That was a weird game. Completely not what I was expecting. I think we all thought we would see a high flying offense and a shaky defense but got the reverse.
Some things that stood out to me.
Devon Kennard seemed to play a lot less snaps than I thought he would. Certainly early on, where Kylie Fitts was getting more snaps at OLB. That may have been to keep him fresher for later but it didn't seem to achieve much.
Devondre Campbell was superb. He looked great in both coverage and run stopping. Looked like he had been in this defense for years.
We might actually be able to defend tight ends. Kittle had 4 for 44 yards. That's the lowest TE production vs us for a while and Kittle is one of the best. It helps when the opposition don't have any wide receivers though.
I thought this was one of our best O line pass pro performances in a long time against one of the leagues best D lines. Yes, there were times Kyler was rushed, but that happens to all QB's in all games. The majority of the time he was clean and had time.
Kyler really didn't make use of that time. The box score looks good in the end, but the first half especially was really bad. There were numerous time he threw a weird pass that fell well short or where he had an open guy (like Kirk) but was way of target. It's game 1 but I expected better.
Lamont Gaillard looks very good. We might actually have some quality interior backup and a replacement next year for Sweezy. Kelvin Beachum also did very well at right tackle.
Kyler is still a great runner. That hasn't changed. Shame it took most of the first half to break it out.
We need better safety depth if Banjo is it.
I expected more from Jordan Philips. For the money he is getting I wanted to see him in the backfield more. Especially against an interior O line that isn't good.
Kliff's play design is great. Kliff's play calling is not great. Overall he was super conservative, especially in the first half, and some of the play calls based on the situation were terrible. 2nd and 10 with only 15 seconds in the half left and needing to score points? That sounds like a good time to run Kyler for a 1 yard loss.
Despite being in range a number of times we didn't have a single EZ shot the whole game.
Hopkins had 14 catches. Everyone else combined had 12. Kirk and Larry had 5 between them for 35 yards. That can't continue. It might work week 1 but not so much week 2.
Some things that stood out to me.
Devon Kennard seemed to play a lot less snaps than I thought he would. Certainly early on, where Kylie Fitts was getting more snaps at OLB. That may have been to keep him fresher for later but it didn't seem to achieve much.
Devondre Campbell was superb. He looked great in both coverage and run stopping. Looked like he had been in this defense for years.
We might actually be able to defend tight ends. Kittle had 4 for 44 yards. That's the lowest TE production vs us for a while and Kittle is one of the best. It helps when the opposition don't have any wide receivers though.
I thought this was one of our best O line pass pro performances in a long time against one of the leagues best D lines. Yes, there were times Kyler was rushed, but that happens to all QB's in all games. The majority of the time he was clean and had time.
Kyler really didn't make use of that time. The box score looks good in the end, but the first half especially was really bad. There were numerous time he threw a weird pass that fell well short or where he had an open guy (like Kirk) but was way of target. It's game 1 but I expected better.
Lamont Gaillard looks very good. We might actually have some quality interior backup and a replacement next year for Sweezy. Kelvin Beachum also did very well at right tackle.
Kyler is still a great runner. That hasn't changed. Shame it took most of the first half to break it out.
We need better safety depth if Banjo is it.
I expected more from Jordan Philips. For the money he is getting I wanted to see him in the backfield more. Especially against an interior O line that isn't good.
Kliff's play design is great. Kliff's play calling is not great. Overall he was super conservative, especially in the first half, and some of the play calls based on the situation were terrible. 2nd and 10 with only 15 seconds in the half left and needing to score points? That sounds like a good time to run Kyler for a 1 yard loss.
Despite being in range a number of times we didn't have a single EZ shot the whole game.
Hopkins had 14 catches. Everyone else combined had 12. Kirk and Larry had 5 between them for 35 yards. That can't continue. It might work week 1 but not so much week 2.
