Cleaning Out the DVR
So I am switching cable companies because my bill is too expensive now (sign-on promos are over) and I am cheap. Because of that, my DVR is going to go away, which means some old game footage I have is going away. Before it did, I wanted to go back and watch some of what I had recorded. The only games I had left were the 10/15/2006 game versus the Dolphins and the 10/22/2006 game versus the Lions. Some thoughts from watching them:
I know we talk about it a lot, but wow did that defensive line get overpowered sometimes. For the most part, they did a pretty good job in these two games, but it was more a matter of who they were playing. I had forgotten how bad they were against the run when playing some talented running backs like Kevin Jones and Ronnie Brown.
Justin Miller’s ability to generate field position is huge. There was a time in the Lions game where he had a huge return right after a Lions TD that put the Lions back in the game 14-7. Miller returned the kick 56 yards to the Lions 41 yard line.
I tried to focus on Pete Kendall a bunch. He had some textbook blocks and great seals to help spring Leon Washington around the corner, I think that will be the biggest area where we notice a difference initially for his replacement.
Not having watched a game in months, I was in wonder of Schottenheimer’s style all over again. All the motions, stacking of receivers, using receiver floods short, medium and long to give Pennington an open man … I watched Schottenheimer scheme Tim Dwight blocking a Defensive End, at least twice, and doing it well
Kerry Rhodes is just a fun player to watch. I know what they say about defensive backs and hands (they would be receivers if they could catch), but there were more than a few plays where Rhodes had chances of snagging some interceptions that just went as Passes Deflected. I hope he worked on his hands during the offseason.
Brad Smith athleticism is pretty awesome. I love watching his loping style when he has the ball and when he comes on the field, he can give Pennington a free completion when lined up in the backfield as defenses get concerned and check to zone. Also, he had some great special teams tackles in the games.
Mangold has some real bright spots at the point of attack, pushing back lineman during running plays. Rod Marinelli wanted to exploit the young Center in the Lions game, and it just didn’t work that much.
Darian Barnes will be a nice solid Fullback for the Jets, he made some great blocks and seals for Ronnie Brown.
Clement had some serious issues with the pass rush, I would want to check the end of the season games to see if he got better in this area, can’t remember.
Pennington might not be the biggest, or best QB in the league, but his concentration and execution is unparalelled.
I am getting more and more excited to see the re-worked front seven in action. With the competition that the team is going to have at Linebacker and Defensive Line, I think this team could be very interesting.
Filed under: Main Page, Opinion/Bassett
It will be interesting to see if Miller is as effective returning kicks this year as he has been the last two seasons. Personally, I believe his All-Pro KO return days days may be over.
I’ve pointed out before how the Bears neutralized Miller’s return game by kicking the ball high and short. Miller is not a juker. Rather, he ramps up to speed like car entering an interstate, bursting through wedge-created holes. He’s a straight-line runner, breaking tackles rather than avoiding them.
By kicking it high and short, Miller’s vision is reduced and he can’t accelerate to ramming speed. High-and-short kickoffs essentially turn into punts and punt returns are a whole different discipline.
Memory is leading me to believe that Miller’s return stats went down after the Chicago game; I do remember other teams deploying the same, neutralizing tactic. Both of Miller’s return TDs came before the Bears game. His other TD came at the close of the 2005 season.
Does anyone have the stats to either back up my theory? Or crush it?
Brad Smith is not a burner, but he seems to have this extra gear that he pops on at the right moment to get by would-be tacklers. This gear is very evident in pre-season reverse against Washington, as well as another reverse late in the season (I can’t recall the team).
Drack, here are his numbers after the Bears game.
Week 12 vs. Houston: Miller didn’t have a return (he may have been injured that week) — Leon handled them
Week 13 vs. GB: only 2 returns, one for 45 yards
Week 14 vs. Bills loss: 4 returns avg. 29 yds, longest was 42 yards
Week 15 vs. Minn: only 2 returns 24 and 19 yds.
Week 16 vs. Miami: only one return in the rain for 24 yd
Week 17 vs. Raiders: Only 2 returns for 25 and 21 yds.
He had a couple of long ones in that period, but it looks like he didn’t get all that much opportunity. Teams were either kicking away from him or out of the endzone; and the Jets defense got much better towards the end so the number of kickoffs were less. I don’t think the sample size is large enough to prove or disprove your theory.