Thoughts on Whis from John Clayton

[Dayman]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/lastcall1211/john-clayton-last-call

4. What was Whisenhunt thinking? Call it impatience. Call it a wake-up call. Call it a gamble. But call it wrong. Ken Whisenhunt's decision to bench John Skelton and go with rookie Ryan Lindley was the worst decision of the day and the worst decision of the month. A 13-3 lead became a 23-19 loss, in part, because of the move.

Whisenhunt has been playing with fire all season. On Sunday, he was going with two rookie offensive tackles: Bobby Massie and Nate Potter. Abraham destroyed Potter all day. With a 13-0 lead, Whisenhunt put his trust in an inexperienced rookie quarterback and two rookie tackles not ready for prime time.

It all amounted to a victory the Falcons didn't deserve.

More at the link.

I'm not a huge John Clayton fan, but it's clear that frustrations with the coach aren't limited to this board.

 

[gmabel830]

"Abraham destroyed Potter all day" --- do others agree with this? When Potter got beat, he got beat bad and it led to some very huge plays against us. But other than a handful of those plays, I thought he held up alright for the majority of the day. Seems like Clayton only watched the highlights in reaching that conclusion?

 

[Jetstream Green]

Potter did not get destroyed and Abraham is a great pass rusher to begin with. Potter has played better than Batiste by a landslide in my opinion. I did not say Potter is good, but he looks like a Hall of Famer compared to Batiste

 

[MadCardDisease]

Clearly Clayton hasn't seen Batiste playing at LT.

 

[Dayman]

John Abraham abused Cardinals rookie left tackle Nate Potter all day, getting two sacks, three quarterback hits and five tackles in the Falcons' 23-19 victory

This is from the same article.

Potter played worlds better than Batiste, but those numbers are still pretty brutal, if they're accurate. Blocking on an island for a rookie QB making his first start surely didn't help, though.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

This is from the same article.

Potter played worlds better than Batiste, but those numbers are still pretty brutal, if they're accurate. Blocking on an island for a rookie QB making his first start surely didn't help, though.

Abraham also rushed from both ends.

 

[Buckybird]

Clayton always has been & will always be the worst national NFL reporter on the planet! He's rarely right with his assumptions & is as clueless as his lightbulb head indicates, this dude knows zero about football.

 

[Duckjake]

This is from the same article.

Potter played worlds better than Batiste, but those numbers are still pretty brutal, if they're accurate. Blocking on an island for a rookie QB making his first start surely didn't help, though.

LSH ran for 24 yards on 10 carries to the left side. He had 11 carries for 107 yards running to the right side.


And he had one carry for -4 yards up the middle.

 

[Jetstream Green]

Abraham also rushed from both ends.

yup

 

[desertdawg]

Wow I said the same things during the game thread. I thought Skelton gave us a better chance to win by far, and I thought it was super stupid not helping out on Abe, especially on the blindside. I haven't even read the rest of the article yet, but it sounds like I was watching the same game.

 

[Chopper0080]

John Clayton has no credibility with me when it comes to football strategy. If it were to come from a former head coach or an informed player, I would take it more to heart. This is like Adam Schefter critiquing Mark Sanchez's pocket footwork.

 

[Shane]

Wow I said the same things during the game thread. I thought Skelton gave us a better chance to win by far, and I thought it was super stupid not helping out on Abe, especially on the blindside. I haven't even read the rest of the article yet, but it sounds like I was watching the same game.

Use be wrong. Was absolutely the right move.

 

[Dayman]

Again, I'm not trying to defend Clayton's credibility, but defending Whis' handling of the QB position at this point is even tougher.

-The Warner/Leinart platoon was crazy. The results were obviously positive, so it was deemed a success, but throwing a QB on the field when they know they'll be pulled after a mistake is an insane amount of pressure to put on a player. There's a reason we hadn't see the platoon system before and haven't seen it since, unless you count Tebow.

-Max Hall started a game earlier in the season than any UDFA since 1974. He never even got an opportunity as a backup on another team before he left the NFL.

-Skelton was admittedly horrible to start the game yesterday, but it's pretty clear the alternative wasn't any better. It's natural for fans to call for the backup to come in during the second quarter. I did it myself yesterday. But the coach needs to make more level-headed decisions. I think Whis acted more like a frustrated fan yesterday than a head coach with a 13-0 lead.

-Whis has tried 6 QBs in the two and a half years since Warner retired. Granted, the talent level of these QBs is highly questionable, but it's remarkably tough for an offense to succeed with that type of turnover at the most important position on the field.

While these types of unorthodox decisions look great when they work, they look even more foolish when they fail. If Lindley lays an egg against the Rams, I'm sure John Clayton won't be the only national writer questioning Whis' wacky ways.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

i dunno know what it looked like on television, but there live with great seats and seeing the entire field, cheese and i were both onboard with benching skelton. that throw that he missed a WIDE OPEN fitz in the endzone is absolutely inexcusable. 100% inexcusable. throw that puppy underhand to fitz and it's a td. he had 1 completion for 1 yard for chrissake.

skelton is done as a starting qb. bellyache about the oline all you want, they were just subpar this week as opposed to atrocious and skelton was still atrocious. done and done.

