Hats off to the defense

[deanpet21]

Outstanding effort by our defense today. After giving up the opening drive TD only allowing 3 points for the rest of the game was great effort. Gruden and Mcvay should have their head examined after the game today. The play calling was absolutely awful in 3rd down situations. Plus KC could not hit the side of a barn in the 4th qtr.

I cant believe Gruden went for it on 4 and 1 when an easy 3 points was there late in the 2nd qtr. Harbouragh returns the favor with his fake FG attempt. Situational football is not the strong point for our team. On the last drive the 3rd an 6 call bomb to Jackson was open but you cant expect KC to hit that the way he was throwing. It was not a high % play in that situation. I think a 1st down there would of won the game. I couldn't believe they made that play call.

After an anemic offense effort once again the DEFENSE saves the day.

 

[j_y19]

I agree with your assessment of the play calling. When you are on the road, you always take the points. And that bomb to Jackson was definitely a low % call, especially in the wind that they were playing in. Neither Flacco nor KC could throw accurately in that wind. I can only summmize that gruden has little faith in jones in short yardage situations. For the life of me, I can't understand why harbaugh didn't run the ball more.

 

[deanpet21]

I agree with your assessment of the play calling. When you are on the road, you always take the points. And that bomb to Jackson was definitely a low % call, especially in the wind that they were playing in. Neither Flacco nor KC could throw accurately in that wind. I can only summmize that gruden has little faith in jones in short yardage situations. For the life of me, I can't understand why harbaugh didn't run the ball more.

That 3rd and 6 call at the end of the game has to be the worst of the year.

 

[Krusheasy]

i will drink to that

 

[Caliskinsfan]

I'll accept this

 

[Krusheasy]

I'll accept this

 

[kbso83432]

Not sure if it's the zone scheme that has been protecting him, but Dunbar has been quietly good on the outside. Filled in real nicely for Breeland.

 

[skinsdad62]

Hey the defense won the game today

 

[gkekoa]

The FGs today seem to be screaming wind. When both teams call crazy stuff and avoid FGs, it tells me the wind was worse than we could see on TV.

As for 9 points the last three second halves...wow. Defensive adjustments?

 

[j_y19]

I've led the charge on bashing Barry, but my hat goes off. He doesn't have the best talent and is without 3 starters due to injuries, but his defense appears to be stepping up the last few games. Now, lets put a game plan in place that confuses the crap of that rookie QB in Philly.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

For once we seem to be getting breaks. For a generation we never seemed to get breaks. Suddenly game winnng TDs are being reversed, a big punt return is not called back because of a bad block, a game turning interception is fumbled out of the end zone, the other team is the one committing the majority of the penalties, we caught 2 up and down QBs (Flacco and Peyton's Brother) on a "down" day; and we are winning close games. It's about time, we deserve this.

The play calling was frustrating. 3 deep balls in 40 MPH winds on third down makes no sense to me at all. I have to finally agree that Matt Jones is average at best, so many runs looked to be working and then he goes down with very little gain. But beating tue Ravens is always sweet for me and weare now 3-2. I didn't see 3-2 when I first saw the schedule.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

DGF,

This is why I told you to let this thing play out before declaring this team dead for the season. Things may still not turn out that great, but you have to wait & see & not base everything on the very beginning of the season.

One very positive note for the game was the play of the special teams. Remember how everyone (myself included) ragged on this area of the team for quite a while. Well - that area appears to have made a complete turnaround.

Look at yesterday. Sure - they blew the one XP but those things happen. Beyond that Hopkins & Way were solid as usual (long FG miss was not really a big deal in those conditions), they had a great punt return & very good kickoff return & coverage was solid. What a difference a little time can make. The same type of improvement is very possible for all areas of the team - it will just take time & go beyond this season.

