Talent or Coaching?

[Smonroe]

Obviously, they go hand in hand.  I'm interested in hearing your opinions.

 

Other than QB and WRs/TEs and one great CB, do the Colts have better than average talent everywhere else?  (Not counting P/K)  If you think so, then coaching has to be the problem.

 

The Pats seem to get guys off the street and have great teams year after year.  I'd have to attribute that to coaching.  I'm not talking about play calling.  I'm talking about schemes, both on O and D.

[Coffeedrinker]

It's really both (sorry to be such a buzz kill) I think coaching is a problem and I think there are some personnel deficiencies at center, ILB, rush LB and safety.

 

But I have been saying in every game except the Philly game that the Colts O is too predictable on offense and that their lack of running the ball two times in a row is going to bite them.  I mentioned concerns about the O in the preseason and that I thought their lack of yards per play indicated, to me, that the offense was not as dynamic as many were saying and I questions Pep's offense.

 

On the personnel side, I've been saying since he became a starter that I don't know what the coaches and the fans see in Harrison but that I thought he was a significant drop from Shipley (and I was not a Shipley fan).  I've mentioned several times that Freeman has not played well since he came back from injury.  I mentioned several times that Brown was a liability in the running game.  Now people are starting to see that I have been correct on all of those.

 

But then that goes back to coaching, if I can see it, why can't they?

 

Of course I will put my usual disclaimer... I realize that I make my evaluation based on about 10% of the information the coaches have.  I don't have the results of the game plan tests, practice film, questions they ask in the film room etc.

[IndyD4U]

It's really both (sorry to be such a buzz kill) I think coaching is a problem and I think there are some personnel deficiencies at center, ILB, rush LB and safety.

 

But I have been saying in every game except the Philly game that the Colts O is too predictable on offense and that their lack of running the ball two times in a row is going to bite them.  I mentioned concerns about the O in the preseason and that I thought their lack of yards per play indicated, to me, that the offense was not as dynamic as many were saying and I questions Pep's offense.

 

On the personnel side, I've been saying since he became a starter that I don't know what the coaches and the fans see in Harrison but that I thought he was a significant drop from Shipley (and I was not a Shipley fan).  I've mentioned several times that Freeman has not played well since he came back from injury.  I mentioned several times that Brown was a liability in the running game.  Now people are starting to see that I have been correct on all of those.

 

But then that goes back to coaching, if I can see it, why can't they?

 

Of course I will put my usual disclaimer... I realize that I make my evaluation based on about 10% of the information the coaches have.  I don't have the results of the game plan tests, practice film, questions they ask in the film room etc.

 

Have to agree 100% on this one

[Michael Moeller]

PERSONALLY.....IF I WERE CHUCK PAGANO AND IF IN THE LAST 2 GAMES AGAINST NEW ENGLAND.....I HAD 2 DIFFERENT RUNNING BACKS SCORE 4 TD'S EACH.....YOU CAN BET THAT THE NEXT TIME I COACHED AGAINST NEW ENGLAND I WOULD MAKE IT MY BUSINESS TO ALLOW NO MORE RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS.....SEEMS AS THOUGH BRADY THROWING THE BALL WOULD HAVE DONE LESS DAMAGE.....HIS ARM DOES NOT SEEM AS STRONG AS IT ONCE WAS AND WE PICKED HIM TWICE.....I LOVE CHUCK AS A PERSON BUT I AM BEGINNING TO QUESTION IF WE HAVE THE RIGHT GUY LEADING THIS TEAM.....THIS WAS A HUGE GAME AS FAR AS HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE WAS CONCERNED AND SOONER OR LATER YOU CAN'T SIDESTEP THE ISSUE ANYMORE AND YOU JUST HAVE TO BEAT A TEAM LIKE THIS. WE ARE SPENDING SOME RIGHTEOUS CASH ON THE DEFENSIVE SIDE OF THE FOOTBALL TO BE GETTING THESE RESULTS. I DO NOT PROFESS TO BE A GREAT FOOTBALL MIND BUT IF I WERE COACHING AGAINST BELLICHECK I WOULD START WITH A PARTICULAR GAME PLAN AND EVEN IF IT WAS WORKING WELL ( REMEMBER AT HALFTIME THE SCORE WAS ONLY 14 - 10 ) WHEN WE TOOK THE FIELD IN THE SECOND HALF I WOULD SWITCH UP AND DO THINGS ALTOGETHER DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE BELLICHEK WILL ADJUST TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING AT HALFTIME AND YOU JUST CAN'T KEEP DOING THINGS THE SAME.....JUST SAYIN.....IF CHUCK AND GRIGS CAN'T DO A LITTLE BETTER ( LOT BETTER ).....HERE ARE TWO NAMES     SHANAHAN ( HE'S LOOKING ) AND BILLICK.....3 SUPER BOWLS BETWEEN THEM ANDGOOD DEFENSIVE MINDS.....LIKE I SAID I LOVE CHUCK AND GRIGS TOO BUT YOU JUST CAN'T WASTE A TALENT LIKE LUCK THEY MUST DO BETTER

