Seven From Sunday: Week 10

Well said Malor. I was pissed yesterday, but now that I’m cooled off I still don’t think it’s time to hit panic mode like some are. Unless you are the packers every team has been inconsistent this year.It sucks losing to the teams you are supposed to beat, but I would rather drop games to those teams and keep beating the good teams. In playoffs we will playing nothing but good teams and those are the games we really need to win. As a team we have got to get better, but I would rather play this way now rather than come playoff time. We still control our own destiny and still confident we come out on top of the divison. Hats off to the seahawks though. They made the plays they needed to make to get it done.

the only way that first miss is on Cundiff is if he persuaded Harbaugh that he could make it. The second miss even more so. We all know about Cundiff’s accuracy issues from 50+, including Harbaugh, so why is he attempting one, especially in a stadium with wind gusts of 25+ MPH? I’ll be honest and admit that Cundiff absolutely sucks from 50+ yards. So why is he out there? Punt the ball, pin the ‘Hawks young offense deep in their own zone, and let out the dogs on defense (who had already forced a 3 and out). The attempt at the end of the half is a better decision since turning the ball over at the 40 has no effect. As for your ’we paid him, now act like it comment,’ I’ll take his near perfection from within 50 (1 miss on 21 attempts, and it was from 40-49) and know that he can’t kick beyond 50. Sounds like a former Raven kicker to me, one which we all loved.
 
(He’s 1-8 from 50+ with us, 1-9 in the last 3 years, by the way. There’s also an interesting trend so far this year where 50+ yard kick are being made league-wide with a ridiculous 71% accuracy [76% if Cundiff is removed], but I expect those numbers to drop into the range of the typical averages [55% in ’10, 53% in ’09] as the winter months approach).

I also take issue with your 23-22 comment, as those kicks change the game entirely. As for your comment about Hausdfsdfchka, not sure how you compare a kicker making 30 yard field goals to one missing 50 yard field goals, but go for it if it pleases you.

This Rice shit is nonsense. This team cannot throw the ball 50+ times and win with regularity. Although it did seem like they replaced the run with underneath throws to the RB. 7 (8-1 screen that I remember, so maybe less) to Rice, and 3 to Ricky. Still, when your RBs carry the ball 8 times in the whole game, there’s a problem.

Ummm, we could hold the point of attack? Fine, give Lynch his 2-3 yards that he gains by falling forward. Hit him at the LoS and he gains 2-3 yards a play. Hit him 4 or 5 yards downfield (which is where our DL seemed to think the LoS was, after all) and he gains 6-8 yards a play. Huge difference. JJ needs to keep his head up there and realize he has help, but he gets a pass since he doesn’t miss tackles often.

The pass rush is probably the 2nd biggest defensive problem from that game (the run defense/DL being the biggest), and more worrisome after the game in Pitt last week. We were bringing blitzes, they weren’t getting there, and the ‘Hawks were getting big plays off of them. Or we wouldn’t blitz, Jackson would sit in the pocket, find the open receiver, and complete the pass. Didn’t help that we couldn’t stop Lynch, especially with the game on the line. (On a side note, kudos to Kruger. He’s done very well as a pass rush specialist this year, from what I’ve seen).

The Reed issues (and the issues in the secondary as a whole) derive from the rush. Get to the QB, they’ll stop happening. We need to do that Sunday, or Dalton will pick us apart (can’t imagine losing to 2 rookie QBs in the same season).

Sorry Malor, that pick was a stupid, stupid fucking throw. You’ve got to see the LB sitting underneath the slant, especially after all you’ve been throwing are slants. Expect the adjustment (of course, did we run any sluggos? Who knows?) He also was a bit off on the day, throwing high as he usually does, a problem which was exacerbated by the number of drops we had (i.e. he wasn’t a bad as he looked, but his poor game wasn’t entirely on his receivers’ stone hands either). At least Dickson had a great day.

At some point, I can’t keep looking past these losses. I could very well see this season being a repeat of ‘09. That said, this game scared me a bit when I first saw the schedule for all the reasons you listed, plus the fact that it was post-Steelers. Of course, if this team rattles off 7 straight or wins 6 of the last 7, not only will they likely win the division, but they’ll assuage all my fears. But that starts this Sunday. And I’m more worried than I was before.

yeah like Malor said we can’t pinpoint this on one individual even though I’m sure that it will. As a team we just did not play well. Even though these are lesser teams it’s amazing how poorly we can play in all phases and still have a legitimate chance and winning the game. If this team can get it figured out and get everything clicking the sky is the limit. We just got to get ready for Cincy this week and bounce back.