I was actually pretty impressed with him.

Obviously the interception was just plain awful, I have no idea what he was thinking there. But that's a mental error that can be easily fixed.

For a rookie QB, with no real offseason, who is stuck behind that line, I think he did ok.

What impressed me most was he drive at the end of the game. He had no fear and looked composed. That's something you can't teach.

Even a good deal of vets implode on a drive like that, with no timeouts. For a kid in his first game to handle it was really impressive.

The arm strength is there, the poise is there. That throw to Ross in end zone, even though it wasn't completed, was near perfect.

Imagine if you can give this kid some time to work through his progressions. If we can get the OL to play better they I have no doubt in my mind Joe's numbers will improve from yesterday.

(09-14-2020, 11:57 AM)ochocincos Wrote: Someone needs to force Taylor to hire a legit OC instead of thinking he can call plays and be HC at the same time. Or let Callahan call plays. It's too much for him, at least so far.

I thought his play calling was fine honestly. He did a good job in the running game using extra blockers in terms of TE and attached WRs. If Burrow hits a couple of those deep balls I think the narrative today is different. 

(09-14-2020, 11:46 AM)Schmitbuck Wrote: Less than stellar, yes, but there were certainly some positives to take away of his play. There's plenty of blame to go around. And fortunately, this is likely the best DE combo he'll see this year.

In my OP, I listed positives and our OL was an issue against a very good DL of the Chargers.

I thought I was nice and took into account he was a rookie, albeit not just any rookie, the overall #1 pick in the NFL. There was no excuse missing AJ for the TD, Burrow even said a high school QB could make that throw. Burrow said he over threw Ross and he did, but much tougher throw.

I think in next few weeks, both are throws he does not miss.

(09-14-2020, 12:07 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: In my OP, I listed positives and our OL was an issue against a very good DL of the Chargers.

I thought I was nice and took into account he was a rookie, albeit not just any rookie, the overall #1 pick in the NFL. There was no excuse missing AJ for the TD, Burrow even said a high school QB could make that throw. Burrow said he over threw Ross and he did, but much tougher throw.

I think in next few weeks, both are throws he does not miss.

To be fair, he made the exact throw he was supposed to on the 3rd and 2 play but AJ ran a poor route and ran himself out of bounds. That should have been a touchdown if ran correctly.

Yeah, with the way the offensive line played yesterday I expected about 350 passing yards and 3 TDs. At least.

(09-14-2020, 11:27 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Well, Burrow had a poor start, but in his defense he is playing behind an OL almost as bad as the one Dalton played under hos last 3 years
here.

193 5.4 36 23 0.639 0 1 66.1 14 0.389 0 0 19 3 20

His QBR was 3rd worst in the NFL of the 32 QB's at 66.1

He missed a wide open Green (not under any pressure) which was a huge miss and loss of momentum and confidence builder for the offense. The good news is after he had a horrid interception costing us a likely tie at a minimum, he took us down and almost had a game winner albeit not for a questionable call against AJ. Not because AJ was guilty of PI, but because Mike Williams did it all day long and was never called for it.

Burrow gave himself a D and I agree, if he plays to a C we are 1-0 right now most likely, but on to play the Browns defense that was shredded by the Ravens and Jackson. Let's hope Burrow gets better each week and we get the 1st win of 2020 Thursday.

When the reporter asked him to grade himself, i instantly thought in my head "D", so it was good to hear him say that. 

I don't expect what i saw from him in college, right off the bat. At least not to the same extent. I will expect to see flashes, like we did on the final couple drives (minus the stupid flip/interception). 

I remember my excitement back when Boomer started. There were growing pains but there were also flashes of what was to come. I'll be patient and look for the flashes and then the consistency as he gains experience playing against professional defenses.

(09-14-2020, 11:40 AM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: Joe said he overthrew Ross just so everyone is aware of how Joe feels about that play.

That's PC talk. You ain't going to have a rookie QB throw even dog meat like Ross under the bus.

