One "fix" that should happen right away

[Russ Smith]

As everyone is saying beanie needs to be the RB, TH short yardage and 3rd down guy.

There was one play last night that both Zeno and I commented on. Collinsworth had just talked about how you have to run off tackle against the Colts to punish them for constantly rushing their DE's upfield outside. We had a nice run doing that and then on another play TH got about 6-7 yards on the play. If you saw the play it was an off tackle run and TH hit the hole. At the point he got through the hole what was visible on camera was there was NO defense to the right, and one defender right in front of him. What does TIm do, puts his head down and runs right into the defender. now he gained yards but Beanie on the same play would see the daylight and make the cut and run to it. I bet Beanie gets 15 yards or more on that same play.

They have to decide during the bye week if Beanie can hold onto the ball or not. If you noticed on his 2nd carry he nearly fumbled, the ball was almost behind his body and the defender tackled the ball not him. Beanie held on but I suspect that's why he didn't get more carries, Whiz saw that and said ok he nearly fumbled again?

Right now there's simply no reason to play more than 7 in the box against us and teams are just playing the pass on every down. We have to get Beanie into the offense.

 

[nashman]

Russ some of us have been saying this all year but Whiz wants to stick with his boy TH not sure what he thinks he is seeing that no one else is. TH is a good player for us he is just not starting caliber, we draft a stud with our first pick and now our genius coach is keeping him on the bench, 2 carries in that game is a CRIME against us fans!

 

[TJ]

agree 100%. We did not draft him 1st round for nothing. Hightower flat out sucked last night and for whatever reason, wasn't pulled for the game. Its time for a role reversal.

 

[conraddobler]

As everyone is saying beanie needs to be the RB, TH short yardage and 3rd down guy.

There was one play last night that both Zeno and I commented on. Collinsworth had just talked about how you have to run off tackle against the Colts to punish them for constantly rushing their DE's upfield outside. We had a nice run doing that and then on another play TH got about 6-7 yards on the play. If you saw the play it was an off tackle run and TH hit the hole. At the point he got through the hole what was visible on camera was there was NO defense to the right, and one defender right in front of him. What does TIm do, puts his head down and runs right into the defender. now he gained yards but Beanie on the same play would see the daylight and make the cut and run to it. I bet Beanie gets 15 yards or more on that same play.

They have to decide during the bye week if Beanie can hold onto the ball or not. If you noticed on his 2nd carry he nearly fumbled, the ball was almost behind his body and the defender tackled the ball not him. Beanie held on but I suspect that's why he didn't get more carries, Whiz saw that and said ok he nearly fumbled again?

Right now there's simply no reason to play more than 7 in the box against us and teams are just playing the pass on every down. We have to get Beanie into the offense.

Very good point.

I suspect BW dosen't know the playbook well enough, but he's got two weeks to fix that and he needs to be coached not to fumble while he's learning that playbook.

Teams that have a decent pass rush and decent CB's will just drop 7 into coverage on us all day long and we can't make them pay for that without BW.

TH is good, I like his style but he's not going to scare anyone with his 3YPC average.

I'm not sure how Houston stacks up on the run but if they're not really good at it I'd gameplan to run the ball more.

 

[mrbyte]

lets not lose sight of the fact we passed 52 times!! there just wasn't enough run plays to give both TH and Beanie the ball
thats like last year when were behind big

 

[JeffGollin]

Suggest you check out the run blocking.

There was none.

You could have Jim Brown, Gale Sayers or Jerome Bettis pounding the rock back there and they wouldn't have gained anything either behind an offensive line mostly comprised of cardboard cutouts of run blockers.

Yeah, we should have tried to run more, but our big uglies were being manhandled by their big uglies at the LOS, so what are you going to do (Russ Grimm, are you listening? It's time to hold the coaching staff accountable).

 

[DutchmanAZ]

I don't think the coaches are comfortable with Beanie's ability to block on pass plays. Right now, when Beanie is in he may as well have a neon sign flashing on his chest telling everyone he's about to get the ball on a run play. Granted, he's had some success regardless running the rock, but IMHO he needs to get better at blitz pickup/blocking before he'll see much more playing time.

 

[lauraw]

Russ Grimm is supposed to be so good as a line coach, I don't see it.. Maybe he has too much on his plate also.

 

[nashman]

Well again you have a couple of weeks tell him he is starting and bust his ass and get him ready over the next couple of weeks. He needs to be in on downs other than when he is getting the ball, again that falls on coaching if they are so dimwitted to only go to him when he is in the game we are giving away our plays! You know GOOD coaches would put him in the game multiple sets so as not to give away what we are going to do, geesh this coaching staff is quickly becoming an embarrassment!

 

[Russ Smith]

There was none.

