09-24-2021, 11:47 PM
(09-24-2021, 11:22 AM)fredtoast Wrote: All I heard during the offseason was that Taylor was crazy for having Burrow throw so much. EVERYONE knew it was stupid and he should have ran the ball more to protect Joe.
Now I am hearing that Taylor is crazy for not having Burrow throw the ball more. In fact many people think that despite our problems with pass protection the answer to our problems is to call more deep passes that require more pass protection.
I understand that teams might tighten coverage on our receivers if all we do is throw short routes, but that is not the reason Burrow is getting hit.
Andy Dalton's 9 completions Sunday only gained 56 yards, but the first two drives he led were 9 plays for 75 yards (TD) and 12 plays for 61 yards. The Bears converted there first 4 third downs and were only stopped on the second drive by a holding penalty. Even when defenders "sit on routes" you can still complete short passes and move the ball.
I think people were saying throw deep because Chicago was so terrible defending it week 1 it just seemed so obvious to try and exploit. Honestly I don't hate Taylor's thinking going into Chicago if it was that the defense could keep it low scoring so lean on the run and quick passes and limit mistakes. Makes sense and without the turnovers maybe it leads to win.
I'm not sure how many times they did it but the run 1st and 2nd down I don't hate but it does put extra pressure on the passing game I feel when now you have one play to pick up a first. I also don't like getting the 3rd and short and running all short routes. There was also some troubling signs from Burrow where I do feel he looked at the receiver the coverage was good and he should've gone to his next read but instead threw it anyway and his 2nd pick was one of those. Also if the quick short passes was Taylor's plan why not get creative with screens or more targets for Mixon and or TEs. I know Chase messed up the 1 screen but even that wasn't until the 2nd half. It just seemed a very bland game plan overall.
