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Week 2 is in the books and after an ugly at times, but exciting, 30-29 victory the WFT keeps their head above water early in the year. Let's dive right into our standout and lackluster performances for Thursday's game.
Studs:
1. Taylor Heinicke - the legend continues to grow. On a short week, this guy played about as well as we could have asked him to. He pushed the ball downfield with velocity, was aggressive, checked down when he needed to, and carried the team on his shoulders on a night where our play otherwise would have typically resulted in a 14 point loss. His play emphasized just how much of a table setter the QB position is in this league.
2. Terry McLaurin - leaders lead with their play. Talk is cheap most other times. #17 proved why he is likely the best draft pick we have made in over a decade. When things were going sideways early in the game, Terry started taking over in the 2nd quarter when this team was staring down the barrel of 0-2. With clutch catch after clutch catch, he reminded us all why he should be targeted as often as possible on Sundays.
3. JD McKissic - a touchdown and some nice work in the passing game earns McKissic a spot on this week's list. He barely saw the field a week ago, but hopefully reminded Scott Turner that he can be a very useful platoon player with Antonio Gibson. He's a nice spark plug and adds a bit of electricity to the offence. We just feel a bit more dangerous offensively when we give JD some looks.
4. Jon Allen - another amazing leader on this team who brings it. Much like Terry, when we were swirling the drain in the 1st quarter, it was Allen who added a major spark last night. His two sacks seemed to jolt the defensive line during the second quarter when we appeared to wake up last night and give ourselves a fighting chance. I feel like if Allen's single-handed revival of the d-line in the 2nd quarter didn't happen, we are possibly staring at another L in the standings this morning, as that game could have got away from us. He kept us afloat last night to an extent.
5. Rickey Seals Jones - the role players and depth guys have to make it count when they get those precious few opportunities to have their number called. A big time TD catch earns him some high praise.
Duds:
1. Jack Del Rio - we had our share of issues once again on the defensive side of the ball last night. Coaching was as big of a part of the issue as any. Daniel Jones seemed to be able to tuck and run at will at times in the game without an answer. We tried getting home with 4 throughout the majority of the game and failed. Heck, we even dropped Chase Young back in coverage up by 1 with the Giants driving late. Yes, the 2nd overall pick in the draft, highly regarded for his ability to feast on opposing QBs, dropped back in coverage while we sent I believe three guys after Jones. Most concerning of all, he hasn't been able thus far to dial up the right call in opposing teams' final drives of the game two weeks in a row. For a team that will likely play in a lot of tight games this year, we need to do better in crunch time defensively - and that starts with the coordinator.
2. Scott Turner - I love that he is not keeping the training wheels on Heinicke. That said, you could see that Taylor was a bit too amped up at times last night, as evidenced by a few high throws here and there. Therefore, I thought that up by 1 with an opportunity to seal the game late with the rushing attack, Turner put Taylor in a really bad spot electing to be really aggressive. It resulted in the INT that almost wrecked the game for us. Gibson ripped off two really good carries in the sequence prior to the INT. If it ain't broke, don't fix it Scott! Good thing Heinicke proved determined and unflappable last night, or else Turner would really be swirling the drain this morning.
3. William Jackson - he was on our stud list a week ago, but his play was concerning last night. We saw him get beat in one on ones for TDs, something that we were told he would help this defence with. Additionally, some major miscommunication issues seemed to be happening with the safeties on the dropped deep throw to Slayton. Whether it was his fault or not, Jackson, as a prized FA addition, needs to get that kind of stuff sorted out.
4. Dustin Hopkins - yes, he was perfect on field goals last night and ultimately made the game winning kick after being given a second chance at it. Unfortunately, not everybody in this league is the Giants and we won't get many freebies like that again. I feel like if the Giants did not commit a penalty on the last play last night, Dustin would be currently looking for work elsewhere this morning. It is more of a confidence thing for me, and Hopkins did little to instill more of it in me as a fan last night.
5. Samuel Cosmi - I might be a bit too harsh here. That said, he got blown up a few times early in the game and looked a bit overwhelmed in pass protection at times. To his credit, in the game winning drive, when our offensive line typically crumbles, he held it together and also looked like he was having some success in run blocking. A definite improvement this week, but still huge room for growth.
