FanPost

Fine tuning this great team

 A few player personnel moves for thought (not about actual play calling, since I defer to others who are much more knowledgable).  I say these half in jest, but this team is very special and such a team should always think about fine tuning:

1.  Activate Chris Ellis and give him some time by subing out Schobel.   Kelsey and Denny are doing their part.  Schobel has disappeared.  I don't recall any plays that Schobel made -- and I don't recall Schobel anywhere near my tv when Steven Jackson was running.  Ellis is apparently good at putting the pressure on the QB.  We get more pressure from the LBs (Poz, Veek), DTs (Williams, Johnson) and DBs (Youboty, Whitner, Scott) then Schobel.  Love to get a Ron From NM type of play by play analysis of Schobel (is he being double teamed a lot -- I frankly didn't see too many of that).  

2.  Bench Peters until after the bye (I guess that means only the Arizona game).  Pretty obvious to me -- if we lost any/all the last 3 games, he would have been the main goat in each one of them.  Also, that will put him in his place for pulling the hold out stunt.  Move Walker back to LT and Chambers to RT until the bye -- work on Peters' fundamentals.

3.  Play Jackson along with Marshawn for half the plays; the other half, play one back.   Forget the FB for most plays.  Instead of opening holes, they just seem to clog and crowd the running lanes.  I think Oman should be considered to be deactivated.  Didn't Lynch look injured (or just slow to get up) in every play?  We have got to preserve him a little.

4.  Bench Fowler and see what Duke has.  Fowler is a center who always gets pushed back, while the FB eats up valuable open space has made the middle impossible to get through.  I think he is handicapping the rest of the OL -- he just can't handle the big DTs, or the fast DTs, or the blitzing LBs.  He backs up so quickly that he tackles our own QB.  I don't recall too many plays where our RBs got through the middle -- I do recall many plays where our RBs first go to the middle, then has the smarts to decide to better break outside.  By the way, Butler always seemed to me to be a candidate for Center -- just an impression I have.  Duke just seems so much better than last year.  And he is a lot bigger than Fowler.  In any event, I think both are in their last year of contract.

5.  Bring in a veteran LB.  I am really concerned about Corto and Costanzo being the backups (to Ellison!).  What happens if Poz or Veek get injured?  Our team should not be in the fate of DiGiorgio.

I said before that great teams win games they should lose.  They win games they struggle in.  They win games through luck and bad luck.  They also win by getting better and not being complacent.  The opponents see a weakness and they exploit it more and more.

 

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.