Kevin Kolb Isn't Good Enough to Win a Game for You

[ASUCHRIS]

amen. Kolb does not trust this offensive line at all and for good reason. I was yelling at him at the beginning of the game of a couple plays and then the commentators would correctly point out that he was running out of the pocket instead of stepping up into it. But the commentators kept going on about his lack of a pocket presence even when it was clear the offensive line was giving him no time. Our tackles in particular have got to be the worst in the NFL at least on passing downs. The offensive line looked better than the running game today, but I think most of the credit for the running success today has got to go to Beanie Wells. One of my complaints about Wells has been that he goes down too easily, but he was running really hard today and getting a lot of yards after the initial contact. It's a shame Whis didn't go to him on a couple more plays.

I don't think it's fair to expect Kolb to beat Kurt Warner at this point, and frankly I don't think Warner would look much better. Poor pass protection and no pass rush are 75% of this team's troubles. We'd be 4-0 if we were just a little bit better in these two areas.
Joe Mama

I am certainly not going to defend the tackles, they've been somewhere beyond putrid. That being said, many of the problems are being created by Kolb himself, as the announcers so often and noticeably mentioned.

I realize it's still early, but Kolb shows absolutely no pocket presence. More often than not, he seems to drift into pressure and bad situations. He steps into the rush, scrambles outside the pocket into pressure, and often refuses to stay in the pocket even when there is time. Further, there are many times where he has plenty of time and fails to locate a wide open receiver (Larry several times yesterday).

Considering the compensation we gave up and to him, he should be performing like a top 10 qb. Hell, I'd be happy with a top 15 qb. He's been mediocre at best, and his pocket presence terrifies me. I'm really hoping he matures into a decent qb, but at this point, color me unimpressed.

 

[WildBB]

I am certainly not going to defend the tackles, they've been somewhere beyond putrid. That being said, many of the problems are being created by Kolb himself, as the announcers so often and noticeably mentioned.

I realize it's still early, but Kolb shows absolutely no pocket presence. More often than not, he seems to drift into pressure and bad situations. He steps into the rush, scrambles outside the pocket into pressure, and often refuses to stay in the pocket even when there is time. Further, there are many times where he has plenty of time and fails to locate a wide open receiver (Larry several times yesterday).

Considering the compensation we gave up and to him, he should be performing like a top 10 qb. Hell, I'd be happy with a top 15 qb. He's been mediocre at best, and his pocket presence terrifies me. I'm really hoping he matures into a decent qb, but at this point, color me unimpressed.

Totally agree here. Yesterday was my first game I actually watched the Cards this season because I was overseas. Not impressed with his pocket presence at all.

And when the run game was going so well, Whiz as usual abandoned it on crucial 2nd down and 6 situations, cmon!!!

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Totally agree here. Yesterday was my first game I actually watched the Cards this season because I was overseas. Not impressed with his pocket presence at all.

And when the run game was going so well, Whiz as usual abandoned it on crucial 2nd down and 6 situations, cmon!!!

Yeah, the fact we threw twice on the crucial 2nd to last drive, and on 4th and 2 at the end boggled my mind. Beanie was absolutely dominating them all game, and we "let them off the hook", to steal a phrase.

 

[kerouac9]

Who told you this? It's always about 80% talent, 10% scheme, and 10% effort.

That's not what we were clearly shown when the defensive coaching staff was scrapped and 10/11ths of the defensive personnel were brought back. What was the message supposed to be?

The offense is fine structurally. See Warner, Kurt from 2007-2009.

Is that the offense, or is that the player orchestrating the offense? I felt before and I'm more sure now that Kurt was running his variation of Martz's offense during those years, and Whis doesn't have the ability to implement that same offense with the level of success that Martz has had.

Part of that is on Kolb. Part was we did not have an NFL caliber running back that day. Another is that we have a bunch of 3/4 WR's masquerading as compliments to Fitz. It's the sum of many things, not just Kolb struggling but he's the QB so he gets the brunt of the blame.

