Am I Seriously The Only One Not Impressed With Morris?

[Nobody]

He had a decent stat line, but he showed me absolutely nothing more than the same slow, churning up the middle for nothing running we saw out of every unexciting back of the last couple of decades.

I liked watching our guys run last year. They were fast, they had the moves, and they were explosive. You always felt like they could break one. Morris was like watching someone just pound 3 inch run after 3 inch run, with the occasional break away for 2 yards. I literally bitched the entire game about Helu not starting or getting in the game enough. The fact it was announced that he has cemented the starting role made me sick to my stomach.

I don't like the kid. Hopefully he will grow on me or show me something more, but for now it would be like starting Grossman over Griff, I just don't get it. Am I alone in this?

 

[Boone]

I don't think you're alone - Neo is voicing some similar sentiments. But the holes weren't there guys. I'm not sure what you expect. The kid fought for every inch. And despite almost no running room in the first half, he still nearly went for 100 yds in his first NFL game, as a virtual unknown late round draft pick.

I think there's some impatience reflected in your assessment.

 

[McD5]

Geez Extreme. There's no need to be down on the kid. He did exactly what he was asked to do--he ran very hard, and he held onto the ball. He had a big debut.

It's a long season. I believe we'll start to see Helu on third downs.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Yes, you are the only person in history not impressed with a ROOKIE in his first performance getting 96 yards and two touchdowns.

 

[Boone]

I'll also say, if you really spent most of that game 'bitching', there's something seriously wrong with you

 

[Lanky Livingston]

I don't think you're alone - Neo is voicing some similar sentiments. But the holes weren't there guys. I'm not sure what you expect. The kid fought for every inch. And despite almost no running room in the first half, he still nearly went for 100 yds in his first NFL game, as a virtual unknown late round draft pick.

I think there's some impatience reflected in your assessment.

The holes weren't there, another good point - but where it mattered most, in the red zone, he found holes and scored TDs.

 

[McD5]

Just for reference, and my aplogies to Boone, Chris Johnson ran 11 times yesterday for a grand total of.....wait for it.......wait......4 yards.

11 runs for 4 yards? Now that's disappointing. Morris was not disappointing.

 

[Nobody]

I don't want to hear about how he's a 6th round pick. The fact he's the starter makes his draft position irrelevant. I mean hell, wasn't Unitas something absurd like a 10th round pick? He ran the ball 28 times. For 28 carries, you'd think we would certainly break 100 yards, but that isn't my only gripe with the kid. It's the lack of excitement. TDs aren't what I'm talking about, I'm talking about yawning nearly every time he ran his 1/4 yard runs.

People can say all they want about holes not being there, but this is the NFL, you should be making your own moves, not always relying on other to do it for you. Playmakers make things happen. Any count on how many times Morris was stopped after plowing into his own guy Clinton Portis style like he didn't see a 300 lb ass in front of him? It happened on most of his runs. There was a hole alright, he was just trying to hit the wrong kind.

And seriously, 2 TDS that combined for 4 yards? I love touchdowns in any form, but using the fact he got 2 TDS to somehow proclaim that made him great and/or exciting, when they were plays almost any guy on the team could have squeezed in doesn't do it for me. If a halfback scored 30 TDs, but they were all 1 yard runs, and gained only another 10 yards all season, would it be the greatest season ever?

I was elated at the win. I loved that we put up so many points. But I can't be the only one who felt like it was the most boring 40 points ever scored. Outside of Griffin and the fact we beat a great team, there wasn't much to the game. I can't quite put my finger on what it was, but it just feels like the drudging running of Morris was a culprit. It just felt like halfway through the third quarter, Shanny decided to let off the gas and almost gave the game away. The 4th quarter was a total bore.

And it was 96 yards, not 98

 

[Boone]

Morris is going to light it up and make you guys look silly.And probably pretty soon

 

[Nobody]

I hope you're right. My gut just tells me he's not the guy, and he will hold our offense back. We almost blew it yesterday because of his running. We got lucky at the end.

 

[Boone]

You know what Arian Fosters #'s were yesterday? 26 attempts, 78 yards. 2 TDs.

Just sayin'...let's give the guy a chance.

Morris blew it? That's not even close to being true. Our ST gave up a ridiculous punt block for a gimme TD or the game wouldn't even have been in reach. Morris broke two long ones - you make it sound like he couldn't do anything but pound it into the line for 1-2 yards. That's just incorrect.

