This was the kind of game I was expecting at the beginning of the season, with some significant coaching and communication issues and missed assignments. It could be the first three games masked the adaptation of the coaches and team to each other. I had hoped though that by game 5 there would be some improvement across the board.
Instead what we saw today was regression in all phases of the game. Short week or not, the Seahawks were not prepared to play today as a team.
Geno as “medium” I think is very charitable. If this game is an average performance this season he will most definitely not be on the team next year. Failure to recognize the pressure, the sacks, and be in command of the offence were on display today. Todays’s tape would definitely not support extensions for either DK or Geno.
About DK—after the fumble he seemed to be in a funk. Imagine Doug Baldwin “ADB” in that situation—he would have been PISSED and been on fire to make up for it.
The D… yeah MM got his butt kicked today by being too aggressive early. He doesn’t yet have the talent particularly at LB to be able to play the way he wants. But you gotta run with what you’ve got.
The TE room had a good day—caught 💯 of their targets. Lockett—showed DK how it should be done. But why was JSN not a factor until the end ? Forcing the ball to DK early is not a path to success.
It was the same OL as Detroit though. Geno can’t take 6 sacks—he needs to do a better job of diagnosing pressure and adjusting the protection/play at the line.
Geno wasn’t “bad” he was just not good enough the way I see it.
I don't completely disagree , but he had pressure all day and then started taking off, mainly because he had no choice. I don't see this loss as a Geno problem myself-
I remember the perfect pass to JSN that JSN dropped on the final drive that would most likely lead to a TD instead of a FG try. We win and a win is a win. Things would be different. We'd still have too many injuries to expect things to change soon.
There were so many “game changing” plays yesterday. The very first one was the 3rd down and forever screen pass for a first down on the Giants first possession. That should never happen, and it set the tone for the day.
Geno sliding short of the first down when it could have been easily gained, then not converting on 4th down was huge also. DK’s fumble. The drop by JSN was not great for him but the ball should have been going his direction earlier in the game for sure.
The challenge with Grubb is that he can call all the run plays you or anybody else wants, and if they regularly result in punts, or worse, what's he supposed to do? Establishing the run is a great concept, but teams are clogging the crap out of our running lanes between the tackles, over and over and over again. So what I think he's trying to do is use Geno to loosen up defenses by passing....which sounds good, if the same OL that can't run block could in fact pass block. But today's game neatly demonstrated that Grubb can't count on that, either. From early on, Geno could not wait for medium or longer routes to develop before he was getting serious pressure. So he went to shorter, safety valve-type passes. Those worked better, but not great, and the team couldn't stand prosperity long enough to get into scoring position that way.
And the awful performance of the defense on all three levels, it could be argued, pretty much moots piling on to Grubb all that much. He can't make chicken salad out of chicken excrement. It's a full squad problem they are facing, from the top staff down to the long snapper.
SSJ gets at the sum of this by talking about the street scrubs Schneider wants to call an offensive line. And look across at the other team, as exhibit A. They play in a division where they face the Eagles and the Cowboys. Look at their trenches. Look at how they spend on them. Note that this isn’t necessarily an argument that says they all win by doing that. The Giants have sucked for a while and they will continue to for now. But Seattle’s defense was overworked for the entire first half because their offense is as fragile as old eggshells. Get off schedule for a nanosecond, just one negative play, and they’re screwed, because their offensive line cannot block for crap. Look at Jones’ TIME! All freaking day to toss slants. He didn’t have to force the issue or hurry the way Geno constantly has to, and it tells you that you cannot “scheme” blocking. Whenever you look at the imaginativeness of other teams it all depends on talent and skill, not just coaching. Sure, Mahomes has more talent than any other QB, but he also has very good blocking up front. It enables so much that Seattle cannot execute, because the QB is battling constantly just to get rid of the ball, let alone throw to the best option.
