from around the net: posts on the Oakland ps game

jrry32 wrote:

We’re gonna win 10+ games this year. I said I wouldn’t go full homer until I saw this team in the preseason, but I am loving everything I’m seeing. Defense will be just fine. We barely had any of our impact players on the field today. The offense looks like a completely different unit with McVay, the off-season additions, and Watkins.

The blocking was there tonight. Although, the backups were in at LT, LG, and C on Goff’s last drive.

Goff was moving nicely in the pocket too today. We also got away with at least a couple blatant holds. The offense was money. Scored on 3 of the 4 drives with the starters (17 points). Perfect throw by Goff to Watkins. Smith pinned his arm or else that’s a TD.

Gurley showed exactly what I asked to see. He ran with purpose and power.

Kupp was roasting a veteran CB. But I don’t blame Millen for explaining what the CB was doing wrong. That all said, if the CB had been doing things right, I’m sure Kupp would have exploited him in some other way. If he went inside, Kupp would have gone out. If he went outside, Kupp would have went inside. Kupp was such a production machine in college. If everything goes right (our key players stay healthy and the offense looks good), I could see him doing more than even our optimistic expectations. Kupp will contribute to this team and be a valuable role player. We’re going to use him out of the slot to move the chains and drive defenses crazy on third down.

Mike Thomas caught a fourth down pass, broke free up the middle of the defense, spun off a tackle, and then got hit helmet-to-helmet as he was going down. He had a nice game prior to the big hit. But he has plenty of time to recover.

Reynolds was far more talented than any of the scrubs on the field for Oakland.

Cooper is a tough son of a bitch.

Everett is so damn good after the catch. I just wish we’d get Everett up the seam. I would love to see his deep speed on display.

Cory Harkey is going to be tough to cut.

I love the way Whitworth plays. He’s always looking to finish the play. Havenstein was getting blown off the ball all night in the run game. But our pass protection was good.

We gotta hope for some injury luck on the OL this year or that Kromer is a miracle man. And we gotta hope that Sammy Watkins stays healthy.

I doubt we’ll see Austin as a third down HB because you need for your QB to be able to audible and have the third down HB pick up the blitzing LB or DB. Allow the other playmakers to open things up for Austin. He’s still a stud with the ball in his hands.

nittany ram wrote:

“Goff didn’t show enough fire. He clearly isn’t able to lead the team. He just got lucky that this OL and WRs bailed him out tonight against a Raiders defense that wasn’t trying.”
-Bernie Miklasz

Did Bernie really say that?

His last remaining ember of credibility just went out.

Well I lazily assumed he did. Turns out the poster just made it up, though now that I see that, it was made up as a joke, not as an effort to deceive.

I am going to edit that bit out of that post.

….

alyoshamucci wrote

Overall I was really happy, so I waited till I slept so I could remember the bad stuff too

…

The Great

1) Goff. This is the player I saw in college, and why I was happy we drafted him first overall. Command, vision, and accuracy in tight windows.

2) The playcalling. I won’t have to sleep through games anymore. Seriously, if we can score points, Quinn being slow and Donald being absent doesn’t matter much.

3) Gurley running with passion.

4) Cooper Kupp. All I had hoped for when we drafted him.

The Good

5) Sullivan healthy and manning the middle well.

6) Longacre and Fox consistently getting solid reps.

7) Troy Hill playing realllllly well for a 4th/5th CB.

8) Justin Davis emerging as a special type of backup with some real burst. Malcolm Brown solid too …

9) All receivers catching the football … going to be tough cuts. Really tough.

10) Tru’s pick.

11) Sammy showing as a #1.

12) Josh Forrest making plays … that’s what I expect of him.

13) Backup Safeties have serious depth. I enjoyed John Johnson’s play, but Christian and Isaiah johnson are beasts … can’t imagine both make the squad.

The Bad

14) Omarius Bryant looked winded pretty quickly … I hope we can keep him, because he’s fierce and strong, but on the PS till he gets better conditioned.

15) I missed seeing a lot of players that were rested … like QUINN.

16) Backup O line seemed to be a big dropoff … besides maybe Wichmann.

17) Countess needed to pick that ball off.

18) No real kickoff returner.

19) That Darrell Williams is by far our best backup at OLT.

The Ugly

20) That the FO has not successfully extended one of the top 10 players in the NFL, when implementing a new system. I know many will say he’s asking too much, but I have a couple things to say to anyone who is wanting the Rams to tighten up their wallet.
a) It’s not your money. I don’t know else how to say it. This is not the Yankees, his salary does not lead to a $15 hot dog. An extra 10 million dollars from Stan kroenke does not affect US, and we are not suckers if he has a huge payday. If he makes QB money? I don’t care.
b) He’s worth it. He’s not Tavon Austin. He’s better than Suh.
c) With the cap going up each year, and the free space we have the next few years … this is not a cap issue. Pay him huge up front … cut dead weight next year (Im looking at you Tavon and Quinn) … and keep the HOF DT.
d) I’ll have to get a new jersey if he leaves, and that will bother me.
e) Worried about money? Trade Tru. There’s 16 million back.