(09-14-2020, 12:06 PM)Au165 Wrote: I thought his play calling was fine honestly. He did a good job in the running game using extra blockers in terms of TE and attached WRs. If Burrow hits a couple of those deep balls I think the narrative today is different. 

I didn't get to watch the game. I was basing my opinion on stats.
Their offense is ranked 26th in PF and 23rd in yards out of 28 teams who have played.
Last year, as people are aware, their offense was 30th in PF and 26th in yards.

From what I read on Twitter (where I get my updates from games I don't get to watch), my sentiment that playcalling needs to improve is shared amongst many others.

As you said though, the run game seemed fine. But the passing game - ick.
Granted Burrow had hardly any time to throw because the OL is a sieve, but the play calling needs to adjust to account for that.
Hopefully we see an improvement moving forward.

(09-14-2020, 12:14 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I didn't get to watch the game. I was basing my opinion on stats.
Their offense is ranked 26th in PF and 23rd in yards out of 28 teams who have played.
Last year, as people are aware, their offense was 30th in PF and 26th in yards.

From what I read on Twitter (where I get my updates from games I don't get to watch), my sentiment that playcalling needs to improve is shared amongst many others.

As you said though, the run game seemed fine. But the passing game - ick.
Granted Burrow had hardly any time to throw because the OL is a sieve, but the play calling needs to adjust to account for that.
Hopefully we see an improvement moving forward.

I watched it back again today, the play calling was fine (Haven't see 22 yet), but he struggled when Bosa was in with pressure. Second half he really did better as Bosa took more breaks and you saw him scan the field more and work down the field a bit. Again, playcalling seemed fine and I especially like some of the backside crossers to Uzomah later in the game we set up with similar-looking runs earlier where he blocked down at the second level early then ran past them in route late. That was a play they stole straight out of the 49ers playbook.

(09-14-2020, 12:18 PM)Au165 Wrote: I watched it back again today, the play calling was fine (Haven't see 22 yet), but he struggled when Bosa was in with pressure. Second half he really did better as Bosa took more breaks and you saw him scan the field more and work down the field a bit. Again, playcalling seemed fine and I especially like some of the backside crossers to Uzomah later in the game we set up with similar-looking runs earlier where he blocked down at the second level early then ran past them in route late. That was a play they stole straight out of the 49ers playbook.

I'm with you. I thought the play calling wasn't that bad. It's just that plays didn't have a lot of time to develop.

(09-14-2020, 12:12 PM)higgy100 Wrote: That's PC talk. You ain't going to have a rookie QB throw even dog meat like Ross under the bus.

Yet...

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

That last drive, though....

(09-14-2020, 12:20 PM)Wyche Wrote: I'm with you. I thought the play calling wasn't that bad. It's just that plays didn't have a lot of time to develop.

Never did say welcome back... so Hey, welcome back. It is good to see you.

And I'm in agreement with you guys, it is hard to judge play calling when every play to start the game was disrupted by the defense. I think the coaches believed our O-line was going to be able to hold up....and it certainly did not. In the second half they changed things up and it looked better.

What worries me now is the feeling of what made the coaches think the O-line was improved.

Option A - Our coaches are clueless and saw something that wasn't there.

Option B - Our O-line looked improved because our D-line wasn't getting pressure in practice and scrimmages. (2 sacks in Sunday's game one from Lawson and one from Bynes and only 4 QB hits, 1 Lawson, 1 Dunlap, 1 Bynes, and 1 Davis-Gaither)

Hopefully as the season goes along, the D-line picks up the pressure numbers. 

(09-14-2020, 01:06 PM)Murdock2420 Wrote: Never did say welcome back... so Hey, welcome back. It is good to see you.

And I'm in agreement with you guys, it is hard to judge play calling when every play to start the game was disrupted by the defense. I think the coaches believed our O-line was going to be able to hold up....and it certainly did not. In the second half they changed things up and it looked better.

