What’s wrong with offensive play?
That’s a question we all ask. Scoring goes down. Big plays are down. Bags are up. Quarterbacks getting shaken up is an every Sunday thing.
The reason is simple. Offensive line play stinks. Usually we see that in the first two weeks of the season, but it continued this week and affected the offenses again. Just sitting in our green room watching every game, it seemed like a quarterback was either getting sacked, beaten or running for his life on almost every play.
Offensive lines don’t hit much in the summer, which is why they’re bad right now. The defensive linemen are so athletic that it takes work to prepare for all their stunts and looks. When you combine that with all the external coverages, it’s a problem. Quarterbacks are accelerated by the fronts, but slowed by the rear aspects.
Until the offensive line play improves, expect it to stay that way. They don’t hit enough in the summer, that’s why we see the offensive disorders every week in the NFL. This week was no different.
They’re not hitting, so their quarterbacks are paying the price.
Now for some more quick observations from Week 3:
- I may be wrong about Titans quarterback Will Levis. I thought he would take a big step forward this year, but so far he has been a disaster. Three straight games with bad turnovers with Sunday’s pick-six by Jaire Alexander in the Titans’ loss to the Packers. He’s another guy victimized by terrible offensive line play, but he needs to be better. I know he wasn’t even a starter for a full season, but I expected a lot more. How much patience will new coach Brian Callahan have with Levis? It can’t be much. Deservedly so.
- Brian Flores is a defensive wizard. The Vikings are 3-0 because of his defense. That unit dominated CJ Stroud and the Texans on Sunday in a blowout win. Stroud finished 20 of 31 for 215 yards, one touchdown and two picks, but it looked a lot worse than that. He was sacked four times by the Vikings when Flores threw so many different looks at him. It’s time Flores gets another look as a head coach. He will be much better the second time around.
- The Steelers are 3-0 and Mike Tomlin is showing why he is in the conversation every year to be the best coach in the league. I thought the Steelers would be the worst team in the division. They are the best. They do it with a good defense and solid quarterback play from Justin Fields, who threw for 245 yards with a touchdown in Pittsburgh’s 20-10 win over the Chargers. The Steelers had five sacks on the day they knocked Justin Herbert out of the game. He came in with a bad ankle and left after re-injuring it. Moreover, Fields must remain as the starter. There should be no debate about it.
- The Seahawks are 3-0 and have looked good at times on both sides of the ball. But they beat a rookie quarterback in his first start in Week 1, needed overtime to beat a bad Patriots team in Week 2 and then beat the Tua Tagovailoa-less Dolphins on Sunday. Next week is the Lions on Monday night. We’ll know more about the Seahawks after that one.
- The cowboys are in serious trouble. The defense is bad and that puts too much pressure on the offense. Mike Zimmer was brought in to anchor the defense, but the run defense remains a major problem. The Ravens ran for 274 yards on Sunday in their 28-25 win. That kind of run defense demoralizes a team. They are not big and they are pushed. Something has to change.
- Raiders coach Antonio Pierce saying some Raiders “made business decisions” late in the team’s loss to the Panthers. That means they give up. The film session will be fun this week. Pierce won’t hold back — nor should he.
- The Packers won two games with Malik Willis at quarterback — and he played well. But that defense really impressed Sunday with a pick six by Jaire Alexander and eight sacks with seven players receiving at least half. The hiring of Jeff Hafley as defensive coordinator was a great move.
- How good is Giants rookie Malik Nabers? He had two touchdowns on his eight catches for 78 yards. One of those was outstanding with a big foot tap to put his feet up for the score. He is special.
- Jalen Hurts’ game-winning drive for the Eagles against New Orleans will put to rest all the talk of Eagles coach Nick Sirianni being in trouble. The Eagles beat the Saints 15-12 when Hurts hit a big play to Dallas Goedert to set up the game-winning touchdown. The Eagles were staring 1-2 in the face until he made the big throw on third-and-16 to Goedert, who had a monster day. Now at 2-1, the Eagles lead the division when they go to play the Bucs next week.
- Speaking of the Bucs, what the hell was that against the Broncos? They were flat and clearly outclassed in burst loss. That’s not a good look after beating the Lions on the road. Baker Mayfield was extraordinary for much of the game, but the depleted defense was even worse.
- Sean McVay can level coach. If we didn’t know that already, we saw it on Sunday when his gritty team battled back from 14 down to beat the 49ers. The play calling was excellent, but so was his fake throw for a first down, which started the team in the third quarter. McVay gets it.
- We saw the real Aaron Rodgers again last Thursday. After two so-so games, Rodgers looked like MVP Rodgers against the Patriots. His throws were accurate, the ball was on target but the biggest thing was his ability to move to throw. He looked hesitant the first two games coming off his torn Achilles. But Rodgers looked like Rodgers again against the Pats, which is why the Jets are a Super Bowl challenger
- The Patriots need to go ahead with it and play rookie Drake Maye. Sure, the offensive line isn’t good, but let’s forget all the talk about ruining a quarterback’s psyche if he gets beat up too much. A great myth. If that happens, you drafted the wrong guy. Don’t tell me about David Carr with the Texans either. He was just the wrong guy. Play Drake Maye. If not this week against the 49ers on the road, which isn’t happening, then do it next week against the Dolphins at home.
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