CTMike
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 11,379
- Reaction Score
- 40,602
Defense : Consistently good enough for us to have a chance to win most games. There's not much more to say than that. We can pick nits about soft coverages and tackling, but for the most part they did their job. Keep getting better, but keep up the good work.
Offense : Marginally better. Shirreffs was more productive than anyone we've had since the far-too-short career of Cochran, but Whitmer and Boyle did not exactly set a high bar. O-line play barely improved during the year which is a real problem - they need so much more consistency for us to be successful. At the same time, Diaco has shown a stubborn reliance on establishing a physical, running offense- despite not having all the pieces to do it, and with minimal consideration for exploiting opponent weaknesses or showing different looks. To a certain extent, it is chicken and egg - can we play-action or probe downfield with mediocre blocking and an average QB? More often than not, the play will be unsuccessful. But to consistently stick to one method of moving the football makes the job of opposing defenses far too easy and compounds our inefficiencies. Playing as conservative as we do can win - we've done it - but at times it leaves too much to other factors such as playing mistake free football and winning the turnover battle. In the end, I do think it is worse not to try. You only need open things up to the point where you can keep defenses honest. I hope to see this and clock management improve in 2016. Side note : before yesterday, we were out scored 95-48 in the 4th quarter. Yuck.
Special Teams : We still have a top-to-bottom roster depth problem on our hands. It manifests itself most in our special teams, where the decision was made to return kicks only when stars align perfectly. Perhaps to avoid further injury? I'm not sure. But the complete avoidance of this phase of the game needs to change in 2016. Puyol was very good all season in place kicking duty - both he and Wain return for 2016. Tarbutt saw duty a little prematurely but it will be interesting to see his development with a year's worth of S&C.
Turnover Margin: There is another thread on this topic, but I'll mention it again here. Far and away, the number one reason that we are 6-7 this year instead of 2-10 is that we managed to be +9 instead of -13 (if my math is right) in turnover differential. Period. We can talk of S&C improvements - which are there, and to a small extent contributed to our turnover improvement. Perhaps coaching improved a bit, but it's hard to say with so many variables at play. I just find it interesting to note that the biggest cause of improvement this year was, in good part, due to luck. I'll take it, but I'd rather not have to rely on luck.
Coaching : Head scratching, sometimes infuriating, occasionally successful... I don't know what the hell to make of them. Diaco has the energy, the personality, the smarts - but he's risk averse to the point of it sometimes being a detriment (I believe this true despite him reaching in to his bag of tricks on several occasions this season). I believe - I hope - that if he were to put his DC hat back on and game plan as if he were going against our offense this bowl game - he'd have to conclude this offense was one dimensional and predictable, yes? He'd have to thank his lucky stars to go up against an offense so... Straightforward. People have commented that he's a DC so he doesn't get offense - I say that with a DC background, he should know how the opponent will game plan against us and how to counteract it. That it doesn't seem to happen is mystifying... Aggravating, even. For us to win, things either need to be executed perfectly, or we need to win the turnover battle. Sometimes both. It leaves too much to chance. It is hard to say where things change here - Diaco seems to be very clear on the style of offense he will run, so the only hope is that as more of his players gain more experience, they will improve. But I do hope that Diaco takes a long hard look at the approach and the staff and determines that there is room for all to be improved on. Clock management, we've beaten ad nauseum. Study it and fix it this offseason.
Overall: Bottom line, few here expected 6 wins and a bowl game this year - in that sense, the season was a success. Our trajectory is trending up for the first time in years. And yet there is still so much to improve upon in 2016 if we want to keep raising the bar. Frankly, if our turnover differential ends up even, we need to improve in many areas just to tread water. It's time to play 300 level football and beyond. I believe Diaco can do it, but I fully acknowledge that's based on faith more than evidence. 2016 will be a very big "show me" year. To all our seniors, thank you for all you've had to endure during your tenure here - you can look back proudly that we are in a better place.
Offense : Marginally better. Shirreffs was more productive than anyone we've had since the far-too-short career of Cochran, but Whitmer and Boyle did not exactly set a high bar. O-line play barely improved during the year which is a real problem - they need so much more consistency for us to be successful. At the same time, Diaco has shown a stubborn reliance on establishing a physical, running offense- despite not having all the pieces to do it, and with minimal consideration for exploiting opponent weaknesses or showing different looks. To a certain extent, it is chicken and egg - can we play-action or probe downfield with mediocre blocking and an average QB? More often than not, the play will be unsuccessful. But to consistently stick to one method of moving the football makes the job of opposing defenses far too easy and compounds our inefficiencies. Playing as conservative as we do can win - we've done it - but at times it leaves too much to other factors such as playing mistake free football and winning the turnover battle. In the end, I do think it is worse not to try. You only need open things up to the point where you can keep defenses honest. I hope to see this and clock management improve in 2016. Side note : before yesterday, we were out scored 95-48 in the 4th quarter. Yuck.
Special Teams : We still have a top-to-bottom roster depth problem on our hands. It manifests itself most in our special teams, where the decision was made to return kicks only when stars align perfectly. Perhaps to avoid further injury? I'm not sure. But the complete avoidance of this phase of the game needs to change in 2016. Puyol was very good all season in place kicking duty - both he and Wain return for 2016. Tarbutt saw duty a little prematurely but it will be interesting to see his development with a year's worth of S&C.
Turnover Margin: There is another thread on this topic, but I'll mention it again here. Far and away, the number one reason that we are 6-7 this year instead of 2-10 is that we managed to be +9 instead of -13 (if my math is right) in turnover differential. Period. We can talk of S&C improvements - which are there, and to a small extent contributed to our turnover improvement. Perhaps coaching improved a bit, but it's hard to say with so many variables at play. I just find it interesting to note that the biggest cause of improvement this year was, in good part, due to luck. I'll take it, but I'd rather not have to rely on luck.
Coaching : Head scratching, sometimes infuriating, occasionally successful... I don't know what the hell to make of them. Diaco has the energy, the personality, the smarts - but he's risk averse to the point of it sometimes being a detriment (I believe this true despite him reaching in to his bag of tricks on several occasions this season). I believe - I hope - that if he were to put his DC hat back on and game plan as if he were going against our offense this bowl game - he'd have to conclude this offense was one dimensional and predictable, yes? He'd have to thank his lucky stars to go up against an offense so... Straightforward. People have commented that he's a DC so he doesn't get offense - I say that with a DC background, he should know how the opponent will game plan against us and how to counteract it. That it doesn't seem to happen is mystifying... Aggravating, even. For us to win, things either need to be executed perfectly, or we need to win the turnover battle. Sometimes both. It leaves too much to chance. It is hard to say where things change here - Diaco seems to be very clear on the style of offense he will run, so the only hope is that as more of his players gain more experience, they will improve. But I do hope that Diaco takes a long hard look at the approach and the staff and determines that there is room for all to be improved on. Clock management, we've beaten ad nauseum. Study it and fix it this offseason.
Overall: Bottom line, few here expected 6 wins and a bowl game this year - in that sense, the season was a success. Our trajectory is trending up for the first time in years. And yet there is still so much to improve upon in 2016 if we want to keep raising the bar. Frankly, if our turnover differential ends up even, we need to improve in many areas just to tread water. It's time to play 300 level football and beyond. I believe Diaco can do it, but I fully acknowledge that's based on faith more than evidence. 2016 will be a very big "show me" year. To all our seniors, thank you for all you've had to endure during your tenure here - you can look back proudly that we are in a better place.
