NFL 2020: Vanity of Vanity; All is Vanity

[Jace, Extat]

Personally, I love how every week the Chargers or Rams are at home in primetime(ish) games so we can fawn over that megalopolis they're calling a hippodrome stadium. Cathedrals celebrating the influence of men who none of the absent crowds are there to observe, built on the spectacle of manly combat and the profitability of identification through shared passion. They stand empty, and yet the rotes of our diversions are so inexorable that we must break from the desired footballing to relay the grandeur of the glorified warehouse in which they sport. Mausoleums to parasitism, their only siren being a new house in which to worship. The LA one looks like a lady robot's codpiece.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Heard a stat today that's just unreal. Brady hasn't lost a game in which he wasn't sacked in since....2011.

[Iskaral Pust]

I got lucky today with the NFL broadcasts today.  Vikings at Green Bay was the early game and then the Bears game was shown in the afternoon.  The Jets and Giants are just unwatchable.  And the Patriots aren’t much better this year if they’re the alternate for CBS.

OTOH, the rest of the nation was pretty unlucky to have the Bears game broadcast so widely.  They’re frustrating to watch even if they’re competitive in their games.

[Inkdaub]

Seattle won and I'm sure everyone would agree that's all that's really important.  Lotsa no-mask-wearing.  Carroll kept pulling his off and I'm not sure I've ever seen Russ...MVP...wear a mask.  I likely have, though.

[DMC]

The Niners gained one yard in the 3rd quarter against the worst defense in the league.  George Kittle got injured.  Trump's obviously gonna win.

[dbunting]

Huzzah!!!! Dallas made it through a game without a major injury and still have the same QB!

[briantw]

That Browns game was brutal.  Never seen so many passes dropped.  Landry drops two touchdown passes that hit him in the hands, plus another that would have been a big first down.  Bryant fumbled the ball on another first down reception.  Njoku dropped a pass that would have been an easy twenty plus yard gain.

Some will see the box score and blame Mayfield, but he actually looked fine, especially considering the weather.  I saw two bad passes from him compared to four horrendous drops and a bad fumble from his receivers.

This is also the second game where Mayfield has looked a hell of a lot better without OBJ.  It's baffling to me because OBJ is clearly still good, but for whatever reason he and Baker just couldn't get on the same page.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 hours ago, briantw said:

This is also the second game where Mayfield has looked a hell of a lot better without OBJ.  It's baffling to me because OBJ is clearly still good, but for whatever reason he and Baker just couldn't get on the same page.

I'm buying the theory that Baker struggles to hit him on quick slant routes. He feasted off of them in New York, and I can see a short QB not being able to exploit that as much as a tall guy like Eli.

[aceluby]

7 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I'm buying the theory that Baker struggles to hit him on quick slant routes. He feasted off of them in New York, and I can see a short QB not being able to exploit that as much as a tall guy like Eli.

I don't think that's it.  I think there's two things at play here.  The first is when OBJ is on the field he tries to force it to try to get the ball to his playmaker's hands, so he doesn't go through his progressions and teams double up on OBJ because you get the most bang for your buck that way.  More contested balls, not seeing other options as they develop, and not taking what the Defense is giving him. 

That's problem number 1.  Second problem is that OBJ's strength lies is modifying his route to get open, whereas someone like Landry's strength is great cuts and routes.  So when OBJ is on the field he's trying to get him the ball and doesn't know 100% where the route is going to be run.  When he's off the field, he knows where everyone is supposed to be and takes what the defense gives him.

[Rhom]

Jimmy G out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain.  Kittle out 8 weeks with a broken ankle.

Niners trade Kwon Alexander to the Saints.

Pretty clear that the organization sees this as a lost season now.  Such a damn shame.  They looked like they were ready to turn a corner when they beat the Rams... and now this.   

[briantw]

1 hour ago, aceluby said:

I don't think that's it.  I think there's two things at play here.  The first is when OBJ is on the field he tries to force it to try to get the ball to his playmaker's hands, so he doesn't go through his progressions and teams double up on OBJ because you get the most bang for your buck that way.  More contested balls, not seeing other options as they develop, and not taking what the Defense is giving him. 

That's problem number 1.  Second problem is that OBJ's strength lies is modifying his route to get open, whereas someone like Landry's strength is great cuts and routes.  So when OBJ is on the field he's trying to get him the ball and doesn't know 100% where the route is going to be run.  When he's off the field, he knows where everyone is supposed to be and takes what the defense gives him.

