1: Rizzo says "Johnny can't throw in those windy conditions, and you can't make a living as a running quarterback in the NFL".
The second part of that sentence is true, but the first part is presumptuous.
Certainly the wind was an issue. Alex Smith kept his passes short, and completed most of them.
There is a lot of science involved here. What part of the field are you on? Which direction are you facing? Is this your home field, or one that's strange to you?
Rizzo didn't bother with any of that, and completely ignored the fact that Johnny has a very strong arm. Declaring him incapable of ever doing better in similar conditions is irrational. There might even be college games on record to refute it.
A tight spiral helps, and Johnny doesn't always "spin it" as well as he could, but generally Rizzo was less than thoughtful.
Nobody is talking about Johnny outrunning his running backs every game either. Quit overreacting.
2: On this windy day, the 6'5" Terrelle Pryor and Justin Gilbert were inactive. Taylor Gabriel was active.
Johnny Manziel sure could have used a super-fast big skyscraper in the Red Zone, especially on such a windy day.
Instead, the only big/tall threat was Gary Barnidge. The Chiefs knew that, and are very effective against tight ends.
Smurf receivers are much less effective in the end zone because they can't go to the back edge and wait. They have to have separation and generally be in front of defenders. Coverage guys position themselves shallower, knowing the smurfs will run out of space if they try to flash by them. They can be two or three feet in front of the smurfs and still break up the pass, too.
Nor can the quarterback loft the ball in a bucket-pass, as it gives all the close-packed defenders time to react to the ball.
Especially on a windy day like Sunday, the smurfs have to cross underneath and the pass has to be low and hard.
Pryor could have fixed that. He could have been behind the defenders, and the pass could have a higher trajectory because he has the range to adjust to it if the wind takes it off-course.
...or he could catch a slant or cross himself and just run people over.
Mike Pettine is a blockhead.
3: Terry Pluto and others think Johnny needs to be better in the pocket. I wasn't able to watch this game, but it sounded like he rarely had a pocket. You need a pocket to play well in it.
And he's played well from the pocket for several games now. How does one game undo all that?
I believe Johnny ran so much as a strategy on a day in which he couldn't trust any intermediate or long passes to get to their targets. And that was very smart.
4: The defense and run game offered much encouragement. These were not the 49ers, and now on two out of three weeks, they've played well.
Notables included Farmer draft picks Nate Orchard and Danny Shelton, and Farmer ufa Jamie Meder. Farmer draft pick Cam Erving also finally had a serviceable day. I guess Farmer free agent Pasztor did okay too, but I'm not sure. Farmer ufa Isaiah Crowell did ok, right?
The Ravens just knocked off the Steelers, and the Browns have a shot too.
The Ravens passed effectively, and a little later even managed to wear down the run defense and control the clock.
Hard to imagine Big Ben and his all-star receivers being stifled two weeks in a row, but Johnny Manziel can shoot it out.
I'm off the fence on Mike Pettine. He's a blockhead. Even if you doubt that Pryor could have improved the offense in the Red zone as I described, he needed the reps, they needed more real tape on him, and not on Gabriel. Ditto Gilbert.
He's a blockhead. Experience will always trump talent for him, when often it shouldn't. No mystery there's some conflict between him and Farmer (now). I side with Ray.
The defense surrendered a touchdown pass because Donte Whitner failed to pick up the tight end in coverage. Ibrahim Campbell could have screwed that up just as well.
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