Luft’s Locker Room

Going into the game against the Colts last Sunday, I had written 7 items needed for success. From these it has solidified my opinion of the team. The offensive coaching and game planning has hurt this team and Tarvaris Jackson’s development. Tarvaris Jackson looks like a young quarterback that is being thrown to the wolves after little “teaching” from the coaches, and our defense though still a little weak on the left DB side is overall outstanding.

This is what I was looking for:

1. Will Tarvaris Jackson complete at least 60% of his passes?

NOT ACHIEVED – He threw for a little over 58%, no TD (Shaincoe dropped one, also knocking 4% points from TJ’s completion rate), no INTs, 130 yards and a 73.3 QBR.

2. Will Artis Hicks play very effectively or his backups?

ACHIEVED – Hicks played, Freeney had one sack. Play was adequate.

3. Anthony Hall over at Vikings War Cry wrote Friday about the play calling and player utilization (or lack there of). Was there going to be a more normal split of the one-two punch of Peterson-Taylor?

NOT ACHIEVED – Failed miserably. Peterson had 29 carries to Taylor’s 4, that is 86-14 and even more lopsided that week 1.

4. Play calling should favor the run this week because the Colts are relatively week and can be taken advantage of in this area. By no means does that mean abandon the pass though. There needs to be a more consistent mix of play calling and a better balance in the run pass ratio.

NOT ACHIEVED – Failed miserably. There was no consistent mix of play calling as illustrated by 6 strait run up the middle calls.

5. Will the defensive line get pressure on the less mobile [than Aaron Rodgers] Peyton Manning?

ACHIEVED – Jared Allen and the rest of the line had Manning ducking and stepping up for his life all day. Allen had a sack, but there were least a dozen times that he barely missed Manning as he screamed into the backfield. The run D held Addai to only 20 yards on the day and the Colts as a team to 25. That folks is OUTSTANDING!

6. Can Tyrell Johnson hold up against Peyton Manning’s sure fire effort to pick on him? More over will Griffin, Gordon or what ever other young DB gets some playing time hold up to the master? This will be key to holding the Colts score low.

PARTIALLY ACHIEVED – Johnson held up pretty well, but Manning picked on Griffin mercilessly. Expect to see more of this as the season continues.

7. Can the special times improve on kick coverage? Somebody, or a group of somebodies needs to step up and tackle the ball carrier on the short side of the return averages on every play.

PARTIALLY ACHIEVED – They did not give up a touchdown, unlike in week 1, but they still did not hold returners consistently under the 20/10 average. The Colts had a kick return average of 21 and punt return of 15. It is an improvement, but there is still more needed.

The blame for getting into Colts territory 8 times in a row but only coming away with 5 field goals (with the exception of Shaincoe’s TD drop) should not be attributed to lack of player abilities, but to the play calling as part of a system versus calling plays against a defense from the system, hopefully taking advantage of the athlete’s talents.

It is sad when Dan Dierdorf along with most of us fans can predict the next play called by Chilldress/Bevell, because if we can on a regular basis, you surely know defensive coordinators that study the stuff surely can. That has absolutely nothing to do with players’ abilities, but that of a coach stuck rigidly in his system.

Tarvaris’ completion percentage was higher in the preseason and now with a gimped up Berrian and as of last week a sprained knee on Sidney Rice, just like last year, there isn’t a whole lot to throw to. Some of those off target throws are timing related or route running related not just only attributable to Jackson but to the receivers that we tend not to notice as easily we can see the drops.

Why would we throw 4 times to Mills in week 1 and 0 in week 2? Why are 6 straight AD up the middle plays ran and ESPN commenting on how 90% of are plays are to the right. That has nothing to do with Tarvaris.

He is a young quarterback and if he had a game plan that maximized his and the rest of the offense’s talents versus shoving players into a conservative system based on player’s talents from 30 years ago, and play calling to mix things up, you would see success far greater than the last two years.

How many multiple receiver sets did you see? Was Adrian ever set up wide? We have to of the best ever pulling linemen ever in Birk and Hutch and how many times did you see them pull?

Just like Brad Johnson, Kelly Holcomb and Brooks Bollinger, and if we give up on Jackson, I would hypothesize that Gus Frerrotte will meet with the same sort of result if he is made the starter. It is a result not of lack minimal skills, but because of the offense they are stuck trying to succeed in.

My conclusion is that Tarvaris is a 3rd year quarterback that has talents being wasted and not developed to the maximum extent. That is what a good coach would be doing, that along with all the players on the team and utilizing their talents in a way that maximizes the chances to win games.  Jackson isn’t the problem, it is Childress’ and Bevell’s actions, decisions, and calls or the lack of them.

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