Also, sigh: We knew there would be growing pains. I can totally see Carroll getting stung in this same window, and it’s miserable that you’re playing three games in 11 days. It’s worse that the next game is against an arch-enemy that’s going to be steaming about losing a game to the Cards; all you can home for is that Seattle is ass pissed and embarrassed as the 49ers. They should be. Those players should want this next game badly. It may not matter, but you want them to at least show up, not sleep-walk. This next one is a massive coaching test. Get them to BE PRESENT for it. They’re surely odds-on favorites for a slaughter. But then, so were the Giants.
Boy Howdy. Anything good I felt left after DK's fumble. Watching him mope made it worse. I watched Detroit do this to their fans in one game last year. They seemed to have learned something from it. Play time is over.
Totally disagree about the dline, at least interior dline. I was watching them more than the ball and JReed and Hankins also and especially Williams (pretty sure the OLine was after him big time being an ex Giant) but those guys were being double teamed. Saw Hankins get triple teamed. Issue was we only had 2 in the game. LBs were missing holes (not used to this as BWaqz was so good at it. Or they were getting blocked and removed by a pulling player or TE. Our bigs were doing what they are supposed to do and those behind were not. On a sweep play saw Dodson chasing Rb instead of going wide to start with. When they were short yardage and was 4 or 5 bigs, then fumble or loss or no gain. All the rest especially about OLine yeah
I think the proof of that pudding is in what we see, and the number of plays in which the Giants gashed us straight up the gut on run plays was far too high. I do think the backers played the run even worse than the DL, but you simply cannot give up 174 yards rushing and blame it all on the second and third levels. That's why Mike has stated very clearly, more than once, that all three levels of the defense played poorly.
Agree. However, I blame that on Coach. He basically playing 2 DLine. Further, DLine are not the ones who make the high level of stops. One of the best DTs in past decade, Donald avg only 50 tackles a season. DLine take blocks, especially in 3-4 and we were not running a 3-4. The great NTs take on lineman to free up others. As stated I saw Hankins and Williams triple teamed at times. The holes were not then filled by LB or S. Edges maybe set the Edge only to have those behind take wrong angles. When they went 4 down linemen, they made stops. I blame a lot on coaching scheme. Last several years been same style even with different players. The whole needs to play lots better but I place less blame on the couple big guys out there.
From SJ here and also Bell he did say, “We’re not leveraging the ball well on the second level…the second level run fits right now are falling short” and mentioned that the defensive line and the edges are doing good enough.”
Bwags in the last couple of years at least was always way to deep. I'm sure that is what he was told to do, BUT your MLB shouldn't' be more than max 7 yards deep at snap and usually it's around 5 yards If they're not up towards the line/ almost on the line.
I just want to say how much I hated CBS (?) coverage of the game...a dearth of replays and no slow-motion in a game loaded with close and questionable calls. WTF?
There is a market for someone to stream play-by-play so I can just turn off the Fox/CBS network ad blitz noise at every pause and hear some decent commentary and analysis. Maybe a radio station down here might work. NBC's Sunday night broadcast does a fair job sticking to traditions that illuminate the Game.
I’ll have to rewatch the game on TV to get more clarity. But being in the stadium and my immediate perspective is that this game was not a fluke. Seahawks got thoroughly and comprehensively beat. If anything the Seahawks were lucky for it to be that close. It was hard to watch. When a game like this happens I don’t think there is a single person that doesn’t share blame.
Having said that, it was a tough spot as it was an ultimate sandwich game in between Monday and Thursday night games with big time NFC opponents. Additionally the giants had extra days to prepare. It showed. Run game, QB runs, and slants killed us all day.
There is no silver lining as I see it. Everyone was not good.
At the end I left the stadium saying that we didn't even deserve to have that FG chance to tie the game. It was just painful beginning to end in person
In truth the score was 36-13 (if on the opening drive they hold onto the football for one more foot). Think that more closely resembles the spanking we got
I have a lot of the same complaints as everyone else but what I haven't seen mentioned are two things:
The first is that Grubb knows how to design a screen so why aren't the Hawks running more of them to slow up the rush?
