 SOME WEEK 8 OBSERVATIONS, BY JIM FADLER (Oct
25) |
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MR. WARNER I think
that Warner does not get as far in his progressions as Green did nor is he quite as quick
and I also think they need to make more of an effort to game plan Holt. Positives---
along with an unreal coolness that allows him to throw the ball away when there is nothing
there.....to slip off what seemed to be sure sack by Jamir Miller and throw the ball
like a laser beam or float it in when needed...Mr Warner has exceptionally strong hands
and forearms. I watched his mechanics a lot yesterday and came away convinced that: * As I say, he has incredibly strong forearms for a QB, and I think that may have a lot to do with how he can throw so far with so much touch. * He has really big hands and they appear to be equally strong judging how he holds the ball and protects it. * He is improving rapidly on play action fakes. * Did you all see that slant he threw to Proehl with a CB draped all over Proehl.....amazing. THE OFFENSE: My best guess is that the offense is 50% Martz, 25% Warner, and 25% an assorment of things like the addition of Al Saunders, the maturation of Orlando Pace, just plain luck with injuries, and Vermeil easing the stubborness...and a whole lot more. Saunders is doing an excellent job and would be the coordinator if Martz leaves...Hanifan and Pace have a great rapport now. This offense punishes zone blitzing and really tries to force a team to match up more than just go after the QB. THE DEFENSE. The defense is very very good imho and is much better with Collins against the run than last year. Fletcher has more crowd charisma than anyone save Bruce...he is playing much better than I thought he would...Wistrom is as good as I thought he would be. Jenkins is still shaky imho...In fact without announcing it or flipping sides Lyle is playing more like a strong safety and Jenkins is playing more like a free safety. Billy to my eye has no coverage skills and it has not improved since last year, he is a terror on run support but that also is one of his weaknesses in pass coverage. The Rams have attempted to address this by forcing him farther back in the basic defensive set up and bringing Lyle farther up where his superior play recognition prevents him from being such a fish on the hook for play action. I know its hard on TV but if you get a chance watch Lyle and Jenkins...Billy does nothing nor goes anywhere without Lyle telling him what to do and most of it has been to back up and in essence stay out of the way . I made it a point to watch Billy Jr closely again [in the Browns game]....and didn't he lay a lick on Jabbar....He was matched up on the wide man several times and held his own and at one point even played some bump and run...but I think he still looks somewhat clumsy. Joel Buchsbaum still maintained on his Sunday night radio show that Jenkins is the weak link on the defense. Bush is misplaced at strong safety imho and is a natural free safety...I saw him torched on that play against the Falcons and have heard little good out of my Rams sources on his play in practice....right now he will be cut next year if he does not pick it up some. My real hope is that Coady will learn a lot this year and play at SS next year....I saw some film of Coady after he was drafted. I think he is A. Easily the fastest safety we have B. Can hit as hard as Toby Wright C. Is very fluid in coverage and turns his hips like a cornerback. I read a lot on him after he was picked and no personnel commentator called it a reach. Buchsbaum raved about the pick. He was not a name player and a lot of people are down on him but given time I think he is the answer at strong safety. BROWNS GAME. I was extremely impressed with young Mr. Couch and I came into the game all prepared to not be. I thought he played in a dink and dunk offense in college and would be the second coming of Andre Ware. Every media person in St. Louis came away raving about his play and the Browns fans should be encouraged by him. I thought the Rams defense was a bit flat early but they were ready for battle in the second half. The long ball? I thought they completely took it out in the Falcons game but it was definitely in there for the Browns and you could see Warner look deep several times and then come back on his progressions. But they did it on at least 4 occasions against the Browns and Warner checked back down every time. In the third quarter I had a good look at a developing play with Bruce and there were three guys on him when he turned and went deep. The Browns did what seemed to me to be a decent job taking it away.... Imho you can take deep stuff away fairly easy if you are willing to commit the resources to it and gamble that a team is stubborn or impatient enough to throw into the teeth of it. Teams have to literally choose their poisons and right now most will choose to hang back and stop the long stuff. The offense showed some more new stuff to give the Titans some things to ponder. I thought that toss sweep to Faulk with the fullback leading beside Pace was an awesome play waiting to happen in the first game it was unstoppable yesterday. Best of all I hear they have some more variations off that reverse/fake reverse they keep showing that they will unveil for the Titans. DILFER & OTHER QBs. Some of you may recall my earlier remarks about the point end of the ball being up when Warner and Green throw it. The point end is down when Dilfer throws it, so the ball has a tendency to die and will bounce out when the receiver tries to grab it. Point end up and the receiver can pluck it out of the air.... point end down and you get a lot of deflections and balls popping up in the air. Difler is not however as bad as Stoney Case. VERMEIL. I think that he is the attitude coach right now and doing a very good job of keeping the team on an even keel. I have heard a couple of things lately that he would like more credit than he is getting. 2000 DRAFT. I see the depth at both OT and DT as absolutely paramount. Some say CB, but I am still on the fence when it comes to Taje though I am more in his camp this year than ever before since his rookie year. Going into next year with Bly and McCleon as the starters and Allen as the nickel back would not scare me tremendously although I would prefer it be Lyght McCleon and Bly as the top three. I don't consider them to have a backup at OT at all...although I am told that Tucker can play some at tackle-I would have to be convinced. I think that if they don't get another DT that can play soon they are playing roulette with Ray Agnew's age and the drubbing that Farr takes every game. An injury at either position would be almost as horrible as Warner going down. |
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