RiverDog wrote:
I consider most of what Russell was lacking as a failure to adjust, not a regression. Defenses were taking some things away from Russell. DE's were taking wider angles, and Russell didn't adjust by stepping up into the pocket. Until lately, he was holding onto the ball too long when he had receivers open (I saw this in person at Cincy), looking for either a much more wide open look or one further downfield. I think Roach said essentially the same thing in a game he went to in person. That's something that doesn't show up on TV. Also, he didn't learn how to throw to a 6'8" receiver, trying to drop the ball over his shoulder like he would it were Kearse or Baldwin.
All that looks to be in the past now, though.
I agree with most of this. It seems a little ridiculous now to be talking regression. You don't regress for half a season and then all of a sudden turn the corner like he has the last 3 games. To me that points to a offensive shift in philosophy. It seems like the offense as a whole were a little 'slow' (very relative term) to adjust to how the D's were playing them. Clear offensive shift has produced some pretty great offensive games.