[News] The Breakdown: Eisenberg's Five Thoughts vs. Saints

[BR News]

Marc Trestman hit a home run and is on the same page is Joe Flacco. Exciting ending for preseason game.

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[Defygravity7]

Goodbye to Tyrod Time. Say hello to the Schaub Shift

[boldtown]

flacco broke the pocket and ran....almost had a heart attack. didn't want to see him get clipped.

[hen826957]

Matt Schaub had shut the critics up today that's for sure. Great game he had besides the interception. :-)

[Dorota]

Watching from Europe, I didn't get to see the whole game, but of what I saw, Schaub looked impressive and if he stays this way, I would trust we could get far riding his back if we needed to, which I truly pray we won't have to. Carl Davis looked good on the line, saw some nice hits from him and I will see more for sure. Looked like goodbye to Arthur Brown, didn't see him, but Zach Orr has some good moments, so that's who I think Ravens will keep. Lorenzo Taliaferro looked good as in moving forward, but I'm glad we have Justin Forsett for the season, as I found him a little slow running and sometimes a second too slow in decision making. Campanaro impressed. Also glad that I haven't seen fouls by Ravens except that neutral zone infraction by Zach Orr I think, where it was quick thinking by Saints OL, touching him on the helmet.

My only gripe, which is understandable for preseason is, that I found the game a little soft. Few hard hits. That's why Carl Davis left such a good impression I think - he made it look like it'll hurt.

[alexbayrobin]

I wish I could have watched the game. Good thing I don't bite my nails I really thought the third stringers couldn't win in the end. But they did and made me very happy. I watched the game on NFL webpage. It's frustrating waiting for the play. But it's better than nothing at all.

[irishmac]

how about "Schaub Situation"?or "Schaub Spot"?or "Schaub Stage"?

[bioLarzen]

My five thoughts:

 

1.) NO INJURIES!

By far the most important takeaway. While the Saints players kept dropping like flies, no injuries on our side - and that's huge.

 

2.) Slow start for the backups and the secondary

The backup squad haven't exactly grab the chance to showcase themselves... I couldn't name one single backup player from the O who really stood out. Many of them had one or two good moments, but no overall shiner. On the D there were some better performances - like Zach Orr or Carl Davis - but the saints backup and 3rd string O went through our backup and 3rd string D quite efficiently nd sometimes even apparently effortlessly. And that's something to work on - we all know position depth wins championships...

As for the secondary: no turnovers - that's not good. also, they seemed easy to penetrate most of the time - especially the backups. Let's hope the core quartet of the secondary (Jimmy, Webb, Will Hill and Kendrick Lewis) will be available throughout the season, because the depoth didn't exactly prove their cases last night...

 

3.) Both Schaub and Renner were OK with one ridiculous decision each.

Schaub wasn't half as bad as some of us feared. His bad luck is that still it's his stupid INT is what people are gonna remember... That decision was, indeed, a ridiculous one. But overall he was OK IMHO. Renner also had an OK day - one boneheaded mistake, one great 2-minute drill - and some really good slingshots in between.

 

4.) The tale of the two-minute drills...

While Renner conducted a great 2-minute drill at the end, our D still seems to carry their 2-minute phobia from last season... Stopping the opponents' 2-minute drills seemed to be a weakness for our O the last season - and yesterday was not a success story either. Seems like this might be an area of serious reconsideration.

 

5.) I would have really loved to see at least one or two of our rookies really shine - but no luck

While not forgetting for a moment that it was the very first real NFL game against a "real" opponent for our rookies, I was still hoping for a standout rookie performance - and I was left unserviced. Many rookies had one or two great moments - like Maxx Williams' catch and YAC gain in the final drive, Tom Nelson's great sideline catch, some of Boyle's blocks, Za'Darius' sack etc... but no real shiner. Let's hope we'll see them getting into the groove as the preseason advances.

 

Bonus thought: We might be end up missing Jacoby

Still not forgetting that it was only the first pre-season game, I couldn't help noticing the distinct lack of kick/punt return yardage. None of the "contestants" helped his case last night. Let's hope at least one of the emerges eventually,l because we will need a productive return game.

