https://soundcloud.com/firstaidkit/my-silver-lining

 

 

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What's wrong with criticising the play Dakota, of the last 20 games we are 4-16 do you not think that's worth criticising?

Nothing wrong with being critical of the team's play. It's deserved. I didn't say that was the problem.

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What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.







 

The Offense felt like it could legitimately move the ball.

 

• I kept reminding myself that of the two Tight Ends out there one of them has been with the team all of about five days, and the other one is just back from a calf injury. Despite all of that, the Offense still found a way to get them the ball.
  
• The running game, while not devastating, seemed effective. Gerhart lost the ball early and I think that peeved Gus pretty bad, but he was effective. It's just that the team got behind too early to really turn him loose.
  
• D. Robinson showed some very nice ability to weave through traffic. I think he's getting a good sense now of how to view the field from a RB's perspective and not a QB's / broken field runner's perspective.
  
• Allen Hurns has some sick moves yo.
  
• Allen Robinson flashed again and it's really more like what I expected from a rookie WR.
  
• Blake Bortles reminds me more and more of a juiced up Brett Favre. I enjoy watching him play.
  

 

The Defense had good spots, especially on Run Defense.

• Both big bodies - Bryant and Miller - showed up today against that run. They had some very impressive plays today.
  
• Early in the game, the Defense was dialed in and forced a three and out. Granted, San Diego figured things out a bit, but it was nice to see a forced punt.
  

 

Special Teams did well.

• How 'bout that Todman!
  

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I'm trying to make myself more informed and less opinionated.

Stop saying whatever stupid thing you're talking about and pay attention to all the interesting things I have to say!

so many silver linings

people seem to be forgetting this is the san diego offense that gutted seattle. If seattle is the big brother, we are the younger brother who everyone wonders if their a little bit "special" but are too polite to say so the defense was always going to get gutted. The same happened last year when rivers just picked us apart.

 

It's frustrating but it will get better with colvin and general patience

 

even on defense our run defense was a major improvement

we moved the ball nicely on several drives

bortles made big plays and his interceptions were misreads to be expected of first year qbs. There were a couple of plays where I could see the blitz and he didn't check out of the play and still ran a run to that side which suggests he is not in full command of the offense but rookie qb so not worried at all.

 

He is a centre piece to build a franchise around and i think bowanko despite a couple of bad plays against a talented nose tackle will be solid in front of him at centre with d rob and gerhart a good two back set behind him. Gerhart failed to pick up one fourth down and is being labelled as rubbish despite picked up bulldozing third down after third down whilst robinson is shifty and can stretch the play. Looks like a really good 5th round pick up

 

Likewise at receiver hurns and robinson look like solid pieces to build around add in lee sanders and shorts and that has potential as a 5 man set with todman and sanders the return men

 

there is alot to be positive about

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We actually competed for most of the game against one of the 5 best teams in the league in their stadium. We weren't supposed to win this game, not remotely.

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I can't wait 'till we start playing the crappy teams so I can get that warm fuzzy feeling that usually follows a win.

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-There was a point where we were actually still in the game. And it was as late as the second quarter!


-Time of Possession battle was won!


-Bortles completed 78% of his passes. That's something we haven't seen from a starting QB on this team (with more than like 10 attempts) since 11/14/2010 with David Garrard.


-We completed 64% of our third downs. Compared to a couple of weeks ago, when it was 24%. The chargers didn't actually do better than us on third downs either.

Yeah when I heard his completion percentage and ypa I was pretty excited. It's also refreshing to complete third third downs.

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so many silver linings

people seem to be forgetting this is the san diego offense that gutted seattle. If seattle is the big brother, we are the younger brother who everyone wonders if their a little bit "special" but are too polite to say so the defense was always going to get gutted. The same happened last year when rivers just picked us apart.

 

It's frustrating but it will get better with colvin and general patience

 

even on defense our run defense was a major improvement

we moved the ball nicely on several drives

bortles made big plays and his interceptions were misreads to be expected of first year qbs. There were a couple of plays where I could see the blitz and he didn't check out of the play and still ran a run to that side which suggests he is not in full command of the offense but rookie qb so not worried at all.

 

He is a centre piece to build a franchise around and i think bowanko despite a couple of bad plays against a talented nose tackle will be solid in front of him at centre with d rob and gerhart a good two back set behind him. Gerhart failed to pick up one fourth down and is being labelled as rubbish despite picked up bulldozing third down after third down whilst robinson is shifty and can stretch the play. Looks like a really good 5th round pick up

 

Likewise at receiver hurns and robinson look like solid pieces to build around add in lee sanders and shorts and that has potential as a 5 man set with todman and sanders the return men

 

there is alot to be positive about

Nice post. I agree with all that

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Ranked 25th against the run. We aren't last in a defensive category!

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS

If you think we are the worst team in the NFL...
 
 
I went to watch the Raiders play the Dolphins yesterday.  Afterwards (on the long train journey home) I watched the Jaguars game on my phone.
 
There was a world of difference.
 
During first half of the Jaguars game, I think the two sides looked evenly matched (and that in itself is progress if we are matching up with one of the better NFL teams)
 
Compare that with the Raiders, who were effectively out of the match well before half-time and who looked second best for the whole game (barring one good Derek Carr-led drive at the start of the match)
 
Their team seems to rely heavily on ageing veterans, while ours is at least looking to the future with young rookies like Bortles, Robinson and Hurns who seem to have potential.
 
