Well that was special - and I watched it all on delay as I had a work event from 12:30-4:30 yesterday (and somehow managed not to find out what happened).
The good (and well there was a little bit of good in this one):
1) It looks like this team will be better able to come from behind than last year - obviously not by 28 points, but I think being down 10 won't seem as insurmountable as it seemed to late in the year.
2) Owens and Ocho are working good in this offense. Even in a desperate situation, 19 catches combined is a good sign that they'll be able to make plays in the offense.
3) Gresham getting 6 grabs and a TD should be good for his confidence and encourage more use of him, so I like that. He had a pretty good first game.
4) We finally have a real kicker, I think. Nugent hitting a 54-yarder with apparent ease is an excellent sign, especially after last year.
5) Bernard Scott might be getting himself more playing time with what he showed in limited action. Ultimately I think this'll help keep Benson fresher anyway.
5) They didn't quit after falling so far behind. This is good.
6) There's 15 more games and this was a road loss to a tough opponent. They've recovered from week 1 losses more brutal than this.
The bad
1) The pass rush basically generated zip. Odom was invisible and I have to at least wonder if he'll ever be the same after last year's injury.
2) They've gotten back into the habit of giving up 3rd down conversions. Especially long ones. This was a hallmark of the bad old days and needs to be fixed quick. I had a glimmer of hope when they moved the ball so well in the 3rd quarter and they got within 14 but the defense needed to get a 3-and-out there and didn't.
3) They still try to go for the turnover at the expense of tackling more than I would like. Obviously when they fell far behind this was more necessary but still way too many broken/missed tackles.
4) They could not get the running game going. The lack of development in Andre Smith is really killing the o-line in this regard.
5) For as big as his numbers were, Carson had a bad game - he didn't make a ton of mistakes, but the ones he made were huge. While he had only 1 INT against him, it easily could've been like 4. Too many balls were thrown behind the receiver.
6) Why the hell were we targeting Dan Coats on a key 3rd down play early in the game when we were down 7-0? Instant driver killer there.
7) Was it really that hot in New England? There seemed to be more cramping type issues than I would've expected. It continues the thought that there's suspect medical/conditioning with this team.
8) We were badly out-game-planned in this one and that was shocking and disappointing.
The neutral
1) Shipley caught the hail mary and nearly scored. TO not being there was bogus and I'm sure that won't be happening again. Chad needed to get IV fluids and if that's the case it's more understandable but still he should know better too. Ultimately though, it's much ado about nothing I think.
-QG
NOT the way we want things to start out.