The second is what the hell was that effort from Tomlinson on the blocked field goal? You have one of the more athletic linebacker/safety types lined up over you and instead of getting a piece of him you decide to what, cut block him? It wasn't even a cut block, he just stood there bent down low, immobile, so Simmons could basically run past him. Inexcusable.
Seattle Got Out Coached and Out Schemed the entire first half! AND enough of DK being a top 10 receiver !!! If you can't catch balls you should and you keep fumbling you're NOT top ten ,Period! And how about our guard play ( CW, center, got beat Once against the best interior DL in the league) But our Guard play was Atrocius! SEVEN sacks ,all but one on the Guards!!! and a Question for those who know more- On the end zone cam on the blocked FG, A D player pushed the center down( obvious, he used two hands ) and the guy then jumped over our center for the block. I thought that was Illegal??? and On D , what can you say ? The LB's ( mostly got ate up all game in just about everything but especially in pass coverage!) There is allot of work to do here, this looked more like a PC game then what we've seen so far this year! SAD!!!
I'm inclined to say the blocked FG was illegal, but it was holding on the player who pushed Stoll down, Simmons jumping over was legal because he lined up at the line. Laken Tomlinson played that absolutely terrible though. If he doesn't play so bloody rotten, we have a shot at winning.
Jenkins had a few good plays but he was out of position on many others. He got lucky with the fumble return, right place, right time. Definitely would not categorize his play as “hot”.
To put some light on this darkness…we played badly and still nearly (should have barring a non-call on an illegally blocked kick) won?! Yes, the giants aren’t great, but no game is a given and so far it seems we tend to play at a similar level to who we’re playing.
Also, what was with Geno’s attitude today? His body language all game was awful. - right from the start. It worries me that something is awry internally between the players and/or coaches. It wasn’t like him. I haven’t noticed him be like that before.
This team got abused in every phase of the game. They certainly didn't deserve to win. It was amazing the game was as close at is was. I don't think anyone played well. It was an effort at the level of horrible teams like the Panthers and there's no excuse for it. Most of the team was healthy and it looks like they looked ahead to Thursday's game. And I have no doubt they are going to get destroyed by 30-40 points in 4 days by a pissed off Niners team that blew a game against Arizona.
We tend to forget, it seems, that Smith has the authority to not only select from the (limited) menu of Grubb-supplied plays on each down, but to entirely change the play (constrained by personnel) based on his own read. We cannot know from seats cheap or expensive which as-run plays originate in Grubb's noggin, and which are from Smith's. We also don't know what goes on between them when Smith changes a play & it goes poorly. Nor when Smith doesn't change a play, and it goes poorly.
It seemed to me that Detroit gashed the 'hawks D on the ground, in the air on screens, and through the air in mid-field at short to moderate distance. It seemed to me that NY studied that tape pretty close. I have to wonder how much schematic experimentation is going on by the coaching staff, especially on defense. The nature of experimentation is a very wide dispersion of results. Convergence can be very slow to appear, especially for "unstable" systems subject to widely-ranging random variables (which the Nerd Patrol calls a "chaotic system"). (Technically, an "unstable" system is one where small changes in the inputs or conditions result in large changes of the results. During developmental testing of complex systems, we actually take advantage of that...but it sure is hard to 'splain to management!)
It seemed to me that the Oline butcher's bill came due today. IIRC, the NYG Dline is pretty well regarded, and it may just be that their greatest strength came up against the 'hawks greatest weakness. Run blocking sucked, too.
