02-19-2022, 02:57 AM
(09-07-2021, 06:28 PM)fredtoast Wrote: -I think one way to separate coaching from talent is too look at what happens at the very end of a half or end of a game. I feel the effects of coaching are magnified in the more difficult situations.
These numbers from 21 games in 2021 are mind blowing.
Bengals scored 7 TDs and kicked 9 FGs in the final 2 minutes of the first half. Five of the FGs were in the final 5 seconds.
Bengals only scored 1 td in the final 2 minutes of the 4th quarter, but it was the crazy game-tying 32-yarder against the Forty-Niners. McPherson hit 4 FGs in the final 2 minutes of the 4th quarter and 3 of them were game winners with less than 5 seconds left (Jags, Chiefs, Titans playoff)
And McPherson's game winner opening day came with just 5 seconds left in the overtime period.
So in total the Bengals scored 22 times in the final 2 minutes of a half or game.
Incredible numbers.
(09-07-2021, 06:28 PM)fredtoast Wrote: -Some fans like to point to penalties, but when you look at the numbers every year there are a lot of the best teams that are among the most penalized.
Said this before the season. Before I knew the Bengals would be one of the least penalized teams in the league.
(09-07-2021, 06:28 PM)fredtoast Wrote: -I find it very difficult to criticize play calling. If a coach plays it by the books and fails he is not creative enough. If he tries something out of the ordinary and fails then he is stupid for not doing what every other coach knows is best.
Fans only criticize play calling when it does not work. Dumb calls that succeed get praise while good calls that fail get criticized.
(09-07-2021, 06:28 PM)fredtoast Wrote: -From what I saw last year it seemed like much of the problem in pass blocking was players not knowing what to do. I saw more mental mistakes than guys just getting bullrushed or beaten with speed. But I have absolutely no way of measuring that with statistics. I do know that Baltimore got 5 sacks from DBs in our first meeting. Those guys were not just running over our O-linemen. I blame a lot of that on coaching, but again it is hard to say 100%. Sometimes there are players so dumb that not even top coaches can do anything with them.
Pass blocking was not very good this year, but better than 2020. It seemed that I still saw a lot of pressure coming from mental failures on picking up stunts and blitzes. I had really hoped Pollack would have fixed more of that.