 

Mod edit: Try again without the caps.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Superman

[IndyD4U]

mod edit

 

Why are you screaming? I bet your blood pressure is up

[Superman]

Obviously, they go hand in hand.  I'm interested in hearing your opinions.

 

Other than QB and WRs/TEs and one great CB, do the Colts have better than average talent everywhere else?  (Not counting P/K)  If you think so, then coaching has to be the problem.

 

The Pats seem to get guys off the street and have great teams year after year.  I'd have to attribute that to coaching.  I'm not talking about play calling.  I'm talking about schemes, both on O and D.

 

Other than half the team, do we have better than average talent? I take issue with that question, especially when you look at how teams around the league are constructed.

 

The defensive line is above average, which is ironic after last night's game, but I stand behind it. We're also missing one of the best pass rushers in the league. I think the secondary is slightly above average as a whole, especially with Adams and Brown playing better each week, IMO. And Toler has cut down on the penalties. We're still weak at ILB, with our guys not athletic enough and sloppy/inconsistent as tacklers. 

 

Offensive line is a work in progress. It's tough to say how to approach that, because we have young guys with talent, and we're dealing with their growing pains. But the hope -- and I think this is reasonable -- is that they will grow together and be much better as the years go on. The line is also mostly better than it was last year (doesn't excuse the shortcomings this year, but it's improvement, supporting the theory that the young guys will continue to get better). We have a really good group of skill guys, overall. I'd like a speedy back, and now that Bradshaw is probably out for the year, we'll probably take a step back there. But the mix of TE/WR is really good. And the QB is a young guy who makes plays, but still has some improvements to make in consistency and game management. 

 

The coaching seems to be missing that special quality that can help a team perform under varying circumstances. It's intangible, so I don't know what you can do about that. For starters, it's hard to compare any coaching staff to New England's, but there are other staff's that seem to transcend at times. However, they all hit walls, from time to time. People have been praising Chip Kelly all year -- someone called him the greatest football mind he's ever been around, which is hyperbole, but still -- but they've dropped some ugly games this year, and got stomped by the Packers yesterday. Trestman came in and helped the Bears last year, and now they look like a mess. Every team and every coaching staff has down games. We've also had good games from the coaching staff.

 

I think the schemes are fine, especially on defense. I think we need more rangy ILBs who tackle better, and we have to execute more consistently with our run fits up front. Just a sloppy game against the run last night, nothing wrong with the approach or the scheme. And then Vereen's long catch and run in the third quarter, that's poor execution, exploited by a good QB. 

 

To me, this team is a handful of players away from being clearly one of the three best teams in the AFC. Safety, ILB, pass rusher, scat back, dominant guard (bonus add, we need consistent center play, nothing spectacular, just can't have bad snaps, can't blow protections before the snap, etc.) And I keep talking about perspective, and it's because, two and a half years ago, the entire roster was overhauled. I think our overall trajectory is just fine. We'd be a half step further than we are, if not for a handful of mistakes by Grigson, but every GM makes mistakes. 

