I was mainly focusing in on the defense tonight because that has been my biggest worry .
We have to do something about Jacques Reeves. The guy has been constantly exploited all preseason. I don't know if teams are keying on him or if he is just getting targeted because he is failing to cover his man every time; but, either way, there is no reason to think this will change in the regular season. So, if we have a CB who can't cover his guy, and we have a DL who can't get pressure on the QB, it is going to be a long long season.
That being said, my even bigger concern is our run defense. It was one of our unsung weaknesses last season, and it is an even bigger liability this season facing the likes of Adrian Peterson, Joseph Addai (twice,) Fred Taylor and MJD (twice,) Ryan Grant, Willie Parker, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, and Darren McFadden and Justin Fargas. So, it is essential that we stop the run. Denver ran all over us in the first preseason game. We contained the Saints fairly well, though they passed all over us. And tonight was a continuation of that Jekyll and Hyde performance. The first quarter looked like Barber was running at will. The second quarter we seemed more capable of bottling him up some. They were able to pass on us all game, but it seems we made some adjustments and showed the ability to stop the run a little bit. Amobi, especially, showed some nice improvement in his run defense and that was really nice to see. We can definitely stand to improve, but I like the adjustments I saw throughout the game in that department.
I also thought Petey Faggins had a nice game. It looks like he might have gotten beat on one play, but I think he was supposed to get some help over the top from Ferguson. Either way, I thought that had some nice PD and came up nicely in run support. I think he won himself a spot on the team tonight. I was also happy to see some forced TO. The interception in the endzone was clutch of Diles. That was very nice to see and it's beginning to look like our LB core is 2/3 complete. Mario also had a nice strip, but that was just Mario being Mario. I expect to see more of that this season.
And, while my main concern was defense, I would like to especially recognize Steve Slaton's play. I think he has solidified a starting position on this football team. The guy hits the hole with a burst, keeps his legs churning, and is slippery as soap. He is a great fit for this offense. He has a small frame, so hopefully he will be platooned with Brown or Taylor, but I think he will be an essential cog to this offense.
Ultimately, I just have to keep telling myself that we faced an elite offense with a vanilla, preseason defense. But, I don't see any reason to believe this year's defense is any improvement upon last year's. And, if that's the case, I think we see more blowouts against competent offenses like we saw last year in SD and Indy. I'm officially on the fire Richard Smith bandwagon.
|