And somehow, someway.....we managed win without it. Crazy right? :wink2:
Hopefully this proves to Mr. Henning that we can win ballgames without it.
It's now been eight quarters since that infamous 3rd-and-6 from the Patriots 38.
My beef throughout this game was that we abandoned the run -- specifically the inside run -- when it was bedrock for us all day long. A little too much outside running for my liking. And way too much passing.
Again, I'm talking about going with what's working against a depleted defense. The offensive line did a great job keeping Henne clean against said depleted pass rush. And Brandon Marshall was a monster early.
But the inside run was safe. It worked early and continued to pay dividends throughout the game. Henning inexplicably went to the air and it nearly cost us the game.
We finally got back to the inside run following that miserable, all passing 3-and-out in OT. We went back to it and promptly got back into Carpenter (aka 'Money') range.
So here's to going with what's working, 'tendency-breakers' be damned. :)
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FinFan_Est.1984, xphinfanx, gunn34 and 3 others like this.
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Im just glad we didnt come out in it on a 3rd and 6 and ruin a drive!
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Also yes I agree my only complaints on this game was getting away from the inside run on 1st down, (which would set up more play actions) and the fact that on a few 3rd and longs for GB we sent a corner blitz but the corner seem to have came from a MILE away!!!! It left Rodgers with plenty of time to pick us apart over the middle on those 3rd down plays, either have everyone bunched and fake the blitz or really bring it, but not a mile away, the purpose of a blitz on 3rd and long is to have the qb get rid of the ball underneath the 1st down marker and for us to make the sure tackle....Correct?????
Rhody Phins Fan likes this. -
yeah, I was disappointed to see us get away from running up the gut so much. It was working very well for us, especially for Ricky. Not sure why our opening drive in OT was 3 straight passes. At least they got it right on the game winning drive .
xTuNa FiSHx likes this. -
Agree. Inside runs especially on first down. I was crying about it all game.
Really didn't like the fact that we started three drives near or inside midfield and came away empty handed. When you get field position like that AND the inside run is working.....how does THIS coordinator not go after it? :lol:
I laugh because this meat and potatoes, common sense type coordinator gets away from his mantra so often. I really can't figure it out! Obviously it's funnier because we won. If we'd have lost, I'd have wanted blood (again). -
Thankfully the defense gave them the opportunity to get it right.
If we'd have not gotten the ball back in OT, can you imagine the heat Henning would be taking right now? With that being his last series of the game.....it'd be an inferno in here. -
completely disagree with this post. its obvious henning saw the same thing as the fans. the difference is he wasnt about to shelve something that was gaining 5 yds a carry last year after one bad game. he was going to test it. and with every game he called it less because our execution sucks at it this year with the three new linemen starting. to say "that i hope this proves to henning....." is ridiculous. henning gave up on the wildcat against new england. we ran it once then. in fact he was scaling it back every game from the 1st. you dont throw away things that worked in the past just because it doesnt work once. you need to prove to yourself that its officially dead. thats what it is for now
an example would be today's game. it was obvious green bay was taking away our outside run but was vulnerable inside. henning still tested them occasionally outside just to make sure they played us honest. we may have gotten zero or one yard gains on those carries but they served a purpose
having said that i wouldnt be surprised if they continue to practice the wildcat and if henning feels the oline improves its blocking i wouldnt be surprised if its reintroduced at some future gameDisgustipate likes this. -
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Henning has convinced himself that we are a passing team
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and henne convinced henning we are a running team. next week we will pound the ball. they gave henne a shot today and he really didnt take the reigns. next week we are going to run, run, run. I'm sure of it
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field position gm. i dont think they're going to let henne air it out against that rush
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yeah henne wasn't touched today and the passing game was mediocre, Still only one TD from Marshall in five games. We need to keep running the damn football cause that is what we do best. Henning thinks the opposite.
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nah, they are trying to get henne confidence but its a balancing act. allow him to throw too much and he'll eventually throw a pick. the coaching staff has a tough job. on one hand win games, on the other try to get henne to grow as a qb. you could tell they started to give up on him a bit at the end of the game. they allowed him to start OT throwing, then second possession it was running. i think you'll see them go back to last year next week, let henne throw twenty times per game and just play field position with the running game and defense
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To be honest, I seriously question whether or not it was obvious that Henning saw the same thing as the fans. I think most fans felt it was a terrible idea to trot out the Wildcat on 3rd-and-6 from the opponent's 38 yard line. Henning thought it was the perfect playcall at the time.
IMO it shouldn't have taken four games for them to shelve something that averaged 1.6 yards per play. That's more than enough proof. As we know, it's not just the use of the Wildcat. It's also 'when' he was using it. Situations where down and distance would dictate something with an actual pass option for the defense to consider pre-snap. Situations where Henne was hot. Situations where Henne had just made a big throw or converted a key third down.
I understand that you can't do the same thing 60 plays a game. But I feel that you should have a pretty good grasp of what's working by the fourth quarter. And yet we still went away from the inside run. I think what is frustrating is when he's still 'making sure they're honest' late in games.
My "I hope it proves to Henning" comment was not ridiculous. It was obviously sarcastic. My point was that we do not need to force feed the Wildcat into drives, because that's what it has felt like this season.
And when I say 'shelve', I don't mean forever. I mean scaling it back considerably to the point that it might not even be on the menu some weeks.
Common sense playcalling, that's all I've ever wanted.texanphinatic and adamprez2003 like this. -
Same goes for Henne had we lost. Heck, in the GD thread it was an inferno once he threw that pick. People we never saw in the thread up to that point showed up, bashed, and then disappeared never to be seen again :lol:
I've never been so mind boggled in my life on our first series in OT, three straight passes, just insane. After the first incompletion, run it, at least try and get some yards to make it a manageable third down. I thought Henning called a fairly good game up to that point though, we passed more than I would have liked to see today especially with how well we were running up the gut. The other one that really blew my mind was the Hartline end around. Just don't get that one at all. Aside from that drive in OT, the end around, and a bit more passing than I'd have liked, it was a pretty ok called game by Henning today. -
And to think after the disaster that has been the Wildcat this season, there were actually fans still defending it. Guess the coaches thought differently. Though I won't give them credit just yet, as I have a feeling we'll see the Wildcat fail sometime again this season.
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I'm sure we'll see it again. There were games in 2008 where we didn't run it. And that's fine.
It's just the force feeding that has been a problem more than anything IMO.
Hell I still believe it's fantastic on the goal line. Should always be on the menu there IMO. -
on one hand i agree. if we were the steelers with their talent i would definitely agree. but we're a bit of a smoke and mirrors team right now, not by choice IMO but by necessity. we have a QB that is clearly (hopefully) one year away from being trusted. we have an offensive line that couldnt run block till they faced green bay's depleted defense. i just think the beginning of the season is when you test what you have in your team. as the season wears on you scale back those things your team sucks at and lean on those things that are your teams strengths. i honestly dont know if we have a strength on offense at this stage. Marshall yeah but Henne is a bit off in his accuracy. Its risky letting him throw too much. the running game doesnt suck but it really hasnt been the grinding crushing running game we had the last two years. the wildcat gave us that the last two years. I dont see why you wouldnt go back to it early this year to see if we can salvage it. even though henne is doing well on 3rd downs this year, do you really trust him throwing all the time (especially on that 3rd and 6) why not take the pressure off henne a bit if you can?
sorry for saying it was ridiculous. i feel henning is getting the ted ginn treatment on these boards completely undeserved and i may be a bit harsh in responding. i just disagree that henning doesnt see the same things we do. i think he's in a tough spot with a QB who is not quite ready to have the game on his shoulders and an offensive line that really hasnt dominated anyone until they faced green bay. when you cant trust your running game and you cant trust your passing game it's tough to say you shouldnt be trying to find something you can rely on.
it seems to me (so far this season) that we just have to try to struggle through ugly games until either our oline starts dominating or until henne makes a leap and starts playing error free.
anyway good post otherwise :lol: probably should have mentioned that originally :tantrum: -
The guy makes some really good calls. He's not always terrible, but he has a knack for calling as many obvious duds as he does brilliant ones. Maybe we need to hire him a "Common Sense" assistant who will slap him when he calls one of those dumb plays. :up:
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Wait, you think I could actually be paid to do that?