[Smonroe]

Two things stood out yesterday, our total inability to run the ball.  And you can't lay that on TRich.  And our total inability to stop the run.

 

It seems to me that our Oline has decent talent, so it has to be the run schemes, right?  There are several teams in the league with makeshift lines who move the ball on the ground.

 

As far as the D not stopping the run, that was the first game we've been gashed since the last time we played the Pats.  I don't want to judge a coaching staff based on one game, but it was really ugly.  When a guy who couldn't even start for his college team is picked up off the street and sets rushing records against you, I guess there's plenty of blame to go around.  Coaches and players.

[Dustin]

Talent mostly. This has to be one of the least talented rosters in the NFL.

[Smonroe]

Other than half the team, do we have better than average talent? I take issue with that question, especially when you look at how teams around the league are constructed...

 

I have no problem with the rest of your opinion but I'll stand by my opening statement.  Luck, Reggie, TY, Allen, Davis and maybe Coby are all better than average players.  No one should argue with that.

 

We're so close to the team we like to think guys like AC and Freeman are near pro bowl players.  But are they? 

 

I understand your point on how teams are built and where money is spent.  No team is made up of all stars.  My point is that maybe besides our top 5 players, we just aren't much better than mediocre.  Good enough to win with a superstar QB at the helm, but maybe a 2-14 without one.  Sound familiar?

[Superman]

I have no problem with the rest of your opinion but I'll stand by my opening statement. Luck, Reggie, TY, Allen, Davis and maybe Coby are all better than average players. No one should argue with that.

We're so close to the team we like to think guys like AC and Freeman are near pro bowl players. But are they?

I understand your point on how teams are built and where money is spent. No team is made up of all stars. My point is that maybe besides our top 5 players, we just aren't much better than mediocre. Good enough to win with a superstar QB at the helm, but maybe a 2-14 without one. Sound familiar?

Freeman hasn't played well this year. Injuries or whatever, but I called the ILB spot our weakest spot on defense. So I'm not wishing Freeman into the Pro Bowl.

Castonzo has been really good all year. I'm not sure why you'd single him out. Easily our best lineman, and maybe not a Pro Bowler, but that's not the mark of a good player.

My overall point, which probably got lost in too many words, is that I don't think our roster is a finished product. I think it's miles ahead of where it was two years ago, but we still have work to do. So I'm not worried about this "good enough to win with a superstar QB" thing that people keep saying. This team is fundamentally different than the Manning teams.

[12isthenew18]

We have Luck, freeman, hilton, moncrief, wayne, mewhort, costanzo, bradshaw (had), jones, redding, mathis, davis, Werner(i think).

Those are starters. 

Bench (depth) muamba, herron, brown(for a backup), purifoy, newsome, kerricane

 

That's like twenty players so yes talent is the issue

[Smonroe]

Freeman hasn't played well this year. Injuries or whatever, but I called the ILB spot our weakest spot on defense. So I'm not wishing Freeman into the Pro Bowl.

Castonzo has been really good all year. I'm not sure why you'd single him out. Easily our best lineman, and maybe not a Pro Bowler, but that's not the mark of a good player.

My overall point, which probably got lost in too many words, is that I don't think our roster is a finished product. I think it's miles ahead of where it was two years ago, but we still have work to do. So I'm not worried about this "good enough to win with a superstar QB" thing that people keep saying. This team is fundamentally different than the Manning teams.

 

No, I got your point.  It was just your opening remark implying that I singled out half the team as being great players.  I singled out AC and Freeman because they're on the bubble of being what some might consider very good.  AC has been great in pass blocking but our line as a whole is horrible in run sets.

 

I know our roster needs work, and I still think we've gotten better every year of the new regime as far as talent.  I just don't think we're as good talent wise as a lot of our fans here think we are.

