I rare pay attention to the media, but I was getting a good laugh at the power rankings prior to this game. It’s amazing how if you lose three players on defense and get a new QB then your rankings drop significantly. Statistically, Trevor Siemian is looking better than Peyton Manning.
However, the statistics don’t show everything. What they don’t account for is 100% of the job the quarterback does prior to the snap: changing up the play, making checks, reading the defense, etc. Despite Manning’s poor play in the regular season last year, we still had an effective offense because of his pre-snap decisions. This showed in the Super Bowl too.
Siemian is a work in progress. He should’ve made some changes at the line of scrimmage on Sunday. When it came to throwing the ball, though, he played decently. One of his biggest strengths is the ability to sling the ball despite the pressure. He makes defenses pay for blitzing him by completing passes to open receivers. His weakness is going to his checkdown too quickly. He doesn’t believe in his ability enough to sling it out to his first option. At least he is reviewing his throwing options unlike a particular someone (ahem Brock Osweiler).
10 things I liked:
- Von Miller would be an obvious choice
- Our group of running backs
- The offensive line looked their best since before 2015
- Two turnovers for touchdowns
- S TJ Ward was a beast recording 8 tackles and 1 pass defensed
- The defensive line held the run game to 3.4 yards per gain. QB Andrew Luck inflated the numbers to be higher, though.
- No fumbles
- We limited QB Andrew Luck to under 200 (197) yards – not an easy feat
- There were 9 different receivers who caught the ball
- Only one sack surrendered
10 things I didn’t like:
- Six visits within the 25-yard line and only one touchdown
- The poor tackle that could’ve prevented RB Frank Gore’s touchdown
- One interception that almost turned into a touchdown
- The reliability on defensive and special teams scoring
- NT Sylvester Williams played 40 snaps and nothing to record
- We let the Colts have two drives over 10 minutes long and one at 9:30, which resulted in a touchdown
- WR Emmanuel Sanders wasn’t as big of a factor as usually with only 4 catches for 39 yards
- 8 penalties for 54 yards
- Losing OLB DeMarcus Ware for roughly 5 weeks is not good
- Losing TE Virgil Green made an immediate impact on our offense
Bonus:
Raiders are in mid-season form:
The Falcons had the Raiders fans fighting each other today. 😂 pic.twitter.com/QQnSVFfw68
— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) September 19, 2016
Another good hit this week:
