post game thoughts

[papabear]

Originally Posted by NBT

I guess I have just never really been a fan of TJ's. He is not my type of defensiveplayer. I want the type of DT player with fire in his eyes on every play. Also one who gets consistant pressure up the middle. Especially since he was a first round pick. To me he just hasn't been that kind of player.

Your not alone. I just don't get the mob mentality sometimes that once a player has been labeled as the bad guy it is almost impossible to change that view. I was raised by wolves...I mean lawyers, so it might just be me feeling the need to argue with someone.

He isn't getting consistent pressure up the middle, but I'm not convinced they are asking him to penetrate most downs. Maybe they are and I'm just giving him too much credit for playing more of a two gap role. I think his effort level has been pretty good this year...Of course, I'm sure some of that has to do with Okoye, Okam, and Dlejuan being around too. Whatever, I don't care as long as he got the message.

I'd like to see more from his position, whether it's from him or we find an upgrade. It's just that what I see when I watch the games doesn't match up with what I hear about around town....Which means I'm really smart, or the biggest idiot in town I guess.

[Bigtinylittle]

Originally Posted by papabear

... what I see when I watch the games doesn't match up with what I hear about around town....Which means I'm really smart, or the biggest idiot in town I guess.

You ARE very smart, compared with most fans. I think most people on this board are very smart compared to radio callers, other boards, and for that matter, most sports jocks. Some of the sports jocks seem to know so little about what they are talking about that it amazes me they can keep their jobs.

The thing about football is that it is VERY complicated. Even the smartest expert is going to be wrong some of the time. That's one of the things that makes it so interesting.

I'm disappointed in Okoye because I had such high expectations of him. I watched him chasing the Bengals QB last week and was shocked at how slow he seemed. I keep hearing that he is being used incorrectly and actually hope that it's true. Because if it is it can be corrected. If the D doesn't improve, I imagine Smith will be gone whether it's his fault or not. It would be interesting to see whether his replacement would do anything different with Okoye.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by Bigtinylittle

I'm disappointed in Okoye because I had such high expectations of him. I watched him chasing the Bengals QB last week and was shocked at how slow he seemed. I keep hearing that he is being used incorrectly and actually hope that it's true. Because if it is it can be corrected. If the D doesn't improve, I imagine Smith will be gone whether it's his fault or not. It would be interesting to see whether his replacement would do anything different with Okoye.

Okoye's a DT. It's going to take him a couple of few years to grow into the position, and I'm not just talking about his age. It's very rare for a DT to come into the league and be a consistent force right away. RB's, WR, CB's, LB's, DE's all can contribute very noticeably early on. DT's, unless they're one of the few that can dominate, Hanynesworth, are rarely noticed. Even Haynesworth took a few years to get it. I'm not so sure that it was only because he was lazy, or that he only started trying when he needed a new contract.

When we took TJ it everyone spoke about how it would take time for him to develop, and to be patient. If you ask me we finally started to see the real TJ this year. Now, he's not what we hoped for, but again I think he's a solid player being asked to play to his weaknesses and not his strengths.

Okoye's got even more growing up to do than the average DT coming into the league. He's shown signs. I think he'll be fine. I don't know if he will ever be great, but I think there's still a chance. If all people worry about is sacks then you will probably always be disappointed. Hell he was about eigth in the league in sacks last year among DT's.