 

I also get what you're saying about the team being fundamentally different than the Polian built teams. I'm not sure I totally agree though.   Another discussion for another thread maybe?

[BOTT]

I stated before the season started the roster wasn't that talented. I do like some of the young pieces, but at this point it's still pretty meh.

[#12]

Talent or coaching?

 

 

 

Yes.

[#12]

I feel the same as I did during the Dungy era.  We are never going to outcoach Belichick.  Pep and Chuck are never going to outcoach Belichick, so you must decisively win practically every position battle on the field to win the game. 

[CoachLite]

First, there is a difference between talent and performance.  I think we have above average talent that isn't performing primarily due to inadequate coaching.

[3nk1du]

It's both but sometimes when you don't have the talent to run an specific scheme you adjust and try to not embarrassing yourself right now i think Chuck/Pep/Manusky are too obstinate with their schemes, i mean last night there were a couple of run that you could only think why the heck would you do that?

 

IMO the problem with Chuck is that he isn't working as HC i think he is delegating too much on his coordinators, elite HC would call most of the snaps either Offense or Defense.

 

Manusky he doesn't have the talent for the Hybrid defense but that's no excuse right now(Grigson has his share of blame) but the GM brought you some players that you thought would improve your roster and guess what? you overpaid RFJ, Landry, D. Jackson, RFJ has played good this season but he didn't fill the expectations last year, also D. Jackson i would never understand why we give him more guaranteed money than he was supposed to make on Cleveland(he is an agin ILB that was playing 4-3 ILB), and Landry i think we would use him to blitz more but instead he has embarrassed himself covering and that's just the defense, we just have Werner and Chapman as Starters that we drafted.

We really need to rebuild the defense from 0 we could use Arthur Jones, Vontae Davis as core because i don't really see the LB group playing average at least, they are missing many tackles and they can't read properly last night every run over the middle you could see either Freeman or Jackson being blocked by a OLineman because they couldn't react to the play,i specially saw D. Jackson slow and without instinct. 

 

Pep on the other hand has a ton of responsibility because if your OLine is getting bullied at the line of scrimmage why don't you call traps or counters most of the plays were try to block man to man(drive), i sometimes think that Pep think their OLinemen can push 1 on 1 the DL and they can't i mean most of the Patriots runs weren't 1 on 1 the plays mostly were counters or traps where they could team 2-1 the DL and our ILBs were just awful.

So i think is a problem of lack of talent but when you don't have talent you have to rely on your coach staff and let them make adjustments, last night on the defense i didn't see major adjustments.

[coming on strong]

 

Other than half the team, do we have better than average talent? I take issue with that question, especially when you look at how teams around the league are constructed.

 

The defensive line is above average, which is ironic after last night's game, but I stand behind it. We're also missing one of the best pass rushers in the league. I think the secondary is slightly above average as a whole, especially with Adams and Brown playing better each week, IMO. And Toler has cut down on the penalties. We're still weak at ILB, with our guys not athletic enough and sloppy/inconsistent as tacklers. 

 

Offensive line is a work in progress. It's tough to say how to approach that, because we have young guys with talent, and we're dealing with their growing pains. But the hope -- and I think this is reasonable -- is that they will grow together and be much better as the years go on. The line is also mostly better than it was last year (doesn't excuse the shortcomings this year, but it's improvement, supporting the theory that the young guys will continue to get better). We have a really good group of skill guys, overall. I'd like a speedy back, and now that Bradshaw is probably out for the year, we'll probably take a step back there. But the mix of TE/WR is really good. And the QB is a young guy who makes plays, but still has some improvements to make in consistency and game management. 

 

The coaching seems to be missing that special quality that can help a team perform under varying circumstances. It's intangible, so I don't know what you can do about that. For starters, it's hard to compare any coaching staff to New England's, but there are other staff's that seem to transcend at times. However, they all hit walls, from time to time. People have been praising Chip Kelly all year -- someone called him the greatest football mind he's ever been around, which is hyperbole, but still -- but they've dropped some ugly games this year, and got stomped by the Packers yesterday. Trestman came in and helped the Bears last year, and now they look like a mess. Every team and every coaching staff has down games. We've also had good games from the coaching staff.

