'Bring the Pain' Stepping away from the panic button, slowly

[Paintrain]

I'm easily as frustrated at today's game as any out there. That was a pathetic showing, on the national stage, against a division opponent. I was in the game chat venting my frustrations with the rest of you but I am going to take a step back in my evaluations and acknowledge a few things before 'bringing the Pain'.

It was one game, week one and we're in no worse position than half of the league at 0-1. We played the Giants, recognized by many as the or one of the best teams in the league. For as poorly as we played, we were within a touchdown going into the 4th quarter. It sucks terribly to have to deal with this upcoming week but it's not the end of the world or the season.

Ok, time to 'Bring the Pain'. I've only got one victim this week, Jim Zorn.

Playcalling-Wow, that was the worst game I'd seen called since, well last season's opener. Some obvious examples:

-Plain stupidity-How can you call a WR reverse pass on the 2nd game of the season? Any jr. high school coach knows you have to set that play up. That sapped all momentum from the opening drive. Yes, Randle-El should have thrown the ball out of bounds, but more importantly, he shouldn't have been in that position to begin with!! Terrible decisions all around.
-Run/pass ratio-We trailed from the first snap the offense took yet Zorn called the game as if we held a 17 point lead. All but 3 possessions started with a run. ALL BUT 3! I understand wanting to keep the running game viable, but when you are running the ball on 2nd and 9 while you are down 2 possessions on your side off the 50 in the 4th quarter is moronic.

-Having the pulse of your players-Whatever you think about Jason Campbell as a QB, one thing is known about him. He is a rhythm passer. Get him going early and in a comfort zone and he's much more successful. One thing jumps out at me about him, he's much more comfortable and confident in the shotgun. For example, he was 14-17, 171 yards, TD today from the shotgun (6-6, 70 yds on the final drive) & 5-9 for 40 yards under center. If I can recognize that from my La-Z-Boy, Zorn should recognize this as well. I think his stubbornness gets in the way of what's best for the team. I am a JC supporter so take this with a grain of salt but you can be successful with him IF you put him in positions to do so! Let him do what he does well rather than trying to make him do what you ideally want someone to do. I think good coaches tailor what they do to the players they have and what they do best, not the other way around.

Team management and preparation-Pretty terrible showing in some really basic areas. Tackling, discipline, conditioning, penalties. We weren't physically whipped, completely out schemed (aside from Blache's vanilla defenses) or out-talented. We were beat, as usual, on the little things. Lack of gap integrity, poor effort on tackles, lazy/sloppy play. One of my biggest gripes with Zorn this preseason was how little he used the starters. He was acting like we were coming off of a Super Bowl run and returning all 22 starters.

We came out with nothing and stayed that way. The Manningham TD was the type of defensive effort that gets high school coaches fired. The Boss completion late in the 4th quarter, every DL stopped their feet while the play was alive and the QB had the ball in the pocket.

Finally, one specific gripe from last season that seems to have carried on, why is Laron Landry playing 20 yards off of the line of scrimmage?!?!? If he's one of our defensive playmakers, put him in positions to make plays!!!

I still think we've got 10 win talent and will go on a nice run with some lesser teams on the horizon.