2014-2015 NFL Football thread

[chw42]

Jay made some real nice plays against a tough defense. This is the type of game a few seasons ago that would have been a complete meltdown. We know we'll have some tough games out of Jay but major strides are being made. To do what he did despite having zero rushing attack and that much heat was solid. Great game, no, but it was a good game with few bad throws. We really need a 3rd wideout to step up given the health issues of Marshall / Jeffrey. Bennett has been awesome. The throw he made down field to Jeffrey and the TD pass to Bennett and the called back one to Marshall were things of beauty.

 

Huge game this week, especially given how we are in our most difficult part of the schedule here (1st half of season).

 

It still bugs me that we lost that first game. We could be sitting pretty at 3-0 right now playing with house money this week. Instead, we're likely looking at 2-2.

[iamshack]

I call it Jay using his receivers to his advantage.

 

If it was anyone but Alshon or Marshall out there, I don't think he makes that throw and if he did, it would have been picked off.

Yeah, if you saw what he was looking at, it was Alshon in the middle of the field with position over a shorter defender. That throw was fine there.

[Kyyle23]

It was an all out blitz and single coverage with Alshon. It was perfect and exactly what you should do given the situation. Jay read the defense and knew that was what you were supposed to do. Gruden was talking about how perfect it was as well. He did have one bad throw on his back foot, which was a floater that he underthrew. Had he made a better throw (I think the play was to Bennett), they had a shot at a big play. That and a slant to Jeffrey were his two worse throws of the game, imo (as the slant he missed to Jeffrey would have been a TD and the play to Bennett would have been a big play). He had a couple other that could have been better and he did throw a few into tight coverage but when he did, it was situations where either you were going to get a heck of a catch or an incompletion. Low pick percentage throws which is what matters.

 

Only near picks were on plays where he was hit on the throw. And on one of them, even with the hit he threw what should have been a TD to Bennett (who dropped it...although trajectory was impacted).

 

He talked about that specific play in his post game and said that he was waiting for Alshon to make his move, and then threw the ball only where Alshon could get it. It looked like a panic heave, but it seems like that's what he wanted to do

[Chisoxfn]

It still bugs me that we lost that first game. We could be sitting pretty at 3-0 right now playing with house money this week. Instead, we're likely looking at 2-2.

Difference between winning and losing can be small. The thing that really irritates me is 3 games into the season and we are still making some crucial mistakes. Have to clean it up. We have been lucky it hasn't gotten us these past 2 weeks and that was mainly cause the other team made them too. Bills didn't and thus we weren't able to overcome our mistakes (although I still say we win the game with our wideouts in the game...but you have to play the game with who you have healthy).

 

Despite giving up a lot of yards, I am happy with our defenses play, considering the injuries. Making a lot of strides and looking much quicker and more instinctual. Allen has stepped up in 2nd half last 2 games but still isn't finishing plays. Zone read qb's make it difficult to get as many sacks. Rush has been significantly better then past couple seasons though and tackles have been significantly better. Rush D had some holes but minimized big run and had some nice stops as well. The after whistle penalties are just brutal though.

[Chisoxfn]

He talked about that specific play in his post game and said that he was waiting for Alshon to make his move, and then threw the ball only where Alshon could get it. It looked like a panic heave, but it seems like that's what he wanted to do

Oh it was beautiful. That is an extremely high percentage throw given the situation and coverage. Bears got beat early on the all out blitz (fumble at half) but made the Jets pay for it a couple times as well (2nd Bennett TD and that particular play, plus they had a nice screen to Forte late where Allen made a nice tackle to save a much bigger play...Forte busts that more often then not).

[cabiness42]

Rob Bironas killed in car crash. Awful.

 

Was an underrated kicker. Big foot. Just awful.

 

This story is getting a lot of play down here because he is from here. And then Deadspin came out with this:

 

http://deadspin.com/report-rob-bironas-tri...dium=socialflow

 

"His window was down, and we pulled up and I said, "Hey man, just a heads up, something's burning from your exhaust. Your exhaust smells horrible, just wanted to let you know,'' Fraley recalled telling Bironas. "He looked over at me and said "I'm going to kill everybody in your (expletive) vehicle. It was so random, so bizarre I was like, "What?" And he said the exact same thing again."

