POSITIVES:
Our WRs are making plays when we need them to. Jeune in particular seems like he's becoming Smelter with the way he works well with JeT. Stewart is starting to step up and his production is reflecting that.
You can see why Mills is starting over Marshall, but Marshall has that ability to take a small crease and gain huge chunks of yardage. Mills is just better at consistently getting 3-5 yards a pop on shear will alone.
Outside of Griffin whiffing on the ball and the TE scoring the TD, I thought our safeties played well again. Griffin has really stepped up over the past few games.
I thought Terrell Lewis showed some physical attributes we've been missing from LBs. He can run, he can get off blocks, and he has great pursuit. You can tell he hesitates for a bit because he doesn't play much, but to me he's our most physically gifted LB we have right now. I rarely saw him getting caught up by an single OL. Like the other LBs, seems a little lost covering in space, but seems like he's in the right place, just a step slow making plays. He's not physically getting left behind by anyone he's covering. More reps and playing time will cure that.
Don't know if anyone has noticed this, but if we don't hurt ourselves (FUMBLES!), we've all of a sudden become a good to really good offense.
JeT. Best game for a QB since CPJ came here. Really impressive what he did on the ground and in the air. I said it in another thread, but a QB can put up MONSTER numbers in this offense. This is the type of game I envision our QBs having.
Clinton Lynch doing Clinton Lynch things. Again.
NEGATIVES
WTF was going on with our LBs? Seemed like Mitchell and Lewis were occupying the same areas half the day. On one play, and it's probably because Lewis didn't know his assignment, Mitchell was screaming at him to do something and Lewis went around Mitchell to the right side of the LOS. Only problem was the running play went left and the space either Mitchell or Lewis was suppose to cover was left vacant. It was a classic sweep up play for the LB to make...except there was no LB to make it.
The more I watch this defense, the more I think our players are assignment and scheme confused. Our LB play exemplifies that, and the way we lose coverage of players when crossing zones also shows that. The TEs were getting passed off but it seemed like either the safety didn't recognize it, or the LB released the TE too soon. IMO, you can always tell how sound players know their assignments by how a defense handles TEs. Not a good day for us in that regard.
That #34 for Duke was a heck of a player. Could not block him, and he made some of our guys look silly at times how he just went right through them.
Duke was not having any part of our "MJ package". Loaded up the LOS and stuffed us. I believe the first 2 plays Braun was in, then Devine came in. Devine actually wiped his guy out of the play, but there was no one assigned to block the gap vacated by the DT Devine wiped out and the LB made the play. Maybe put Marcus Allen in, and call a QB follow behind the BB there?
All in all, a close win beats a close loss any day. On to UNC...