 

I think the schemes are fine, especially on defense. I think we need more rangy ILBs who tackle better, and we have to execute more consistently with our run fits up front. Just a sloppy game against the run last night, nothing wrong with the approach or the scheme. And then Vereen's long catch and run in the third quarter, that's poor execution, exploited by a good QB. 

 

To me, this team is a handful of players away from being clearly one of the three best teams in the AFC. Safety, ILB, pass rusher, scat back, dominant guard (bonus add, we need consistent center play, nothing spectacular, just can't have bad snaps, can't blow protections before the snap, etc.) And I keep talking about perspective, and it's because, two and a half years ago, the entire roster was overhauled. I think our overall trajectory is just fine. We'd be a half step further than we are, if not for a handful of mistakes by Grigson, but every GM makes mistakes. 

  come on please be honest the defensive line is not above average . josh chapman is so overrated so is hughes. we have no real 3-4 nose tackle , thats why the pats keep slamming it down our throat. werner is average as they get so is walden they both are good for around 3-5 sacks a year that is average. ricky jean got dominated in both games against new england he is hot and cold one game he looks elite then he looks below average. redding is starting to show his age and get bullied. arther jones is a beast though .

our starting safety's are the worst in the league landry is horrible sergio brown and adams are average. toler and butler are slightly above average . davis is a stud.

the coaching is bad the adjustments are terrible . grigson's free agents have been duds he tried replacing freeney with a back up depth player in green bay and overpaid giving him a huge raise if he would have waited he could have got him much cheaper. he let bethea walk for dirt cheap now bethea is one of the highest rated safety this year having a pro bowl season . He brought in a 35 year old saftey to replace him when were suppose to be building for the future. he could have gotten pollard for half the price of landry if he was patient. Grigson is very good at finding wrs and tightends for luck ill give you that but not much else .

I hope i am wrong but this team reminds me still of the old colts ,can't stop the run or run the ball, and have luck throw the ball 50 times to win.

[James Harden]

PERSONALLY.....IF I WERE CHUCK PAGANO AND IF IN THE LAST 2 GAMES AGAINST NEW ENGLAND.....I HAD 2 DIFFERENT RUNNING BACKS SCORE 4 TD'S EACH.....YOU CAN BET THAT THE NEXT TIME I COACHED AGAINST NEW ENGLAND I WOULD MAKE IT MY BUSINESS TO ALLOW NO MORE RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS.....SEEMS AS THOUGH BRADY THROWING THE BALL WOULD HAVE DONE LESS DAMAGE.....HIS ARM DOES NOT SEEM AS STRONG AS IT ONCE WAS AND WE PICKED HIM TWICE.....I LOVE CHUCK AS A PERSON BUT I AM BEGINNING TO QUESTION IF WE HAVE THE RIGHT GUY LEADING THIS TEAM.....THIS WAS A HUGE GAME AS FAR AS HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE WAS CONCERNED AND SOONER OR LATER YOU CAN'T SIDESTEP THE ISSUE ANYMORE AND YOU JUST HAVE TO BEAT A TEAM LIKE THIS. WE ARE SPENDING SOME RIGHTEOUS CASH ON THE DEFENSIVE SIDE OF THE FOOTBALL TO BE GETTING THESE RESULTS. I DO NOT PROFESS TO BE A GREAT FOOTBALL MIND BUT IF I WERE COACHING AGAINST BELLICHECK I WOULD START WITH A PARTICULAR GAME PLAN AND EVEN IF IT WAS WORKING WELL ( REMEMBER AT HALFTIME THE SCORE WAS ONLY 14 - 10 ) WHEN WE TOOK THE FIELD IN THE SECOND HALF I WOULD SWITCH UP AND DO THINGS ALTOGETHER DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE BELLICHEK WILL ADJUST TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING AT HALFTIME AND YOU JUST CAN'T KEEP DOING THINGS THE SAME.....JUST SAYIN.....IF CHUCK AND GRIGS CAN'T DO A LITTLE BETTER ( LOT BETTER ).....HERE ARE TWO NAMES     SHANAHAN ( HE'S LOOKING ) AND BILLICK.....3 SUPER BOWLS BETWEEN THEM ANDGOOD DEFENSIVE MINDS.....LIKE I SAID I LOVE CHUCK AND GRIGS TOO BUT YOU JUST CAN'T WASTE A TALENT LIKE LUCK THEY MUST DO BETTER