[chw42]

Difference between winning and losing can be small. The thing that really irritates me is 3 games into the season and we are still making some crucial mistakes. Have to clean it up. We have been lucky it hasn't gotten us these past 2 weeks and that was mainly cause the other team made them too. Bills didn't and thus we weren't able to overcome our mistakes (although I still say we win the game with our wideouts in the game...but you have to play the game with who you have healthy).

 

Despite giving up a lot of yards, I am happy with our defenses play, considering the injuries. Making a lot of strides and looking much quicker and more instinctual. Allen has stepped up in 2nd half last 2 games but still isn't finishing plays. Zone read qb's make it difficult to get as many sacks. Rush has been significantly better then past couple seasons though and tackles have been significantly better. Rush D had some holes but minimized big run and had some nice stops as well. The after whistle penalties are just brutal though.

 

Lamarr Houston hasn't exactly played well either. I like his versatility a lot since we can have him, Young, and Allen in on the same play if we wanted to. But that 15 yard penalty he had yesterday was dumb as s*** and he didn't seem like a big factor in the pass rush. Not that anyone else really contributed that much on the line in that aspect anyways.

[Chisoxfn]

Lamarr Houston hasn't exactly played well either. I like his versatility a lot since we can have him, Young, and Allen in on the same play if we wanted to. But that 15 yard penalty he had yesterday was dumb as s*** and he didn't seem like a big factor in the pass rush. Not that anyone else really contributed that much on the line in that aspect anyways.

Pass rush was very good at times, non existent at times, but that will happen. Key is to be in the QB's face more often then not as you get him rattled even when their isn't pressure. Jets oline is very good and we generated much more pass rush then we ever did last year (not that it says a lot) and generally did a good job maintaining contain against a pretty athletic QB. Personally I think if I were building a franchise, I'd be pretty excited to have Geno. He still has a lot to learn but there is some upside there. I like him more then quite a few other guys who were first round picks.

 

After the Carolina game we will see some more standard QB's and then our pass rush will have a better shot at some sacks. Willie Young has been great and it has been nice to keep our D line fresh. Our inability to run the ball kills us though as I feel like our defense has been on the field way too much and that can bite you in the butt. Execution in red zone has been fantastic though. Hopefully getting Slauson back in a week or two will help the run. Plus, I recall Forte having a few different seasons where he started off slow on the ground only to take off. Hopefully we see that. Right now it seems that teams are playing pretty tight until our wideouts show they can really open up (since they are playing hobbled). I hope Jeffrey is getting closer to 100%. Must be feeling better given they ran some more screens and short passes his way, which is more standard.

[Kyyle23]

It still bugs me that we lost that first game. We could be sitting pretty at 3-0 right now playing with house money this week. Instead, we're likely looking at 2-2.

 

Likely 2-2? Come on now, 2 weeks ago you were saying likely 0-3. The Packers are far from unbeatable and they have a lot of their own injury issues

[whitesoxfan99]

It still bugs me that we lost that first game. We could be sitting pretty at 3-0 right now playing with house money this week. Instead, we're likely looking at 2-2.

 

The Bears could pretty easily by 0-3 as well so I'll take 2-1 at this point in the season.

[Jake]

Some stuff from PFF. Overall grade is just the sum of the grades assigned to additional portions of the game. I'm adding the most notable contributor to their strong or poor overall grade as well

 

Top D performers yesterday:

-Kyle Fuller (+5.0 overall, +4.2 pass coverage)

-Jared Allen (+3.1 overall, +1.6 run defense)

-Stephen Paea (+2.5 overall, +3.9 pass rush)

-LaMarr Houston (+1.8 overall, +2.5 pass rush)

 

Worst D performers yesterday:

-Lance Briggs (-3.2 overall, -2.6 pass coverage)

-Isaiah Frey (-2.1 overall, -2.8 pass coverage)

-Will Sutton (-1.2 overall, -1.7 pass rush, -0.8 penalty)

 

Top O performers yesterday:

-Brian De La Puente (+1.3 overall, +1.1 run block)

-Kyle Long (+0.8 overall, +0.9 pass block)

 

Worst O performers yesterday:

-Michael Ola (-2.2 overall, -1.3 run block)

-Jordan Mills (-1.6 overall, -1.1 pass block)

-Jermon Bushrod (-1.1 overall, -0.6 pass block, -0.7 penalty)

-Brandon Marshall (-1.0 overall, -1.6 pass)