Edited August 14, 2015 by bioLarzen

[birdseye]

Bio Larzen No Rookies Shined?!?!!? C'mon youre better than that, Carl Davis was all over the field, he DESTROYED the lesser talent around him. Yes, a lot of his production came against backups but he had good gap control against the starters, stuffed a running play with penetration against the starters and batted down a ball (I think that was against the starters, correct me if I'm wrong). Needless to say that man is going to be a pro bowler with a year of NFL weight training under his belt. I'm stoked about him, Zadarius also made some plays, he set the edge well san's the one run in the third where he let the back bounce outside.

[cbrook1862]

That game was very dramatic and fun to watch. Campanaro, Williams, Taliafero, and Davis all looked really good not to mention Maxx kept the final drive alive picking up the first on an very unlikely 4th and 20. However the second team defense needs some serious work they got picked apart, coach is definitely going to focus on that 2nd team defense in practice Monday.

[ibleedpurpleandblack]

Maxx Williams needs to be sure he can hurdle the guy before he tries bc that almost turned out real bad for his knee. Other than that that kid is solid!!

[Purple Dawg 96]

This is only the beginning Ladies and Gentlemen! We have the best Football team in the WORLD! I travel a lot and missed the game but just saw the highlights and almost lost it! THE ANTICIPATION IS ASTOUNDING!

[Hardhitters]

I liked lil (jordy) Nelson #84, I want to see more of him, Max and baby Camp. Starters was stout.

[jeffreylerner]

We must bear in mind that the purpose of pre-season games is to assess strengths and weakness of current and potential players, and the final roster. The score is really meaningless.

What do you think of the "Matt moments"?

[rvictorg]

Tyrod Time...Schaubby Seconds

[fusuymada]

I like "Schaub's Second Shift". What I really thought hurt the team was the inability to stretch the field because Perryman is down and we have absolutely no one with any speed that can run down the field. Anyway, Butler was a huge letdown. He was supposed to go up and get passes but when he had a shot down the sidelines, he fell down and tried to catch it on his back (shades of Torrey Smith). Aiken and Butler couldn't get separation, Waller looked lost (even when he caught the slant it looked like he was surprised he caught it). Campanaro and Tom Nelson looked like the best receivers on the field. Nelson also made some plays on special teams. I am sorry, from what I saw I would prefer Nelson over Butler, Aldrich, Carter etc...  Everytime I saw Nelson, he was wide open including the TD pass that Renner underthrew, there was no one within 10 yards of him.  Nelson has earned more time with the ones as far as I am concerned.

Edited August 14, 2015 by fusuymada

[ajf3030]

fusuymada- Butler was a huge letdown? The defender kicked the ball out of his hands, which is a complete unlucky fluke. He made a great play on the ball. He also made another nice catch and run on a playaction pass. Waller looked surprised? He CAUGHT THE BALL. Against press coverage on 3rd down. I can't imagine how you'll ever be pleased if you're criticizing a guy for 'the way he looked' after doing his job perfectly. He also drew 3 pass interference flags... Tom Nelson was playing against 4th stringers man.

[Halshayeji]

My five thoughts:

1.) NO INJURIES!

By far the most important takeaway. While the Saints players kept dropping like flies, no injuries on our side - and that's huge.

2.) Slow start for the backups and the secondary

The backup squad haven't exactly grab the chance to showcase themselves... I couldn't name one single backup player from the O who really stood out. Many of them had one or two good moments, but no overall shiner. On the D there were some better performances - like Zach Orr or Carl Davis - but the saints backup and 3rd string O went through our backup and 3rd string D quite efficiently nd sometimes even apparently effortlessly. And that's something to work on - we all know position depth wins championships...

As for the secondary: no turnovers - that's not good. also, they seemed easy to penetrate most of the time - especially the backups. Let's hope the core quartet of the secondary (Jimmy, Webb, Will Hill and Kendrick Lewis) will be available throughout the season, because the depoth didn't exactly prove their cases last night...

