HumanCockroach wrote:Good Lord. In one sentence you say it is a 16 game season, and then go on to discuss a part of the season. You want "revisionists" history, take a gander at every single thread for the first two months of this season. The consensus wasn't simply that the line was "playing poorly" it was that the " players were garbage, Carroll, Schneider, Cable and the rest couldn't find talent or develop it". These players, the SAME ones that have been performing at a top five level for a month and a half were talentless, boobs that shouldn't have even been allowed on the football field ( ANY field of one were to read through the comments in literally dozens of threads).
Some, remained consistent in their stance inn regards to this line, I'm not doing "hamsprings" about their success, as this is were I saw them getting eventually, so it was EXPECTED not dreamt about. The offense, and more specifically the OC and quarterback FINALLY figured it out, and are now helping that line grow, by implementing a RUDIMENTARY counter to the problems of a struggling, young line with chips, quicker throws, reads and routes ( things some of us pointed out in week ONE) the have allowed for historic success.
These things are BASIC principles that EVERY coach understands, as well as EVERY QB. Why it took them 9 ( well really 7)weeks to implement is beyond me, but it was there all along. The refusal to ADJUST cost them games, and that is across the board, from the top on down.
I pointed out the "open" receivers running crossing routes and digs in multiple threads, for multiple games, the throws weren't being delivered, that isn't on the line. Despite what people wanted to say about it, then AND now.
Ultimately it's a TEAM sport, and simply put, the line was used as a scapegoat for pretty much the entire season ( not to mention ALL of last season). The Line wasn't performing well until around the Cowboys game, that doesn't mean others were however, and that is something people STILL can't seem to grasp.
No, they are not the same ones. You're forgetting about the change at center, with Lewis replacing Nowack, arguably the most important position part of the line in a strategic sense, and that change coincided closely with the turnaround. If anything, we grossly underestimated the importance of that center position.
And FYI, I, too, pointed out the same thing you did, that Russell had open receivers at the 5-10 yard range but either couldn't see them or was looking for a bigger play. I saw the Cincy game from the upper level and saw him do it on several occasions. That game was particularily frustrating because we were protecting a lead and throwing the ball short for sure, safe completions to keep the clock running and move the sticks was exactly the thing we should have been doing.
IMO those two things, ie the change at center and Russell's throwing more quick, short passes, are the two biggest differences in the offensive line's performance as we see it now and the one we saw earlier. That doesn't mean that our bunch of bums suddenly turned into the Hogs, only that we have learned how to mitigate their deficiencies. IMO there are still huge opportunities to upgrade several of those positions along the OL.