Gardner overlooked in passing game

[Gamebreaker]

The offense as a whole has not been impressive..that may be for a variety of reasons. But after Rod Gardner had such a great game against Dallas, and a TD agianst Chicago, why don't they feed him the ball more?? I think if they did, the 'Skins would be more potent on offense....what do you think??

[LATrueRedskin]

I'm sure they would get the ball to Gardner if they could. Chicago had the #5 pass defense if I'm correct, so they're pretty tough in that aspect. The Ravens are without question a great defense as well, it's tough to pass on them period. We're playing some tough defenses, but the Packers are lacking in that area. I'm waiting to see what we do against a sub-par overall defense, and we play one next week.

[bgforever]

Game 1 - On opening day against a Tampa team for any NFLer is a toughee, with that D, O or no O. Meaning it wasn't easy for that receiving corps. Sure times that Brunell wanted to get that ball to Gardner, but was dodging, etc.

Game 2 - Giants game was pure disaster, but their D wasn't asleep as usual, and needing to stay in it was on their backs, so naturally at home, they played possessed and got some lucky rolls, breaks, calls, because they kept at it, while we kept feeding them chances. Sooner or later it will break you.

Game 3 - The Cowboys game wasn't a real gage of our overall team, but it gave us a good look into it. That turned on some lightst about our offensive potential. We just kept at it though, beating ourselves up and letting them back in it when we simply could have burried them offensively. Gardner broke out in this game, but where was he in games 1 and 2???? My guess is the defenses we faced are still capable of big plays against anyone, but looking at these and the next 2 games. it was obvious we were facing teams with BETTER defenses than their offenses at that Particular moment.

We didn't realize this pattern was about to continue:

Game 4 - Baltimore was the team we beat, lost to, beat and lost to again - in one game. It was in our hands on both sides of the ball and as the defense returned to the field again and again, it was apparent we just weren't that good on Offense to win games with it, and Baltimore's defense was back, though not as nasty as its hey days. Still we found ways to try to get the ball to receivers, as we desperately needed a spark from them, instead we got Coles on a Ray Lewis highlight reel with Brunell not having "foresight" to see what he was about set Coles up for and nearly end his career. We sawy miscues and confusion and trouble yet again with plays in on time and clock management.

Game 5 - See Baltimore, for this Cleveland game to have more meaning, see the game they gave Philly today. Philly was taking a coffee break when they were woke by the same presence that disturbed and disrupted our offense, their D Line. What Philly did to keep scoring was what we couldn't do, because our receivers were either opened enough for a throw, or Brunell was scrambling or they just blitzed so much the play was blown up. We STILL needed more time with the passing game, than normal.

Game 6 - Ah yes the running game returned, opening up play action, and yet the receivers and/or QB struggled because a TE and RB just couldn't keep the blitzers away in Chicago. Nevertheless, again Gardner has a score that helps us escape the windy city with another somewhat ugly win and game.

Bottom line 6 ugly games, 2 wins. Not bad, because normally 6 ugly games with a team like Indianapolis means they would be like 1-5 (no D), at best. We in fact won two games on D alone (so that's more like 4-2).

We are a much better team than the record shows, but that's what they all say.

I say it because it's true and once and for all, our WR's are going to prove it!

[JoeDaSchmoe]

All I know is that somehow, someway, this is all Mark Brunell's fault. ;)

[IowaSkinsFan]

The offense as a whole has not been impressive..that may be for a variety of reasons. But after Rod Gardner had such a great game against Dallas, and a TD agianst Chicago, why don't they feed him the ball more?? I think if they did, the 'Skins would be more potent on offense....what do you think??


Because we don't have enough downs to get him enough completions. :)

[Patrick]

All I know is that somehow, someway, this is all Mark Brunell's fault. ;)

Not really - Remember this is a GIBBS team and that means they win and lose as a team. No one person is to blame for thier loses.

[dj_stouty]

I think if they did, the 'Skins would be more potent on offense....what do you think??

If he gets open more often, he will get the ball more often.

[Skinzaholic]

Not really - Remember this is a GIBBS team and that means they win and lose as a team. No one person is to blame for thier loses.


Im no genius - but somehow I get the feeling Joe was kidding in his post. :whoknows:

[dj_stouty]

Im no genius - but somehow I get the feeling Joe was kidding in his post. :whoknows:

I did detect a bit of sarcasm, but knowing Joe's stand on Brunell, it isn't that far from the truth for him. :D

[JoeDaSchmoe]

I did detect a bit of sarcasm, but knowing Joe's stand on Brunell, it isn't that far from the truth for him. :D

Skinz and DJ are both partially right. :D

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

It's obvious why Gardner has not been more involved in the passing game.
He can't get open..just like Coles,Thrash,Jacobs etc. If they were open..
Brunell with his"LASER-LIKE ACCURACY" would surely find them.

