Yeah, so a shootout is anyone's game, right? Certainly a far cry from the 25 point win last year. I just think we saw a guy turn a program around, and quickly. I am expecting them to progress. Apparently a lot of coaches and press are too, as we are seeing.
They had OL problems last year too, and still scored almost 200 more points than they did the year before. That's great coaching. They have the entire interior of their line back (yes they lose their tackles), and the 1500 yard rusher they paved the way for. They can run up the middle well. Which to me, might be the Achilles heel of our defense. We will see. They found a legit QB (11.5 YPA, 63%, 2,065 yards, 22 TD against 5 Int.). He also went for 482 YDS on the ground and 6 more TDs, and they have an WR room that is going to get a lot of NFL attention.
They certainly had a ton of defensive problems, but 9 of their 11 top tacklers are back. That helps. Their front 7 is a bit undersized (they have a couple of emerging stars at LB), so we are going to need to show we can be a physical team and really dominate that part of the game or we're going to miss out on one of our best competitive advantages. To me, the jury is out in a big way on our OL, especially when it comes to physicality. I need to see it. They have to figure out their DB's but there is talent. They just have to make plays. Aka need to be coached up. Sound familiar?
Again, we will have a physical advantage on the lines and we will need to take advantage of them. If we play soft up front, we could be in real trouble. This is either our 2nd or 3rd toughest game.
Thanks for actually talking ball, compadre.
