moklerman
Rise from the Ashes III
Even I'm starting to get concerned about Warner now. I wasn't sure if he was going to look too good the first few games. Coming off of hip surgery, not a lot of playing time for all the starters together in the preseason, Whis calling plays, Super Bowl hangover, 38+ years old, job security, etc. All of the things everyone else was worrying about.
The Jacksonville game was cause for optimism but the Indy game was not. Coming out of the bye he had two good games but now has had two bad games. The things that concern me have been prevalent in the good games though and I don't know if it's Warner, Whis or just a combination of everything.
First of all, I think Warner is clearly frustrated and on his way to an ulcer. Many have pointed to his body language as some kind of indicator and I don't disagree. But I think a lot of what we're seeing on Warner's face is him internalizing his frustration with...? The o-line is my guess. An example from the Carolina game was the pass to Morey for 26 yards toward the end of the game. Warner was sprinting down the field and directing everyone and looked like the rest of the bad day had been washed away. He had a little fire. But the play was called back because of holding on the o-line.
On a day of many proverbial knockdowns, that was his stay down moment. And that is what I have seen much of from Warner this year. Every time something bad happens he comes to the sideline not showing much emotion but it just seems like his guts are being ripped out like he's holding it in.
A different type of moment that I wanted to point to, which I think is part of the overall problem--I can't remember the opponent now but the play was talked about as one that they (Whis and Warner) had what they wanted down the right sideline--Fitz with one-on-one coverage I think, but Warner had to throw it early because of the protection breaking down. Rather than showing no emotion though, as one of his lineman tried to help him up, Warner shoved his hands away in frustration. I don't recall anyone talking much about this play but it was a very "uh, oh" moment as far as I was concerned.
I really have to question the relationship Warner and the o-line have at this point. The last couple of years he's tried yelling at them or getting after them but this year he just looks like he's at a loss.
Unfortunately, the o-line isn't the only problem. It's a major one--as it has been for years, but the play calling has been very poor IMO. I won't bother to try and break down what they've been doing but it clearly isn't working. I can understand and support being a pass first team but the passing game that was here the last couple of years is either gone or neutered. Warner's health/arm have to be considered as a possible culprit. I haven't seen it too often on the tv but many who have gone to the games have reported that he is either not seeing the field well or intentionally shying away from deep passes that seem to be open.
The other option is the play calling. Whis keeps saying that Warner is making the right reads and is doing what is asked of him but that is probably Whis protecting him to some extent. But I still think the play calling is part of the problem because of the total lack of trick plays that we've seen the last couple of years. The offense has turned into a dink-and-dunk, never take any chances, it's gonna take 10-12 plays-by design(!) to get to the end zone. With this o-line, the WR injuries, Warner's problems, etc., I think Whis is making a mistake in his approach.
Speaking of the approach, why is it that everyone can see that it's not working except the Cardinals? Sure, when the stars align and everything goes right there is a game like Jacksonville but this team seems to have no real approach for teams with a good DE. I mean, SF really slowed down Indy and they run what the Cardinals run with better blocking, more speed and more precision. And Indy won that game with a play that Haley would have called but Whis/Warner never will...a RB option.
This offense has no speed, no creativity and Warner is clearly not comfortable in it. Does he have too much input? Not enough? I don't know but it's not working and it's getting worse. Which is frustrating for me because I really thought they were going to wise up and protect Warner--from the defense and from himself--this year.
The empty backfield, 4-5 WR sets are fine for special situations but in general this offense needs to be helping out the o-line and protecting Warner. Which leads us to Leinart. If they are going to go to that type of offense--heck, if they are going to keep running this current offense, it's probably time to put Leinart in there. They "can't" run the offense that Warner is suited for and excels at. They just can't. This o-line is the exact same one that's been here since 2005-different players and different coaches, but it's still the "same" and they just don't have the tackles to do what needs to be done.
I see Warner reverting to his Giants days in many ways. He seems to be so focused on being perfect and not making any mistakes that he isn't playing with swagger. Ironically, it's just making him less productive. I don't know the progression tree that Whis uses but it's either deep to shallow or shallow to deep. If it's shallow to deep and the o-line can't provide much pass protection, what's the point of having a gunslinger?