What worries me now is the feeling of what made the coaches think the O-line was improved.

Option A - Our coaches are clueless and saw something that wasn't there.

Option B - Our O-line looked improved because our D-line wasn't getting pressure in practice and scrimmages. (2 sacks in Sunday's game one from Lawson and one from Bynes and only 4 QB hits, 1 Lawson, 1 Dunlap, 1 Bynes, and 1 Davis-Gaither)

Hopefully as the season goes along, the D-line picks up the pressure numbers. 

Well unless the Chargers defense vastly improved, in 2019 they only had 30 sacks so them manhandling our OL in pass protection does not bode well for us in 2020.

A poor start? Good God, what do you expect with no preseason and no OTAs? I get it, he's the #1 overall pick, but let's put some things in perspective:

1. He didn't look like he was completely lost and "seeing ghosts" like other rookies.
2. He doesn't have the luxury of easing into this.
3. He was playing against one of the best D-lines and secondaries in the NFL.
4. He made a great audible on the QB draw.
5. He damn near won the game in the last two minutes.
6. He didn't turn the ball over 5 times

I wouldn't call that a poor start. I'd say its an average start for him.

It's not just playcalling that stinks but play DESIGN too. Yes the OL has issues but these plays seem designed to magnify those issues instead of trying to cover them. Too many long drop backs, no TE or RB pass blocking especially to the right side, no using scheme to help receivers get separation, no designed rollouts or anything really (except for the one play) to give the defensive line some pause on their pass rush.

This was a problem last year too and I was hoping that with Burrow they would sculpt the plays to incorporate his increased mobility. But it seems not.

(09-14-2020, 01:19 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Well unless the Chargers defense vastly improved, in 2019 they only had 30 sacks so them manhandling our OL in pass protection does not bode well for us in 2020.

The Chargers had the least # of passing attempts in the NFL against their defense last year and were 5 in hurry %.


Bosa had 11.5 sacks last year and Ingram had 7 in 13 games 


I guess I'm somewhat suprised that we didn't give up more.  The pass rush definitely wasn't their problem last year.

(09-14-2020, 12:12 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: When the reporter asked him to grade himself, i instantly thought in my head "D", so it was good to hear him say that. 

I don't expect what i saw from him in college, right off the bat. At least not to the same extent. I will expect to see flashes, like we did on the final couple drives (minus the stupid flip/interception). 

I remember my excitement back when Boomer started. There were growing pains but there were also flashes of what was to come. I'll be patient and look for the flashes and then the consistency as he gains experience playing against professional defenses.

A "D" is a fair grade. 26th out 28 for QBR is pretty much a failing grade. That being said, there is a lot of room for improvement and let's hope it's all up from here.

Also, Mixon looked the same as always. 3.6 yards/carry certainly doesn't warrant his contract. And I don't want to hear how bad the OL run blocking is. Plenty of less talented RBs get yards behind lousy lines (ex. Leonard Fournette, Saquon Barkley, Steven Jackson, etc.) He needs to start earning his money.

In the narrow viewpoint of a single game, he didn't have a great game overall.

In the grand scheme of football things, I thought he was great.

(09-14-2020, 01:37 PM)Chezaugie Wrote: A "D" is a fair grade. 26th out 28 for QBR is pretty much a failing grade. That being said, there is a lot of room for improvement and let's hope it's all up from here.

Also, Mixon looked the same as always. 3.6 yards/carry certainly doesn't warrant his contract. And I don't want to hear how bad the OL run blocking is. Plenty of less talented RBs get yards behind lousy lines (ex. Leonard Fournette, Saquon Barkley, Steven Jackson, etc.) He needs to start earning his money.

Leonard Fournette? Seriously? He’s so good he got cut by a terrible JAX team. He averaged 1 yd on 5 carries yesterday for Tampa. Lol

And Mixon does “get yds.” Back-to-back 1100 yds seasons.