The Raiders fans were amazing and I feel really sorry for them, because their team appears hopeless.  But at least ours has potential and has shown in patches that it can turn the corner.
 
The other think I'd point out (if we are looking for signs of progress) is that the first half yesterday was the first time this season I think I've seen us as a credible NFL side, able to go head-to-head with other teams and give them a proper game.  The first half of the Eagles game was great, but I was always feeling that we were over-performing and that victory would be a shock.  If we had won the Chargers game (based on our first half performance) i would not have been surprised.  That's progress for me.

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so many silver linings

people seem to be forgetting this is the san diego offense that gutted seattle. If seattle is the big brother, we are the younger brother who everyone wonders if their a little bit "special" but are too polite to say so the defense was always going to get gutted. The same happened last year when rivers just picked us apart.


It's frustrating but it will get better with colvin and general patience


even on defense our run defense was a major improvement

we moved the ball nicely on several drives

bortles made big plays and his interceptions were misreads to be expected of first year qbs. There were a couple of plays where I could see the blitz and he didn't check out of the play and still ran a run to that side which suggests he is not in full command of the offense but rookie qb so not worried at all.


He is a centre piece to build a franchise around and i think bowanko despite a couple of bad plays against a talented nose tackle will be solid in front of him at centre with d rob and gerhart a good two back set behind him. Gerhart failed to pick up one fourth down and is being labelled as rubbish despite picked up bulldozing third down after third down whilst robinson is shifty and can stretch the play. Looks like a really good 5th round pick up


Likewise at receiver hurns and robinson look like solid pieces to build around add in lee sanders and shorts and that has potential as a 5 man set with todman and sanders the return men


there is alot to be positive about

This is true. In the same atmosphere, Seattle, a much better team than us, only scored one more TD and allowed 3 less points. And we covered Gates which they couldn't do.


A ton of positives from that game. Pittsburgh is winnable and Blake will learn from those INTs. We're closer than people think. Sucks to lose, but progress was made for sure. And our schedule gets much easier ahead.

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS

- The first half of game one was not an aberration. Again, when the defence was firing on all cylinders we held a very strong opponent to a very limited score. The question isn't whether they can do it; it's whether they can do it more consistently.
- Blake Bortles is still really quite good. Again, the first half was better than the second, but he was making plays, and drives were extended rather than just the parade of interminable three-and-outs that we'd been having before he came in.
- Plays were made. The last two games were all about who missed assignments, who dropped passes, who made mistakes one way or another. This game, all round the team, you still have that, but you're also talking about who made big plays. That's got to be good.
- SD are very, very good. Can't be stressed enough.

-Bortles completed 78% of his passes.  That's something we haven't seen from a starting QB on this team (with more than like 10 attempts) since 11/14/2010 with David Garrard.

Not just something we haven't seen from a starting QB on this team. It's an NFL record for a rookie QB's first start.

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I feel that Allen Hurns & Allen Robinson are turning into great WRs for the future.  D-Rob is starting to show great improvement as a running back.  The Oline played better than previous weeks but still made a lot of mistakes, but improving..

Blake Bortles didnt get killed, sure he got sacked and hit a few times but it wasnt that bad.  He is mobile / elusive enough to avoid the big hits and to gain time for the receivers to run routes & D-Rob is becoming better at the short pass if the receivers are covered.  Toddman looked good at returning.  DT Marks is a beast.

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This is true. In the same atmosphere, Seattle, a much better team than us, only scored one more TD and allowed 3 less points. And we covered Gates which they couldn't do.

Gates.

Antonio Gates.

TE Antonio Gates.

Going into this game, there was talk about how the Jags just plain couldn't defend tight ends. Guess what? Turns out they can.

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Gates.


Antonio Gates.


TE Antonio Gates.


Going into this game, there was talk about how the Jags just plain couldn't defend tight ends. Guess what? Turns out they can.

And the two big Royal tds were bad play by the FS. I really think that's our biggest need and we'd see way better secondary play with a competent one.

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS

Gates.


Antonio Gates.


TE Antonio Gates.


Going into this game, there was talk about how the Jags just plain couldn't defend tight ends. Guess what? Turns out they can.

And the two big Royal tds were bad play by the FS. I really think that's our biggest need and we'd see way better secondary play with a competent one.

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS

And the two big Royal tds were bad play by the FS. I really think that's our biggest need and we'd see way better secondary play with a competent one.

 

Winston Guy is so bad. I think we will see more of Sherrod Martin next week. Hopefully.

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What were you watching when Toby Gerhart fumbled during the first quarter?

How are two interceptions "protecting the football"?

 

San Diego won the turnover battle today.

Hmm...yeah, I missed the first two minutes of the game, and missed this fumble..


BB tossin' a couple picks doesn't worry me in the least.


I'd still say for a young team the guys did pretty well in this category. The D wasn't able to create any TO's, that's the bigger crticism.


Another positive was the center-qb exchange was working pretty well.


Too much negativity on here...


We were in the game at halftime..


We had a semblance of offense for most of the game. D.Rob just might be able to get upfield.


Bortles is a very bright spot indeed.


People seem to forget what we had last week!


Rivers is no slouch...we didn't get to him...we lost to a top 10 team in their house. I still thought we had a chance late. With BB in there, we have a chance.

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Harbor  - 8 targets - 8 catches

 

Denard Robinson  - 3 targets  - 3 catches - no fumbles on 9 carries.   Has he turned the corner?

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What fan? Nic Jacobs is a real TE. Nice to see him score the passing touchdown today.

its a joke........... 

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