What a great team win last night. That was so damn fun to watch. You can point out 15 guys that had a serious impact in the outcome tonight. I can't remember a win like this in awhile. Gruden has this team playing hard and wanting to win... I'm excited to see what the season brings.
Carr looked a lot like Gannon running the offense. He slid around the pocket well and made a few nice plays on the move, too. Even picking up that 3 yard run instead of throwing it away like he used to and making it 3rd and 5 instead of 3rd and 8... those are little plays that start to add up as a game goes on. This offense is super dependent on short throws that allow receivers to run after the catch. Dude was deadly accurate last night. This is the Carr I want to see all year... I'll buy his fucking jersey if he does this all year. I loved it man and I'm proud of the way he fought last night.
How about that OL? We dog on Tom Cable but holy fuck I never in a million years would've bet that Chubb/Miller would've been absolutely skunked. Kolton looked like a whole new man out there... athletic, strong, and aggressive. Brown is just a mountain of a man and looked well worth that contract last night. Props to Devey and Good were getting a great push in the middle of that defense as well. Makes me feel better about Jackson being out and having some solid depth. Hudson was a stud as usual, so glad we locked him up.
Jacobs didn't break many big ones but he was strong and consistent and picked up a shit ton of first downs and pounded it into the end zone when we needed it. We hardly even threw him the ball as well... you know Gruden has a few tricks up his sleeve. Great start, kid.
Ferrell had a solid game... nothing special but was grinding. Held contain against the run. Nice to see him come away with a sack even if it was a coverage sack. We would've killed for a few more coverage sacks last year.
Abram certainly packs a punch. Consider me one that isn't that worried about that hit on the sideline. You seriously see that hit a dozen times every Sunday on a runner. Glad to see Conley seems to be okay and hopefully he can get back onto the field soon.
Fair to say that Tyrell Williams and Carr have some solid chemistry already. Carr always seemed to have liked those big bodied receivers and Williams has some wheels as well. I'm excited to see how they keep developing.
Mayowa with 2 sacks. Mauro made more plays last night than Frostee did all last season.
AJ Cole needs to get his shit together in a hurry. Carlson is still cool.
Vontaze Burfict was a beast in the run game. He makes it really hard to run between the tackles. You can see he's always talking to guys around him, too. Our FAs really balled last night... Burfict, Williams, Brown, and Joyner all had excellent games. Devey was solid, too.
Karl Joseph had a few nice plays in the run game. I still worry about him and Abram deep in coverage, though. Big challenge on Sunday.
If you rewatch the game check out Alec Ingold out there. Dude is a brute and did a great job clearing the path for Jacobs.
Returners are becoming obsolete but I feel so much better having Harris back there for the occasional return and just being rock solid catching punts. His big return was big at getting momentum back.
Lots to be excited about but the young talent looked like they belonged last night. Honestly the guy that I was most disappointed in was Conley... Sutton has had his number the last few years. Hope he heals up though and balls out this year. But serious, Ferrell/Jacobs/Abram/Renfrow/Moreau/Ingold/Crosby were all making plays out there and contributed to the win. That's so cool to see. Mullen got put in a tough spot and gave up some plays so hopefully he'll bounce back and, like I said, I want more from Cole.
Man, it just feels good to get this win. I think the team has the confidence to stay in every game. My expectations were tempered going into last night but I'm going to be pretty fucking excited for the next few weeks. I have a chance to go to the Vikings game in two weeks and might just say fuck it and go.