DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Gameday vs New England Postgame Thoughts

Yep, he looks almost like Flacco did when he was here .... except more TD, fewer yards and fewer INT.

There is a systemic issue here.

This was a game there is no excuse for. It's not that they lost. I don't think it's a surprise that they lost. The surprise for me is the way they lost. People can say what they like about DG but the one thing nobody can deny is that he protected the ball. Not yesterday. The first int. was well behind the WR and made for an easy int. The second int. was into clear double, tight coverage. A throw that clearly should have never been attempted.

The D played one half of football. More than I can say for the O but still not the D that we've seen for most of the season. Maybe they are starting to have trouble keeping their intensity level up since they are getting virtually no help or support from the O. There were certainly some good plays made. Myles and Schwesinger played well and I can't just trash the D without giving them some kudos. I hope Schwesinger's injury isn't bad.

Yeah I'm not sure what the noise has been about "We should have kept Flacco!"

They scored 16 points verses the Bengals, 17 points against the Ravens, 13 points against the Packers and 10 points against the Lions with Flacco at QB. The problem runs much deeper than the QB position.

It feels like our "script" plays give us the best momentum and drives, and then we sputter. So my question is, why don't we just script every drive lol

lmao. I thought the same thing yesterday when FrankZ brought that up on our Discord chat.

But seriously, for someone in the know. When we say "script plays" does that mean those plays are practiced way more? Is the script shared with the team??

If that's true... are we really that inept, from an execution standpoint, that we flounder through the rest of the playbook? Is it the young QB?

Because this is getting really hard to watch and I feel like defenses are already teeing off. We need to start throwing the ball downfield or this will get even uglier (yes, it is possible).

Absolutely.

Its Stefanski. Had a decent rookie year and has been an average to below average coach every year since. Flacco saved his bacon a couple of years ago.

My suggestion is to divorce yourself from this team until he's gone. They will never be good under him. He's incompetent. The sucky part is it looks like he isn't going anywhere.

What an awful, awful organization.

I was under the assumption that "script plays" mean the 15 (or so) plays that are really talked about to a T the days leading up to the game. And practiced over and over. It just doesn't make sense to me why we wouldn't do that with more plays then

sucks for him and us. Hoping it's not bad, but I also want him to full heal. No use in getting more injured in meaningless games

I haven't divorced, but we're definitely living in different households.

I get way more excited for real NFL games and basically plan my Sunday around the fact that I can generally LOL and walk away by 2:15.

Hope all is well with you and the fam, Rish. 👊

Goody-bye. I mean of you decide to take your own advice that is. Some people just run off at the mouth and never back it up. We'll see which one you are.

At some point, you have to respond to the ebb and flow of the game. If we scripted a whole game and stuck to it, we'd be running Judkins and kicking field goals despite being down by 20 points.

That may not be a bad idea, bro. Trying to score touchdowns definitely hasn't worked out. 🤣 Maybe we should work on trying to get more safeties as well.

I know it may not sound like it, but I'm not that far away from you in terms of how I watch these games. Not trying to pat myself on the back or anything, but I decided early on that I was watching to see how our young guys performed without getting wrapped up with the final score in any way.

It actually bums me out how well our defense is playing because it's such a waste.

I literally just got tired of being mad about it. It's one thing when you have a fighting chance; it's ridiculous when you know you have none. It is nice to see some young talent and recognize what looks like a solid draft, how that translates to next season seems like a slide-puzzle trapped in a maze at this point though.

My take aways from this game are many. Gabriel had time in the pocket, but it is clear he can't see the field from in it. I was watching close, he steps up, and then you can't even see him. I doubt highly he can see down field. He has a weak arm, the long pass to Juedy was a high floater like a hail mary pass.

This is the worst set of receivers I have ever saw. Berry has no clue how to draft them. Every guy is 160lbs soaking wet and short. Juedy is a waste of money, too many drops and can't get open.

The RBs besides Judkins are horrible. Samson is too light and has poor vision. Ford is just not good at all.

I actually think the pass blocking was okay, it is just the QB can't see over them. As for run blocking, I don't think there was any.

I think Delpit having the toe injury hurt his performance big time. How many times was there TE and receivers wide open uncovered? Myles played a hell of a game after being absent the past couple weeks. Alex Wright is improving every year. I'm not sure how this defense gets rated so high, when they constantly give up big runs and big plays down field.

I'm done with Stephanski, but Berry is the guy that needs to go. He has no concept on what a good offensive player looks like. He drafts these lineman and signs FA lineman who are atrocious. I watch many team playing with back-ups, and still perform competently, none of these guys do. WQe have a ton of picks next year, and if Berry is still making the picks, it will be more of the same. Podesta needs to ride with Berry out of town. This analytics heavy process is failing and needs to be scrapped. We need talent evaluators who watch players perform instead of looking at stats and whatever [censored] they are using.

It is a shame that this team can't put it together. Time to clean house. Start with Ventrone, this is the worst special teams I have ever seen.

Sad thing is, if they are lucky and build an offense next year, you can count on the defense to do what they always do, fail when it is time to put the game away

Yeah, it is called Stefanski's offense. That is the problem.

I think Gabriel's lack of vision and ability to push the ball down the field basically dooms him. He has no chance to be a good QB in the NFL with those limiting factors.

Honest question then... is he already doomed or is pushing the ball down the field a work in progress complicated by playcalling that favors the short game?

Not asking you to read Ski's mind or predict the future; just asking the results of your "eye test" so far.

A question I have. Why was our passing game so much better last season. I understand the QB’s are different but the WR group isn’t much different and Fanin is an improvement. Was Jameus Winston that much better than what we have now?

We will draft a QB with our 1st pick. DG doesn’t threaten anyone, WRs are short, lightweight and drop-prone, we can’t run block because the D is stacking the line.

Nothing we do scares a DC.

That much better? Definitely "better".

Here's his three outstanding games over 300 yards though...

Cedric Tillman / Elijah Moore: 15-184
Cedric Tillman / Elijah Moore: 9-113
Elijah Moore (Tillman out): 8-111


This year our #1 leads the league in DROPS. Doesn't tell the whole story, but definitely not some obscure sub-plot.

Gabriel may be doomed - I just don't think it is possible to tell yet. He might be really good. We can't tell yet and as the week's go by there are issues that show up on game day.

However before we try to grade him on his ability to push the ball downfield and his vision - surely we can draw some real conclusions from what happened before he started? Flacco had 4 games in the same offense, same OL and same WR ... and it was all dink and dunk underneath plays. Flaccos last 3 games - admittedly against good teams - 184, 148 and 199 yards per game. I know Flacco has gone to a team with great WR - but the difference since he left is stark and should be a very significant indicator about how we judge Gabriel.

The issue and limitation EVENTUALLY may prove to be Gabriel - but right now it really is impossible to say. He's a rookie. He's on a bad team. He has virtually no time to throw. His WR are not good. Fannin and Judkins the two pright spots on offense. I'd add another negative being Stefanski's offense and play calling - but that's very much my opinion, the rest of it is pretty much a collection of observable facts.

I think he's doomed because of his own limitations. KS has not evolved as a play caller/designer, but I can remember many instances when we were pushing the ball down the field in the past (Baker/Flacco would .. even Jacoby). There's a reason Gabriel isn't asked to do it IMO