I don't care for the flea flicker call but Baker could have checked that one down. No need to force it.
Agreed. I didn't have any issue with the call. But Baker can't throw up a Jameisesque YOLO ball for the hell of it.
No need to force it
If you go back and look at some of Baker's picks this season several are him forcing it. His play was definitely part of yesterday's loss.
To be fair though, if your defense cant stop anything (like the first half yesterday) its got to be pretty tough to NOT force it because he must feel like they have to keep up, especially after watching the 509 yd game before and with all this game meant
No need to force it
If you go back and look at some of Baker's picks this season several are him forcing it. His play was definitely part of yesterday's loss.
To be fair though, if your defense cant stop anything (like the first half yesterday) its got to be pretty tough to NOT force it because he must feel like they have to keep up, especially after watching the 509 yd game before and with all this game meant
i mean by that logic, maybe we shouldn't have been so hard on Jameis. The defense was brutal in his tenure here
Baker on his way to 45 touchdowns and 20 INTs lol. Not sure what to even make of that type of stat line
Baker on his way to 45 touchdowns and 20 INTs lol. Not sure what to even make of that type of stat line
His TD-to-Int ratio was great over the first five games @ 11:2, with a 3-2 record. The last three games? 10:7, with a 1-2 record. No coincidences on those records.
He needs to play better.
Baker on his way to 45 touchdowns and 20 INTs lol
yesterday was a perfect example of the point I was making about UNNECESSARY forcing and in this game its Mayfield AND COEN
the offense fumbles the ball
the defense ON FOURTH DOWN has Merriweather matched up with Pitts and the safety behind him (I think Winfield) completely leaves to jump a short potential first down route where there are three (I think) defenders around. Merriwether loses all deep contain tangling with the biggest receiver on the field presumably to try to stop a first down. TERRIBLE all around.
The offense scores, defense gets off the field and the offense scores again BOTH BIG LONG DRIVES
when they come out in the 3rd though Mayfield throws his pick . . ON FIRST DOWN. Totally unnecessary bad play CALL and execution.
After the next D stop we come out with two REALLY BAD PLAY CALLS.
On 3rd and 3 . . . 3rd and THREE, pivotal moment . . Coen calls a wheel route for White. Even getting the matchup they want and the rub and even with White having good hands they are still throwing OVER THE SHOULDER to an RB.
Thats on COEN aka "the genius." That call is a stupid show off call when they could throw a simple little come backer or even run
they compound that with the fake punt and its basically DOA
If you want to see something really bad watch Britt on the Robinson walk in TD. Maybe that is Whitehead's responsibility (not sure) but Britt is spinning like a top in the middle of the field and then of course cant even get close to him when the dump off comes
But . . yeah . . more Tucker!
I don't care for the flea flicker call but Baker could have checked that one down. No need to force it.
Agreed. I didn't have any issue with the call. But Baker can't throw up a Jameisesque YOLO ball for the hell of it.
The route concept didn't space at all. Was there a check down? I don't recall...
But I agree the decision wasn't great but the throw was actually pretty good.
Baker thought he was throwing it up to Evans and not some random dude.
The route concept didn't space at all.
I would argue there is a difference between the play call and the play design. Meaning the flea flicker was fine, but the design within it could be bad.
I don’t disagree that it wasn’t great spacing, however we don’t know if one of the young receivers ran to the correct place or not.
Was there a check down? I don't recall...
Yeah, he had other options. One of those options was throwing the ball away instead of throwing it into coverage. The defense wins sometimes. Atlanta did cover the play very well, so they should definitely get credit here.
It could be that they are trying to determine if a 6’2”, 220 lb receiver like Ryan Miller - can be a winner on contested catches/50-50 balls. They have a host of new receivers with which Baker doesn’t have a lot of experience. Other than Cade Otton, no healthy receiver on the roster has proven to have the ability to do that.I don't care for the flea flicker call but Baker could have checked that one down. No need to force it.
Agreed. I didn't have any issue with the call. But Baker can't throw up a Jameisesque YOLO ball for the hell of it.
The route concept didn't space at all. Was there a check down? I don't recall...
But I agree the decision wasn't great but the throw was actually pretty good.
Baker thought he was throwing it up to Evans and not some random dude.
Do I know it to be true? No. But that was a 50-50 ball. Ryan Williams has the body mass, had position, and had a hand on the ball… he just had the misfortune of contesting the ball against a pro-bowler who had a bit more experience.
He had his hands on the ball and got it ripped away by a smaller player.
I wish Baker threw it away but I wish the concept spaced better.
The ball was well thrown...
The reason I also don't like the play call in general is we had some momentum and were moving it easy. If we were struggling to move the ball then I like the trickery.
But trickery wasn't needed there.
Again, Coen was elite and in his bag. That's the one call I didn't like.
The reason I also don't like the play call in general is we had some momentum and were moving it easy. If we were struggling to move the ball then I like the trickery.
But trickery wasn't needed there.
This
The play is too cute under those circumstance, especially when Mayfield seems reluctant to throw away or check down.
Coen is still great, just not perfect. He's actually learning too.
Coen will learn and has been learning but in that moment we need a boring, smash mouth drive that wears them out.
Coen will learn and has been learning but in that moment we need a boring, smash mouth drive that wears them out.
Unlike our idiot HC, Liam has shown the ability to adjust,
And, I'm confident he'll learn from this (as he's shown).
It actually doesn't even need to be "smash mouth" football. But, just keep working the quick hitters and mismatches in the passing game. Make it a little easier on the QB who's currently struggling. And, lastly, make better personnel decisions.
Coen will learn and has been learning but in that moment we need a boring, smash mouth drive that wears them out.
Unlike our idiot HC, Liam has shown the ability to adjust,
And, I'm confident he'll learn from this (as he's shown).
It actually doesn't even need to be "smash mouth" football. But, just keep working the quick hitters and mismatches in the passing game. Make it a little easier on the QB who's currently struggling. And, lastly, make better personnel decisions.
Yeah agreed but I wouldn't say Baker is struggling.
Either way Coen is the future.
@firebowles2023 - I rewatched the first half last night. Coen, Baker, and the offense really couldn’t have had a much better first half and they still went into halftime down 24-17, because the defense couldn’t slow down Cousins. I really do feel that Coen and Baker start feeling the pressure to score every drive as the game goes on. And it forces them to take chances. Can you imagine if this offense had even a middle of the road defense to compliment it?