The Jacksonville game was cause for optimism but the Indy game was not. Coming out of the bye he had two good games but now has had two bad games. The things that concern me have been prevalent in the good games though and I don't know if it's Warner, Whis or just a combination of everything.
First of all, I think Warner is clearly frustrated and on his way to an ulcer. Many have pointed to his body language as some kind of indicator and I don't disagree. But I think a lot of what we're seeing on Warner's face is him internalizing his frustration with...? The o-line is my guess. An example from the Carolina game was the pass to Morey for 26 yards toward the end of the game. Warner was sprinting down the field and directing everyone and looked like the rest of the bad day had been washed away. He had a little fire. But the play was called back because of holding on the o-line.
On a day of many proverbial knockdowns, that was his stay down moment. And that is what I have seen much of from Warner this year. Every time something bad happens he comes to the sideline not showing much emotion but it just seems like his guts are being ripped out like he's holding it in.
A different type of moment that I wanted to point to, which I think is part of the overall problem--I can't remember the opponent now but the play was talked about as one that they (Whis and Warner) had what they wanted down the right sideline--Fitz with one-on-one coverage I think, but Warner had to throw it early because of the protection breaking down. Rather than showing no emotion though, as one of his lineman tried to help him up, Warner shoved his hands away in frustration. I don't recall anyone talking much about this play but it was a very "uh, oh" moment as far as I was concerned.
I really have to question the relationship Warner and the o-line have at this point. The last couple of years he's tried yelling at them or getting after them but this year he just looks like he's at a loss.
Unfortunately, the o-line isn't the only problem. It's a major one--as it has been for years, but the play calling has been very poor IMO. I won't bother to try and break down what they've been doing but it clearly isn't working. I can understand and support being a pass first team but the passing game that was here the last couple of years is either gone or neutered. Warner's health/arm have to be considered as a possible culprit. I haven't seen it too often on the tv but many who have gone to the games have reported that he is either not seeing the field well or intentionally shying away from deep passes that seem to be open.
The other option is the play calling. Whis keeps saying that Warner is making the right reads and is doing what is asked of him but that is probably Whis protecting him to some extent. But I still think the play calling is part of the problem because of the total lack of trick plays that we've seen the last couple of years. The offense has turned into a dink-and-dunk, never take any chances, it's gonna take 10-12 plays-by design(!) to get to the end zone. With this o-line, the WR injuries, Warner's problems, etc., I think Whis is making a mistake in his approach.
Speaking of the approach, why is it that everyone can see that it's not working except the Cardinals? Sure, when the stars align and everything goes right there is a game like Jacksonville but this team seems to have no real approach for teams with a good DE. I mean, SF really slowed down Indy and they run what the Cardinals run with better blocking, more speed and more precision. And Indy won that game with a play that Haley would have called but Whis/Warner never will...a RB option.
This offense has no speed, no creativity and Warner is clearly not comfortable in it. Does he have too much input? Not enough? I don't know but it's not working and it's getting worse. Which is frustrating for me because I really thought they were going to wise up and protect Warner--from the defense and from himself--this year.
The empty backfield, 4-5 WR sets are fine for special situations but in general this offense needs to be helping out the o-line and protecting Warner. Which leads us to Leinart. If they are going to go to that type of offense--heck, if they are going to keep running this current offense, it's probably time to put Leinart in there. They "can't" run the offense that Warner is suited for and excels at. They just can't. This o-line is the exact same one that's been here since 2005-different players and different coaches, but it's still the "same" and they just don't have the tackles to do what needs to be done.
I see Warner reverting to his Giants days in many ways. He seems to be so focused on being perfect and not making any mistakes that he isn't playing with swagger. Ironically, it's just making him less productive. I don't know the progression tree that Whis uses but it's either deep to shallow or shallow to deep. If it's shallow to deep and the o-line can't provide much pass protection, what's the point of having a gunslinger?
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