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And keep posting, we need opinions outside of group think.
Yes. Post positive (lots to be thankful for at the moment) and post criticisms and concerns (lots to be concerned about). It's all great content. Drown out those who can't handle anything negative about our team.
Yes this is also true and something I should’ve included in that long essay I wrote. It’s merely my opinion and I have no problem hearing counters to it.
TT is starting to grow on me after 2020. His selections in the last two drafts show promise and he’s finally prioritizing the O line. But the 8 years prior to that he was complete garbage in my opinion.
It may have taken him 8 years to learn the job but if he finally did, then I don’t want them to get rid of him (not that they will considering where the team is right now).
The next off season he needs to focus on the DL the same way he focused on the OL.
But the 8 years prior to that he was complete garbage,,, The talent on this team has been there, I think what you may mean is for 8 years prior we have not had the best coaching or culture.
I listened to the Joe? Johnson III presser today here. He is the former star safety for the Rams under Staley, now a big FA pickup for Browns. Said some interesting things:
1. He is still learning to play this defense and this position (he plays soley FS now). So even for a star like that it can take a while to adjust
2. Media asked if he was bored playing one position and he said, in a very nice way, yea. He really liked the way Staley used him.
Lotsa FA going to want to come our way. LA is a draw (even with the ridiculous taxes) and who does not want to play for Staley?
Green Bay is making us forget all about the offseason turmoil and the Week 1 dud. Plus, Brandon Staley explains his fourth-down logic and everything from Week 5.
CHARGED UP
Packers-Bengals was bonkers, but it wasn’t the wildest game of the day—that distinction would have to go to one that ended three hours later, on the other side of the country.
And it wasn’t just the heavyweight prize fight feel that Chargers-Browns took on as the AFC’s nouveau riche went blow for blow at SoFi Stadium. It was also the number of interesting situations and decisions that we saw go down, and even the role analytics played in the game, as the hosts from Los Angeles found a way, in the end, to outpunch Kevin Stefanski’s crew by a final count of 47–24.
Of course, that really starts with the slew of fourth downs that Chargers coach Brandon Staley went for, and we’re going to break those down in a minute. But before we jump into Staley’s reasoning, it’s important to know that, for a group of players that’s seemed cursed at points over the last few years, the simple act of a coach’s going all-in on their ability to deliver in the biggest spots means more than a little.
Simply put, there’s a reason why the Chargers looked like an inspired team on Sunday.
“Man, he believes in us, and he shows us from the get-go that he’ll take our guys over anybody,” receiver Mike Williams said, after his eight-catch, 165-yard, two-touchdown performance. “He told us, there are going to be situations like that, whether its fourth-and-10, fourth-and-1 on our own whatever yard line or their yard line, where we gotta just go for it. He believed in us to go out and make the play; he trusts us. And we trust him to put us in a position to be successful, so we just get the play call and make plays.”
And make the plays, the Chargers did—going three-for-three on fourth downs, with Williams’s drawing a pass interference on another to move the chains, though that one didn’t go down in the box score as a conversion.
But it wasn’t just going for it on fourth down. It was the actual situations that the Chargers were in as they went for it, situations that don’t often call for these types of gambles. Three of the four were with four yards or more to gain, and other was from the Chargers’ own 24-yard line early in the third quarter.
“You gotta start with the premise that when you see it as an advantage situation, it makes it a lot, I think, easier,” Staley told me after the game. “We’re not gonna gamble. That’s not what we’re doing. We’re seeing it as an advantage situation for us. “
The first one, though, even to Staley, was a little different—a fourth-and-2 from the Chargers’ 24, with the Browns up 27–13 and 10:34 left in the third quarter. Failure to convert there would’ve put Cleveland in position to put the Chargers three touchdowns back, and make it pretty tough, based on how the Browns can run the ball, to come back.
So why go for it there?
“We needed to go for that because defensively we weren’t playing well,” Staley said, bluntly. “And we needed time to make some adjustments, to get our composure, and I felt like we get a first down there, now we get some more time to make things happen defensively. And then certainly our goal is to score, so when it was a two-score game, I thought keeping our offense out there was the best strategy for both sides of the ball.”
Also, he continued, “I liked the down-and-distance against that team and kinda how they played, because we knew what they like in that particular down-and-distance and felt good about the calls that we had up in that circumstance.” Sure enough, Austin Ekeler cut off left guard for nine yards, and nine plays later, Staley and his staff were at it again on a fourth-and-7 from the Browns’ 22—with phenom Justin Herbert hitting Keenan Allen for 12 yards to move the chains again.
Two plays later, Herbert scrambled for a nine-yard touchdown to complete a 14-play, 84-yard drive and, naturally, the Chargers went for two and converted to make it 27–21.
That set up an absolute shootout in the second half, during which, on one 11-play, 75-yard fourth-quarter drive, the Chargers converted two more fourth downs—one being the fourth-and-4 on which Williams drew pass interference and the other a 20-yard connection to Keenan Allen on fourth-and-8. And that was the precursor to a couple of scores late for Ekeler, one on the ground, the other through the air, to seize the lead for good late in the fourth quarter.
And while all this sounds really great to talk about just as a premise, there’s another piece of the puzzle that Staley can fit into that “advantage situation” category. Basically, every snap that Herbert takes, at this point, feels like an advantage situation for his team, and that’s given his coaches a lot of leeway to do these things.
