Check Down Charlie

[Delaqure]

For as smart as the kid is, he's not playing smart right now. I've supported him all year, but he seems to me to be regressing. He's making bad reads and poor decisions. That said, our receiving corps (Percy not included) is terrible right now. Where is Rudolph? Simpson ran poor routes and dropped balls. Even on his catches the DB was right on top of him. Ponder had to make a perfect throw to get it to him and did so twice and he dropped one of them.

It seems to me now that Ponder is really lacking in confidence. But I don't think it's just confidence in himself I think he's losing confidence in his o-line which is causing him to bail too quickly. He's losing confidence in his receivers which causes him to check down.

His seeming inability to make reads is becoming a concern. There were several instances where guys were open and he didn't see them last night. The commentators mentioned it several times. I'm not ready to bail on Ponder yet, it is only his second year and it doesn't get any easier from here on out. I've seen enough good things, like the TD to Percy and some nice throws to Simpson last night that give me hope. But, if he continues to regress this year and shows no improvement next year I think it's time to let him go.

I wouldn't mind seeing us pick up another QB in the draft next year just in case.

[mansquatch]

In terms of the OL, it seems that defenses have figured out the weak link in our protection is Charlie Johnson. We saw many, many breakdowns in protection where they flooded his gap. Two of the most blatant were plays where CJ crashed inside and Kalil was left with a very difficult black of ill the hole he left. I do not know if that is bad line calling by the center, a designed call that miffed, or a mistake, but it was killing us in the 1st half.

Perhaps we'll see Schwatz start sharing time at LG as well as RG? I suspect we'll see some depth drafted here, they need to beef up the guard play, it is the weakest part of the OL right now.

Ponder was brutal last night, but as I said earlier, it wasn't all on him. Plenty of plays where the protection was just not there.

[PurpleKoolaid]

Freeman's rating was high because of the TDs and no turnovers. He was just as inaccurate as Ponder tonight.

Really?

[smoothoperator]

yes really. he was 19/36, ponder 19/35. all the big plays for freeman were his WRs making a play, i.e. going up and getting the ball.

[PurpleJarl]

Cheater using stats.


This is about how your gut feels!


Not numbers based

lol

[smoothoperator]

hahah. how silly of me. im still fine with ponder, although i am losing patience. he is showing he has great touch, he just needs to click with the other wrs. i still think a true #1 wr would drastically change things. because outside of simpson and harvin our receivers are brutal

[PurpleJarl]

I think chemistry is the biggest issue. IMO there are some times where Ponder and the receivers dont really seem to have any idea what the other is doing apart from Aroma. I wonder how much time Musgraves is giving ponder to just play "pitch and catch" with his receivers to figure out the little things

[mansquatch]

I think chemistry is the biggest issue. IMO there are some times where Ponder and the receivers dont really seem to have any idea what the other is doing apart from Aroma. I wonder how much time Musgraves is giving ponder to just play "pitch and catch" with his receivers to figure out the little things

you are right, but that could be a one sided issue. Case in point: Simpson had a fade called but faced press coverage so he broke the route. Ponder didn't read the break in the route and blindly threw the fade. In that case, I'd say that was 100% Ponder. Not saying that is always the case, just pointing out how it can be one party or the other.

[Mothman]

you are right, but that could be a one sided issue. Case in point: Simpson had a fade called but faced press coverage so he broke the route. Ponder didn't read the break in the route and blindly threw the fade. In that case, I'd say that was 100% Ponder. Not saying that is always the case, just pointing out how it can be one party or the other.

But why would you conclude it was 100% Ponder and not 100% Simpson? It could be either. One of them did what the other wasn't expecting. How do we know which one?

[Crax]

But why would you conclude it was 100% Ponder and not 100% Simpson? It could be either. One of them did what the other wasn't expecting. How do we know which one?

Simpson correctly read the defense? The CB immediately dropped back and gave Simpson a huge cushion.

I'll have to watch it again, but I recall the corner immediately dropping deep. It would have been really hard for simpson to get behind him.

[mansquatch]

But why would you conclude it was 100% Ponder and not 100% Simpson? It could be either. One of them did what the other wasn't expecting. How do we know which one?

My point was more to say they both have to read it right and without intimate knowledge of the playbook we can't know who was at fault. Also, that it is just as much likely to be the WR as the QB. In my example, the Announcer stated that Simpson did the right thing in the face of the press coverage and the incompletion was the fault of the QB. I'm assuming Mike Mayock would know such things. He might be wrong, but it is fair to say he has probably forgotten more about football than I will ever know.

[Mothman]

Simpson correctly read the defense? The CB immediately dropped back and gave Simpson a huge cushion.

I'll have to watch it again, but I recall the corner immediately dropping deep. It would have been really hard for simpson to get behind him.

The CB recognized the route and, as Mayock put it, he played a "press bail out" technique. Simpson recognized this and broke off his route. However, Ponder read the coverage correctly: he had single coverage on the outside with Simpson and as he showed repeatedly last night (and has in other games this year), he's willing to throw it and give Simpson a chance to make a play under those circumstances.

What happened? Ponder threw the ball, expecting Simpson to run the route as planned. Simpson didn't. The pass was incomplete. Who was at fault? There's no way to know. They simply weren't on the same page.

BTW, the ball was in the air before Simpson cut off his route:

My point was more to say they both have to read it right and without intimate knowledge of the playbook we can't know who was at fault. Also, that it is just as much likely to be the WR as the QB. In my example, the Announcer stated that Simpson did the right thing in the face of the press coverage and the incompletion was the fault of the QB. I'm assuming Mike Mayock would know such things. He might be wrong, but it is fair to say he has probably forgotten more about football than I will ever know.

I'm sure he's forgotten more about it than either of us will ever know! However, you're mis-remembering his comment. He said he gave Simpson credit for breaking the route but he didn't say the result of the play was Ponder's fault.

As you said, it was just as likely to be the WR as the QB. Personally, i think it was just a play that didn't work out. No fault needs to be assigned.

[soflavike]

Ponder is chicken. You can't fix that.

[PurpleKoolaid]

Yes really. I'm not defending Ponder's play one bit but Freeman was 19-36. Not terribly accurate.

Ponder was 19-35 for comparison sake.

The difference was Freeman made plays when he had too and took care of the ball, but he didn't necessarily have a great game.

Dude, Ponder was throwing the ball 1 yard. Freeman was throwing downfield, and believe it or not, in the middle of the the field. I know hes not real accurate. But at least he cant throw beyond the LOS. And how many of those yard in Ponders favor, were after the game was virtually over?

[PurpleKoolaid]

Ponder is chicken. You can't fix that.

This is it. It happened last year, and ponder hasnt been the same since, He was benched, that didnt helped. He is ruined, in the head, he cant shake it. Its sad, but IMO, he shouldnt have been picked at all. I want a decent sized QB. I want Mallet. I want a Pocket QB