Sunday, August 17, 2008
Pre season Indy/Car + Giants/Lions
Panthers/Colts
- Panthers Kicker Reese Lloyd had a real boot of a leg. Having a kicker that can kick the ball into the end zone resulting into touch backs is a real weapon for your defense/special teams.
- Julious Peppers flipped sides to Mike Ruckers natural spot and was seeing single coverage on Tony Ugoh. Peppers dominated Ugoh on a consistent basis rushing the passer and Jim Sorgi had little time to throw. I highly doubt the Colts would have Ugoh 1 on 1 on Peppers in the regular season when he could get 3-4 sacks and possibly injure the Colts QB.
- Jim Sorgi and the Colts line in general looked really weak. It would be real easy to blame the problems on the line, but if Peyton Manning was playing QB this wouldn't be happening. Manning is much larger ( and smarter than Sorgi) and would have not only got rid of the ball quicker, but he would have called adequate pass protection with Jeff Saturday. This game is a perfect example of just how much value Manning has when you take him out of the line up and the offense looks like this.
- Panthers LB Thomas Davis had a nice play where he rode down the line and crushed the Colts RB.
- Jared Lorenzen actually looked alright. He certainly looked much better than Jim Sorgi, and he shocked us all with his mobility ( yes mobility). Lorenzen was moving around and actually ripped off a 24 yard run with multiple Panthers chasing him. The most impressive thing of all was the fact that Lorenzen was brought in only a few weeks ago and looked better than Sorgi. If the Colts keep 3 QBs, ( Manning, Sorgi, Lorenzen, Gray), I think as of right now Gray gets cut because Sorgi has been around longer.
- I liked the Panthers draft with Stewart to provide a change of pace from D. Williams. Stewart should average more than the 3.5 per carry that Deshaun Foster had in 07'. They address the O-line with the big Otah, and add a linebacker with Dan Connor.
The Panthers really have an opportunity to improve a lot this season. I had them winning the NFC South last year, only to watch Jake Delhomme get hurt and watch the Panthers run through 4 QB's. Delhomme had a QB rating of 111.8 before he got hurt, and was mainly replaced by Testaverde who had a rating of 65.8. The Panthers still finished 7-9 despite going through 4 QB's, they will probably be better at RB with Stewart in for Foster, and I like the addition of Muhammid opposite of Smith, not to mention Jarret will probably see the field more.
- Mike Hart might be the best possible 3rd or 4th string RB you could have. I am not thrilled with his talent, but if you are ever going to have a backup RB that never gets to play, you would want it to be Mike Hart.
Giants/Lions
- Giants backup DE Tollefson looked real good controlling his gap and playing the run. In fact, I thought the entire front 4 played their gaps very well. It was noticeable.
- Sinorice Moss had a nice deep catch from Anthony Wright. It was good to see the Giants getting him involved.
- Lawrence Tynes missing a FG is not a very good sign. I wish the Giants would try and upgrade the kicker position as Tynes can be erratic. He almost cost them a trip to the SB last year.
- All 3 of the Giants running backs dropped a pass. Jacobs, Ward and Bradshaw need to work on their hands, or the Giants need to bring in a back who can catch. Bradshaw is an ideal 3rd down guy and young, I hope he is catching lots of passes in practice.
- Kenny Phillips impressed me the most in this game for either team. He led the Giants in tackles and had some nice hits and wrap ups. The best play was in run support where the Lions RB Avian Cason was running straight ahead, and Phillips ran within 2-3 yards of him, chopped his feet and broke down, and then crushed the Lions back ( it was text book perfect play at safety). He looks like he can be a real good one. I didn't get to see much pass coverage, but he was mean against the run. If Phillips isn't starting by at least week 4 over James Butler, then something is wrong.
- The Lions lost Mike Martz and promoted their old O-line coach which leads me to believe they will try and run the ball more.
- First round pick Gosder Cherilous out of BC was playing RT and looked good and hungry despite 2 penalties.
- The Lions defense stunk real bad last year 27.75 Points against ( worst in the league), worst defense by yards, 2nd worst pass defense, and below average run defense. The Lions talent on D isn't THAT bad though. They bring in Leigh Bodden and Brian Kelly to form a good corner back duo to address that. Now they aren't going to be good this year, but they shouldn't be the worst defense.