We used to grouse about DK not getting yards after catch. Now we grouse about fumbles as he tries to accrue them. Two things seem clear: 1) the fumbles can't be blamed on the influence of any other member of the team, and 2) we appear to be hard to satisfy. In either case, the question isn't "can we trade him?", but "given the options available, what has the best outcome for the team?". The situation has serious ramifications for his future, as well as that of the team: the value of his next contract is dropping like...like...yeah...like a fumbled ball.
For the first time, I thought DK looked despondent on the bench after today's fumble. In the past, he has usually looked defiant. "Shell shock" was the actual word that came to mind. In his case, that might be a good thing. There are ways to retrain the habits that hold on to things. Maybe the coaching staff will figure it out. Maybe DK will figure it out.
Along those lines, maybe I will win the lottery. If I do, I will split it with Turtleman who, on the whole, seems to be a pretty good guy & also seems to be having a rough time. (Don't hold your breath...having first learned my statistics and probability in Nevada, I never gamble.)
I agree that Smith also looked shell shocked after that fifth or sixth sack. In his case, that's not a good thing at all, but I didn't think it lasted very long. I noticed he had the headphones on at that point, and I wondered what he was hearing on the other end of the line. In any case, he didn't look at all shy when he came back on the field.
Those are kind words but, if history is any guide, all will become clear in the due course of time! (Or, as my 26-year-old daughter would say, "stop encouraging him!")
Ah, there it is. A stinker all way round. Not worried about it. Unfortunate of course, but not the least bit worried about it. Mike Mac has to figure out who he has, and who isn't able or willing to play the way he wants them to play. Lessons being learned right now, the hard way.
Geno's post game demeanor was odd I thought. Without saying as much, there was a hint of angst with the way the game was called, and I can't say as I blame him. K9 needs to get the ball early in this game. The Giants never had to respect the run and the oline was exposed, again. Geno got beat on because of this. Don't blame him for being mad. I think the comment was something to the effect "I just run the plays that are called". Ugh. He and Grubb need to have a heart-to-heart.
Momentum is a Big factor in games. It affects the psyche of the players and the performance, the fluidity of the muscles, the chemistry, etc. Fumbles, Interceptions, and penalties on big plays have the biggest impact on killing momentum and drives.
We were driving for a touchdown against the Lions and playing well, then DK fumbled by trying to get extra yardage and getting the ball punched out. That happened last year or year before right by the end zone and the other team recovered then also. Those plays kill momentum, not just for the one play. And repetition has a bigger effect on the team. Did he learn from last year or last week? Nope, he still doesn't protect the ball, even the following week. He also made penalties on big plays repetitively in the last couple of games, holding and OPI penalties, penalties that weren't even needed to help the play. Momentum killers. Don't think he was guilty of penalties in the Giants game.
Changing habits has to do with taking ownership and with attitude and focus. You need all three, not just one or two. I think he's really worked on his emotional responses that used to be a big problem. He's got the want to. I just don't know about the commitment and the focus. I like DK. He's a game changer, but in both directions. Don't really want to trade, don't want deflating losses either. I think a sports psychologist could help. It works in other sports. Not saying there aren't other factors, but I think this could be fixed with the right help. Anyway...
Sorry Randall, I called you Russell. It’s just a name so closely associated to the Seahawks I must have crossed wires again.
This was the kind of game I was expecting at the beginning of the season, with some significant coaching and communication issues and missed assignments. It could be the first three games masked the adaptation of the coaches and team to each other. I had hoped though that by game 5 there would be some improvement across the board.
Instead what we saw today was regression in all phases of the game. Short week or not, the Seahawks were not prepared to play today as a team.
Geno as “medium” I think is very charitable. If this game is an average performance this season he will most definitely not be on the team next year. Failure to recognize the pressure, the sacks, and be in command of the offence were on display today. Todays’s tape would definitely not support extensions for either DK or Geno.
About DK—after the fumble he seemed to be in a funk. Imagine Doug Baldwin “ADB” in that situation—he would have been PISSED and been on fire to make up for it.
