Chargers @ WFT GDT and Post Game Discussion (Wk 1)

[Topcat]

Such great execution. Just watch Slater in slow motion.

He squares up his man and shifts in time to help with the blitzer (who Ekeler had already chopped perfectly), then shifts back to his man again, keeping him a good 2+ yards away from Herbert at his release point.

All in a blink of an eye.

Slater’s awareness and footwork is otherworldly.

Yep...so it was...PUNCH...DOUBLE PUNCH...then TRIPLE PUNCH...wow...

[sonorajim]

Too bad for Fitz:

https://sports.yahoo.com/wft-places-qb-ryan-fitzpatrick-on-injured-reserve-with-hip-injury-171502433.html

Report: WFT placing QB Ryan Fitzpatrick on injured reserve with hip injury

Bummer. I was hoping for no serious injuries in this game, incl WFT. Best wishes for a full recovery Fitz.

[Topcat]

Houston on track for the division title and TT on track for that MVP award: 2 tds, almost 300 yards.

Excellent! Sounds like a 4th round comp pick to me...maybe even a 3rd...

[Bearded14YourPleasure]

Things I liked: The OL as a unit. Their first game together and they made the top DL in the league look mostly average. Slater didn’t show any rust after almost 2 years since his last game. Great job by the coaches getting that unit ready for the challenge. Norton played commendably when he came in. I believe it was his first or second snap we ran the ball right and he pushed Young back a solid yard and forced him to lose his balance. The ‘fumble’ was due to pressure he allowed but the call by the refs was worse than his protection on that one.

Asante Samuel Jr did not play like a rookie in his first game. The pass interference call hurt, personally I thought it was a little ticky tacky based on how the refs let both defenses play most of the game, but that was also partially on Adderly. He played great on run support, did a very good job of tackling, and did a great job holding up Gibson for White to get the strip. Teams are going to keep attacking him but 1 week in he looks like he belongs.

Rountree also played a very good game. Solid in pass pro and had some really nice runs. Complemented Ekeler pretty well.

Vizcaino didn’t miss! I was nervous on his first PAT attempt but by the end of the game the constant anxiety of watching our kickers over the last few years had subsided. They were all shorter attempts but that still didn’t make me feel comfortable with Badgely (who missed a PAT and a FG for the Titans) last year.

The return of Derwin was a beautiful thing. He was all over the place in the secondary and had some really nice plays on the ball. He looks better in coverage than I remember and can still do all the other things that make him such a talent.

Adderley and Davis were both on the sideline at one point with small injuries (I assume since they later returned to the game) and our secondary continued to play well. Backup QB or not the drop off from starters to replacements over the last few years has been significant but it didn’t look like the defense skipped a beat. Covington also did a nice job coming in for Jones.

KJ Hill actually made an impact as a WR. Nothing amazing but he did have one of the 3rd down conversions on the final drive. Also looked like he had some good separation on his receptions. Wether it was play design or his own route running that wasn’t something we saw from him last year and was a pleasant surprise.

MW involved in the short and intermediate passing game! I wasn’t sure it was him at first since Lynn taught me he could only run go routes down the sideline for jump balls. He did have the bad drop in the end zone but otherwise looked like the most complete WR he has been during his time here.

Lastly the coaching. It wasn’t the smoothest game but for week one with a new staff, new defense, 4 new OL starters, going against what should be a top 5-10 defense and the refs giving WFT a free TO it was pretty good. I thought the ST got better as the game went on, loved the staff putting the game in Herbert’s hands at the end , play calling was largely to be liked, Staley picking up a challenge flag that he wouldn’t have won, no head scratching use of timeouts, not being outdone by in-game adjustments, and the team largely looking prepared for this game despite most of the starters not playing meaningful snaps in the preseason. Plenty of things to clean up, but it also didn’t look like the staff was being outcoached at any point.

[chargeroo]

Such great execution. Just watch Slater in slow motion.

He squares up his man and shifts in time to help with the blitzer (who Ekeler had already chopped perfectly), then shifts back to his man again, keeping him a good 2+ yards away from Herbert at his release point.

