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I don't have a ton of time at my disposal today, so this might be a little brief.
PITT lined up about like other defenses have against us and tried a lot of the same blitzing tactics. One unique difference I saw was the depth of the safeties and the role they were sometimes asked to play against the TO. They typically lined up a mere 6 yards or so off the ball. That allowed them, in some cases, to actually take the QB or the pitch at times. I don't think they had confidence in the speed of their MLB, but they wanted him out there because he was a really tough kid and good tackler, so this is how they made up for it. Often, I would see BOTH the DE and OLB take the dive on the same side and have the safety be the guy scraping. They fired the corners some, like everybody does, guessing right about half the time. They pressed in single coverage on the WRs and, like most, dared us to kill them with the pass.
The bright spots were that we did a better job of handling the last second shifts and A gap blitzes than we have recently. It wasn't always perfect, but it was much better. I thought #70 WB played really well. It was the first time I got to see a ton of snaps from him. He made good adjustments, picked up blitzes, and did a good job at the second level. He had a few busts, but I would say it was the most effective game we have had at OT to date, especially run blocking. I really like what I saw. As he gets reps, he will get more consistent and has a chance at being really good. He is a high effort kid. Marcus Marshall showed his explosiveness and what he can do with just a little room. I love watching fast guys separate in slow motion from their pursuers. He is legit fast and has great feet and balance. That monster needs to be fed. JT did some option stuff better, getting himself going upfield forcing a shoulder turn before giving up the ball. Michael Lands-Davis is improving. He is a threat as a catcher and a runner, but perhaps most importantly, he made fewer errors in the blocking game. There were a few screw ups, but he is a physical blocker. He is big enough to stone LBs and did so on several occasions, especially in short yardage. He has improved enough at this point to be considered a guy we have to have on the field a lot. He is a tough match up physically for most of the defenders who roam in space. No question he makes us better. If he gets better every week at this rate, we will soon have a stud on our hands at this position.
Among the not so bright spots was pass protection. We made huge gains this week in our run blocking, but there were just too many assignment busts against the pressure they were sending (usually 6, with a spy back). When 6 are coming, pretty much everybody has to take a player. There were plays where 3 of our guys took nobody, or 2 of our guys took the same guy and 1 of theirs was turned loose. Then there were plays where we just got beat. They made it confusing changing up who comes and who drops back, but we just have to get better, bottom line. MM really needs to work on his pass pro. It is his achilles heel at the moment. Other plays blew up for other reasons. We pitched the ball to open space (the ground) once because pitch relaionship was bad. IMHO that play should have been a keep anyway and probably would have gone for good yards. Sometimes, PITT just guessed right and blitzed the right spot, it happens.
All and all, we looked like a prolific offense for much of the game. There are just some nagging issues keeping us from sustaining a high level of play for 60 minutes. 330 yards of offense in a half of football where we didn't touch the ball until the 8th minute of Q1 AND had a turnover is pretty hard to beat. We made progress this week, but didn't get enough snaps to ring the bell enough times to win. It is hard to picture a scenario where you average 10 YPR and not win, but that is what happened.
PITT lined up about like other defenses have against us and tried a lot of the same blitzing tactics. One unique difference I saw was the depth of the safeties and the role they were sometimes asked to play against the TO. They typically lined up a mere 6 yards or so off the ball. That allowed them, in some cases, to actually take the QB or the pitch at times. I don't think they had confidence in the speed of their MLB, but they wanted him out there because he was a really tough kid and good tackler, so this is how they made up for it. Often, I would see BOTH the DE and OLB take the dive on the same side and have the safety be the guy scraping. They fired the corners some, like everybody does, guessing right about half the time. They pressed in single coverage on the WRs and, like most, dared us to kill them with the pass.
The bright spots were that we did a better job of handling the last second shifts and A gap blitzes than we have recently. It wasn't always perfect, but it was much better. I thought #70 WB played really well. It was the first time I got to see a ton of snaps from him. He made good adjustments, picked up blitzes, and did a good job at the second level. He had a few busts, but I would say it was the most effective game we have had at OT to date, especially run blocking. I really like what I saw. As he gets reps, he will get more consistent and has a chance at being really good. He is a high effort kid. Marcus Marshall showed his explosiveness and what he can do with just a little room. I love watching fast guys separate in slow motion from their pursuers. He is legit fast and has great feet and balance. That monster needs to be fed. JT did some option stuff better, getting himself going upfield forcing a shoulder turn before giving up the ball. Michael Lands-Davis is improving. He is a threat as a catcher and a runner, but perhaps most importantly, he made fewer errors in the blocking game. There were a few screw ups, but he is a physical blocker. He is big enough to stone LBs and did so on several occasions, especially in short yardage. He has improved enough at this point to be considered a guy we have to have on the field a lot. He is a tough match up physically for most of the defenders who roam in space. No question he makes us better. If he gets better every week at this rate, we will soon have a stud on our hands at this position.
Among the not so bright spots was pass protection. We made huge gains this week in our run blocking, but there were just too many assignment busts against the pressure they were sending (usually 6, with a spy back). When 6 are coming, pretty much everybody has to take a player. There were plays where 3 of our guys took nobody, or 2 of our guys took the same guy and 1 of theirs was turned loose. Then there were plays where we just got beat. They made it confusing changing up who comes and who drops back, but we just have to get better, bottom line. MM really needs to work on his pass pro. It is his achilles heel at the moment. Other plays blew up for other reasons. We pitched the ball to open space (the ground) once because pitch relaionship was bad. IMHO that play should have been a keep anyway and probably would have gone for good yards. Sometimes, PITT just guessed right and blitzed the right spot, it happens.
All and all, we looked like a prolific offense for much of the game. There are just some nagging issues keeping us from sustaining a high level of play for 60 minutes. 330 yards of offense in a half of football where we didn't touch the ball until the 8th minute of Q1 AND had a turnover is pretty hard to beat. We made progress this week, but didn't get enough snaps to ring the bell enough times to win. It is hard to picture a scenario where you average 10 YPR and not win, but that is what happened.
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