 

[McD5]

We almost blew it yesterday because of Danny Smith, or because we were playing against an incredible offense, on the road, in one of the toughest places to win.

There we go.

 

[Neophyte]

Again, for the record, I am not anti-Morris nor was I unimpressed. It is really more a case of I didn't see anything to separate Morris from Helu and Royster yesterday yet today I am reading a couple guys talk like he is the second coming of Portis or Riggins.

I am wondering what all the excitement is about. The guy averaged a pretty pedestrian 3.4 ypc. A lot of guys on this board bitched about it when it was Portis averaging that and Clinton never, ever had the passing game to support him that Morris had yesterday.

I hope he does run roughshod over somebody. And soon. Like this Sunday in St Louis. I'd be thrilled. I'd love for him to take a strangle hold on the job and not look back.

I'm not trying to cut the guy or even demote him. I just see what the excitement is about.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Your gut also said Andrew Luck was going to be the next Ryan Leaf. I'd stop listening to that thing if I were you.
Posted via BGO Mobile Device

 

[Nobody]

Luck is the next Ryan Leaf.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

Bottom line is that adrian petersen (sp) wouldnt do much behind this line, some of those 2-3 yeard runs should have been -2,3 yards, and one the runs he broke, he was hit at or near the LOS and just made stuff happen. reality is that this Oline is atrocious and its not going to get much better this season.

 

[Fear The Spear]

He had a decent stat line, but he showed me absolutely nothing more than the same slow, churning up the middle for nothing running we saw out of every unexciting back of the last couple of decades.

I liked watching our guys run last year. They were fast, they had the moves, and they were explosive. You always felt like they could break one. Morris was like watching someone just pound 3 inch run after 3 inch run, with the occasional break away for 2 yards.

That's not his style. Alfred Morris is not Barry Sanders or Chris Johnson.
He's not going to mesmerize you with his speed, shifty moves, or finesse.
He's going to be a solid, north-south, one-cut runner, who pounds for every yard possible and then some.

He's more like John Riggins than almost anyone we've had in a long time. Appreciate him for who he is and his style. Appreciate him for the fact that he didn't drop the ball like a lot of rookies AND veterans do. Appreciate the fact that, while our Red Zone offense has been horrid in the past, he pounded it into the End Zone twice, resulting in 14 points, more than the difference in the game.

Who cares how short the runs were. Points win games, not long runs, or impressive averages. And first downs lead to points. There's a lot of runners, especially Redskins backs from the past who could not have put it in the end zone on those plays.

We're not talking about a Timmy Smith, who had gaping holes to waltz through. This guy had practically nothing to work with, and he made something out of nothing. And then some. He did what was expected of him, and more. Stats dont tell the whole story. Example, stats don't tell you that the offensive line only gave him ONE yard to work with, and he made 3.4 yards out of it. Clearly, the glass is 90% full or more, and you're looking at the 10% or less.

 

[Goaldeje]

Ex, it was pretty clear to me that the Saints thought we would run the ball. A lot. Their defense was designed for the first half to stop the run, and make Griff beat them, IMO. That did not work well for them, so they switched it up and gave the passing game more attention in the second, which is, uncoincidentally, when the running lanes opened up.

I hear what you're saying about making your own holes, and agree Morris didn't do that much. I don't think he will ever do that a lot. He is our bruiser, and having Helu as a change of pace, third down back is going to be fantastic.

 

[burgold]

You have no idea how exciting it was for me to see a back with the desire and power to complete 3rd and ones, fourth and ones and goal line plays. We haven't had a guy who could do that since probably Stephen Davis. Clinton would rarely win the third and shorts. He'd get stacked up on the goal line. Heck, Portis was so bad at it that we often had to rely on Rock Cartwright to try to win the goal line battles.

This guy is extending the drives and getting us what we needed. That was great. So far, he's an Eddie George or George Rogers type of back. Not a home run hitter, but capable of a double and someone who'll get you on base a lot.

For game number one, that was more than fine. I would have liked a successfully completed Riggo Drill where we ran out the fourth Quarter, but while Morris was breaking tackles to get his 2, 3, 5 yards... his first broken tackle was too often in the backfield. All of this should get better.

 

[Nobody]

Save the crap about the oline. Not only did they play phenomenally better than they were expected to, but Barry Sanders was in my opinion the greatest back of all time. And he ran behind the worst lines in NFL history.