The D… yeah MM got his butt kicked today by being too aggressive early. He doesn’t yet have the talent particularly at LB to be able to play the way he wants. But you gotta run with what you’ve got.
The TE room had a good day—caught 💯 of their targets. Lockett—showed DK how it should be done. But why was JSN not a factor until the end ? Forcing the ball to DK early is not a path to success.
Doug you expressed my thoughts exactly. Good job on your comments
I agree completely except on Geno , he did the best he could considering our O guard play was atrocious!
It was the same OL as Detroit though. Geno can’t take 6 sacks—he needs to do a better job of diagnosing pressure and adjusting the protection/play at the line.
Geno wasn’t “bad” he was just not good enough the way I see it.
I don't completely disagree , but he had pressure all day and then started taking off, mainly because he had no choice. I don't see this loss as a Geno problem myself-
I remember the perfect pass to JSN that JSN dropped on the final drive that would most likely lead to a TD instead of a FG try. We win and a win is a win. Things would be different. We'd still have too many injuries to expect things to change soon.
There were so many “game changing” plays yesterday. The very first one was the 3rd down and forever screen pass for a first down on the Giants first possession. That should never happen, and it set the tone for the day.
Geno sliding short of the first down when it could have been easily gained, then not converting on 4th down was huge also. DK’s fumble. The drop by JSN was not great for him but the ball should have been going his direction earlier in the game for sure.
The challenge with Grubb is that he can call all the run plays you or anybody else wants, and if they regularly result in punts, or worse, what's he supposed to do? Establishing the run is a great concept, but teams are clogging the crap out of our running lanes between the tackles, over and over and over again. So what I think he's trying to do is use Geno to loosen up defenses by passing....which sounds good, if the same OL that can't run block could in fact pass block. But today's game neatly demonstrated that Grubb can't count on that, either. From early on, Geno could not wait for medium or longer routes to develop before he was getting serious pressure. So he went to shorter, safety valve-type passes. Those worked better, but not great, and the team couldn't stand prosperity long enough to get into scoring position that way.
And the awful performance of the defense on all three levels, it could be argued, pretty much moots piling on to Grubb all that much. He can't make chicken salad out of chicken excrement. It's a full squad problem they are facing, from the top staff down to the long snapper.
SSJ gets at the sum of this by talking about the street scrubs Schneider wants to call an offensive line. And look across at the other team, as exhibit A. They play in a division where they face the Eagles and the Cowboys. Look at their trenches. Look at how they spend on them. Note that this isn’t necessarily an argument that says they all win by doing that. The Giants have sucked for a while and they will continue to for now. But Seattle’s defense was overworked for the entire first half because their offense is as fragile as old eggshells. Get off schedule for a nanosecond, just one negative play, and they’re screwed, because their offensive line cannot block for crap. Look at Jones’ TIME! All freaking day to toss slants. He didn’t have to force the issue or hurry the way Geno constantly has to, and it tells you that you cannot “scheme” blocking. Whenever you look at the imaginativeness of other teams it all depends on talent and skill, not just coaching. Sure, Mahomes has more talent than any other QB, but he also has very good blocking up front. It enables so much that Seattle cannot execute, because the QB is battling constantly just to get rid of the ball, let alone throw to the best option.
Also, sigh: We knew there would be growing pains. I can totally see Carroll getting stung in this same window, and it’s miserable that you’re playing three games in 11 days. It’s worse that the next game is against an arch-enemy that’s going to be steaming about losing a game to the Cards; all you can home for is that Seattle is ass pissed and embarrassed as the 49ers. They should be. Those players should want this next game badly. It may not matter, but you want them to at least show up, not sleep-walk. This next one is a massive coaching test. Get them to BE PRESENT for it. They’re surely odds-on favorites for a slaughter. But then, so were the Giants.
100% agree
Boy Howdy. Anything good I felt left after DK's fumble. Watching him mope made it worse. I watched Detroit do this to their fans in one game last year. They seemed to have learned something from it. Play time is over.