 

[Ruzious]

I'm another one that has bashed Barry repeatedly, and I'd like to give him credit... but... with that wind, it was obvious the defense had a natural advantage against the pass, and they could focus on stopping the run. Kudos to him for noticing the obvious... meh. Maybe. I need to see more to believe Barry is competent. Remember, Cleveland probably would have beaten Washington if not for their fumbles. Looking at the Skins schedule, they might be in the middle of a 5 or 6 game win streak, but I can still see them falling apart after that because of the D.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

I'm another one that has bashed Barry repeatedly, and I'd like to give him credit... but... with that wind, it was obvious the defense had a natural advantage against the pass, and they could focus on stopping the run. Kudos to him for noticing the obvious... meh. Maybe. I need to see more to believe Barry is competent. Remember, Cleveland probably would have beaten Washington if not for their fumbles. Looking at the Skins schedule, they might be in the middle of a 5 or 6 game win streak, but I can still see them falling apart after that because of the D.

Disagree somewhat. The wind didn't help them apply more pressure on the QB. It wasn't as if they only applied pressure because Flacco took forever to throw the ball because of the conditions. The scheme allowed them to get in Flacco's face quite a bit. We will see if they can continue to do this moving forward & run defense will probably continue to be a problem. BTW - Murphy has just been an outright beast lately.

 

[reptec101]

I'm optimistic. The Eagles are unpredictable. They beat Chicago and Cleveland (worse teams in league) then beat one of the best in Pitt. Now they lose to a then 1 and 3 Lions team. Cowgals have beaten teams with a combined record of 7 and 13 and lost to a 2 and 3 Giants team which we beat at their house. Hey, Cowgals have played well with Check down Dak and Seke I could walk thru these holes and be a star Elliott. However, I wanna see what Cowgals do in GB before I give them anymore credit. Redskins have gotten better since game one and have a decent shot at beating the Eagles. We're playing good on the road and Home is still nice to play at despite losing our first two, but again we seem to have gotten better since then. Long road but a bit optimistic. Feel we can have a good season with this brutal first place schedule since everyone before the season claimed we had one.

If we could somehow stop the run (which I realize is a big effort) we could be top 10. Optimistic but still in the reality that if we can't stop the run we are a 6 an 10 / 7 and 9 team.

 

[deanpet21]

I had us a 6-2 at the break. It looks like it still could be possible. Cincy is not a dominate team anymore. I would be pissed if we are 4-4. Our next three games are all winnable. As far as yesterdays games, yes the wind had a lot to do with it. KC decision making is just not there yet. Play calling must get better too.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

Again I'm not trying to diminish a very big win. I'm just pointing out that we got lucky. The pick that was fumbled out of the end zone could have been the difference in the game. They get ahead and can then pound us with the running game. Steve Smith going out and not available for the final drive was another huge break, as were the large number of penalties the Ravens committed. We got the Ravens when they were simply not at their best. Again very happy with the win but I'm just trying to keep things in perspective here.

 

[deanpet21]

Again I'm not trying to diminish a very big win. I'm just pointing out that we got lucky. The pick that was fumbled out of the end zone could have been the difference in the game. They get ahead and can then pound us with the running game. Steve Smith going out and not available for the final drive was another huge break, as were the large number of penalties the Ravens committed. We got the Ravens when they were simply not at their best. Again very happy with the win but I'm just trying to keep things in perspective here.

I agree with those statements. Luck has been on our side for the last two games.

 

[skinz2winz]

Solid win none the less. Ball doesn't always bounce our way either. Can't wait to see what Whitner brings to the defense as "Not my Nachos" looked less than stellar yesterday.

 

[Ruzious]

I had us a 6-2 at the break. It looks like it still could be possible. Cincy is not a dominate team anymore. I would be pissed if we are 4-4. Our next three games are all winnable. As far as yesterdays games, yes the wind had a lot to do with it. KC decision making is just not there yet. Play calling must get better too.

Yeah, I can also see us going 6-2, and then the schedule gets much harder. After 6-2, I could see us falling off a cliff, but... if we go .500 after 6-2, we're a golden 10-6. We've definitely got an offense that is capable of doing much better (though we could really use a good veteran RB), so getting to 6-2 is key, and then we see what we really have.