Here’s Jacobarch...
A couple of observations from last night...
Goff,
Everyone is throwing the book at Jared last night. Really he played a fine game. He was constantly dodging unblocked linemen avoiding the rush and completing passes. He made one really bad read at the end of the game. The other INT was on him but lets face it that DB made a great play and catch. Sometimes the opposing teams make plays as well. I think Goff will have a bounce back game this week at home but he definitely needs to show a little more maturity as a QB. I think he too is used to scoring an easy 30 every game and now that teams are taking away the deep passes on early downs they are making him be patient with the underneath throws. This is something him and McVay need to work on, and something they should have been working on in the offseason.
Gurley,
Ok, I might be in the minority on this but I think his knee is not the issue. I think it's a combination of things. First off, play calling! FFS can we throw him the ball in space like we used to? If teams are playing the ball deep now then it should in theory open up things underneath. I'm not seeing the same play designs that I saw a couple of seasons ago, it seems McVay has gotten completely away from that. Maybe that's due to how defenses are playing gurely now, but I'm not so sure that's that case. Also running the ball. Last night for example, we came out in the second half and ran very effectively between the tackles. Sean got completely away from that and started getting pass happy again. Shades of Martz. (We'll get back to McVay later)
I think Gurley's main problem is in his head. He looks disengaged, doesn't care and his head is not in the game. Maybe he's distracted by something? Maybe he's upset by his reduced roll? Everyone noticed this late last year, and it's carried over to this year. This is something the FO and Coaching staff has to fix because it will come back to bite them in the ass later on in the season.
Oline,
There were some serious growing pains last night with our young three in the middle. Lets start with Allen, he made multiple wrong reads when the Browns crowded the line. He let a couple of guys fly in untouched because he guessed wrong. On one of the plays he completely whiffed on a guy right in front of him. I scratched my head on that one. Good thing is he's young and you can see a ton of upside with him. He blocks well and doesn't get penalized. He'll be fine. Noteboom really has been pretty solid in his first three games. Is he perfect? No, but he does offer reliability and he doesn't miss his assignments often. One thing he does need to work on is his screen game.
Demby, well we all know he would be a work in progress, but lets be honest, he played OK last night. His false starts were killers but that is mental and hopefully something he can move past. Next week is a home game so that should help with those presnap penalties. He did miss a couple of assignments but that's to be expected for a guy who was only brought back because of an injury and suspension.
Good news is both of our tackles had a bounce back game last night against a very good Dline.
McVay,
As I stated on a couple of threads I think McVay is going thru some growing pains as an HC. He came into the league on fire, no one had any answers for his offense, and teams were blown out on the regular. But as you know things don't last forever in the NFL, eventually teams will figure you out and thats when you'll have to adjust. It's obvious it's a pride thing because he is making the same mistakes over and over. Not running the ball, putting Goff and our Defense in bad positions at the end of games, His play calling has been suspect and I think it's due to him losing all of his assistants over the last couple of years. I know that's a hard thing to prove but look at it this way, we haven't scored a touchdown in the first Quarter and I think only scored one TD total in the first half thru three games. That's a problem, agree or disagree we have to admit that needs to be fixed if we're going to have any chance of succeeding in the playoffs or even getting there.
Last night wasn't Seans finest performance, he challenged plays he shouldn't have, and didn't challenge plays he should have. I was literally yelling at the screen when he didn't challenge the PI on Hill in the endzone. If he challenges that play the Browns have to kick a fieldgoal and helps the Rams seal that game.
There are some glaring issues on Offense that needs to be addressed, McVay always states in his Pressers that he needs to take some of the blame when it comes to playcalling. Well McVay, show us.