You could have Jim Brown, Gale Sayers or Jerome Bettis pounding the rock back there and they wouldn't have gained anything either behind an offensive line mostly comprised of cardboard cutouts of run blockers.

Yeah, we should have tried to run more, but our big uglies were being manhandled by their big uglies at the LOS, so what are you going to do (Russ Grimm, are you listening? It's time to hold the coaching staff accountable).

part of that is the runs we tried, those stupid delays. Kurt Warner is a human delayed handoff as it is, calling an actual delayed handoff is like running a delayed delay handoff.

I agree the holes weren't huge but when there were holds hightower simply doesn't get as much out of them as Beanie will.

Even the announcers showed a closeup of Beanie late in the game and wondered aloud why we picked him if we weren't going to play him.

 

[Russ Smith]

I don't think the coaches are comfortable with Beanie's ability to block on pass plays. Right now, when Beanie is in he may as well have a neon sign flashing on his chest telling everyone he's about to get the ball on a run play. Granted, he's had some success regardless running the rock, but IMHO he needs to get better at blitz pickup/blocking before he'll see much more playing time.

That's what I've been saying too but that's a function of the we must pass on every down mentality we have right now. If Beanie is in, teams will have to start respecting the run, then play action will work, and Beanie's pass blocking will be less important because teams will actually honor the run somewhat.

I realize he's raw, missed a lot of the preseason, but it's so apparent that he's a better runner than Tim, he's got to get on the field more.

 

[CaptTurbo]

As everyone is saying beanie needs to be the RB, TH short yardage and 3rd down guy.

There was one play last night that both Zeno and I commented on. Collinsworth had just talked about how you have to run off tackle against the Colts to punish them for constantly rushing their DE's upfield outside. We had a nice run doing that and then on another play TH got about 6-7 yards on the play. If you saw the play it was an off tackle run and TH hit the hole. At the point he got through the hole what was visible on camera was there was NO defense to the right, and one defender right in front of him. What does TIm do, puts his head down and runs right into the defender. now he gained yards but Beanie on the same play would see the daylight and make the cut and run to it. I bet Beanie gets 15 yards or more on that same play..

Russ I saw and said the exact same thing. Said thats 20 yards for Beanie right there.

 

[DutchmanAZ]

That's what I've been saying too but that's a function of the we must pass on every down mentality we have right now. If Beanie is in, teams will have to start respecting the run, then play action will work, and Beanie's pass blocking will be less important because teams will actually honor the run somewhat.

I realize he's raw, missed a lot of the preseason, but it's so apparent that he's a better runner than Tim, he's got to get on the field more.

Agreed. I think the pass every down is primarily a result of Warner changing the play at the LOS. Admittedly, a lot of the time he's able to make a play, but I wish he wasn't so pass happy. Then again, that's Warner. I don't think he trusts the run game at this point.

 

[conraddobler]

I bet the run blocking would improve if they took out the delayed hand offs that are poorly timed in terms of when they try them.

A delayed handoff dosen't work when your back isn't very fast and defenders are already meeting back there rushing the QB.

Pound the freaking rock, line up and run the ball.

That means the QB is under center, the ball comes to the RB fast and they hit whatever hole is there fast and to the other team it looks like it could be a pass or a run, if you have the FB go in motion and run right behind him everytime or have a tell you're going to suck at running, you have to mix it up a bit, the defenders aren't suppossed to know when you're running and your play calling needs to be less predictable, I can see our runs comming a mile away 90 percent of the time, that's just stupid.

Running is about doing it, now some teams you can't run against, this wasn't the Ravens we were talking about and Houston is up next, if we freaking don't run the ball on them I will abandon all hope for this staff.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

That's what I've been saying too but that's a function of the we must pass on every down mentality we have right now. If Beanie is in, teams will have to start respecting the run, then play action will work, and Beanie's pass blocking will be less important because teams will actually honor the run somewhat.

I realize he's raw, missed a lot of the preseason, but it's so apparent that he's a better runner than Tim, he's got to get on the field more.

I wonder if anyone in Minny is complaining about AP's bad pass blocking. I'm not sure if he's good or bad but he could be the worst pass blocking RB in the league and nobody would care. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't keep him off the field.

 

[Jetstream Green]

Houston stinks at stopping the run, and I would rather have Beanie thrown into the fire and rush for close to 150 yards than see Hightower rush for 90 and provide an illusion that he is a starting back while against a poor run defense...and then the next week see him get shut down. Hightower will look great against a team like the Rams, but it is clearly not the answer and we have it sitting on the bench

 

[Dayman]

I agree with those who think Beanie is the superior talent, but Whis' reasoning for the distribution of playing time makes some sense. Beanie's lack of experience as a pass catcher is amplified by Hightower currently leading the team in receptions with 20 (fourth in the league). It's an odd development, seeing as he only caught 36 passes in 20 games last year, but having a multi-dimensional running back seems to be vital to this offense right now. Until that changes, I don't see Beanie getting significant time. Unfortunately.