 

Mod edit: Try again without the caps.

my ears...oh wait

[Superfly Jay]

It's the talent level to a certain extent, but it's mostly on the coaching. The players have to believe that they can win and I just don't see it. Outside of Luck, Adams, Bradshaw, Davis, and a few others no one has confidence. And that's on the coaching staff. It's hard to get anything going when you're head coach does nothing but stand on the sidelines with that foolish look on his face like he's about to cry. And he continues to play the same guys that are under performing week after week. Yell at the players get them fired up, and it's time to hold some of these players accountable.

[Superman]

   come on please be honest the defensive line is not above average . josh chapman is so overrated so is hughes. we have no real 3-4 nose tackle , thats why the pats keep slamming it down our throat. werner is average as they get so is walden they both are good for around 3-5 sacks a year that is average. ricky jean got dominated in both games against new england he is hot and cold one game he looks elite then he looks below average. redding is starting to show his age and get bullied. arther jones is a beast though .

our starting safety's are the worst in the league landry is horrible sergio brown and adams are average. toler and butler are slightly above average . davis is a stud.

the coaching is bad the adjustments are terrible . grigson's free agents have been duds he tried replacing freeney with a back up depth player in green bay and overpaid giving him a huge raise if he would have waited he could have got him much cheaper. he let bethea walk for dirt cheap now bethea is one of the highest rated safety this year having a pro bowl season . He brought in a 35 year old saftey to replace him when were suppose to be building for the future. he could have gotten pollard for half the price of landry if he was patient. Grigson is very good at finding wrs and tightends for luck ill give you that but not much else .

I hope i am wrong but this team reminds me still of the old colts ,can't stop the run or run the ball, and have luck throw the ball 50 times to win.

So much wrong in this post... I'll just say I disagree, and I hope you have a good day.

[oldunclemark]

Talent and coaching..New England's talent and coaching

[OLD FAN MAN]

coaching. the talent on any nfl team cant be as bad as we looked against the pats and steelers

[James Harden]

Coaching..the Patriots and Seahawks can make middle round picks and people off the streets superstars. Bruce Arians has more coaching abilities than Pagano. Why are the Cardinals now 9-1?

[mintor]

coaching always . is up to them too field best players and play no fav,s this a game and a job .

[GoColts8818]

Obviously, they go hand in hand.  I'm interested in hearing your opinions.

 

Other than QB and WRs/TEs and one great CB, do the Colts have better than average talent everywhere else?  (Not counting P/K)  If you think so, then coaching has to be the problem.

 

The Pats seem to get guys off the street and have great teams year after year.  I'd have to attribute that to coaching.  I'm not talking about play calling.  I'm talking about schemes, both on O and D.

the only other spot I think we have above average talent at is LT and Mathis when he's healthy. I think we have some young guys who could become pretty good in Mewhort and Newsome but they are just showing flashes right now. I think the Colts for the most part have solid players but very few stars.

[Gavin]

Both.