All in a blink of an eye.

Slater’s awareness and footwork is otherworldly.

None of that matters because his arms are too short, he'll have to be a Guard ................. yada, yada, yada!

[eaterfan]

Things I liked: The OL as a unit. Their first game together and they made the top DL in the league look mostly average. Slater didn’t show any rust after almost 2 years since his last game. Great job by the coaches getting that unit ready for the challenge. Norton played commendably when he came in. I believe it was his first or second snap we ran the ball right and he pushed Young back a solid yard and forced him to lose his balance. The ‘fumble’ was due to pressure he allowed but the call by the refs was worse than his protection on that one.

Asante Samuel Jr did not play like a rookie in his first game. The pass interference call hurt, personally I thought it was a little ticky tacky based on how the refs let both defenses play most of the game, but that was also partially on Adderly. He played great on run support, did a very good job of tackling, and did a great job holding up Gibson for White to get the strip. Teams are going to keep attacking him but 1 week in he looks like he belongs.

Rountree also played a very good game. Solid in pass pro and had some really nice runs. Complemented Ekeler pretty well.

Vizcaino didn’t miss! I was nervous on his first PAT attempt but by the end of the game the constant anxiety of watching our kickers over the last few years had subsided. They were all shorter attempts but that still didn’t make me feel comfortable with Badgely (who missed a PAT and a FG for the Titans) last year.

The return of Derwin was a beautiful thing. He was all over the place in the secondary and had some really nice plays on the ball. He looks better in coverage than I remember and can still do all the other things that make him such a talent.

Adderley and Davis were both on the sideline at one point with small injuries (I assume since they later returned to the game) and our secondary continued to play well. Backup QB or not the drop off from starters to replacements over the last few years has been significant but it didn’t look like the defense skipped a beat. Covington also did a nice job coming in for Jones.

KJ Hill actually made an impact as a WR. Nothing amazing but he did have one of the 3rd down conversions on the final drive. Also looked like he had some good separation on his receptions. Wether it was play design or his own route running that wasn’t something we saw from him last year and was a pleasant surprise.

MW involved in the short and intermediate passing game! I wasn’t sure it was him at first since Lynn taught me he could only run go routes down the sideline for jump balls. He did have the bad drop in the end zone but otherwise looked like the most complete WR he has been during his time here.

Lastly the coaching. It wasn’t the smoothest game but for week one with a new staff, new defense, 4 new OL starters, going against what should be a top 5-10 defense and the refs giving WFT a free TO it was pretty good. I thought the ST got better as the game went on, loved the staff putting the game in Herbert’s hands at the end , play calling was largely to be liked, Staley picking up a challenge flag that he wouldn’t have won, no head scratching use of timeouts, not being outdone by in-game adjustments, and the team largely looking prepared for this game despite most of the starters not playing meaningful snaps in the preseason. Plenty of things to clean up, but it also didn’t look like the staff was being outcoached at any point.

I thought the coaching was awesome! There were some dropped passes and bad fumble luck or else this would have seemed like a coaching master piece. I know people were concerned about Staley's inexperience when he was hired, but he seemed way more polished than Lynn did at any point. The clock management at both the end of the half and the end of the game were perfect. They didn't have trouble getting the plays in, even on the road, so they didn't have to burn timeouts that might have been useful later. didn't burn timeouts deciding if he was going to go for it on close 4th down situations. The team also didn't run the ball too much on first down. I guess my biggest complaint is they need to tell the team to jump on any ball that hits the ground figure out if it's a fumble or incomplete pass later.

[sonorajim]

Maybe this has already been posted. But even if it has, it deserves to be posted twice.

Really impressive vs WFT.
This with 4 new starters incl a R on OL which played no snaps as a starting unit vs preseason opponents.
Lots of opinions that Staley messed up not playing them. He wasn't all wrong.
Coaching, playcalling and preparation played a significant role but OL personnel were outstanding, maybe spectacular all considered.
Kudos! Now get better.

[Bearded14YourPleasure]

Things I didn’t like: Penalties need to be cleaned up, particularly by the defense. I only remember 1 call against our OL so that was impressive but Bosa’s 2 were both huge as was the PI call at the end of the first.