- Panthers Kicker Reese Lloyd had a real boot of a leg. Having a kicker that can kick the ball into the end zone resulting into touch backs is a real weapon for your defense/special teams.
- Julious Peppers flipped sides to Mike Ruckers natural spot and was seeing single coverage on Tony Ugoh. Peppers dominated Ugoh on a consistent basis rushing the passer and Jim Sorgi had little time to throw. I highly doubt the Colts would have Ugoh 1 on 1 on Peppers in the regular season when he could get 3-4 sacks and possibly injure the Colts QB.
- Jim Sorgi and the Colts line in general looked really weak. It would be real easy to blame the problems on the line, but if Peyton Manning was playing QB this wouldn't be happening. Manning is much larger ( and smarter than Sorgi) and would have not only got rid of the ball quicker, but he would have called adequate pass protection with Jeff Saturday. This game is a perfect example of just how much value Manning has when you take him out of the line up and the offense looks like this.
- Panthers LB Thomas Davis had a nice play where he rode down the line and crushed the Colts RB.
- Jared Lorenzen actually looked alright. He certainly looked much better than Jim Sorgi, and he shocked us all with his mobility ( yes mobility). Lorenzen was moving around and actually ripped off a 24 yard run with multiple Panthers chasing him. The most impressive thing of all was the fact that Lorenzen was brought in only a few weeks ago and looked better than Sorgi. If the Colts keep 3 QBs, ( Manning, Sorgi, Lorenzen, Gray), I think as of right now Gray gets cut because Sorgi has been around longer.
- I liked the Panthers draft with Stewart to provide a change of pace from D. Williams. Stewart should average more than the 3.5 per carry that Deshaun Foster had in 07'. They address the O-line with the big Otah, and add a linebacker with Dan Connor.
The Panthers really have an opportunity to improve a lot this season. I had them winning the NFC South last year, only to watch Jake Delhomme get hurt and watch the Panthers run through 4 QB's. Delhomme had a QB rating of 111.8 before he got hurt, and was mainly replaced by Testaverde who had a rating of 65.8. The Panthers still finished 7-9 despite going through 4 QB's, they will probably be better at RB with Stewart in for Foster, and I like the addition of Muhammid opposite of Smith, not to mention Jarret will probably see the field more.
- Mike Hart might be the best possible 3rd or 4th string RB you could have. I am not thrilled with his talent, but if you are ever going to have a backup RB that never gets to play, you would want it to be Mike Hart.
Giants/Lions
- Giants backup DE Tollefson looked real good controlling his gap and playing the run. In fact, I thought the entire front 4 played their gaps very well. It was noticeable.
- Sinorice Moss had a nice deep catch from Anthony Wright. It was good to see the Giants getting him involved.
- Lawrence Tynes missing a FG is not a very good sign. I wish the Giants would try and upgrade the kicker position as Tynes can be erratic. He almost cost them a trip to the SB last year.
- All 3 of the Giants running backs dropped a pass. Jacobs, Ward and Bradshaw need to work on their hands, or the Giants need to bring in a back who can catch. Bradshaw is an ideal 3rd down guy and young, I hope he is catching lots of passes in practice.
- Kenny Phillips impressed me the most in this game for either team. He led the Giants in tackles and had some nice hits and wrap ups. The best play was in run support where the Lions RB Avian Cason was running straight ahead, and Phillips ran within 2-3 yards of him, chopped his feet and broke down, and then crushed the Lions back ( it was text book perfect play at safety). He looks like he can be a real good one. I didn't get to see much pass coverage, but he was mean against the run. If Phillips isn't starting by at least week 4 over James Butler, then something is wrong.
- The Lions lost Mike Martz and promoted their old O-line coach which leads me to believe they will try and run the ball more.
- First round pick Gosder Cherilous out of BC was playing RT and looked good and hungry despite 2 penalties.
- The Lions defense stunk real bad last year 27.75 Points against ( worst in the league), worst defense by yards, 2nd worst pass defense, and below average run defense. The Lions talent on D isn't THAT bad though. They bring in Leigh Bodden and Brian Kelly to form a good corner back duo to address that. Now they aren't going to be good this year, but they shouldn't be the worst defense.
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