Love the Brock Lesnar reference.
We don't have the guards to run effectively , and you must have good guard play to run the ball!!!
Totally disagree about the dline, at least interior dline. I was watching them more than the ball and JReed and Hankins also and especially Williams (pretty sure the OLine was after him big time being an ex Giant) but those guys were being double teamed. Saw Hankins get triple teamed. Issue was we only had 2 in the game. LBs were missing holes (not used to this as BWaqz was so good at it. Or they were getting blocked and removed by a pulling player or TE. Our bigs were doing what they are supposed to do and those behind were not. On a sweep play saw Dodson chasing Rb instead of going wide to start with. When they were short yardage and was 4 or 5 bigs, then fumble or loss or no gain. All the rest especially about OLine yeah
I think the proof of that pudding is in what we see, and the number of plays in which the Giants gashed us straight up the gut on run plays was far too high. I do think the backers played the run even worse than the DL, but you simply cannot give up 174 yards rushing and blame it all on the second and third levels. That's why Mike has stated very clearly, more than once, that all three levels of the defense played poorly.
Agree. However, I blame that on Coach. He basically playing 2 DLine. Further, DLine are not the ones who make the high level of stops. One of the best DTs in past decade, Donald avg only 50 tackles a season. DLine take blocks, especially in 3-4 and we were not running a 3-4. The great NTs take on lineman to free up others. As stated I saw Hankins and Williams triple teamed at times. The holes were not then filled by LB or S. Edges maybe set the Edge only to have those behind take wrong angles. When they went 4 down linemen, they made stops. I blame a lot on coaching scheme. Last several years been same style even with different players. The whole needs to play lots better but I place less blame on the couple big guys out there.
From SJ here and also Bell he did say, “We’re not leveraging the ball well on the second level…the second level run fits right now are falling short” and mentioned that the defensive line and the edges are doing good enough.”
Bwags in the last couple of years at least was always way to deep. I'm sure that is what he was told to do, BUT your MLB shouldn't' be more than max 7 yards deep at snap and usually it's around 5 yards If they're not up towards the line/ almost on the line.
I’m depressed.
Such a weak defensive effort and that’s against a not very good offense with its top two players injured.
Special teams sucked.
And man did we ever see our guards exposed — picked up and dropped in Geno’s lap more times than I can count.
And the DK fumble and the JSN drop, and Ryan forgetting we gave a running game.
Just “ugh” all around.
Hopefully they were saving it for Thursday. Hopefully Mafe is back and Nwosu has his sea legs now. And Tariq and Hall and Murphy can play.
Ugh.
I just want to say how much I hated CBS (?) coverage of the game...a dearth of replays and no slow-motion in a game loaded with close and questionable calls. WTF?
There is a market for someone to stream play-by-play so I can just turn off the Fox/CBS network ad blitz noise at every pause and hear some decent commentary and analysis. Maybe a radio station down here might work. NBC's Sunday night broadcast does a fair job sticking to traditions that illuminate the Game.
I’ll have to rewatch the game on TV to get more clarity. But being in the stadium and my immediate perspective is that this game was not a fluke. Seahawks got thoroughly and comprehensively beat. If anything the Seahawks were lucky for it to be that close. It was hard to watch. When a game like this happens I don’t think there is a single person that doesn’t share blame.
Having said that, it was a tough spot as it was an ultimate sandwich game in between Monday and Thursday night games with big time NFC opponents. Additionally the giants had extra days to prepare. It showed. Run game, QB runs, and slants killed us all day.
There is no silver lining as I see it. Everyone was not good.
At the end I left the stadium saying that we didn't even deserve to have that FG chance to tie the game. It was just painful beginning to end in person
In truth the score was 36-13 (if on the opening drive they hold onto the football for one more foot). Think that more closely resembles the spanking we got
I have a lot of the same complaints as everyone else but what I haven't seen mentioned are two things:
The first is that Grubb knows how to design a screen so why aren't the Hawks running more of them to slow up the rush?
