Coaching Shorts: Week 3

By Brett | Permalink |

No Comments | September 27th, 2006 | Trackback

Another week has come and gone in the NFL season, and there’s a whole new set of coaches to bitch about:

Tom Coughlin
Normally, we think Jeremy Shockey is kind of a long-on-talent, short-on-production putz, but we find agreeing with his assessment on Coughlin’s performance last week. For the second week in a row, the Giants have come out underprepared and totally overwhelmed by their opponent in the 1st half. That falls on the coach. Take the ball out of Eli’s hands a little bit, coach. Start getting a little creative on defense to cover up for the serious, serious weak spots in the secondary, and for crissakes, stop using Lavar Arrington in coverage. This is a team that is about 15 minutes worth of good football away from being 0-3.

Lovie Smith
Yeah, the Bears are 3-0, and, yeah, they stole a great road win against a division rival in week 3. Overall, we think Smith is a great coach, but his horrible judgment on when to use his challenges against the Vikings cost the Bears two key timeouts in a close game. The offensive play calling, courtesy of Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner, was even more suspect. Know why the Bears can’t get their ground game going? Plain and simple, they’re just not commiting to running the ball. If you want to run the ball effectively in the 2nd half, you have to run the ball in the first half. Even if you’re only getting 3 yards a pop, you have to stick with it. By not commiting to the run game, the Bears allowed the Vikings talented and aggressive front 7 to tee of on QB Rex Grossman and pressure him into making mistakes. Grossman easily could’ve had 4 picks in that game, 2 for TDs the other way. Bottom line, there’s absolutely no reason why Grossman should be throwing the ball 40+ times in a game, unless the Bears are down by two scores in the 4th quarter.

Somewhat surprisingly, there were actually a few coaches that really impressed us this weekend:

Joe Gibbs (and OC Al Saunders): Great job of bouncing back from a terrible game against the Cowboys to craft a brilliant gameplan in week 3. The 22 consecutive passes that Mark Brunell completed? Exactly one was thrown down the field. The other 21 were dump-offs, quick tosses to the wide receivers, and TE and RB screens. Great job of allowing the QB to play within himself. Granted, this effort was against Houston, so we’re not getting too excited, but still.

Sean Payton: It’s not just that the Saints are 3-0, and that they pummeled the Falcons on Monday Night. And it’s not just that the way they’re using Reggie Bush –getting him touches in a variety of situations, using him as a decoy, working him in slowly– is nothing short of brilliant. Or even that he’s got the Saints playing excellent defense with a less than all-star cast. It’s that he’s been able to do what Jim Haslett never could in his tenure in New Orleans: instill a sense of discipline in the way the team plays, particularly on the defensive side. They’re limiting turnovers, playing great assignment football, and making big plays on special teams. All three phases, baby. Obviously, the difference in having Drew Brees at QB vs. Aaron Brooks can’t be understated, and that was always a huge crutch for Haslett. Still, if the Saints keep this up, Payton’s going to be coach of the year.

Brad Childress: Yeah, his team choked and blew a game they should’ve won, and we’ve heard the Minnesota media has taken him to task for his questionable play calling late in the game. But, c’mon…Vikings fans have to be stoked that their team is
2-1, playing nasty defense, and solid, ball control offense. Credit Childress for quickly figuring out a winning formula, and playing to his team’s strengths. He’s done a great job of getting this team to the point where it doesn’t need to score 30+ points to win. As long as Brad Johnson stays healthy, this is a playoff team. Not bad for a first year head coach.

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Coaching Shorts: Week 3

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