 

1.We don't have a Back that can accelerate quickly through holes rather they are tiny or not

 

2.Need better Corner depth, If Vontae goes down again we all know how that will go again

 

3.The reason our D Line looked like garbage vs the Pats was do to lack of discipline, They got caught to often not reading there keys and the ball carrier..The thing is the Patriots did not actually just straight up overpower and outmaul our D Line last night for the most part though there was a few of those plays but really not many, The D Line just reacted way to soon instead of reading the play and from there all the O Line had to do was wait for a D Lineman to commit far to early and that O Lineman just got the angle on the D Lineman and just rode him out of hole or just took him down, All the Patriots rb's had to do was show patience for the play to develop more often then not and the hole was there for the taking.

 

4.not going over the middle enough on crossing routes despite having a lot of success when we have done it...Which would/should help with being able to run the ball

 

5.Lack of using Angle blocking, The Patriots just tore us up because of mostly that on the ground, Slamming it up the middle hoping to drive the defender off the LOS aint working....Change it up...What happened to trying to get our TE's up to the 2nd level to block as well? Need more of it though it was done a couple times Sunday night.......And for gods sakes quit trying to turn Coby into a Blocker, He is not that and never will be that

 

6.This apparent belief that you have to be well over 300 lb's to be able to block well in our system, We need some athletic O Lineman to develop

 

7.Need to spend a lot of time on the fundamentals of run blocking because the fundamentals across the board by the O Line is a joke, Especially on the right side

[Smonroe]

the only other spot I think we have above average talent at is LT and Mathis when he's healthy. I think we have some young guys who could become pretty good in Mewhort and Newsome but they are just showing flashes right now. I think the Colts for the most part have solid players but very few stars.

 

I agree, AC could start for more than half of the teams in the league. But he's not exactly an all pro either.

 

I'm leaning more to the lack of quality coaching to being our problem.   There are a lot of teams that have less talent and have better schemes.  The Chargers are dropping like flies, yet they seem to do great with what they have. 

 

The Cardinals are a great example of a team with good talent, that make more of it.  And the Patriots are the prime example, no matter how much we don't like to admit it.

 

To be clear, I'm not talking about leadership.  I think the guys would run into a brick wall for Chuck.  I'm talking about our offensive and defensive schemes. 

[Coffeedrinker]

I agree, AC could start for more than half of the teams in the league. But he's not exactly an all pro either.

 

I'm leaning more to the lack of quality coaching to being our problem.   There are a lot of teams that have less talent and have better schemes.  The Chargers are dropping like flies, yet they seem to do great with what they have. 

 

The Cardinals are a great example of a team with good talent, that make more of it.  And the Patriots are the prime example, no matter how much we don't like to admit it.

 

To be clear, I'm not talking about leadership.  I think the guys would run into a brick wall for Chuck.  I'm talking about our offensive and defensive schemes. 

I disagree with the bolded part.  I think AC has been playing like a top 5, if not a top 3 LT this year.  Not only is he winning well over 95% of his one on one battles, but the little things he is doing to help make Mewhort's job easier is where I've seen the most improvement (there is a reason why Lance Louis looked like a good guard when he played LG but a bad guard when he played RG).  One AC is a lot stronger this year than he was last year and that helps in several ways, one he doesn't have to take as far of a kick step because he can control the defender better with one arm.  Taking that smaller kick step creates a smaller box for Mewhort to cover while he engages his defender so Mewhort can get in position easier and quicker.  And then AC has the lower body agility to then work his body into position to then finish his block on his defender.  The other thing that has greatly improved with AC is his balance which allows him to maintain his form no matter what the defender tries to do.

 

If anyone has the capability to watch some games from last year and compare them to this year.  Last year, several times a game, AC would lose his form and he would start to lean and get his shoulders over his toes and as soon as that happens to an olineman he lost the battle.  I can only think of about 4 or 5 times when I've seen that happen to AC this year.

 

The good news, IMO, is Mewhort's balance is already outstanding and he maintains his form through-out the block.  I don't know if Mewhort is quick enough off the snap to ever become an elite guard but he is someone that I think will become that 12-14 year starter at guard, and you will rarely hear his name called.  Some talk about moving Mewhort to RT and it's possible but I think his lack off burst off the snap and is limited lower body agility will prevent that from happening.