Initial Reaction to Game 1.

[Xplosive]

I'll begin by acknowledging that a win is a win, and since this team has struggled to get any of those I'm pleased that they pulled it off.

#1. What's with the lack of plays for Cole Kmet? Does he not know the playbook or is Waldron just in love with Everett for some reason? Technically they play different positions but I see nothing special that Everett is doing that Kmet can't so I would rather see the guy getting $50M out on the field instead of a one year rental guy.

#2. Darrell Taylor made the #52 jersey proud with his Mack like performance. Great addition by Poles to add a guy with speed and power opposite of Sweat. The DL overall showed up and showed out.

#3. Interior OL was horrible, Caleb was under constant pressure. Nate Davis looked like he was going through the motions and Shelton was totally overmatched. Tennessee is really good in the trenches but the coaches (and Poles) should consider shaking things up (Bates and Pryor)

#4. Caleb did just enough good to outweigh the bad. He is really underrated as a runner and his 3rd down scramble was a big play to keep momentum. Once he gets his timing and nerves together he will start to hit on some of the big passes he overthrew, once that happens this team will be rolling.

#5. Finally Eberflus is not a good motivational speaker and his after game locker speech was a dud but at the end of the day his team buys in to the culture and schemes he believes in which is most important. Hopefully he can keep the good energy going in the weeks to come.

Any others??

 

[DC]

Play calling and scheme were suspect, and the offensive line is still a mess. Tough front for sure, but alarm bells should be going off right now. Trade whatever assets we have to ensure Caleb doesn’t turn into Rex.

 

[Myk]

#4 I'm not too worried about the accuracy. We've seen him be amazingly accurate at a full run. I don't even think it's timing. It was just nerves of some sort. Everything got an extra click or two on the power knob.
Since it was already OK in preseason I think he'll get a handle on it when NFL games become commonplace in his head.

I knew he was a runner and found it funny people thought he wouldn't be Fields if needed. I became OK with the idea of Williams instead of a haul because I saw he could be Fields and would survive behind our oline.
I think it was Penix behind this line, no way, he'd be dead and the pick wasted.

 

[greg23]

The kmet/everett thing was really head scratching......he was out there way more than knet in 1 te pass situations

Not sure I even saw lewis play a snap (he prob did but if so, not many)

Also a bit surprising to see homer on the field so much (without an injury).....his play was fine but not sure he ever got this many snaps last year

The interior oline specifically shelton/davis/bates was awful.....really don't know what options they have this year

 

[Discus fish salesman]

The kmet/everett thing was really gead scratching......he was out there way more than knet in 1 te pass situations

Not sure I even saw lewis play a snap (he prob did but if so, not many)

Also a bit surprising to see homer on the field so much (without an injury).....his play was fine but not sure he ever got this many snaps last year

The interior oline specifically shelton/davis/bates was awful.....really don't know what options they have this year

Jenkins should be included in the group that was pretty terrible.

 

[greg23]

Jenkins should be included in the group that was pretty terrible.

He wasn't good
But he wasn't shelton/Davis bad

And to think....they moved Jenkins from RG where he was great (and comfortable) to LG because PTO Nate could only play RG......what a shitty move that was.

I say fuk PTO Nate....move Jenkins to RG, put Bates at RG, live with Shelton at c.....and sit PTO on the pine

 

[Discus fish salesman]

He wasn't good
But he wasn't shelton/Davis bad

And to think....they moved Jenkins from RG where he was great (and comfortable) to LG because PTO Nate could only play RG......what a shitty move that was.

I say fuk PTO Nate....move Jenkins to RG, put Bates at RG, live with Shelton at c.....and sit PTO on the pine

I'd like Jenkins at rg simply because I think with Jenkins and Wright, you'd have a duo that you can confidently run behind in short yardage situations

 

[greg23]

I'd like Jenkins at rg simply because I think with Jenkins and Wright, you'd have a duo that you can confidently run behind in short yardage situations

Yep

And they tossed that possible right side in the garbage for Nate Davis.

 

[Les Grossman]

Play calling and scheme were suspect, and the offensive line is still a mess. Tough front for sure, but alarm bells should be going off right now. Trade whatever assets we have to ensure Caleb doesn’t turn into Rex.