[Gump84]

I'm sure they would get the ball to Gardner if they could. Chicago had the #5 pass defense if I'm correct, so they're pretty tough in that aspect. The Ravens are without question a great defense as well, it's tough to pass on them period. We're playing some tough defenses, but the Packers are lacking in that area. I'm waiting to see what we do against a sub-par overall defense, and we play one next week.


Haha, I wish you were correct, but when we played them, they had the 26th ranked passing defense. They went up 6 spots after playing us though, big surprise there. Playing against Brunell tends to do that to your team stats.

[smoak]

i'd take a touchdown from rulon gardner at this point.

[#1SkInSfAn]

All I know is that somehow, someway, this is all Mark Brunell's fault. ;)
Agreed

[dj_stouty]

It's obvious why Gardner has not been more involved in the passing game.
He can't get open..just like Coles,Thrash,Jacobs etc. If they were open..
Brunell with his"LASER-LIKE ACCURACY" would surely find them.

Yeah yeah yeah...

May I remind you that Gardner and Brunell had quite the connection in the Dallas game.

Or maybe the biggest reason why Gardner isn't getting any looks is because Gibbs has de-prioritized his routes. After all...success doesn't come easy when you have a QB who throws for a tad bit over 50% throwing to a WR who only catches 79% of the balls thrown to his hands.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Yeah yeah yeah...

May I remind you that Gardner and Brunell had quite the connection in the Dallas game.

Or maybe the biggest reason why Gardner isn't getting any looks is because Gibbs has de-prioritized his routes. After all...success doesn't come easy when you have a QB who throws for a tad bit over 50% throwing to a WR who only catches 79% of the balls thrown to his hands.
May I remind you that Gardner and Brunell have had no connection weeks
1,2,4,5,6. And you could be right about the de-prioritizing of his routes..
but have you heard this..or is it just speculation? Because ultimately,
you and I are just offering our own opinions.

[dj_stouty]

And you could be right about the de-prioritizing of his routes..
but have you heard this..or is it just speculation? Because ultimately,
you and I are just offering our own opinions.

I haven't heard a thing about any changes in this offense, and you and I probably won't since Gibbs doesn't publicize that. I'm only offering my opinion, since Brunell has targeted Gardner at least 50% less since the Dallas game.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

I haven't heard a thing about any changes in this offense, and you and I probably won't since Gibbs doesn't publicize that. I'm only offering my opinion, since Brunell has targeted Gardner at least 50% less since the Dallas game. I actually think that might be a mistake
Keino. Not that I'm the biggest Gardner fan..but I do think he can take
advantage of physical mismatches. I'm just frustrated..Brunell,Gibbs etc.
We have our issues but I think Gibbs is being much too conservative on
offense. I understand the Ravens playing that way..just look at their
personnel on offense. We..in my opinion, don't have to play that way.
"Maybe"I'm wrong and Brunell is not hindering us..regardless, I think
Gibbs and his ultra-conservative playcalling is...

[Patrick]

Skinz and DJ are both partially right. :D

It was the OTHER part I was commenting on ....... ;)

[hockeygoalie29]

After all...success doesn't come easy when you have a QB who throws for a tad bit over 50% throwing to a WR who only catches 79% of the balls thrown to his hands.

I'd hate to see what happens when your 51% quarterback (Brunell) throws to your 50% #1 reciever (Coles). Oh wait, we have, and the result is 2-4!

As much as I love Gardner, there is no way he should be having a better year than Coles. Lets just hope that this buy week has helped both Brunell and Coles get back to 100% phsically.

[dj_stouty]

Lets just hope that this buy week has helped both Brunell and Coles get back to 100% phsically.

This is something we can ALL Agree on...

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

This is something we can ALL Agree on...
Amen...

[guinness4health]

I actually think that might be a mistake
Keino. Not that I'm the biggest Gardner fan..but I do think he can take
advantage of physical mismatches. I'm just frustrated..Brunell,Gibbs etc.
We have our issues but I think Gibbs is being much too conservative on
offense. I understand the Ravens playing that way..just look at their
personnel on offense. We..in my opinion, don't have to play that way.
"Maybe"I'm wrong and Brunell is not hindering us..regardless, I think
Gibbs and his ultra-conservative playcalling is...

i think that part of the reason that gibbs' playcalling has been so conservative is the fact that people are still learning the offense... whether we as fans a willing to believe it, it takes time to learn a new offense in the nfl, and one offseason is normally not enough, and from all accounts that i have seen gibbs' offense is tricky...
game after game we see people in the wrong position or missing key blocks, as well as delay of game penalties (this lead gibbs to simplify the offensive schemes after the dallas game)...i am guessing this is also the reason we have not seen any of trick plays that gibbs always liked to use...

until gibbs is convinced that his guys truly understand the offense his playcalling will remain fairly conservative, and if that means that we are a sub-500 team this year so be it...sometimes we must suffer before being able to celebrate...
Gibbs is trying to resurrect a franchise that has been terrible for over a decade, it takes time to change that type of losing mentality...