The second is what the hell was that effort from Tomlinson on the blocked field goal? You have one of the more athletic linebacker/safety types lined up over you and instead of getting a piece of him you decide to what, cut block him? It wasn't even a cut block, he just stood there bent down low, immobile, so Simmons could basically run past him. Inexcusable.
In retrospect, I'm looking at the replay and I'm not sure it wasn't a foul on the block. The rules are clear as mud to me.
https://x.com/hawkstalkers/status/1843071033433293146/photo/1
That is what I thought- My understanding is you cannot block the snapper to free uop another player and that is exactly what they did !!!
Seattle Got Out Coached and Out Schemed the entire first half! AND enough of DK being a top 10 receiver !!! If you can't catch balls you should and you keep fumbling you're NOT top ten ,Period! And how about our guard play ( CW, center, got beat Once against the best interior DL in the league) But our Guard play was Atrocius! SEVEN sacks ,all but one on the Guards!!! and a Question for those who know more- On the end zone cam on the blocked FG, A D player pushed the center down( obvious, he used two hands ) and the guy then jumped over our center for the block. I thought that was Illegal??? and On D , what can you say ? The LB's ( mostly got ate up all game in just about everything but especially in pass coverage!) There is allot of work to do here, this looked more like a PC game then what we've seen so far this year! SAD!!!
I'm beginning to wonder what effect DK's growing downside has on the players. He garners a huge chunk of the salary pool... for what??
I'm inclined to say the blocked FG was illegal, but it was holding on the player who pushed Stoll down, Simmons jumping over was legal because he lined up at the line. Laken Tomlinson played that absolutely terrible though. If he doesn't play so bloody rotten, we have a shot at winning.
They play like this against the whiners and it will be a blowout!
It'll be an interesting game. Niners are coming off a close loss. Home field with the Seahawks in a bit of disarray. The Seahawks are matched up well.
I honestly think the difference has been the absence of Murphy.
Jenkins had a few good plays but he was out of position on many others. He got lucky with the fumble return, right place, right time. Definitely would not categorize his play as “hot”.
To put some light on this darkness…we played badly and still nearly (should have barring a non-call on an illegally blocked kick) won?! Yes, the giants aren’t great, but no game is a given and so far it seems we tend to play at a similar level to who we’re playing.
Also, what was with Geno’s attitude today? His body language all game was awful. - right from the start. It worries me that something is awry internally between the players and/or coaches. It wasn’t like him. I haven’t noticed him be like that before.
Last week the leakage was coming at him from Hutchinson and he dealt with it. Yesterday it was from everywhere.
This team got abused in every phase of the game. They certainly didn't deserve to win. It was amazing the game was as close at is was. I don't think anyone played well. It was an effort at the level of horrible teams like the Panthers and there's no excuse for it. Most of the team was healthy and it looks like they looked ahead to Thursday's game. And I have no doubt they are going to get destroyed by 30-40 points in 4 days by a pissed off Niners team that blew a game against Arizona.
I think defensive injuries affected us today.
Yeppers.
We are having some kind of fun, now, aren't we?
We tend to forget, it seems, that Smith has the authority to not only select from the (limited) menu of Grubb-supplied plays on each down, but to entirely change the play (constrained by personnel) based on his own read. We cannot know from seats cheap or expensive which as-run plays originate in Grubb's noggin, and which are from Smith's. We also don't know what goes on between them when Smith changes a play & it goes poorly. Nor when Smith doesn't change a play, and it goes poorly.
