My thoughts....
First offensive series
1st play - Brooks hands off to Jordan for no gain
2nd play - False start by Gallery
3rd play - A draw to Jordan for no gain
4th play - A draw to Jordan for no gain
They were trying to get the running down for the limited time that the starters were going to be in there.
On the first play, Moss came in motion and lined next to the right tackle as a TE. He cut the legs out of the defensive end for a nice block.
Sam Williams, on one play, played up on the line of scrimage and caught the RB from behind ....behind the line of scrimage. On the next play, he moved up after the snap to prevent the swing pass to their RB.
Second offensive series
1st play - Brooks pass to Gabriel on the left sideline was high
2nd play - Handoff to Jordan, starts left, cuts inside for a nice gain
3rd play - Brooks is sacked, Gallery overextended and got beat, Brooks wraps up the ball.
I think Jordan did allright in this game. As was the theme in this game, all of our QBs showed poor passes.
Brayton was rushing the QB, getting close, the QB passes the ball, Brayton turns around and runs downfield about a dozen yards and is the first to tackle the ball carrier. I was impressed with his hustle.
A couple of times in this game, Carr should have used the fair catch.
Third offensive series
1st play - Handoff to Jordan, turns outside for a nice gain
2nd play - Pitch back to Jordan, runs left, lowers shoulder to ram the defender for a three yard gain.
3rd play - Handoff to Jordan, runs left for a first down
4th play - Brooks fakes the handoff, throws pass intended for Whitted that is intercepted.
Jordan seemed to run always left or left center. Later in the game Fargas ran predominantly right. I liked the mentality of lowering the shoulder...ran hard. The pass Brooks threw had too much air under it....at first I had to make sure it wasn't meant for a jump ball to Moss or Morant. The coverage was great and that pass should never have been made.
Fabian played well with good coverage skills and flashed the good hands on the interception that was around his right ear.
Fourth offensive series
1st play - Handoff to Jordan, Foschi has a nice block that springs Jordan for a long gain-runs left
2nd play - Handoff to Jordan, tackled for a loss, Grove overmatched by Rayburn.
3rd play - Brooks, with the pocket closing, stands in and throws a nice pass to Courtney about shoulder high for a TD.
Hopefully, those types of blocks will come more often. I don't know if the Rayburn read the play as all of our running plays were going left, he made a bee-line there. Grove was buried, could have used help but he didn't look strong on that play. The pass from Brooks was in a good location, nice zip and he hit his hand. Showed patience in the pocket.
The tackling was poor on defense.
Irons made a nice play bouncing off one blocker to get to the ball carrier for a tackle for a loss. Played very well.
Bing played well too but missed some tackles.
Hawthorne played well. He seemed to play consistent without taking plays off. On one play, he was engaged with his man and had the presence of mind to time the release of the pass from the QB and bat it down.
Fifth offensive series
1st play - Walter in as QB, handoff to Fargas for a gain
2nd play - Handoff to Fargas, tackle for a loss
3rd play - Pass play, Walter keeps feet moving, makes an ill-advises pass to Morant in traffic...had two defenders on him.
Keeping the feet moving may be a timing thing for him and I don't see it as a problem. Other QBs in the league do it. I think that there is a difference in his poise this season. Last season, Walter was third string, no pressure. This season, he is competing for the starting job and a lot is expected of him in his second season. He looked indecisive at times to me, didn't look the defenders off and his timing with the receivers was off...imo.
Sands looked good getting penetration on one play and seemed to bring the QB down with one hand while being blocked away.
Sixth offensive series
1st play - Handoff to Fargas up the middle for a short gain
2nd play - Walter seemed do well going through his progressions and then throwing a swing pass to Fargas a nice gain
3rd play - Handoff to Fargas for a short gain...up the middle
4th play - Walter tried to set up a screen under pressure, passes the ball into a crowd, Foschi caught it and it would have been a huge loss if not for a defensive penalty.
5th play - Handoff to Fargas, no gain...right side
6th play - Walter, feet bouncing, loses grip on the ball and throws it to the ground...looked indecisive and unsure about the route.
7th play - Walter back to pass, felt the pocket closing, moved up in the pocket then outside the pocket, shovel pass to Fargas for a big gain.
8th play - Handoff to Fargas, runs outside (right) for a nice gain.
9th play - Pass to Buchanon...sets feet....well covered, incomplete
10th play - Pass to Buchanon complete and first down.
11th play - Quick drop back but incomplete midrange and middle of field
12th play - DE hit Walter on shoulder, tried to scramble out and stumbled.
13th play - Long pass to Rivers was overthrown.
The swing pass Walter looked good and poised. I think the reason a few balls slipped out of his hand was that he was concentrating too much on the routes and messed up his timing.
The plays all game were vanilla as can be expected. I think they wanted to set up a rhythm to have something to build on. The completion to Buchanon though, was the receivers were bunched together and then disburse in various directions. That was one of the view plays that were a new wrinkle.
The shovel pass, Walter kept his cool and had good pocket presence. Good job.
The special teams play was very good from punt and kickoff coverage to Seabass' field goals. Those two long ones were right on and this is obviously a good sign.
Hawthorne made a turn move and dropped the QB a split second after he got rid of the ball.
It is a shame that so many passes were off target or that Morant couldn't get playing time with the first unit. Hard to get a read on his improvement.
Irons made another great play were he got a sack, created a fumble. Hawthorne was still on his side of the LOS but noticed the loose ball and ran towards it...great heads up. He almost got the recovery but Quarshie beat him to it.
Routt played well and seemed to have good coverage during the game.
Riddle made a nice strip and seemed lively.
Huntley I saw in the backfield a few times putting pressure on the QB....good effort.
The whole defense seemed to be trying to swat the ball away and create turnovers....as Ryan wants.
