Next Day Thread: Pewing the Pewter Pirates

[KDawg]

Well, the thread title might be my worst one yet, so obviously I'm proud of it.

Let's start with the coaching. Dan Quinn, consistently going for it in field goal range was controversial.

Take the points, right? Just take the points!

Except... no. This team got to where it was because we took risks. We outplayed our talent because Dan Quinn believed in our guys to gut out tough situations and make plays when it mattered. To dig deep and make plays.

In my opinion, you don't change what got you there just because the game has the word "playoff" next to it. At the end of the day, it's a football game. A football game that this team won twelve of during the regular season and only lost five. Why would we change the formula now?

This part is speculation, but this goes into those decisions so I'm going to talk about it: If Quinn told his team he believed in them and was going to be aggressive in the red zone area on 4th and short and then he just started kicking field goals - that removes some of the magic.

The magic is what this team is built on. The belief that the people in charge believe in you. That's magic. That is why our undertalented roster is in the final eight teams. The magic.

We can argue that we made it tougher on ourselves by not taking the points at times - but by being aggressive we also added points to the score. Pick your poison, but I'd rather go to bat with my coach believing in me and my ability and sticking to the plan than him changing his mind in the big moments because he's afraid of the result and therefore doesn't believe in us like I thought he did. This will be discussed all week long, but I'm all in with Quinn on this. Ride the horse that got you there.

Oh, and we didn't punt. Want to talk about exciting? Next Saturday night we may not see a single punt with Quinn and Campbell.

Jayden Daniels was absolutely electric, again. He's smooth, and composed and just has fun out there. But Terry McLaurin, Dyami Brown and even Oz came up big in big moments.

People in the game chat were talking about how anxious they were, their heart rates being up and how stressful the game was, but I was sitting on my couch calm and relaxed. There is something about this team that when the game is kept close that I just don't have any doubt about it. Maybe its partially because I know we're playing with house money. Maybe it's because I believe in Jayden Daniels. Maybe it's because I think the football gods are smiling down on us for changing the previous situation - but I had no doubt. Again. Although, the doink definitely made me question everything for a split second.

Our running game and offensive line yesterday? Well, I'm choosing to remain with a positive mindset in this thread.

Defensively? We did enough. Made big plays when they were needed and bent, do the point that the plexiglass turned that really "white" color when you bend it and you just KNOW it's about to break but it doesn't.

I'd say more, but why? Not much else to say yet, the house money continues to grow. On to Detroit.

Studs:
Jayden Daniels - ***
Terry McLaurin - ***
Dyami Brown - ***
Jeremy Chinn - **
Bobby Wagner - *
Zane Gonzalez - *
Oz - *

Season Total:
Studs:
Jayden Daniels - 16x*
Terry McLaurin - 15x*
Jeremy Chinn - 11x*
Frankie Luvu - 9x*
Mike Sainristil - 8x*
Bobby Wagner - 6x*
Olamide Zaccheaus - 6x*
Marcus Lattimore - 5x*
Dante Fowler - 4x*
Jer'Zhan Newton - 3x*
Daron Payne -3x*
Zach Ertz - 3x*
Marcus Mariota - 3x*
Dyami Brown - 3x*
Nick Allegretti - 2x*
Quan Martin - 2x*
Chris Rodriguez - 2x*
Tyler Biadasz - 2x*
Jamison Crownder - 1x*
Jalyn Holmes - 1x*
Clelin Ferrell - 1x*

Duds:
Austin Seibert - 3x
Michael Davis - 3x

 

[Chris]

Krashing the Krewe

 

[Chris]

I’d give Ekeler a star, too.

 

[Neophyte]

I’d give Ekeler a star, too.

Yeah, he flashed enough to earn one IMHO.

 

[NickyJ]

Dyami Brown was a shocker for me. This might be his last season here, but he made every reception count last night.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Dyami Brown was a shocker for me. This might be his last season here, but he made every reception count last night.

He is usually good for a drop with that kind of target number, and generally that drop leads to fewer targets. My goodness he was the difference last night. He was huge for the team. Huge.

 

[skinzplay]

In my opinion, you don't change what got you there just because the game has the word "playoff" next to it. At the end of the day, it's a football game. A football game that this team won twelve of during the regular season and only lost five. Why would we change the formula now?

Agree 300%. That's a huge part of what did in the Ravens last year. Should've kept on doing their thing in that Bills game.

I loved the aggressive approach by DQ, and how he kept going for it even after the unsuccessful early tries. Like you said KDawg, it shows the team that he really believes in them.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Well, the thread title might be my worst one yet, so obviously I'm proud of it.

Let's start with the coaching. Dan Quinn, consistently going for it in field goal range was controversial.

Studs:
Jayden Daniels - ***
Terry McLaurin - ***
Dyami Brown - ***
Jeremy Chinn - **
Bobby Wagner - *
Zane Gonzalez - *
Oz - *

I enjoy these threads a lot.

About DQ going for it - the broadcast crew had a couple of nice tidbits. One was, DQ told them that he felt Tampa won games based on dominating ToP. He told them that they needed ToP. Collinsworth said that year-wide, DQ was willing to go for it, but tonight he may be even more inclined for ToP. That was a great point, and I feel like Collinsworth hit on it accurately. That early, that situation - I do think DQ had a plan and stuck to it.

It paid off. I think he tends to go for it, but in this game, maintaining ToP was huge, and that was clearly a big part of a great plan set up by our HC.