“A lot [of it is having Justin],” he said. “Because on some of those shorter ones, we’re trying to give him a lot of options, whether we have a run tagged with an RPO. Or an advantage look where he has the option to throw it. And then in some of the passing game, the longer fourth downs, the other thing that he has going for him is that he has his legs. Like if it’s a tight pocket, he can get out of trouble and make something happen if it’s maybe not within the rhythm and timing of the play.
“So if the design is there, I know that he can make the throw and that we have got a bunch of guys who can win in the passing game. And then at the same time, if we don’t have that design come to life, then he can make stuff happen with his legs, and that’s what happened a couple times today. Justin is the best player on the field.”
He certainly was Sunday, and maybe the best player on any field in the league.
But this, of course, was about more than just him. It’s about a team that’s quickly taking on the personality of its coach and playing smart football across the board. We’re going to further illustrate that in MAQB too, in explaining how the Chargers’ situational play down the stretch, in working the clock, was a pretty good indicator of how sharp and aware the group here has become.
Until then, just know this: That win was a big one for Staley’s crew.
“That’s a really good team. I have a lot of respect for Kevin. That’s why I think it’s a big win, because I got a lot of respect for them,” Staley said. “I think that team’s gonna be there at the end of the season. You can make the case that they could be 4–0 because they had Kansas City. They had them on the road at Kansas City. So that’s a really good team that we played.
“They’re a very complete team in all three phases of the game, and that’s why I think it’s a big win because we played a really good team.”
Turns out that the Chargers are a really good team too.
Pundits point out how athletic and smooth Herbert is as a runner, and how remarkable that is for a man who is 6-6 almost 240.
But I think Parham is going to start getting notice and press for his agility for being an even bigger man who can make moves. He is 6-8 and listed at 256 pounds.
On the TD throw he caught and scored with v Cleveland, he took the pass at the 20 yard line and weaved - not rumbled - his way into the end zone. Rewatching that play, it appears that it's possible Clev's DBs just didn't want to tackle the 6-8 tight end. But he also made a couple of moves to avoid defenders during his run into the end zone, the kind of moves you don't normally see a player who is 6-8 make. He also made a move on a KC defender - and scored - in the final game of last season that caused the play by play guy to declare him "nimble." Check it out for yourself. The play from the Clev game starts at :54 on this video. After the play there is a slo mo analysis of the play, so don't miss that.
Pundits point out how athletic and smooth Herbert is as a runner, and how remarkable that is for a man who is 6-6 almost 240.
But I think Parham is going to start getting notice and press for his agility for being an even bigger man who can make moves. He is 6-8 and listed at 256 pounds.
On the TD throw he caught and scored with v Cleveland, he took the pass at the 20 yard line and weaved - not rumbled - his way into the end zone. Rewatching that play, it appears that it's possible Clev's DBs just didn't want to tackle the 6-8 tight end. But he also made a couple of moves to avoid defenders during his run into the end zone, the kind of moves you don't normally see a player who is 6-8 make. He also made a move on a KC defender - and scored - in the final game of last season that caused the play by play guy to declare him "nimble." Check it out for yourself. The play from the Clev game starts at :54 on this video. After the play there is a slo mo analysis of the play, so don't miss that.
I agree with you on Parham. He's becoming a bigger part of this offense.
In this video, Herbert impressed me with his accuracy! When he's hot - he's red hot!
Pundits point out how athletic and smooth Herbert is as a runner, and how remarkable that is for a man who is 6-6 almost 240.
But I think Parham is going to start getting notice and press for his agility for being an even bigger man who can make moves. He is 6-8 and listed at 256 pounds.
On the TD throw he caught and scored with v Cleveland, he took the pass at the 20 yard line and weaved - not rumbled - his way into the end zone. Rewatching that play, it appears that it's possible Clev's DBs just didn't want to tackle the 6-8 tight end. But he also made a couple of moves to avoid defenders during his run into the end zone, the kind of moves you don't normally see a player who is 6-8 make. He also made a move on a KC defender - and scored - in the final game of last season that caused the play by play guy to declare him "nimble." Check it out for yourself. The play from the Clev game starts at :54 on this video. After the play there is a slo mo analysis of the play, so don't miss that.
Shhh!! He's our secret weapon. Too swift for LBs and way too big for midget DBs. Dude is averaging 1 TD per 3rd catch. Career 15 receptions for 5 TDs.
Fining players for that imo is bullshit. It's stupid enough it is a 15 heard penalty for taunting. And a facemask isn't something pre meditated. Such bullshit
11 Brock Bowers TE - Georgia (plus AZ 2025 1st)
35 Kris Jenkins DT - Michigan
37 Cooper Beebe OG -Kansas st
66 Mike Sainristil CB - Michigan
69 Jaylen Wright RB - Tenn or Blake Corum - Michigan
100 Brenden Rice WR - USC (trade ⬆️w/ Wash for 2025 5th)
110 Cedric Gray LB - N. Carolina
140 Hunter Nourzad OC -Penn st
181 Jarrian Jones CB - Florida st
225 Cedrick Johnson Edge - Ol' Miss ➡️ 253 Fabien Lovett DT-FL st
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