-Jay Cutler (-0.9 overall, -1.2 pass)

 

Some yearly numbers...omitting guys with absurdly low snap counts

 

Best D:

-Kyle Fuller (+5.9 overall, +5.8 pass coverage)

-Jay Ratliff (+5.3 overall, +3.7 run defense)

-LaMarr Houston (+2.9 overall, +3.5 pass rush)

-Willie Young (+1.7 overall, +1.6 run defense)

-Danny McCray (+1.1 overall, +1.1 run defense)

 

Worst D:

-DJ Williams (-3.3 overall, -2.3 run defense)

-Ego Ferguson (-3.0 overall, -1.3 run defense)

-Isaiah Frey (-2.1 overall, -2.8 pass coverage) **only played 1 game**

-Ryan Mundy (-1.6 overall, -1.2 run defense)

-Will Sutton (-1.2 overall, -2.7 pass rush)

 

Best O:

-Brian De La Puente (+6.7 overall, +4.4 run block)

-Kyle Long (+5.2 overall, +4.5 pass block)

-Jermon Bushrod (+2.4 overall, +1.5 pass block)

-Brandon Marshall (+0.9 overall, +2.5 run block) **not a typo**

 

Worst O:

-Jordan Mills (-5.1 overall, -3.9 run block)

-Matt Forte (-2.1 overall, -1.6 rush)

-Santonio Holmes (-2.1 overall, -1.8 pass)

-Josh Morgan (-1.1 overall, -1.7 pass)

-Jay Cutler (-1.0 overall, -1.6 pass)

 

Other notables:

Alshon would have a decent grade if not for a penalty(ies). Martellus has the team's highest passing game grade, but has very low pass block and run block grades leading to an overall neutral grade.

 

Jared Allen has slightly negative overall grade with good run defense, bad pass rush. Bostic has a +1.0 season grade, just barely missing the cut for the top D performers of the season list. He has been pretty good in run D and slightly bad in pass coverage. Briggs has a poor grade due to very bad pass coverage and a penalty. Will Sutton has been very good in run D, but just as bad in pass rush and was penalized. They have Tim Jennings dinged for bad pass coverage, but making up for it in run support.

 

Cumulative team ranks:

 

Top O:

1. Browns (+21.8)

2. Saints (+21.0)

3. Bengals (+16.3)

4. Redskins (+16.2)

5. Colts (+13.5)

 

10. Bears (-0.9)

 

28. Cards (-32.2)

29. Pats (-39.4)

30. Chiefs (-48.4)

31. Bucs (-53.9)

32. Jaguars (-58.3)

 

Top D:

1. Dolphins (+44.4)

2. Giants (+26.1)

3. Seahawks (+16.5)

4. Pats (+15.3)

5. Chargers (+13.1)

 

8. Bears (+6.9)

 

28. Rams (-23.3)

29. Browns (-30.0)

30. Steelers (-32.1)

31. Bucs (-37)

32. Jags (-50.5)

 

Bears 30 in special teams, though in their defense they released Draughn who was responsible for upwards of half of their negative grade in this regard

[Chisoxfn]

I can't really understand how Jay has a negative value. He has a good TD / INT ratio and is the league leader in TD's. He's also thrown for a good number of yards and largely went up against good defensive teams. He is also throwing the ball at a pretty good completion percentage as well (although this past week wasn't as high, but that was to be expected against the Jets).

[Rowand44]

So Kyle Fuller is pretty good, eh?

[Chisoxfn]

So Kyle Fuller is pretty good, eh?

Got to love his instincts and his ability to be around the ball. Great that Tillman is traveling with the squad. I hope he is doing everything he can to mentor Fuller. Still, he is a rookie so we should expect some rookie mistakes but great to see. Also nice to see our young dlineman making an impact as well.

[Rowand44]

Got to love his instincts and his ability to be around the ball. Great that Tillman is traveling with the squad. I hope he is doing everything he can to mentor Fuller. Still, he is a rookie so we should expect some rookie mistakes but great to see. Also nice to see our young dlineman making an impact as well.

I've sporadically watched the Bears these 3 weeks and he just always seems to have a hand(or both) on the ball, kind of crazy for a db.

[Y2Jimmy0]

It's Alshon Jeffery. Say it with me. Even in the thread I've seen it wrong. I think the guy is good enough in his 3rd season to not have his name mispronounced anymore.