What say you? Who did we miss?
Studs:
1. Taylor Heinicke - the legend continues to grow. On a short week, this guy played about as well as we could have asked him to. He pushed the ball downfield with velocity, was aggressive, checked down when he needed to, and carried the team on his shoulders on a night where our play otherwise would have typically resulted in a 14 point loss. His play emphasized just how much of a table setter the QB position is in this league.
2. Terry McLaurin - leaders lead with their play. Talk is cheap most other times. #17 proved why he is likely the best draft pick we have made in over a decade. When things were going sideways early in the game, Terry started taking over in the 2nd quarter when this team was staring down the barrel of 0-2. With clutch catch after clutch catch, he reminded us all why he should be targeted as often as possible on Sundays.
3. JD McKissic - a touchdown and some nice work in the passing game earns McKissic a spot on this week's list. He barely saw the field a week ago, but hopefully reminded Scott Turner that he can be a very useful platoon player with Antonio Gibson. He's a nice spark plug and adds a bit of electricity to the offence. We just feel a bit more dangerous offensively when we give JD some looks.
4. Jon Allen - another amazing leader on this team who brings it. Much like Terry, when we were swirling the drain in the 1st quarter, it was Allen who added a major spark last night. His two sacks seemed to jolt the defensive line during the second quarter when we appeared to wake up last night and give ourselves a fighting chance. I feel like if Allen's single-handed revival of the d-line in the 2nd quarter didn't happen, we are possibly staring at another L in the standings this morning, as that game could have got away from us. He kept us afloat last night to an extent.
5. Rickey Seals Jones - the role players and depth guys have to make it count when they get those precious few opportunities to have their number called. A big time TD catch earns him some high praise.
Duds:
1. Jack Del Rio - we had our share of issues once again on the defensive side of the ball last night. Coaching was as big of a part of the issue as any. Daniel Jones seemed to be able to tuck and run at will at times in the game without an answer. We tried getting home with 4 throughout the majority of the game and failed. Heck, we even dropped Chase Young back in coverage up by 1 with the Giants driving late. Yes, the 2nd overall pick in the draft, highly regarded for his ability to feast on opposing QBs, dropped back in coverage while we sent I believe three guys after Jones. Most concerning of all, he hasn't been able thus far to dial up the right call in opposing teams' final drives of the game two weeks in a row. For a team that will likely play in a lot of tight games this year, we need to do better in crunch time defensively - and that starts with the coordinator.
2. Scott Turner - I love that he is not keeping the training wheels on Heinicke. That said, you could see that Taylor was a bit too amped up at times last night, as evidenced by a few high throws here and there. Therefore, I thought that up by 1 with an opportunity to seal the game late with the rushing attack, Turner put Taylor in a really bad spot electing to be really aggressive. It resulted in the INT that almost wrecked the game for us. Gibson ripped off two really good carries in the sequence prior to the INT. If it ain't broke, don't fix it Scott! Good thing Heinicke proved determined and unflappable last night, or else Turner would really be swirling the drain this morning.
3. William Jackson - he was on our stud list a week ago, but his play was concerning last night. We saw him get beat in one on ones for TDs, something that we were told he would help this defence with. Additionally, some major miscommunication issues seemed to be happening with the safeties on the dropped deep throw to Slayton. Whether it was his fault or not, Jackson, as a prized FA addition, needs to get that kind of stuff sorted out.
4. Dustin Hopkins - yes, he was perfect on field goals last night and ultimately made the game winning kick after being given a second chance at it. Unfortunately, not everybody in this league is the Giants and we won't get many freebies like that again. I feel like if the Giants did not commit a penalty on the last play last night, Dustin would be currently looking for work elsewhere this morning. It is more of a confidence thing for me, and Hopkins did little to instill more of it in me as a fan last night.
5. Samuel Cosmi - I might be a bit too harsh here. That said, he got blown up a few times early in the game and looked a bit overwhelmed in pass protection at times. To his credit, in the game winning drive, when our offensive line typically crumbles, he held it together and also looked like he was having some success in run blocking. A definite improvement this week, but still huge room for growth.
What say you? Who did we miss?
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