Speaking of Rex, if was sure nice to NOT see CW shit his pants and compound mistakes, i.e. fumbles, INTs, etc. He had the one long sack that was boneheaded, but that was the worst of it.

Limiting mistakes is important. That's my silver lining lol

 

[dennehy]

I was a fan of Nate Davis in TEN and I called the signing last year. He got paid and mailed it in. I couldn't predict that as a fan, but GMs get paid to. Rough.

I'd probably put Jenkins at RG, Pryor at LG and Bates at C. Shelton imo was the worst one yesterday, physically overmatched. He reminded me of Grasu as a rookie, just unable to really compete physically. That quick strike passing/outside zone rush Rams system likely covered his weakness. Getting physically destroyed like that doesn't portend well for his future.

They are going to go with continuity, because they are going to be risk averse for at least a few more weeks. If the defense plays like this consistently I'd kind of also expect a trade around week 5 or so.

 

[Szlachcic]

#6 Waldron play calling. Worse than Getsy's. I'm no fan of Getsy, but Waldron failed to adjust during the game ans switch to fast paced din/dunk type of passing game.. To help the Oline, running backs, ect..

 

[HearshotKDS]

I thought Tory Taylor did a great job after shaking off his first punt.

 

[Xplosive]

He had the one long sack that was boneheaded, but that was the worst of it.

Limiting mistakes is important. That's my silver lining lol

Is it really boneheaded to spin out of a sack? Was it his fault he had no time to throw the ball away because as soon as he escaped the first sack another guy was standing right there.

I know the dumb announcer claimed it was Caleb's fault but blaming a guy for having the rare talent to escape is hindsight. I suppose the "smart" play was just to take the first sack the same way a less athletic QB would have done.

 

[Xplosive]

#6 Waldron play calling. Worse than Getsy's. I'm no fan of Getsy, but Waldron failed to adjust during the game ans switch to fast paced din/dunk type of passing game.. To help the Oline, running backs, ect..

Ummm, "Worse than Getsy" is a bit hyperbolic. Waldron got away from the run game early and failed to get the offense in a rhythm but he wasn't worse than Getsy or Nagy... Not even close.

 

[Szlachcic]

Ummm, "Worse than Getsy" is a bit hyperbolic. Waldron got away from the run game early and failed to get the offense in a rhythm but he wasn't worse than Getsy or Nagy... Not even close.

I was making a point. Agree with you though..

 

[sevvy]

#6 Waldron play calling. Worse than Getsy's. I'm no fan of Getsy, but Waldron failed to adjust during the game ans switch to fast paced din/dunk type of passing game.. To help the Oline, running backs, ect..

His first punt went into the end zone, right? It had a chance of being downed inside the 5 if the dude was near where it bounced. Didn't hate his first punt.

I quoted the wrong person. Oops.

 

[gallagher]

I wonder if Waldron was calling plays that would work for his talent in Seattle - this is the first real action for a newly-installed offense with a lot of new talent in place. Maybe this week was just an experience where he figures out what plays don' work with this squad today.

Everything takes time to come into place, and the offense is still a WIP. No need to panic until it appears that the coaches have no ideas for how to get better.

 

[Nelly]

Good video here from Tim Jenkins. Shows how we were close to having a good day offensively. A lot of "i like the design of this play" in there which is good to see.

 

[MadOne 77]

I was surprised to not see more between the tackles runs. Thought the run calls were obvious and not well timed, blocked, or schemed, it was hard to tell.

 

[Bears Backer 54]

I'd add that our secondary played a fairly solid game. Tyrique had the TD pass pulled away from him in the endzone on what was a really good catch but he was in the right spot to break that up or intercept it. He was able to take their QB's boneheaded lob while being sacked to the house (side note: I was pretty mad in the first half when the Levis did the same thing and wasn't called for intentional grounding, but pretty sure if they had done that, he's less likely to heave up that prayer of a pass in the 2nd half that made the difference in the game). Jaylon Johnson had a good game and Gordon held up really well even when they tried to move Hopkins into the slot to cause mismatches. Outside of a couple catches by Ridley, the secondary effectively shut down a formidable WR group in Hopkins, Boyd and Ridley. If you had told me in advance that their stats would be:
Ridley: 3 catches for 50 yds on 7 targets
Boyd: 3 catches for 18 yds on 5 targets
Hopkins: 1 catch for 8 yds on his only target
I would have been ecstatic.