For what it's worth this team is basically the same as last year's except we have the 20th or so best quarterback play instead of the 32nd. We're pretty close to the 2009 version of the Cards as well except we have that same 20th best quarterback instead of a top ten QB. That's the difference between ten wins and the five we got last year and the seven we will probably end up with this season.

It's like that for every team in the NFL with a #1 WR. Who's Wes Welker's #2? Andre Johnson's? Reggie Wayne's? Calvin Johnson's? Dewayne Bowe's? Mike Wallace's?

Basically you're saying that we're stuck being crappy with another crappy QB, but instead of only losing money, we also lost a 2nd round pick and a starting cornerback. That's fantastic.

 

[Renz]

Yeah, Kolb is "crappy". He's in the top half of the league in most offensive categories. He led the team to 27 points yesterday. That should have been enough to win if the D hadn't surrendered 21 4th quarter points.

Kolb sucks the way people were saying Beanie sucks before the game yesterday. K9 is just pissed because we traded his boy DRC.

Some people just see what they want to see and need to find a scapegoat.

 

[kerouac9]

Yeah, Kolb is "crappy". He's in the top half of the league in most offensive categories. He led the team to 27 points yesterday. That should have been enough to win if the D hadn't surrendered 21 4th quarter points.

Kolb sucks the way people were saying Beanie sucks before the game yesterday. K9 is just pissed because we traded his boy DRC.

Some people just see what they want to see and need to find a scapegoat.

Clearly a top half QB is handed the ball in the opposing team's red zone three times and walks away with 6 points in the first quarter.

Who is saying that Kolb sucks, or is crappy? I'm saying that he can't win a game for you. Without Patrick Peterson being an electrifying punt returner, Kolb would have lead us to 0 wins.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yeah, Kolb is "crappy". He's in the top half of the league in most offensive categories. He led the team to 27 points yesterday. That should have been enough to win if the D hadn't surrendered 21 4th quarter points.

Kolb sucks the way people were saying Beanie sucks before the game yesterday. K9 is just pissed because we traded his boy DRC.

Some people just see what they want to see and need to find a scapegoat.

do you really think that Kolb hasn't been a pretty large problem in the last two games? the guy's game has been regressing, not progressing and really, his one big game came against one of the worst defenses in the league. he's got, what? 4 red zone turnovers? he's probably one of the league leaders as far as that's concerned as well. and his TD:Turnover ration is 5:6... that sucks.

I'm not saying he sucks and will never be any good, but I gotta tell you, most QBs at least have that flash of having one or two really special qualities and i can't for the life of me imagine what those could possibly be for this guy.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

do you really think that Kolb hasn't been a pretty large problem in the last two games? the guy's game has been regressing, not progressing and really, his one big game came against one of the worst defenses in the league. he's got, what? 4 red zone turnovers? he's probably one of the league leaders as far as that's concerned as well. and his TD:Turnover ration is 5:6... that sucks.

I'm not saying he sucks and will never be any good, but I gotta tell you, most QBs at least have that flash of having one or two really special qualities and i can't for the life of me imagine what those could possibly be for this guy.

I love the credit going to Kolb for the 27 points...did you even watch the game Renz?

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

That's not what we were clearly shown when the defensive coaching staff was scrapped and 10/11ths of the defensive personnel were brought back. What was the message supposed to be?

You're overanalyzing this. The message was simply that Whiz wanted for years to get a Pittsburgh guy that he was familiar with and when the opportunity presented itself he took it. Anyone with two eyes can tell you that no defense is going to succeed without the ability to rush the passer with four linemen. Scheme wasn't going to take Haggans and Porter back in time a decade. I think the point was that he gets the system he wants in place so that everyone is on the same page when/if the talent gets here.

Is that the offense, or is that the player orchestrating the offense? I felt before and I'm more sure now that Kurt was running his variation of Martz's offense during those years, and Whis doesn't have the ability to implement that same offense with the level of success that Martz has had.