Why did Oz earn a Stud *? I may be forgetting something.
Why did Wagner only get one while Chinn got two? I thought both could get two. Maybe I'm nitpicking, but I was just curious if there was a particular reason how you differentiated them. Big plays made by both. Those two along with Luvu... just wow.

 

[Bulldog]

OL getting beaten at point of attack was largest sore point for me in re this roster yesterday.

It continues the late season trend. No one in the backfield gets any daylight to run toward.

The quick screens to Zacchaeus and Brown are essentially our rushing attack outside of Daniels.

Vita Vea is a very good player but the battle up front was not even a battle.

We need better strength and athleticism up front.

As the PFF ratings show Biadasz and Cosmi are n top 15 or so at position, the others are far down vs their peers.

 

[KDawg]

I enjoy these threads a lot.

About DQ going for it - the broadcast crew had a couple of nice tidbits. One was, DQ told them that he felt Tampa won games based on dominating ToP. He told them that they needed ToP. Collinsworth said that year-wide, DQ was willing to go for it, but tonight he may be even more inclined for ToP. That was a great point, and I feel like Collinsworth hit on it accurately. That early, that situation - I do think DQ had a plan and stuck to it.

It paid off. I think he tends to go for it, but in this game, maintaining ToP was huge, and that was clearly a big part of a great plan set up by our HC.

Why did Oz earn a Stud *? I may be forgetting something.
Why did Wagner only get one while Chinn got two? I thought both could get two. Maybe I'm nitpicking, but I was just curious if there was a particular reason how you differentiated them. Big plays made by both. Those two along with Luvu... just wow.

Oz had a big reception down in the red area.

Wagner got trucked by Baker.

Chinn is all over the field and might be our best player defensively, imo.

 

[KDawg]

OL getting beaten at point of attack was largest sore point for me in re this roster yesterday.

It continues the late season trend. No one in the backfield gets any daylight to run toward.

The quick screens to Zacchaeus and Brown are essentially our rushing attack outside of Daniels.

Vita Vea is a very good player but the battle up front was not even a battle.

We need better strength and athleticism up front.

As the PFF ratings show Biadasz and Cosmi are n top 15 or so at position, the others are far down vs their peers.

I am 100% not sold on Cosmi, either.

To me our OL, if ranked is:

1. Biadasz
2.
3.
4. Cosmi
5.
6. Allegretti/Coleman
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Lucas
...
...
...Wylie

Yes, there are blanks ahead of some guys.

On an ideal line, Cosmi is your 3rd/4th best lineman. Probably closer to 4th.

 

[ntotoro]

Cosmi is probably fine without a turnstile on his right-hand side.

 

[Bulldog]

Coleman is a rookie and has the expected growing pains at the hardest position to play on the OL.

I think he grows from this year’s experience. Perhaps he is ideally a RT with a top LT coming aboard.

RT is a big hole with Wylie.

LG is tough because Allegretti is an NFL guard but as in KC he’s probably better as a spot starter and top backup off the bench.

We don’t have that signature dominating lineman to anchor this unit.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

Oz had a big reception down in the red area.

Wagner got trucked by Baker.

Chinn is all over the field and might be our best player defensively, imo.

I don't think that was Wagner's fault. He was lined up to tackle Baker and then Baker got hit from behind which was a sudden change of angle. End result was Baker pinballing off players awkwardly.

That sort of thing just happens from time to time.

 

[KDawg]

I don't think that was Wagner's fault. He was lined up to tackle Baker and then Baker got hit from behind which was a sudden change of angle. End result was Baker pinballing off players awkwardly.

That sort of thing just happens from time to time.

Correct. Still loses a star.

 

[KDawg]

Coleman is a rookie and has the expected growing pains at the hardest position to play on the OL.

I think he grows from this year’s experience. Perhaps he is ideally a RT with a top LT coming aboard.

RT is a big hole with Wylie.

LG is tough because Allegretti is an NFL guard but as in KC he’s probably better as a spot starter and top backup off the bench.

We don’t have that signature dominating lineman to anchor this unit.

I think he’ll be fine as a RT. He is not likely a LT long term. I’d plan to move him and if he improves drastically that’s great.

 

[Bulldog]

Wylie is a must subtraction IMO.

Allegretti should be kept to compete for job and likely be the top backup in 2025.

 

[Iraolaball]

I had a pretty cool seat last night…and WHAT A NIGHT!

 

[Captain James]

I'm just impressed with how crisp and "prepared" they seemed last night. Limited turnovers, minimal WR drops. It was noticeable early on in the game that this team was ready to fight.

 

[Ashburn Dave]

I'm warming up to going for it on 4th down as long as we're mostly doing it on their side of the 50. I always hated Parcells going for it on 4th down with the Giants and Otis Anderson, mostly because they converted most of them and when they did convert, it was so demoralizing. Here are the percentages of making it on 4th down by distance and they are pretty good until you get to 4th and long.

Distance (Yards)	Conv-Att (Percent)
1	1,500-2,291 (65.5%)
2	429-750 (57.2%)
3	231-487 (47.4%)
4	196-422 (46.4%)
5	158-358 (44.1%)
6	121-281 (43.1%)
7	83-193 (43%)
8	54-137 (39.4%)
9	37-125 (29.6%)
10	93-335 (27.8%)

We are playing with house money so it should all be good regardless of a win or loss.

I'm hoping that CRod is active going forward until BRob gets back on track. I know we don't want 4RB's active, but IMO CRod is more valuable to us than McNichols, especially if Ekeler is healthy. We need an up the middle bread and butter type back and CRod is the best backup for that.