3.) Both Schaub and Renner were OK with one ridiculous decision each.

Schaub wasn't half as bad as some of us feared. His bad luck is that still it's his stupid INT is what people are gonna remember... That decision was, indeed, a ridiculous one. But overall he was OK IMHO. Renner also had an OK day - one boneheaded mistake, one great 2-minute drill - and some really good slingshots in between.

4.) The tale of the two-minute drills...

While Renner conducted a great 2-minute drill at the end, our D still seems to carry their 2-minute phobia from last season... Stopping the opponents' 2-minute drills seemed to be a weakness for our O the last season - and yesterday was not a success story either. Seems like this might be an area of serious reconsideration.

5.) I would have really loved to see at least one or two of our rookies really shine - but no luck

While not forgetting for a moment that it was the very first real NFL game against a "real" opponent for our rookies, I was still hoping for a standout rookie performance - and I was left unserviced. Many rookies had one or two great moments - like Maxx Williams' catch and YAC gain in the final drive, Tom Nelson's great sideline catch, some of Boyle's blocks, Za'Darius' sack etc... but no real shiner. Let's hope we'll see them getting into the groove as the preseason advances.

Bonus thought: We might be end up missing Jacoby

Still not forgetting that it was only the first pre-season game, I couldn't help noticing the distinct lack of kick/punt return yardage. None of the "contestants" helped his case last night. Let's hope at least one of the emerges eventually,l because we will need a productive return game.

I don't understand why all the negs. Though I don't agree with all your points I think your assessment was fair.

I personally wasn't expecting our second unit to run over other teams but I did take away some positives. And I liked that the guys showed some flashes. I am also concerned about our secondary and hope we make one more trade or big pickup as the season nears.

I actualy slept well after the game but sure as hell expect more next game

[balfan23]

Agree with point #1 ... and it reminded me of last year when we first saw Kubiak as our OC. His debut drive vs. SF was almost identical to what we saw yesterday. A nice, measured drive with a variety of plays involving multiple offensive positions.

[SuperRavenMan]

How about "Schaubstitute"?

[January J]

Schaub shift isn't bad. I didn't get to see the game but listened on the radio- from what I "heard" I was overall pretty pleased. Esp considering many of our top up and coming players didn't even see the feild, ( jimmy, Jernigan , perriman)

[Halshayeji]

flacco broke the pocket and ran....almost had a heart attack. didn't want to see him get clipped.

My first reaction was what the heck are you doing its pre season! Then after the play i was like yeeeeah!!!!! Had flacco done that on that second down we wouldav probably been in the super bowl

[smalljaws]

Caw ! Caw ! Caw !

[Halshayeji]

Bio Larzen No Rookies Shined?!?!!? C'mon youre better than that, Carl Davis was all over the field, he DESTROYED the lesser talent around him. Yes, a lot of his production came against backups but he had good gap control against the starters, stuffed a running play with penetration against the starters and batted down a ball (I think that was against the starters, correct me if I'm wrong). Needless to say that man is going to be a pro bowler with a year of NFL weight training under his belt. I'm stoked about him, Zadarius also made some plays, he set the edge well san's the one run in the third where he let the back bounce outside.

I wouldn't say Carl Davis "destroyed" but he surely showed promise. Flashes of brilliance and flashes of ummmm let's say rookieness lol. Zadarius on the other hand disappointed me only because I had very very high expectations for him. I thought he could be McPhee tomorrow. But now I'm back to earth. He can manhandle anyone but he's still a rookie. He needs to diagnose plays pre snap and attack instead of react. It took McPhee 3 years to get there so I'm not pressuring Smith to do that in his first pre season.

[Kile]

Matt's Minutes

Thanks me later John.

[Lightlock]

"Tyrod Time" is now "The Schaub Show". Boom. There ya go.

[m0rdecai89]

Schaubby Seconds?

[HailFlacco5]

First drive was fantastic, looked real good! I love mobile Flacco haha! Williams on that 4th and 20 fighting for every inch was great. MVP Renner with the game winner!