe there is a difference between installing a scheme each week and calling the plays. The scheme is basically the set of plays to be run at various down-and-distances, and then during game time the plays are called from the offensive scheme.

While Billick might be calling the plays, he is calling them from the scheme he worked on with the various assistant coaches, including Neuheisel.]

This is exactly my point about things not changing anytime soon with regards to running the ball more. I really believe that Neuheisel is not a prop but is active in installing the scheme each week. And he is famous for his disdain for running the football. He has said in the past that if it was up to him he'd pass every down. I'm sure he was joking but the point is that Billick's sounding board is just as pass happy as he is.

I know some have been calling for Neuheisel as the OC but this wouldnt fix a damn thing. There's one link to the bad offense we've had since 2000 and that's Brain Billick!