Joe Lombardi Discussion

[Boltgang74]

So when he actually had a somewhat healthy line and WR like last year and we were the 5th most efficient offense in the league, Herbert was second in passing and we were top 5 in points that Lombardi was somehow out of his league?

Do not misinterpret my take about understanding what Lombardi has to work with as being some sort of huge fan - I'm not. I just get annoyed at what I'll call a lot of lazy analysis about him because he has been limited all year.

Maybe because tape is out on Lamebo now in his 2nd season and its really showing?Again 3rd quarter,nuff said.

[Topcat]

They can't win playoff games with this guy as OC.

Just a disaster of a hire.

Yep...Herbie's sheer ability sometimes bails out Lombo vs. mediocre or slightly better than average teams...but it will take more creative playcalling to beat the very good or elite teams in the playoffs...

[BayAreaBoltz]

Tennessee D had many a backup out there to expose.

Those on the "pro-Lombo" defense team always cite injuries as a reason for his ineptitude (3rd quarter shutouts, three-and-outs in high pressure situations, simple routes/curls just before the sticks, no creativity in the run game or the passing routes, not throwing INTO the endzone in goal-to-go situations, etc.) this year.

Yet, we just played a team more injured than ours and couldn't score beyond (really) two drives all game.

It's sickening.

[jaguarmanftype]

Those on the "pro-Lombo" defense team always cite injuries as a reason for his ineptitude (3rd quarter shutouts, three-and-outs in high pressure situations, simple routes/curls just before the sticks, no creativity in the run game or the passing routes, not throwing INTO the endzone in goal-to-go situations, etc.) this year.

Yet, we just played a team more injured than ours and couldn't score beyond (really) two drives all game.

It's sickening.

Unfortunately, the dueling narratives here will continue until his ineptitude nearly costs us a game of true significance like a playoff game. Hopefully, Staley recognizes it early on in whatever game that may be, and pulls him from playcalling duties in the 2nd half and lets Shane Day run the offense with more freedom for Herbert to check out at the line.

[richpjr]

Unfortunately, the dueling narratives here will continue until his ineptitude nearly costs us a game of true significance like a playoff game. Hopefully, Staley recognizes it early on in whatever game that may be, and pulls him from playcalling duties in the 2nd half and lets Shane Day run the offense with more freedom for Herbert to check out at the line.

Herbert calls audibles all the time now - not sure what freedom he doesn't have. If you believe the article Popper wrote a few months ago, a lot of the check downs and short passes are because Herbert is risk adverse and not naturally a gunslinger like Allen and Mahomes and would rather take a safe pass instead of a longer, riskier pass. Gunslinger mode seems to happen when he has to, late in games.

[jaguarmanftype]

Herbert calls audibles all the time now - not sure what freedom he doesn't have. If you believe the article Popper wrote a few months ago, a lot of the check downs and short passes are because Herbert is risk adverse and not naturally a gunslinger like Allen and Mahomes and would rather take a safe pass instead of a longer, riskier pass. Gunslinger mode seems to happen when he has to, late in games.

I'd say it's anecdotal at best, but Herbert does seem to have more leeway in certain 3rd and 4th down situations, particularly in 4th quarter and 2-minute situations from what I can see. The check downs and short passes in less crucial situations may be that Herbert is more risk averse now, but that is IMO due to coaching, the structure of the offense and game planning as this efficiency-based passing game is a staple of Lombardi's offense and that is how he is coaching Herbert to execute it -- take what is given, stay within the game plan, don't risk it unless you must (which is usually in the 4th quarter). That's fine if within that game plan structure you have creative play calling to keep drives alive in the middle part of the game, but more often that not, you are left with Herbert having to uncork the offense and take risks in the 4th quarter to overcome the aforementioned deficiencies in play calling in the earlier parts of the game while largely operating within the confines of Lombardi's play call sheet, game plan and practice reps for that given week more often than not.

[Fouts2herbert]

Lombo is trash, the chargers need to fire him now! Not after the season, but right fucking now! You don’t have to throw away the playbook, just tweak the play selection and let our QB coach have a shot at calling plays, I’m very confident he can’t do worse…

[SuperCharged]

Yeah I am out of excuses for Lombo. I hope he's gone soon. Man I would seriously consider asking Staley to move to D coordinator. Get Sean Peyton to Coach and let him choose his O coordinator. As long as it isn't Lombo.

[Classic]

I think Lombardi has reached Norv level hate this season. I really hope the injuries are the main reason we cant score passing TDs because if not we're in trouble. Staley's defense has improved but now Herbert and Lombo need to get back to last years offense when they scored 30 routinely.

[wu-dai clan]

Once again, dropped passes, swing/intermediate pass fails, and ill advised throws were factors.

TEN DBs made some plays vs our receivers. Byard is still good. Simmons too.

Pipkins is back. Slater too, soon. Linsley will stabilize the OL, run and pass. Ekeler/Kelley averaged almost 4 YPC.

Ability to throw long is most definitely affected by protection issues. I see an acute need for an Inline TE.

Take off your Lombardi hating blinders. We are improving, and working to tighten it up, left side OL..

A little more consistency, a little more mistake free offensive football and we are there. Of course Keenan would want to make a clean catch there, and not leave it up to the officials.

[Heatmiser]

Always have to have someone to hate....Head Coach, Coordinator, Owner's son, Right Tackle....we just need it.

I don't hate Lombardi. What I see is mixed results. I think Herbert grew under him, but did he grow enough? I think the offense has some good concepts, but does it really fit Herbert like Staley said it would when he got hired? All in all, I am sure Telesco sees exactly what we see....the offense has underperformed under Staley/Lombardi. The only factor is do they want Herbert to learn another new offense with another new coordinator and how does Herbert feel about this offense/play calling/Lombardi? I think he has shown the capacity to learn. But they might not want to mess up the dynamic if it is Herbert taking the conservative route vs Lombardi making him take it.

TG

[jaguarmanftype]

Some good takes here from Florio and his cohort if you ignore the misleading headline (probably a Youtube bot upload). Needless to say, Florio will likely never be fully sold on Lombardi as he's been serving this same take in a variety of ways dating back to last year.