There wasn’t a ton of pressure aside from Bosa. Nwosu/Fackrell don’t need to be world beaters but some level of consistency opposite Bosa is needed over the course of the season. I expect this to get better but was hoping for more week 1.

I know Ekeler was dealing with his hammy during the week and Rountree played well but was a bit disappointed in the overall lack of Ekeler, especially in the pass game. There were a couple screens meant to go his way that WFT played well but I was hoping to see a Kamara-type usage of Ekeler in the passing game and that didn’t manifest week 1. Part of it may be due to the WR doing a good job of getting open and not needing to go to check downs as often but it’s something I’ll be keeping an eye on.

Bulaga. Even before leaving the game early (which I’m sure shocked everyone) he was giving up the most pressure along the OL. It was his hip flexor in practice this week, but they said his back was why he left the game. Norton did well in his place but it’s not great seeing Bulaga pick up where he left off last season.

Punt coverage. It got better as the game went on but still the worst unit on ST. Work to be done all around but at least ST didn’t cost us the game so there’s some reason for optimism right?

Adderley. Looking like the weak link on the back end. His angles looked a lot better than last year and he was in good position at times to make plays but he is still failing to actually make those plays. Thomas made him look like a fool on his TD catch.

Redzone offense. Some of this is on the players for poor execution, like MW’s end zone drop, but you have to share some of the blame with the coaching as well. I think establishing the run a bit more will help but this is definitely the aspect of the offense that needs the most work going forward. Luckily I think Dallas’ D will cure a lot of our offensive woes next week.

[Velo]

Too bad for Fitz:

https://sports.yahoo.com/wft-places-qb-ryan-fitzpatrick-on-injured-reserve-with-hip-injury-171502433.html

Report: WFT placing QB Ryan Fitzpatrick on injured reserve with hip injury

I wonder if that is the end of his career. He's almost 39 years old.

[blueman]

Nwosu had the sack on Fitz that ended his season (most likely).

[TexanBeerlover]

Nwosu had the sack on Fitz that ended his season (most likely).

Was Nwosu removed from the game after that play?

[Velo]

Things I didn’t like: Penalties need to be cleaned up, particularly by the defense. I only remember 1 call against our OL so that was impressive but Bosa’s 2 were both huge as was the PI call at the end of the first.

There wasn’t a ton of pressure aside from Bosa. Nwosu/Fackrell don’t need to be world beaters but some level of consistency opposite Bosa is needed over the course of the season. I expect this to get better but was hoping for more week 1.

I know Ekeler was dealing with his hammy during the week and Rountree played well but was a bit disappointed in the overall lack of Ekeler, especially in the pass game. There were a couple screens meant to go his way that WFT played well but I was hoping to see a Kamara-type usage of Ekeler in the passing game and that didn’t manifest week 1. Part of it may be due to the WR doing a good job of getting open and not needing to go to check downs as often but it’s something I’ll be keeping an eye on.

Bulaga. Even before leaving the game early (which I’m sure shocked everyone) he was giving up the most pressure along the OL. It was his hip flexor in practice this week, but they said his back was why he left the game. Norton did well in his place but it’s not great seeing Bulaga pick up where he left off last season.

Punt coverage. It got better as the game went on but still the worst unit on ST. Work to be done all around but at least ST didn’t cost us the game so there’s some reason for optimism right?

Adderley. Looking like the weak link on the back end. His angles looked a lot better than last year and he was in good position at times to make plays but he is still failing to actually make those plays. Thomas made him look like a fool on his TD catch.

Redzone offense. Some of this is on the players for poor execution, like MW’s end zone drop, but you have to share some of the blame with the coaching as well. I think establishing the run a bit more will help but this is definitely the aspect of the offense that needs the most work going forward. Luckily I think Dallas’ D will cure a lot of our offensive woes next week.

I beg to differ on the pressure our D put WFT's QB under. I think they were harassing WFT's QBs most of the game, and not just Bosa. It was Nwosu that got through and flattened Fitzpatrick.