Trust me gibbs doesn't want to be ultra conservative but right now limiting our mistakes and playing defense is what is going to win us football games... if the offense and special teams could stop shoting ourselves in the foot we could be undefeated right now.

[Gamebreaker]

All I know is that somehow, someway, this is all Mark Brunell's fault. ;) I have enjoyed the responses to this thread....The fact that we have faced tough defenses definetly has legitamacy..but, also, I think that Coach Gibbs has been very conservative with the attacks through the air, and Brunell has been anything But accurate..they have tried to get Gardner the ball on curls and comebacks, but little else, my point is, if he can catch 70+ passes with shane Matthews and danny wuerffel, we can find a way to swing a few balls his way, perhaps with shorter drops, higher percentage routes....theory....He just seems to have the desire and coles gets thrown to more and he drops too many, in my opinion.

[JoeDaSchmoe]

Yeah yeah yeah...

May I remind you that Gardner and Brunell had quite the connection in the Dallas game.

There was the minor advantage of the corner who covered Gardner being a rookie, and something like a seventh-round rookie at that.

[lakeskin]

we have a passing game?

[skinswin]

Game 1 - On opening day against a Tampa team for any NFLer is a toughee, with that D, O or no O. Meaning it wasn't easy for that receiving corps. Sure times that Brunell wanted to get that ball to Gardner, but was dodging, etc.

Game 2 - Giants game was pure disaster, but their D wasn't asleep as usual, and needing to stay in it was on their backs, so naturally at home, they played possessed and got some lucky rolls, breaks, calls, because they kept at it, while we kept feeding them chances. Sooner or later it will break you.

Game 3 - The Cowboys game wasn't a real gage of our overall team, but it gave us a good look into it. That turned on some lightst about our offensive potential. We just kept at it though, beating ourselves up and letting them back in it when we simply could have burried them offensively. Gardner broke out in this game, but where was he in games 1 and 2???? My guess is the defenses we faced are still capable of big plays against anyone, but looking at these and the next 2 games. it was obvious we were facing teams with BETTER defenses than their offenses at that Particular moment.

We didn't realize this pattern was about to continue:

Game 4 - Baltimore was the team we beat, lost to, beat and lost to again - in one game. It was in our hands on both sides of the ball and as the defense returned to the field again and again, it was apparent we just weren't that good on Offense to win games with it, and Baltimore's defense was back, though not as nasty as its hey days. Still we found ways to try to get the ball to receivers, as we desperately needed a spark from them, instead we got Coles on a Ray Lewis highlight reel with Brunell not having "foresight" to see what he was about set Coles up for and nearly end his career. We sawy miscues and confusion and trouble yet again with plays in on time and clock management.

Game 5 - See Baltimore, for this Cleveland game to have more meaning, see the game they gave Philly today. Philly was taking a coffee break when they were woke by the same presence that disturbed and disrupted our offense, their D Line. What Philly did to keep scoring was what we couldn't do, because our receivers were either opened enough for a throw, or Brunell was scrambling or they just blitzed so much the play was blown up. We STILL needed more time with the passing game, than normal.

Game 6 - Ah yes the running game returned, opening up play action, and yet the receivers and/or QB struggled because a TE and RB just couldn't keep the blitzers away in Chicago. Nevertheless, again Gardner has a score that helps us escape the windy city with another somewhat ugly win and game.

Bottom line 6 ugly games, 2 wins. Not bad, because normally 6 ugly games with a team like Indianapolis means they would be like 1-5 (no D), at best. We in fact won two games on D alone (so that's more like 4-2).

We are a much better team than the record shows, but that's what they all say.

I say it because it's true and once and for all, our WR's are going to prove it!

Game 6 is not accurate at all. Coles was open twice for a TD but Brunell couldn't get him the ball and he had plenty of time!! Posters all over are trying to make excuses for Brunell when the bottom line is that now that we've got our run game somewhat on the upswing, we need to get the passing game on the upswing too. And that's dumping Brunell.

[IowaSkinsFan]

Because we don't have enough downs to get him enough completions. :)

Did anyone get that? It was in recognition of his 50-50 nickname.

[bgforever]

posted by SKINSWIN Game 6 is not accurate at all. Coles was open twice for a TD but Brunell couldn't get him the ball and he had plenty of time!! Posters all over are trying to make excuses for Brunell when the bottom line is that now that we've got our run game somewhat on the upswing, we need to get the passing game on the upswing too. And that's dumping Brunell.

Hold on there, wasn't even making an excuse for Brunell. I didn't see the game, but had to rely on what was relayed.

I gave a synopsis based on information doled in all aspects and summarized from here, the media, radio, hightlights and brief viewing of what I could. I also placed an emphasis on the "improvement" of the passing game period. You can add what you want to what that may be from coaching to the line to the individual player to the QB to the TE's. Its all there for the eyes to see, when you can.

I did WATCH the previous 5 games. I stand by my writings.