Bye Week, Onto Oakland

[Jax Dawg]

In year 7 when Robo puts together a nice 5 game stretch somebody is going to come back here and say I told you so!

[next2nothing]

Originally Posted by jax dawg

in year 7 when robo puts together a nice 5 game stretch somebody is going to come back here and say i told you so!

lol

[King of Kings]

Originally Posted by Jax Dawg

In year 7 when Robo puts together a nice 5 game stretch somebody is going to come back here and say I told you so!

I am imagining something far far worse. We cut him and the Pats pick him up and Brady turns him into a star WR.

[Sez.EJ]

[quote=Vegasdogg;145199]Robiskie is not getting cut. He isn't a loser nor is he a punk. Somewhere down the line he is going to catch a game winner. quote]

Funny.. I never said any of those things (bold print) .. I Only said he was not getting the job done. I think he has GREAT hands.. but.. he's not geting it done..so bench time.. he now has to earn his way back to more reps.. Little has earned more reps with his performance so far.. it's that simple. We need more prodction. The coaches believe more in Little right now, and for the future.

[Brown Warrior]

Robo... is a fucking bust.

[King of Kings]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

Robo... is a fucking bust.

Robo is the glue that binds this team together.... Damnit! Even still I would love to see him go to Dallas and at least turn into a slot guy so I could laugh my ass off at the announcers fudging Romo and Robo.

[Enigmatic Evil]

This is a good move, giving those plays and putting in someone who has much more upside in his 1st year (Little) in a place where Robiskie was making no plays. He's had what, two catches all season?

This should have happened a week or two ago. Good for Shurmur to notice this and take action on the bye week.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Enigmatic Evil

These points are why we need to get Hillis working and establish him. If we can get them on their heels pounding it with Hillis, then using Hardesty as the change of pace back. If we can get them cowardly against the run, that will make Colt McCoy's game a lot easier and maybe he can actually have a solid game (where as he's struggled in most every game so far)

Jason Campbell should not be underestimated which is why I made the Chad Henne analogy earlier, if we play the pass soft like we started against Miami then Campbell will get into a rhythm early and we don't want that. Can he win a shoot out, against McCoy? I'd say yes but McCoy hasn't really been in a shootout type situation yet has he?

Good stuff EE and Shep before that!

TN set us up where in the absence of WR Kenny Britt - we sold out to stop the run (Chris Johnson). As we moved a Safety into the box - a vet QB like Hasselback looked to his TEs to exploit that. I think their TEs burned us for 3 TDs within his 10 completions.

I don't know how injured Haden is but Oakland has dangerous speed on the perimeter. I never thought I'd see the day to where I say Heyward-Bey is playing some good football at the WR position. Meanwhile, Jacoby Ford might be the fastest WR in the league. McFadden looks like one of the best RBs while it's no vacation when Michael Bush fills in for him.

Offensively, it would be nice to see some growth or more consistency. I'd prefer us to throw to the RBs to loosen up other coverages even though I'm keenly aware Hardesty dropped passes last game. One of the reasons I really liked us drafting the guy was because of all the top RB prospects in his draft class he had either the 1st or 2nd best reception volume. Hillis gave us over 60 receptions in 2010 so he's seemingly good at catching the ball too. I'm looking forward to seeing Hillis and Hardesty together more than erasing a weapon upon inserting Owen Marecic. We start hitting these 2 on swing passes around an aggressive edge rush - somebody has to come up to tackle or spread out wider to the flats creating space we need.

Best news? Oakland is coming off an emotional victory on the road; and they have a matchup with the Browns they may not be taking very serious right now. They blew a 21 point 4th quarter lead on Buffalo so there is some history of falling asleep at the wheel with that team. I think we're fortunate that Cleveland travels to the west coast AFTER a bye week rather than a shortened up week following a game.

[Brown Warrior]

The Browns of this year should be watching the Niners of this year. They're balancing Gore and Smith really well and getting great results out of both. Gradually, the wraps are being taken off Smith and now he's thrown 5 TDs in his last two games... but he's being really, really careful with the ball (1 pick???).

I don't think you can win a championship with a careful QB because at some point, you have to play Green Bay or New Orleans... or Detroit, like next week. And if Smith can't do it again, what he did in the second half against Philly, they can't win against those teams.

But for this year, when the Browns aren't championship stuff, McCoy needs to be handled like Harbaugh is handling Smith: Complete passes. Don't throw picks, don't throw us out of the game. Play smart. Trust the play and make the quick throw.

Granted, Smith has the experience to see things faster than McCoy, but McCoy has lived and breathed football and the QB position at a very high level for a long time. He's seen Suh and Dareus up close and personal. He faced a lot of future NFL stars before he was in the NFL.

He needs to show off that football brain and anticipation, start looking more like Fitzpatrick and Smith, neither of whom possesses a cannon arm. It's gotta start showing up or I'll be Barking for Barkley.

(Disclaimer: He might not come out and that leaves a REALLY thin QB crop.)

[hammertime]

Shep you need to lose the A L E X S M I T H keys on your keyboard for awhile anyways.

Your just begging people to argue with you.

[Bronx Cheer]

Originally Posted by hammertime

Shep you need to lose the A L E X S M I T H keys on your keyboard for awhile anyways.

Your just begging people to argue with you.

Smith has been garbage for a while, but he sure did look really good last week. The real question is whether he is riding a hot stretch or really coming into his own.

On another topic, is anyone else annoyed at how the bye week is used by coaches as an excuse for making and not making personnel moves? It is kind of like how in baseball managers refuse to use their best relievers before the last two innings. It's like a mental crutch or something.

Every year, it seems like they hold off on obvious (to the average fan, at least) personnel moves until the bye when it would make sense to have made the move earlier. This year, it is Little for Robo.

[Masters]

We have seen Alex Smith throw 5 TDs in 2 games in the past. It's not anything to get googoo eyed over, just like his QBRs aren't. Not when the guy is basically playing the caretaker roll (which might be what he is really best suited for). Let's take a little look deeper inside his games this year:

Week 1 vs SEA 15/20, 124 yards, 6.2 Y/A, 0TD, 0INT
Week 2 vs DAL 16/24, 179 yards, 7.5 Y/A, 2TD, 1INT
Week 3 @ CIN 20/30, 201 yards, 6.7 Y/A, 0TD, 0INT
Week 4 @ PHI 21/33, 291 yards, 8.8 Y/A, 2TD, 0INT
Week 5 vs TAM 11/19, 170 yards, 8.9 Y/A, 3TD, 0INT

So frankly the guy has had two good games in five weeks, which is what he has done every year since his second season. Which then and now continues to show that as long as you don't need Smith to carry you at the QB position you'll be fine. Keep in under 25 attempts a game and he won't kill you. There is always a team and a place for that in the NFL at QB, but that's just a QB holding down the fort until you get that franchise guy.