The offense isn't even close to the Martz offense Kurt ran in St. Louis. How many times did you see the greatest show on turf play out of a shotgun? Very rarely while Whiz does all the time like he did when his teams threw the ball in Pittsburgh. And Martz has been fired at what..three stops since St. Louis? It's about talent not scheme. Both Whis and Martz like pretty much every NFL coach haven't done dick since they have not had a top ten QB.

It's like that for every team in the NFL with a #1 WR. Who's Wes Welker's #2? Andre Johnson's? Reggie Wayne's? Calvin Johnson's? Dewayne Bowe's? Mike Wallace's?

All those guys have savvy vet WR's around them who have been around the league for many years or elite TE's. Fitz has a bunch of guys who have barely played at WR and a TE on the downside of his career.

Basically you're saying that we're stuck being crappy with another crappy QB, but instead of only losing money, we also lost a 2nd round pick and a starting cornerback. That's fantastic.

I wouldn't say Kolb is crappy, DA and Hall were crappy. Kolb is just okay. I don't think we would've gotten much more from Alex Smith or Kyle Orton or any of the other has-been's or never will be's that were out there this offseason.

And you continue to overrate the value of both DRC and a second round pick. Both of those are rather to easy to come by if we really wanted them. And if Kolb continues to struggle we will draft a QB high in next year's draft. This isn't like Ricky Williams to New Orleans, we're not doomed forever if he doesn't work out.

 

[Russ Smith]

do you really think that Kolb hasn't been a pretty large problem in the last two games? the guy's game has been regressing, not progressing and really, his one big game came against one of the worst defenses in the league. he's got, what? 4 red zone turnovers? he's probably one of the league leaders as far as that's concerned as well. and his TD:Turnover ration is 5:6... that sucks.

I'm not saying he sucks and will never be any good, but I gotta tell you, most QBs at least have that flash of having one or two really special qualities and i can't for the life of me imagine what those could possibly be for this guy.

Kolb threw for 309 against Carolina. In the 3 games since then they've allowed 503 yards or just under 168 yards per game.

Kolb averaged 11.44 yards per attempt against Carolina, the 3 teams since 7.44 YPA.

It's not just Kolb's stats skewed by that game, Carolina's stats are severely skewed by that game. Their pass defense has been MUCH better since that game. They're tied for 7th in the NFL in passing yards allowed, if you take out the game with us, theyr'e 2nd.

 

[Totally_Red]

And you continue to overrate the value of both DRC and a second round pick. Both of those are rather to easy to come by if we really wanted them. And if Kolb continues to struggle we will draft a QB high in next year's draft. This isn't like Ricky Williams to New Orleans, we're not doomed forever if he doesn't work out.

DRC is not setting the world on fire in Philly, but neither is Nmadi and he was a consistent all-pro in Oakland. There is something rotten in the Eagle defense and it isn't DRC. I'd take him back in a NY minute. You can't tell me he wouldn't play better than Jefferson.

 

[Russ Smith]

DRC is not setting the world on fire in Philly, but neither is Nmadi and he was a consistent all-pro in Oakland. There is something rotten in the Eagle defense and it isn't DRC. I'd take him back in a NY minute. You can't tell me he wouldn't play better than Jefferson.

It's the former offensive coach they have as their new DC. They had an article on Nnamdi in my local paper Sunday that said he's struggling with the new system they play there because they ask him ot play zone and move around instead of just saying here's your man cover him like Oakland did with him. Nnamdi said it's a new process for him and he thinks the whole defense is catching on to the new schemes from their DC Castillo.

It is funny what people say to reporters though. there have been 3 stories I've seen this year where they explain Harbaugh is glad Smith is taking as many sacks as he has(14 in 4 games) because he's been trying to convince him that many of his past mistakes were just panic. That it's better to just get sacked than to throw the ball up blindly or panic and try to run and end up fumbling.