King Ottos Konclusion

The O was fine, the D sucked. Why is it that the O can be coached up but the D seems to get worse and worse each week? GRob has had 3 full recruiting classes (meaning "his guys" are JRs, Sophs, and Frosh) yet cant field a D that can stop a bad 1AA passing attack? When 1AA coaches can figure out what you are doing and then adjust at the half and have an unstoppable O, what does that tell you about GRob? How is GRob this bad? It reminds me of Pop the Mechanic from Seinfeld (http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheGum.html):

Deena and George are still talking. Pop is under the hood of George's car. Bangs and clanks can be heard as he fiddles with the mechanics.

DEENA: Poor Lloyd.

GEORGE: I know. Completely bonkers!

DEENA: Sorry I can't be so flip about this kind of thing. You know, after what happened to Pop.

GEORGE: Pop? What happened to Pop?

DEENA: I thought you heard. He had a nervous breakdown last year. That's why I'm taking care of him.

Pop comes out momentarily.

POP: Oh, I tell you, they don't build 'em like this any more.

He goes back under the hood.

GEORGE: (a little worried) He uh, he doesn't have the auto shop any more?

DEENA: Uhn, it was too much for him.

Pop is thumping away at part of the engine with a spanner.

GEORGE: (very worried) Uhm, I, I gotta go.

DEENA: What?

GEORGE: I just remembered, I gotta be someplace. Yuh-hu-hur, that's enough. Pop. Pop, put down the wrench, Pop.

I mean GRob was a SB winning DC. So WTF happened? Did he have a breakdown after getting fired from Denver? Since then he has been lost.

Anyway I think there was good from the NE game, besides getting an actual W:

QBs
Dantley looked like a decent QB. He maybe an academic SR, but in FB playing time he is like a Soph. He hasnt been getting PT until just now. He could grow as teh year goes on. And he could be back next year along with ARob, Legree, Catalina, Nassib to give the next HC something to work with.

RBs
Brinkley and Hogue ran well. RB is not a problem.

WR/TEs
Owen had the slip and fumble which hurt. But he was good besides that. Lobdell actually made a catch. I dont like that our WRs have only a few catches on the year. But I do like what I am seeing from Davis and Sales. Add to them Fairchild, possibly Mike Williams as well, and the next HC will have a decent set of WRs.

OL
This group is getting the job done. He havent played the greatest teams (NW, Akron, NE) but we are protecting the QB and running the ball. The real test will be the BE sched. We will know after the next 3 games whether or not the OL has been a paper tiger like RU FB. If the OL survives Pitt, WV, and USF then I will be confident this young group will be serviceable for the next HC.

DL
This group has weak DEs but a ton of youth there. So we wont know what we got until some time next year. The DTs however look very promising. We know what we have in Jones. Tribbey was recruited by VT. And Perkins has been playing well the last few weeks. He has been making quite a few plays.

LBs
This is my biggest worry if I am the next HC. Smith has been making some plays and seems to be at least serviceable. But then what? Battles passes the look test but he is hurt. Even if he is decent that is only 2 LBs. You have Mele, Gillum, and Canty who all seem too small. That leaves Stenclik, who was recruited by real programs. He looked good in limited time last year so maybe he is teh answer at MLB. If not we are screwed. The next HC will almost be forced to blitz every play because these LBs cant just sit bit and make plays.

DBs
Holmes got beat a bit. Williams was out there at SS and played ok. I have to wonder why he wasnt slated at SS to start the year over AJ Brown. We have a young group that will do fine next year for the next HC.

STs
So we have a 4th and 1 and GRob decides kick the FG. Gutless call. But wait that wasnt the end of it. We got a delay of game on top of that making the FG longer. Good thing we have Shadle, who coulda been a weapon for a decent team. I hope we have something behind him for net year.