Good win on Saturday night. Once again, the offensive unit looked good. Campbell was impressive out there and certainly looks like he is in command and more comfortable being the leader of the offense. Here are my notes, again in no particular order:
1. Campbell looked good. Looks like he is picking up the offense well and executing well. There were a couple of times when he looked like he could have released the ball a second quicker but it may be because he saw something that we couldn't see. Still, his numbers were solid and more importantly, he is looking the role of starting QB. Looks much more confident than last year. Seems like he is ready for that breakout year. Hopefully he starts out hot and Snyder begins negotiations and signs him by mid year.
2. Portis looked good. Seems like the WC offense will spread the defense and open up more running lanes for our backs. I expect Portis to have a big year this year. Good to see him get the TD.
3. Defense looked good. Nice that they held Buffalo to a FG when Mason fumbled the opening kickoff deep in our territory.
4. Todd Collins had solid numbers but, as should be expected, doesn't look as comfortable in the WC offense as he did in Saunders offense.
5. Justin Tryon, the loud mouth 4th round pick, seems to be having difficulty covering man to man. He was beat a couple of times last week and a couple of times this week. I know he has speed but maybe less talking and more playing will do him good otherwise he may have to look for another profession.
6. Jon Jansen is a concern. Not sure how good he is after his injuries and his age. We'll see how that plays out.
7. Rinehart looks like a keeper and should fill in nicely at LG when Kendall retires.
8. Suisham made a nice 45+ yarder with plenty of leg. Nice bounceback from missing last week's short kick.
9. Zorn looked more comfortable on the sidelines and calling plays. I am really starting to like him. The more you listen to him, the more it sounds like he is very confident in himself and his system and conveying the system.
Bottom line, I am really liking what I am seeing. This is the first time in years where I feel like we have a true direction and I like that we have less chaos with all the coaches and have streamlined things quite a bit and made things less complicated. I like the intensity of our coaches (Zorn and Blache) and I like that the players seem excited playing for these guys and learning their systems. Everyone seems to be picking things up and enjoying the direction of the team. That is key at this point. You really want to see all the pieces start to come together and things to start to make sense and that camarderie to shape here in the preseason. Hopefully it continues over the next couple of weeks and translates into good things when the season starts up.
1 comment:
Even though it's really early, the starting offense looks much improved over last year. Campbell is throwing with confidence and there seems to be less confusion and a greater sense of urgency. Zorn seems to enjoy calling plays...He was quoted saying he was really disappointed in going 3 and out and he wanted to score a lot more. That's a 180 from Gibbsie's conservative ways. Portis and Betts looked good. Marcus Mason looks like a keeper. I hope we have a roster spot for him. I expressed my concern about Jansen after the first game. He seems to have lost a step. At least Heyer and Rinehart have been good finds in the last two offseasons, bringing much needed youth to the o-line...not to mention, they both look really good.
I like the speed we have on defense. It seems that every opposing ball carrier is getting hit by eight guys swarming around the ball. I'm not concerned about Tryon. We have pretty good depth at the CB spot. It will be great if Carlos comes back healthy.
I'm still not jumping on a Super Bowl bandwagon, but things are definitely looking promising.
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