01-05-2021, 12:27 PM
I think its close to 50/50, maybe 60/40 with the 60 on coaching.
Turner comes to mind first. As long as he has been coaching, he should have known that Fred Johnson was a pretty solid OT but terrible OG. There is no excuse for that at all. Also, pretty much anyone was better than MJ at OG but Turner stuck with him game after game until it finally got Burrow hurt, and then he made the change. Not cool. He should've been fired that game imo. In general his OL's have been a massive failure and his coaching doesnt seem to work.
Lou I'm really mixed on. He did put together some good game plans and his D shined at times, but at the same time his D lost a handful of games for us by ghosting in the 2nd half and especially late in the game. We can blame it on him calling prevent defense when we had a lead, but he did actually try it differently a time or two and the results were the same, especially when Sims had to play. The DL was scrapped with injuries and optouts and that was a big problem. We had no real consistent pass rusher at all, and mostly young LB's who had no offseason. But Bell, Alexander and Bates all played really well especially Bates. We had zero depth at CB also. Waynes never played and anytime we were forced to put Sims out there he got burnt repeatedly. Its hard to judge a defense that was basically signing guys off the streets and suiting them up to play. Lou was part of the problem for sure, but his biggest problem may have been missing players, lack of depth, no pass rusher to really execute his plan. I know of the communication issues but Bates said it got better. Lou will get one more season to prove he can do it. Thats all
I'm not putting it on the Front office this year. They went pretty big in FA and the guys they signed played well when they played. Alexander, Bell and Reader all look like good players for us. XSF was solid when he played also. You cant rebuild a whole team in one offseason.
ZT called some good games/plays and had some head scratchers. I think its hard for any OC to execute a real game plan when your OL sucks as bad as ours did though. They couldnt protect Burrow or open holes for Mixon. It got better when XSF and Spain were playing G, but by then Burrow was gone. I think with OL upgrades this offense could be on the verge of being good. They showed it at times. Give Burrow time to pass and Mixon/Gio/Perine holes to run through and the offense could be really good. But thats just his play calling. He still has to prove he can be a good HC. He has a lot to prove and one season to do it.
As far as Dunlap goes, it was obvious he wanted to play in the same kind of defense he always played in. Lou is going more 3-4 which is something a lot of fans have been wanting for years. Carlos didnt want to be an OLB in a 3-4 he wanted to be a DE in a 4-3. Change doesnt sit well with older players very often and he's a perfect example of that. As much as he was mad that he sat on the bench some, we did improve a bit when he left. Good mutual separation there. A win for both sides.
Also, I think something overlooked is the Covid and lack of offseason. That didnt help a team with so many new faces this year.
Turner comes to mind first. As long as he has been coaching, he should have known that Fred Johnson was a pretty solid OT but terrible OG. There is no excuse for that at all. Also, pretty much anyone was better than MJ at OG but Turner stuck with him game after game until it finally got Burrow hurt, and then he made the change. Not cool. He should've been fired that game imo. In general his OL's have been a massive failure and his coaching doesnt seem to work.
Lou I'm really mixed on. He did put together some good game plans and his D shined at times, but at the same time his D lost a handful of games for us by ghosting in the 2nd half and especially late in the game. We can blame it on him calling prevent defense when we had a lead, but he did actually try it differently a time or two and the results were the same, especially when Sims had to play. The DL was scrapped with injuries and optouts and that was a big problem. We had no real consistent pass rusher at all, and mostly young LB's who had no offseason. But Bell, Alexander and Bates all played really well especially Bates. We had zero depth at CB also. Waynes never played and anytime we were forced to put Sims out there he got burnt repeatedly. Its hard to judge a defense that was basically signing guys off the streets and suiting them up to play. Lou was part of the problem for sure, but his biggest problem may have been missing players, lack of depth, no pass rusher to really execute his plan. I know of the communication issues but Bates said it got better. Lou will get one more season to prove he can do it. Thats all
I'm not putting it on the Front office this year. They went pretty big in FA and the guys they signed played well when they played. Alexander, Bell and Reader all look like good players for us. XSF was solid when he played also. You cant rebuild a whole team in one offseason.
ZT called some good games/plays and had some head scratchers. I think its hard for any OC to execute a real game plan when your OL sucks as bad as ours did though. They couldnt protect Burrow or open holes for Mixon. It got better when XSF and Spain were playing G, but by then Burrow was gone. I think with OL upgrades this offense could be on the verge of being good. They showed it at times. Give Burrow time to pass and Mixon/Gio/Perine holes to run through and the offense could be really good. But thats just his play calling. He still has to prove he can be a good HC. He has a lot to prove and one season to do it.
As far as Dunlap goes, it was obvious he wanted to play in the same kind of defense he always played in. Lou is going more 3-4 which is something a lot of fans have been wanting for years. Carlos didnt want to be an OLB in a 3-4 he wanted to be a DE in a 4-3. Change doesnt sit well with older players very often and he's a perfect example of that. As much as he was mad that he sat on the bench some, we did improve a bit when he left. Good mutual separation there. A win for both sides.
Also, I think something overlooked is the Covid and lack of offseason. That didnt help a team with so many new faces this year.
