Ya Let’s hold off on that Kevin O’Connell contract extension

[DH11]

lol
Well done

[MaroonBells]

It's the million $ question and one that has gotten asked so much over the years - and ALWAYS after a loss. 

I honestly dont have a handle on whether (or not) KOC had a great game plan that Darnold couldn't execute (or our OL) or if KOC completely didnt learn from the Lions or last Rams game? 

The truth is that it may be both.

It probably IS both. It's possible KOC could've done a better job with the game plan after what happened in Detroit. That doesn't mean he's not a terrific coach, deserving of a new contract. The good far outweighs the bad in his case. But he's not flawless. I'm sure he'd be the first to admit that, which is another thing that makes him a good coach. 

It's also obvious Darnold was terrible again, held the ball too long and missed open receivers. That doesn't mean he wasn't pretty damn spectacular for most of the year deserving of a Pro Bowl nod and a bigger contract. 

All of this can be true.

[StickierBuns]

It probably IS both. It's possible KOC could've done a better job with the game plan after what happened in Detroit. That doesn't mean he's not a terrific coach, deserving of a new contract. The good far outweighs the bad in his case. But he's not flawless. I'm sure he'd be the first to admit that, which is another thing that makes him a good coach. 

It's also obvious Darnold was terrible again, held the ball too long and missed open receivers. That doesn't mean he wasn't pretty damn spectacular for most of the year deserving of a Pro Bowl nod and a bigger contract. 

All of this can be true.

So what is KOC supposed to do here when he tells Sam what to do and he shits himself? From Mike Silver, The Athletic:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6060488...-oconnell/

[MaroonBells]

So what is KOC supposed to do here when he tells Sam what to do and he shits himself? From Mike Silver, The Athletic:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6060488...-oconnell/

Strangle the Ginger Jesus.

[Canthony]

If KOC needs to tell his QB what he should look for and in what order and what to do... He was never KOCs QB to start.

[StickierBuns]

If KOC needs to tell his QB what he should look for and in what order and what to do... He was never KOCs QB to start.

KOC is managing chaos at this point. Darnold is pissing down his leg on national TV in the playoffs and he's trying to calmly make chicken salad out of chicken shit. I can't imagine how frustrated Kevin was at the point he realized Darnold was off the rails. The game was like sand through his fingers. His whole gameplan went up in flames because Sam turned into Don Knots.

[JimmyinSD]

KOC is managing chaos at this point. Darnold is pissing down his leg on national TV in the playoffs and he's trying to calmly make chicken salad out of chicken shit. I can't imagine how frustrated Kevin was at the point he realized Darnold was off the rails. The game was like sand through his fingers.

so why was putting Mullins in never an option?  why carry a guy all year if you have no intention of using him when the team needed a different QB the most?  This is where I question KOC the most from last nights game, I dont know that I think Mullins would have won the game for the Vikes,  but I am fairly confident he wouldnt have shit the bed as bad a Sam did and if it was done early enough,  it may have been enough to alter the outcome.

Fuck,  Daniel Jones would have been a better option than Darnold and I doubt he knows jack shit about the play book.

[Kentis]

Our team lost 4 games to two teams this season. Both those teams have superior rosters to ours at this point. These losses totally reinforced the shortcomings, that we all know exist on our roster. We have 25 free agents this upcoming season so things will dramatically change. Our coaches did manage to catch lightning in a bottle to win 14 games, until ultimately we were overmatched. We have some excellent pieces to build around our young top 10 QB. I want to see what this coaching staff can do w/ superior rosters going forward…

[MAD GAINZ]

Our team lost 4 games to two teams this season. Both those teams have superior rosters to ours at this point. These losses totally reinforced the shortcomings, that we all know exist on our roster. We have 25 free agents this upcoming season so things will dramatically change. Our coaches did manage to catch lightning in a bottle to win 14 games, until ultimately we were overmatched. We have some excellent pieces to build around our young top 10 QB. I want to see what this coaching staff can do w/ superior rosters going forward…

Get outta here with that logical take, Kentis...

Lol

[medaille]

So who's your 'top tier of coaches'? And what's your criteria? And why are you blaming him again for obvious Darnold shortcomings? What are his flaws? 

Nobody's perfect and neither is KOC. But if I hear one more dim perspective of how KOC didn't gameplan 'short throws or check downs' I'm going to burp up bile. They were there.....Sam didn't utilize them or see them in his skittish frenzy. Execution is everything. John McKay's great quote when asked what he thought about the team's execution in a particular game and he famously said, "I'm all for it".

Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men......they don't work if the players don't perform.

Why do you call them “Darnold obvious shortcomings” but don’t mention “KOC’s obvious shortcomings”?  They weren’t here for 14 games and 10 days ago everyone … EVERYONE …was saying Darnold was going to get a huge contract and we were going to franchise him and trade him or keep him for big bucks.  Saying these two losses are purely on Darnold is lazy, as if he forgot how to play QB when we played the Lions or Rams twice, and we all knew this is who he was.  You could just as easily say that KOC forgot how to coach.

While maybe you were seeing wide open receivers running routes all game, what I saw was no receivers on the screen most of the game except for stuff thrown behind the LOS.  I saw an OLine that let the interior collapse and let many free rushers get to the QB.  I saw an OLine that completely forgot how to block stunts.  I don’t recall any obvious or at least effective adjustments made to increase protection for Darnold.  If you have a compilation video of all the wide open receivers that were open while Darnold was casually sitting in the pocket surveying the field, I’d love to see it.  How many 3 step drops were there or bootlegs?  When you saw the blitz, where were the hot routes?

Every year, KOC’s QB is in the top 10 most sacked, most hit, most pressured and his QBs hold the ball the longest, despite him having some of the best receiving targets in the league and the best tackle duo in the league.  All the other teams above him are the dumpster fire teams.  Kirk Cousins said this was a very complicated offense and it took him a while to learn it.  Every year KOC’s offense can’t run the ball when it needs to. 

This offense has some very obvious flaws in it.  I don’t think I’m reading things into it because I hate KOC or love Darnold.  It’s a boom or bust offense and when the protection isn’t there to get the booms, there’s not much left in the playbook.