[StrangeSox]

I really like that Al-shon Geoffries guy.

[bmags]

You have to admit that Gruden must have made a point to get it right last night.

[Jake]

Looking through PFF's QB stuff, here are some knocks I see for Jay:

 

-weak YPA

-compared to other QBs, relatively un-victimized by drops

-his accuracy % (completion percentage that counts drops as completions, doesn't count spikes or throwaways) ranks 21/31

-27 out of 35 QBs throw a higher portion of their throws under pressure, suggesting he's had a lower difficulty level

-related: he's sacked a high portion of the time he is pressured, taking sacks counts against the QB's grade

 

Worth noting that PFF's grades so far have league-wide QB play being pretty weak. Jay is 22 out of 35 QBs. Also worth noting that yesterday was possibly Jay's worst game so far. 23/38 (60%), 2 TD, fumble lost, 225 yards, sacked 4 times, 1 batted pass, 2 deflected passes. Anyway, this negative rating isn't all that negative. It's early in the season. He's one 300 yard/3 TD/65% completion game from being in the upper tier

 

[MexSoxFan#1]

I'm just glad the Bears D isn't historically bad this year.

[Chisoxfn]

Looking through PFF's QB stuff, here are some knocks I see for Jay:

 

-weak YPA

-compared to other QBs, relatively un-victimized by drops

-his accuracy % (completion percentage that counts drops as completions, doesn't count spikes or throwaways) ranks 21/31

-27 out of 35 QBs throw a higher portion of their throws under pressure, suggesting he's had a lower difficulty level

-related: he's sacked a high portion of the time he is pressured, taking sacks counts against the QB's grade

 

Worth noting that PFF's grades so far have league-wide QB play being pretty weak. Jay is 22 out of 35 QBs. Also worth noting that yesterday was possibly Jay's worst game so far. 23/38 (60%), 2 TD, fumble lost, 225 yards, sacked 4 times, 1 batted pass, 2 deflected passes. Anyway, this negative rating isn't all that negative. It's early in the season. He's one 300 yard/3 TD/65% completion game from being in the upper tier

The sack statistic in the metric seems inherently flawed. I didn't see much Jay could do on the sacks that happened to him in the Jets game. That wasn't all that bad of a game as a whole, given the defense he played against. Where does opposition defense fall into the ranks?

 

Also, I don't quite get how he is 22 out of 35 QB's when he is in the top 10 (I believe) in Yards, TD's, TD to Int Ratio, and QB Rating.

[chw42]

Looking through PFF's QB stuff, here are some knocks I see for Jay:

 

-weak YPA

-compared to other QBs, relatively un-victimized by drops

-his accuracy % (completion percentage that counts drops as completions, doesn't count spikes or throwaways) ranks 21/31

-27 out of 35 QBs throw a higher portion of their throws under pressure, suggesting he's had a lower difficulty level

-related: he's sacked a high portion of the time he is pressured, taking sacks counts against the QB's grade

 

Worth noting that PFF's grades so far have league-wide QB play being pretty weak. Jay is 22 out of 35 QBs. Also worth noting that yesterday was possibly Jay's worst game so far. 23/38 (60%), 2 TD, fumble lost, 225 yards, sacked 4 times, 1 batted pass, 2 deflected passes. Anyway, this negative rating isn't all that negative. It's early in the season. He's one 300 yard/3 TD/65% completion game from being in the upper tier

 

I can't complain much honestly. He's only turned the ball over 3 times this year with 8 TDs. Including a 6-0 TD to INT tally in the last two games against pretty good defenses.

[GoSox05]

I think it's time to rethink the 49ers as a really good defense. At least right now.

[chw42]

Likely 2-2? Come on now, 2 weeks ago you were saying likely 0-3. The Packers are far from unbeatable and they have a lot of their own injury issues

 

We've beaten the Packers twice in like the past 5 years.

 

With our safety situation right now, I fear we're going to get carved by Rodgers this week.

[Chisoxfn]

I think it's time to rethink the 49ers as a really good defense. At least right now.

There defense is still above average, imo. From a YPG perspective, sixth best in the league. Jets are 2nd in the league. Buffalo ranks 15th. All three teams we played are in top half of league defensively. I will caveat this by saying from a PPG perspective, it becomes a little more skewed with Buffalo being top 10 and Jets / 49ers ranking below. However, part of that is driven by 49er / Jet turnovers.