Yeah, I've heard it theorized that OBJ gets more freedom in his routes than other guys on the team because he's so damn good, and that doesn't play into Baker's strengths, which are making quick reads and throwing darts.  When you add to it that Baker is clearly trying to get OBJ the ball and often forces it in instead of going with an open read, you end up with two guys who just haven't managed to click.

My guess is that either OBJ is on a new team next year or the team has seen enough to move on from Baker.  I think it's going to end up being one or the other, mostly dependent on how well Baker plays the rest of the way.

At any rate, Baker has had the most success when he knows exactly where his receiver is going to be, and he excels at threading the ball through narrow windows in those situations, as well as on designed roll-outs. 

[Frey family reunion]

On 10/28/2020 at 7:14 PM, Tywin et al. said:

Heard a stat today that's just unreal. Brady hasn't lost a game in which he wasn't sacked in since....2011.

And since the refs have allowed his O-line to hold at will, it's suprising he's ever lost a game.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 hours ago, aceluby said:

I don't think that's it.  I think there's two things at play here.  The first is when OBJ is on the field he tries to force it to try to get the ball to his playmaker's hands, so he doesn't go through his progressions and teams double up on OBJ because you get the most bang for your buck that way.  More contested balls, not seeing other options as they develop, and not taking what the Defense is giving him. 

Is this actually true? It's a common narrative I hear, but I just looked up his targets and they actually appear to suggest he isn't being passed to enough.

Quote

That's problem number 1.  Second problem is that OBJ's strength lies is modifying his route to get open, whereas someone like Landry's strength is great cuts and routes.  So when OBJ is on the field he's trying to get him the ball and doesn't know 100% where the route is going to be run.  When he's off the field, he knows where everyone is supposed to be and takes what the defense gives him.

This I agree with. Analyst after analyst all seem to agree that Baker cannot figure out OBJ's double break and improvisation. A knock on Baker is that he's impatient in the pocket, so it makes sense that he'd struggle with those kind of plays.

1 hour ago, Frey family reunion said:

And since the refs have allowed his O-line to hold at will, it's suprising he's ever lost a game.

O-lines protecting great QBs tend to get a lot of breaks. I've spent a decade bitching about how the Packers' tackles blatantly hold on every passing play, and around the league it's worse this year as refs don't want to call too many holding penalties. 

[briantw]

11 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

This I agree with. Analyst after analyst all seem to agree that Baker cannot figure out OBJ's double break and improvisation. A knock on Baker is that he's impatient in the pocket, so it makes sense that he'd struggle with those kind of plays.

This was a bad habit that Baker developed last year when he was getting murdered every game.  It looks like he's starting to get a little better at it, as the past two games I've seen him step up into the pocket numerous times to make the right throw, and he's been evading tackles in a way that reminds me a lot more of his rookie year than last year.  They're obviously still working to correct the damage done last year, though, and teams with great pass rushes have a tendency to fluster him and revert him to his old habits. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

31 minutes ago, briantw said:

This was a bad habit that Baker developed last year when he was getting murdered every game.  It looks like he's starting to get a little better at it, as the past two games I've seen him step up into the pocket numerous times to make the right throw, and he's been evading tackles in a way that reminds me a lot more of his rookie year than last year.  They're obviously still working to correct the damage done last year, though, and teams with great pass rushes have a tendency to fluster him and revert him to his old habits. 

I just don't get how a historically accurate QB in college seems to be rather inaccurate in the pros. It's not due to a lack of talent around him. 

[DMC]

3 hours ago, Rhom said:

Pretty clear that the organization sees this as a lost season now.

Yeah looks like Jimmy G is probably gonna be a free agent come February.  Ugh.

[Rhom]

4 minutes ago, DMC said:

Yeah looks like Jimmy G is probably gonna be a free agent come February.  Ugh.

Pretty apparent at this point.   I don’t think we go into full rebuild mode, but it’s definitely a major step back from being one quarter away from winning it all less than a year ago.

[DMC]

Just now, Rhom said:

I don’t think we go into full rebuild mode, but it’s definitely a major step back from being one quarter away from winning it all less than a year ago.

I don't think so either, just really annoying they'll have to find another quarterback on top of all the key guys they need to resign/replace.  Mullens has not looked good in non-garbage time this year.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Big picture this is a good thing. Handsome Jimmy isn't very good, and your coach knows it. The Niners are probably the best team in the NFC with an above average QB. 

[DMC]

3 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Big picture this is a good thing.

Probably, and I expected them to cut ties with Jimmy G after the season even before yesterday.  I agree the Niners can go very far with an above average QB, the problem is finding one.