Only thing that concerns me about Grad..

[RedAlert]

Is how bad his long throws looked.

I can understand that this may be the result of him still thinking rather than reacting, but I was having Griese flashbacks. Especially on the Kaesviharn interception, when it looked like Galloway was on punt coverage..

He has to improve there, we can't lose the "stretch the field" factor.

[CadillacPower24_2006]

coulda been a number of things, rushing the throw, getting pressured, just a bad throw etc....but it is something that needs to be worked on if he is usually that far off on the deepball

[mjs020294]

Is how bad his long throws looked.

I can understand that this may be the result of him still thinking rather than reacting, but I was having Griese flashbacks. Especially on the Kaesviharn interception, when it looked like Galloway was on punt coverage..

He has to improve there, we can't lose the "stretch the field" factor.

He was definitely a little off yesterday with three bad over throws and three or four into coverage.  I don’t think any of those passes were what I would call “deep� though, they all seemed intermediate-to-long.   He threw some very nice long(ish) balls against the Saints, so he can be accurate with the longer passes.  Lets hope nerves and adrenaline from playing his first home game had something to do with his bad throws yesterday.  


When a rookie can look bad and still get a win things aren’t all bad though.  

[RedAlert]

He was definitely a little off yesterday with three bad over throws and three or four into coverage.  I don’t think any of those passes were what I would call “deepâ€� though, they all seemed intermediate-to-long.   He threw some very nice long(ish) balls against the Saints, so he can be accurate with the longer passes.  Lets hope nerves and adrenaline from playing his first home game had something to do with his bad throws yesterday. 


When a rookie can look bad and still get a win things aren’t all bad though. 

Well, like I said, he might still be thinking too much and perhaps trying to aim his throws. But I didn't see any real "zip" there. In the future, the time will come when he'll have to thread the needle downfield and if he tosses floaters like yesterday... not good.



 

[keeponbucn]

If that's the only thing we're aorried about then we'll be alright with Grads. I thought some of the passes were forced into coverage and thankfully were overthrown. A few woudl've been picked off.

One of the deeper passes to Galloway on 3rd down near the 40 Alex Smith was WIDE OPEN. Let's hope Gruden beats that into Grads head, take what the defense gives ....please.

[buckit]

Is how bad his long throws looked.

I can understand that this may be the result of him still thinking rather than reacting, but I was having Griese flashbacks. Especially on the Kaesviharn interception, when it looked like Galloway was on punt coverage..

He has to improve there, we can't lose the "stretch the field" factor.

Funny, his long balls were dead on VS the Saints.  But those were to Galloway.  The majority of the deep balls vs the Bengals were to Clayton (WTF?) who's too damn slow to run deep routes as it is.  This likely screwed up his timing...

What really concerns me is the fact that just forced the balls deep rather than reading the field and taking his checkdowns.  His nervousness put a stanglehold on his good sense.  Let's hope Gruden and Hackett can correct this before it bites the team in the ass.

[mjs020294]

Well, like I said, he might still be thinking too much and perhaps trying to aim his throws. But I didn't see any real "zip" there. In the future, the time will come when he'll have to thread the needle downfield and if he tosses floaters like yesterday... not good.

He already showed he can throw a decent intermediate to deep ball in the Saints game

TD pass to Galloway from the 25 yard line to 5 yards deep, threaded on a needle.

52 yard pass to Galloway

35 yard pass to Hilliard down the wire. (called back  [banghead] )


The best weakness to have in Gruden’s offense is a weak/inaccurate deep ball.  Invariably deep balls don’t kill you if they get intercepted, just like the one yesterday they are like punts.  Brad Johnson was the most successful QB so far in the Gruden era and he had a weak arm and no mobility.




BTW - Simms isn't coming back, get used to it. 

[caradoc]

There is no qoubt there are questions about Bruce's long ball, and rightly so.  It was even apparent in that vid of his college days
However,
He was clearly confused by some of the coverages, so that affected his accuracy somewhat,  he hesitated on where to put 'em.
The other thing is some of those he just threw up there.  Jon'll tear him a new one on that this week, you can't do that at this level.
So, the long ball is a question mark, but not as bad as it looked yesterday.  At a guess, I'd say he's never gonna be a great long-baller, but it won't be enough of an issue to let teams back off the coverage down there.

[mjs020294]

Let's hope Gruden and Hackett can correct this before it bites the team in the ass.

LMAO 

We are 1-4, it doesn't matter for another twelve months. 

[RedAlert]

And did anyone else notice that 44 passes to 21 rushes stat? Imbalance rears it's ugly head again, and once again we fail to hit 20 points..

[buckit]

I'm still holding on the hope that this team can win 8 or 9 games.  Call me a homer, call me drunk on Kool-Aid, but VS Carolina, NO and now Cincy, this team has looked pretty damn good.  Just a few inches away from wins. 

[mjs020294]

I'm still holding on the hope that this team can win 8 or 9 games.  Call me a homer, call me drunk on Kool-Aid, but VS Carolina, NO and now Cincy, this team has looked pretty damn good.  Just a few inches away from wins. 

HOMER

[mjs020294]

OK – Grads’s passing was off yesterday, but he still managed two TDs and only one interception that didn’t result in points on the board.  He was a lot better in the Saints game and showed a little more with the long passes, so hopefully he will get back on track.

Lets keep the criticism a little real until he has played a few more games.  Even the Simms bashers like me cut him a lot of slack his first few games last season.  If Grads is regressing after ten games them we should start to worry a little, but not now for sure.


BTW – a little positive stats:  Griese and Simms managed 43 rushing yards in 17 games last season, Grads already has 38 yards and three first downs in two games.

[RedAlert]

Lets keep the criticism a little real until he has played a few more games. Even the Simms bashers like me cut him a lot of slack his first few games last season. If Grads is regressing after ten games them we should start to worry a little, but not now for sure.

Nobody said he wouldn't succeed, but expressing concern is the right of any fan.

And it's not unfounded. There were some ugly long balls thrown yesterday and like Caradoc said he was confused by some coverages.

I'm sure he'll get better with the long passes as his confidence grows, but that "best weakness" will cost games down the road, whether you want to believe it or not..

[BucsFan1976]

Id like to see Grads put more of a spiral on the longer throws, some of those passes just hung up there.