It seemed to me that Detroit gashed the 'hawks D on the ground, in the air on screens, and through the air in mid-field at short to moderate distance. It seemed to me that NY studied that tape pretty close. I have to wonder how much schematic experimentation is going on by the coaching staff, especially on defense. The nature of experimentation is a very wide dispersion of results. Convergence can be very slow to appear, especially for "unstable" systems subject to widely-ranging random variables (which the Nerd Patrol calls a "chaotic system"). (Technically, an "unstable" system is one where small changes in the inputs or conditions result in large changes of the results. During developmental testing of complex systems, we actually take advantage of that...but it sure is hard to 'splain to management!)
It seemed to me that the Oline butcher's bill came due today. IIRC, the NYG Dline is pretty well regarded, and it may just be that their greatest strength came up against the 'hawks greatest weakness. Run blocking sucked, too.
We used to grouse about DK not getting yards after catch. Now we grouse about fumbles as he tries to accrue them. Two things seem clear: 1) the fumbles can't be blamed on the influence of any other member of the team, and 2) we appear to be hard to satisfy. In either case, the question isn't "can we trade him?", but "given the options available, what has the best outcome for the team?". The situation has serious ramifications for his future, as well as that of the team: the value of his next contract is dropping like...like...yeah...like a fumbled ball.
For the first time, I thought DK looked despondent on the bench after today's fumble. In the past, he has usually looked defiant. "Shell shock" was the actual word that came to mind. In his case, that might be a good thing. There are ways to retrain the habits that hold on to things. Maybe the coaching staff will figure it out. Maybe DK will figure it out.
Along those lines, maybe I will win the lottery. If I do, I will split it with Turtleman who, on the whole, seems to be a pretty good guy & also seems to be having a rough time. (Don't hold your breath...having first learned my statistics and probability in Nevada, I never gamble.)
I agree that Smith also looked shell shocked after that fifth or sixth sack. In his case, that's not a good thing at all, but I didn't think it lasted very long. I noticed he had the headphones on at that point, and I wondered what he was hearing on the other end of the line. In any case, he didn't look at all shy when he came back on the field.
Whoa, Village, maybe change the last part of your name. hah, hah, stay humble.
Those are kind words but, if history is any guide, all will become clear in the due course of time! (Or, as my 26-year-old daughter would say, "stop encouraging him!")
Ah, there it is. A stinker all way round. Not worried about it. Unfortunate of course, but not the least bit worried about it. Mike Mac has to figure out who he has, and who isn't able or willing to play the way he wants them to play. Lessons being learned right now, the hard way.
Geno's post game demeanor was odd I thought. Without saying as much, there was a hint of angst with the way the game was called, and I can't say as I blame him. K9 needs to get the ball early in this game. The Giants never had to respect the run and the oline was exposed, again. Geno got beat on because of this. Don't blame him for being mad. I think the comment was something to the effect "I just run the plays that are called". Ugh. He and Grubb need to have a heart-to-heart.
Momentum is a Big factor in games. It affects the psyche of the players and the performance, the fluidity of the muscles, the chemistry, etc. Fumbles, Interceptions, and penalties on big plays have the biggest impact on killing momentum and drives.
We were driving for a touchdown against the Lions and playing well, then DK fumbled by trying to get extra yardage and getting the ball punched out. That happened last year or year before right by the end zone and the other team recovered then also. Those plays kill momentum, not just for the one play. And repetition has a bigger effect on the team. Did he learn from last year or last week? Nope, he still doesn't protect the ball, even the following week. He also made penalties on big plays repetitively in the last couple of games, holding and OPI penalties, penalties that weren't even needed to help the play. Momentum killers. Don't think he was guilty of penalties in the Giants game.
Changing habits has to do with taking ownership and with attitude and focus. You need all three, not just one or two. I think he's really worked on his emotional responses that used to be a big problem. He's got the want to. I just don't know about the commitment and the focus. I like DK. He's a game changer, but in both directions. Don't really want to trade, don't want deflating losses either. I think a sports psychologist could help. It works in other sports. Not saying there aren't other factors, but I think this could be fixed with the right help. Anyway...