 

[Mulli]

i dunno know what it looked like on television, but there live with great seats and seeing the entire field, cheese and i were both onboard with benching skelton. that throw that he missed a WIDE OPEN fitz in the endzone is absolutely inexcusable. 100% inexcusable. throw that puppy underhand to fitz and it's a td. he had 1 completion for 1 yard for chrissake.

skelton is done as a starting qb. bellyache about the oline all you want, they were just subpar this week as opposed to atrocious and skelton was still atrocious. done and done.

 

[Shane]

i dunno know what it looked like on television, but there live with great seats and seeing the entire field, cheese and i were both onboard with benching skelton. that throw that he missed a WIDE OPEN fitz in the endzone is absolutely inexcusable. 100% inexcusable. throw that puppy underhand to fitz and it's a td. he had 1 completion for 1 yard for chrissake.

skelton is done as a starting qb. bellyache about the oline all you want, they were just subpar this week as opposed to atrocious and skelton was still atrocious. done and done.

Amen

 

[Russ Smith]

i dunno know what it looked like on television, but there live with great seats and seeing the entire field, cheese and i were both onboard with benching skelton. that throw that he missed a WIDE OPEN fitz in the endzone is absolutely inexcusable. 100% inexcusable. throw that puppy underhand to fitz and it's a td. he had 1 completion for 1 yard for chrissake.

skelton is done as a starting qb. bellyache about the oline all you want, they were just subpar this week as opposed to atrocious and skelton was still atrocious. done and done.

That is just patently unfair.

2 completions for 6 yards.



He literally threw one good ball in the 7, even the 1 yarder to Floyd was a terrible throw.

 

[AzStevenCal]

i dunno know what it looked like on television, but there live with great seats and seeing the entire field, cheese and i were both onboard with benching skelton. that throw that he missed a WIDE OPEN fitz in the endzone is absolutely inexcusable. 100% inexcusable. throw that puppy underhand to fitz and it's a td. he had 1 completion for 1 yard for chrissake.

skelton is done as a starting qb. bellyache about the oline all you want, they were just subpar this week as opposed to atrocious and skelton was still atrocious. done and done.

Absolutely. If you want to get on Whiz for his handling of the QB's, question his decision to let Skelton make the trip in the first place. He's shown us all we need to see. John's replacement doesn't look any better but he hasn't had a fair chance to show us yet just how bad he is. Give him time, we're going nowhere anyway.

Steve

 

[Duckjake]

Time to shut down the Double Deuce. Too many fights and Patrick Swayze is gone.

The question is why do all the QBs, except a 10 year veteran former SB MVP, that play for CKW get worse instead of better? Of course it could be that relying on 5th and 7th round draft picks is simply a not a good idea. Sort of like what has happened at RT.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

i dunno know what it looked like on television, but there live with great seats and seeing the entire field, cheese and i were both onboard with benching skelton. that throw that he missed a WIDE OPEN fitz in the endzone is absolutely inexcusable. 100% inexcusable. throw that puppy underhand to fitz and it's a td. he had 1 completion for 1 yard for chrissake.

skelton is done as a starting qb. bellyache about the oline all you want, they were just subpar this week as opposed to atrocious and skelton was still atrocious. done and done.

You get the hat trick:

 

[Cheesebeef]

Like ouchie said... I've got no problem with Skelton's hook. My problem is that wiz and his staff literally gave shown NO CLUE how to evaluate the QB position and after three years of this, I have very little faith they ever will

 

[DeAnna]

Like ouchie said... I've got no problem with Skelton's hook. My problem is that wiz and his staff literally gave shown NO CLUE how to evaluate the QB position and after three years of this, I have very little faith they ever will

This is exactly what the talking heads were discussing on the radio today.

Whis has control over the 53 man roster - it's written into his contract. With input from Russ Grim also. Rod Graves actually doesn't that much to do with the roster; he's mostly involved in contract negotiations.

For a former offensive coordinator, Whis has done poorly with QB evaluations.

 

[desertdawg]

Hey Mom! I'm done with my segment!!!

 

[D-Dogg]

Use be wrong. Was absolutely the right move.

Right move, but wrong time to do it. Lindley gives a better chance to win, IMO, than Skelton. However, tossing him in the game early on on the road is not the way to do it, IMO.

If Skelton's leash was that short, then just bench the effer and give Lindley all reps, all two weeks to prepare, and be ready physically and mentally. It reeked of Denny's QB change the Saturday before a game when he tossed Shaun King in on a whim.

But again, I think Lindley throws a better ball than Skelton, and is more willing to take chances downfield.

Of course, Whis hasn't named a QB yet, sigh, and I think the guy just digs him some QB controversy.

 

[desertdawg]

Right move, but wrong time to do it. Lindley gives a better chance to win, IMO, than Skelton. However, tossing him in the game early on on the road is not the way to do it, IMO.

If Skelton's leash was that short, then just bench the effer and give Lindley all reps, all two weeks to prepare, and be ready physically and mentally. It reeked of Denny's QB change the Saturday before a game when he tossed Shaun King in on a whim.

But again, I think Lindley throws a better ball than Skelton, and is more willing to take chances downfield.

Of course, Whis hasn't named a QB yet, sigh, and I think the guy just digs him some QB controversy.

Good stuff vato. And I'd like to add that Lindley is basically in his Cardinal prime. We all know our QBs get worse as they learn the system.