That's part of the problem and Grizz isn't adjusting for it. Downfield passing wasn't a major part of this offense last season and it was clicking on all cylinders. Grizz seems hell bent on getting the ball downfield. I asked last night but PA passing seems to be eliminated from our offense. And it boggled me that we kept trying to go to Evans so much with Stingley smothering him. 5 catches, 56 yards on 11 targets isn't very productive.
I wondered if going to Evan’s so much while he was in such heavy coverage, wasn’t a sandbagging move so that we would have who we needed wide open when the time came.
Nope.
The Texans had Stingley on an island against vs Evans from snap 1. They didn't change that approach at all. Shepard made some plays but nothing very notable. And I love Egbuka, but at this stage of his career he is not getting much separation on his routes. It basically takes the perfect throw to get him the ball. I noticed that against the Falcons. Last night Houston exploited that and pretty much held him in check.
I wondered if going to Evan’s so much while he was in such heavy coverage, wasn’t a sandbagging move so that we would have who we needed wide open when the time came.
Nope.
The Texans had Stingley on an island against vs Evans from snap 1. They didn't change that approach at all. Shepard made some plays but nothing very notable. And I love Egbuka, but at this stage of his career he is not getting much separation on his routes. It basically takes the perfect throw to get him the ball. I noticed that against the Falcons. Last night Houston exploited that and pretty much held him in check.
We weren't fooling them with our pass game.
Going on memory and eye test only I think you’re underselling his separation. On the 4Q drop E2 had great separation if Baker leads him towards the sideline instead of upfield. This is not to excuse the drop because he has to catch that, but he had the separation on a critical down.
I wondered if going to Evan’s so much while he was in such heavy coverage, wasn’t a sandbagging move so that we would have who we needed wide open when the time came.
Nope.
The Texans had Stingley on an island against vs Evans from snap 1. They didn't change that approach at all. Shepard made some plays but nothing very notable. And I love Egbuka, but at this stage of his career he is not getting much separation on his routes. It basically takes the perfect throw to get him the ball. I noticed that against the Falcons. Last night Houston exploited that and pretty much held him in check.
We weren't fooling them with our pass game.
The issue is also Grizz not doing much to help Evans get open. I don't see much of putting our WRs in bunches allowing natural picks to happen to help get some receivers open.
The Texans had Stingley on an island against vs Evans from snap 1. They didn't change that approach at all. Shepard made some plays but nothing very notable. And I love Egbuka, but at this stage of his career he is not getting much separation on his routes. It basically takes the perfect throw to get him the ball. I noticed that against the Falcons. Last night Houston exploited that and pretty much held him in check.
We weren't fooling them with our pass game.
The issue is also Grizz not doing much to help Evans get open. I don't see much of putting our WRs in bunches allowing natural picks to happen to help get some receivers open.
Looks like a lot of one one one stuff so far. To be fair the offense struggled in week 2 and 3 last year also, and everything looks worse without Wirfs and Goedeke (not to mention Godwin/McMillan) out there.
The Texans had Stingley on an island against vs Evans from snap 1. They didn't change that approach at all. Shepard made some plays but nothing very notable. And I love Egbuka, but at this stage of his career he is not getting much separation on his routes. It basically takes the perfect throw to get him the ball. I noticed that against the Falcons. Last night Houston exploited that and pretty much held him in check.
We weren't fooling them with our pass game.
Going on memory and eye test only I think you’re underselling his separation. On the 4Q drop E2 had great separation if Baker leads him towards the sideline instead of upfield. This is not to excuse the drop because he has to catch that, but he had the separation on a critical down.
He still took a hit. He elevated for the ball but couldn't pull it in. I'm speaking more on a snap to snap basis. A lot of it is scheming. Grizz's designs are really getting our guys open or creating favorable matchups. It kind of makes me wonder how Godwin will do in this offense. A lot of his success came off of those plays where we scheme to get him in favorable situations on safeties or LBs.
Egbuka though is having issues shaking defenders to get open. He will get better with experience
Morrison was way more obvious. DBs have to play that way. Funny enough, Jamel Dean is a pro at those subtle holds and tugs and doesn't get called for penalties that often.
He really wasn't. More that Morrison is a rookie and Stingley is a vet and considered to be among the best. He can get away with more because of that, just like Evans gets away with pushing off more than a rookie WR does.
In years past maybe. Evans doesn't get away with anything now. That same scrutiny was missing on the other side. Glad we came out with the W in spite of the biased refs.
Good performances last night. Heck was truly as bad as we all thought. Barton hasn't impressed me since we drafted him and it continues showing up on tape.
Barton's grade at LT is irrelevant. He probably needs to go to LG because Bredesen is showing he's a much better center than guard. If/when that happens, I'm confident his production will take a sharp turn upwards.
We're paying the price for a half-measure taken by The Union 160 years ago.
I don’t know many centers who could play serviceable LT. I won’t ding him for not being good playing way out of position. Hoping he looks a lot better when he’s back to the interior of the line.
Bootz wrote: ↑Tue Sep 16, 2025 1:58 pm
Good performances last night. Heck was truly as bad as we all thought. Barton hasn't impressed me since we drafted him and it continues showing up on tape.
Agreed on Barton.
I know that Barton is playing out of position and would have been a bad OT prospect. But I have seen him get beat way too many times with bull rushes. He does not seem to have a good anchor or the strength to take on linemen lower than him (weighing 30-40 lbs lighter) trying to overpower him. He also is getting beat comfortably on speed rushes too. So unfortunately I am not seeing what makes Barton a great O-lineman from an athletic standpoint.
Again, I get it, he was not drafted to block on the edge, but we may be better off playing him interior and seeing if Ben Chukwumah can protect the edge better.
That's part of the problem and Grizz isn't adjusting for it. Downfield passing wasn't a major part of this offense last season and it was clicking on all cylinders. Grizz seems hell bent on getting the ball downfield. I asked last night but PA passing seems to be eliminated from our offense. And it boggled me that we kept trying to go to Evans so much with Stingley smothering him. 5 catches, 56 yards on 11 targets isn't very productive.
I wondered if going to Evan’s so much while he was in such heavy coverage, wasn’t a sandbagging move so that we would have who we needed wide open when the time came.
Evans kept running those sideline routs and I believed he was setting them up to fake the outside release and take the seam at some point but it never did happen. At least I didn't see it
Sounds like Jordan Schultz doesn't actually watch the Bucs. We're 2-0 because our defense has done very well vs the run and in the red zone and our QB has generated some 4th quarter comebacks. That "synergy" isn't there yet. Overall the offense is not operating very smoothly or efficiently.