 

[Buckybird]

That's what I've been saying too but that's a function of the we must pass on every down mentality we have right now. If Beanie is in, teams will have to start respecting the run, then play action will work, and Beanie's pass blocking will be less important because teams will actually honor the run somewhat.

I realize he's raw, missed a lot of the preseason, but it's so apparent that he's a better runner than Tim, he's got to get on the field more.

I agree with your thoughts Russ.That running mentality will never change as long as Warner is the QB, he wants to throw and will throw until Leinart is the guy. I really don't understand our gameplan going into the Colts game, we should have attacked their weakness and gone in with a smashmouth approach.

 

[82CardsGrad]

It was being talked about all morning and afternoon on the local sports talk shows. Turns out that Whiz has SERIOUS concerns about not only the fumble issues with Beanie, but his inability to pick up his blocks, and still limited knowledge/grasp of the playbook... Apparently, all that time he missed in camp is now causing bigtime issues.
Having him in the game amounts to saying to the defense, stop him if you can cuz were gonna run the ball. And it's only going to be a few plays from the playbook... Or, try to pass while he's in the game and take a shot that Warner won't get killed.
If it were me, I'd take the shot and put him in the damn game. However, Whiz is a prove-it-to-me coach, and it seems Beanie has a ton of proving to do...

 

[lauraw]

The bottom line IMO is that we need The Coaches to be accountable in trying to find a sellable way to move the ball on the ground.. If Russ Grimm is so good, he has two [!more!] weeks to prove he can get something motoring on the ground with this team.

 

[Totally_Red]

I wonder if anyone in Minny is complaining about AP's bad pass blocking. I'm not sure if he's good or bad but he could be the worst pass blocking RB in the league and nobody would care. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't keep him off the field.

Minnesota uses Chester Taylor not only to spell AP, but also in obvious passing situations much like Seattle use to pull Shaun Alexander in the situations. The Cowboys' Preston Pearson from the Landry days was one of the first "third down specialists."

 

[nashman]

Point is it is totally irresponsible of the HC not to have found a way to get our stud RB into a game against a bad run defense! No matter how you slice it whether Beanie doesn't even know what a block is he still is a weapon that CANNOT be left sitting on the bench. Creative smart coaches find ways to use weapons period, you think Belichik leaves Wells on the sideline.....HELL NO! Its on the Whiz to correct this ASAP, because of now with just TH again we have no running game! Oh and Whiz just in case your reading this could you please stop calling damn delayed draw plays that has to be the dumbest play we try to run and it NEVER works!!

 

[Russ Smith]

It was being talked about all morning and afternoon on the local sports talk shows. Turns out that Whiz has SERIOUS concerns about not only the fumble issues with Beanie, but his inability to pick up his blocks, and still limited knowledge/grasp of the playbook... Apparently, all that time he missed in camp is now causing bigtime issues.
Having him in the game amounts to saying to the defense, stop him if you can cuz were gonna run the ball. And it's only going to be a few plays from the playbook... Or, try to pass while he's in the game and take a shot that Warner won't get killed.
If it were me, I'd take the shot and put him in the damn game. However, Whiz is a prove-it-to-me coach, and it seems Beanie has a ton of proving to do...

That's not Beanie's fault it's on the coaches and the guy who audibles to a pass on every play.

It's also surprising that Whiz is that worried about blitz pickup, teams aren't beating us with blitzes, they're just abusing our tackles one on one with no help ever for the tackles.

Who knows, maybe Beanie is a slow learner, maybe that's why he slid on draft day, but he's too good to get only 2 carries in a game against a weak run defense.

The best drive we had against SF in week 1 was when Beanie was in pounding the run. It's not a coincidence.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Everyone on this thread may want to listen to Whiz's Monday presser, or review.

He is quite clear why Beanie was not in the game.

(We fell behind - had to pass - and Beanie - due to missed time in camp, does not know all of the protections)

 

[Crazy Canuck]

That's not Beanie's fault it's on the coaches and the guy who audibles to a pass on every play.

It's also surprising that Whiz is that worried about blitz pickup, teams aren't beating us with blitzes, they're just abusing our tackles one on one with no help ever for the tackles.

Who knows, maybe Beanie is a slow learner, maybe that's why he slid on draft day, but he's too good to get only 2 carries in a game against a weak run defense.

The best drive we had against SF in week 1 was when Beanie was in pounding the run. It's not a coincidence.

Then he comes from a long line of slow learners because rookie backs not playing in passing packages is pretty common.