MIN 30 ARI 24 Thoughts

[Mitch]

Yea... however, I have serious doubts about Brown going forward, even if/when he's healthy...

I think he will bounce back big-time.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I think he will bounce back big-time.

Hope you're right...

 

[Russ Smith]

Throwing to small receivers in the end zone can work from time to time... most notably, on quick slants or quick outs in man coverage where the QB knows for certain his WR has the defender beat to the outside. Ideally, a bigger receiver would've been put into the mix, however, Fitz was most likely taken out by the defense and I'm not even sure if Floyd was in the game... Teams will often look for their TE down in the end zone as well...

I think that Floyd was in then he hadn't been benched by that point. Fitz actually had single coverage but the LB's dropped so he's not quite as open as people think he was.

We ran that exact play multiple times last year and Brown got TD's on it, the design of the play is if they have 3 guys out there they're going to double Fitz probably not Brown, if they have 2 guys out there you hope they get confused. If you look at where Rhodes catches it there's just no way he makes that play if Brown isn't held there, he's either going to hit him after he catches it, or he's going to hit him first and then the refs could not call that PI instead.

Palmer could have said ok they have 3 guys there I'm going somewhere else but he presumably went with the playcall.

That's the area of the field where not having a good TE is such an issue. Gresham has been ok of late but we don't seem to have a TE we trust to throw to down there.

 

[Russ Smith]

I think he will bounce back big-time.

I hope he does but I'm skeptical. he's not the same guy he's not as quick or fast. Sickle cell trait is not something that's easily treatable, several guys have had it and most struggle to deal with it. Add in the concussion thing and Brown has clearly been less effective this year.

I don't think he's going to retire as someone said a few months ago but I'm leery he's ever going to be the same receiver again.

 

[Chopper0080]

You have to understand your personnel. You have to understand the situation. The team likes to run quarters coverage on the goal line. You have a small wide receiver on the inside vs a squatting, veteran CB who has the size advantage and is playing head up to inside-eye positioning. You should see that the vet is protecting the inside route which highlights that he has help outside. I understand that there will be a small window between the outside CB and inside CB once the WR breaks off the top of his route. The issue becomes risk vs reward. If that WR slips, it is a pick. If he gets jammed and can't break free at the top of his route, it is a pick. If it deflects off his hands, pick. Too many bad outcomes. More to that point, the safest spot to throw the ball would be low, and Palmer didn't even do that.

Palmer made a 7 on 7 throw when he needs to know it is not 7 on 7 in that situation.

 

[Darkside]

I actually support Arians giving DJ a series off every now and again. During that drive, Ellington was moving the ball very well and the team has been wearing the tread off of DJ all season.

Heaven forbid, if something were to ever happen to DJ, this board would explode with people accusing the coaches of overworking him. The hypocrisy meter would not handle it.

I agree with this. The season is over; David Johnson needs to have a long career. He was on pace for FAR too many touches this season. He needs a break.

A few of you keep saying this but that doesn't make it true. This game was a must win (as are most if not all of our remaining games, even had we won Sunday), we should have rode him hard(er) until the game was decided. He's our best player on offense behind Fitz--I don't hear people saying keep Fitz out, he's got a bad knee, a bad ankle, a bad hammy. HOF players play. Saving players does nothing to help us win, and saving him because he's future HOF is fallacy--no one can know what the future holds for this dude, he needs to be a weapon while he's here, right now.

The irony is that back when this was a running NFL, these dudes regularly carried the ball 25-30+ times a game, and that was when the defenses knew they were running, when defenses were designed to stop the run. This was back when practices were brutal and nasty and dirty. Yet I would imagine if you looked up the average "career-span" of an NFL running back, say back in the 70's and before, they lasted longer on average than today's mega-athletes with their exceptional conditioning and training. If John Madden had said, "I think Franco Harris needs to sit, they're giving him the rock too much, he's too awesome, they need to prolong his career," he would have been laughed out of the building. You maximize the talent you have now, you don't wait for tomorrow, because as we've seen this year, tomorrow has a habit of bitch slapping your plans.

DJ had 22 carries. Let's not pretend like that's excessive. Hell, some of you wanted Ellington to get 20+ carries a game after his rookie year, because he's so awesome right? I disagreed then because of his slight frame, which I think is logical. But DJ is a beast. Look at his body, look at his frame, look at the hits he's not taking, even while fighting for yardage.

He may be the best player on our offense, right now. If he played any other position on offense none of you would say let's sit his ass and preserve him for his awesomely long HOF career. That's laughable. That's what you do with gimmick guys, not a workhorse future HOF player. If he's meant to be great, meant to be HOF, he'll get there, but not because some coaches or fans thought it was better if he not play.