What I think...

[Montana Tom]

What I think after last night's debacle....

Some of this is as obvious as the nose on your face, and some has been stated before...my Monday morning take:

1. We really miss Darrisaw.  Skules is not one, but two steps down.
2. Juergens seemed to be acceptable when Kelly was taken out for concussion protocol.  
3. JJM has to get rid of the ball faster...it takes him a fraction of a second too long to identify receivers.  I am massively disappointed in the performance of our OL in general.
4. I really thought Nailor was going to have "bouncy hands", recovering from a broken bone in his hand.  Instead, it appears that his ability to snag balls has improved since last year.
5. Two of those picks were close to completions...one of two thoughts...JJM has to throw with more anticipation of a DB jumping the route.  Second, good job by the Falcon's DBs.
6.  Why were so many edge rushers not picked up by our OL?
7.  It seems that one cure for stunting the rush would be shorter routes, quicker release.  Not seeing too many good old fashioned slant routes.
8.  Even highly touted Will Fries had a huge false start penalty in front of 70,000 ppl...how must that feel?
9.  I still like Jalen Redmond and LDR on the line together.
10.  Penix looked like the better of the two 2nd year QBs last night, but he wasn't completely better.  JJM threw for more yards, (148-135 yards), Penix had a much higher completion rate (61% to 52%), but the biggest difference was sacks taken (6 vs 3) and picks (2 vs 0).  If you factor in those, Penix looked definitely better.
11.  I knew Bijan Robinson was good, but I could not believe the one-two punch of Robinson-Allgeier. 
12.  Aaron Jones did not seem like the better RB last night, but looking at the box score, he was with a 4.6 YPC.  However, one of the biggest runs by Mason was negated by penalty.  Duh.
13.  I think our DL earned the moniker "sieve" last night.
14.  We get blown out for the home opener against...Atlanta?  We barely beat the Bears...but the Lions blew them out.  This does not bode well.
15.  JJM showed some flashes, no question.  Kid's got an arm...but...plenty of low throws that even Thielen could not catch.
16.  Box score says we had 3 sacks, 3 TFLs and 6 QB hurries...but that did not overcome their running game gashing our DL.  
17.  Myles Price...where did you go?
and finally...
18.  I know that many of us said "patience" with the red-shirt rookie QB.  And then we were teased with that 4th quarter comeback last week thinking "the future is now!"  I've seen one good quarter out of 8 so far.  I think the word of the day is "patience"...the switch does not get flipped in a week...it takes time.  Expect more games like this, not less.

[MaroonBells]

Valid points MT. Falcons knew they couldn't play a long game against our defense, and so guess what? They didn't. It was this kind of recognition of reality and adjustment to game plan by Raheem Morris that we just weren't willing or able to do.

[greediron]

What I think after last night's debacle....

Some of this is as obvious as the nose on your face, and some has been stated before...my Monday morning take:

1. We really miss Darrisaw.  Skules is not one, but two steps down. Yes hopefully soon.
2. Juergens seemed to be acceptable when Kelly was taken out for concussion protocol.  
3. JJM has to get rid of the ball faster...it takes him a fraction of a second too long to identify receivers.  I am massively disappointed in the performance of our OL in general.
4. I really thought Nailor was going to have "bouncy hands", recovering from a broken bone in his hand.  Instead, it appears that his ability to snag balls has improved since last year.
5. Two of those picks were close to completions...one of two thoughts...JJM has to throw with more anticipation of a DB jumping the route.  Second, good job by the Falcon's DBs.
6.  Why were so many edge rushers not picked up by our OL? our scheme certainly didn't anticipate their pressure.  The one that JJ fumbled on was very egregious. 
7.  It seems that one cure for stunting the rush would be shorter routes, quicker release.  Not seeing too many good old fashioned slant routes.  KOC's offense has been figured out by defenses.  He needs to incorporate some slants and quick hitters.
8.  Even highly touted Will Fries had a huge false start penalty in front of 70,000 ppl...how must that feel?
9.  I still like Jalen Redmond and LDR on the line together.
10.  Penix looked like the better of the two 2nd year QBs last night, but he wasn't completely better.  JJM threw for more yards, (148-135 yards), Penix had a much higher completion rate (61% to 52%), but the biggest difference was sacks taken (6 vs 3) and picks (2 vs 0).  If you factor in those, Penix looked definitely better.
11.  I knew Bijan Robinson was good, but I could not believe the one-two punch of Robinson-Allgeier. 
12.  Aaron Jones did not seem like the better RB last night, but looking at the box score, he was with a 4.6 YPC.  However, one of the biggest runs by Mason was negated by penalty.  Duh.
13.  I think our DL earned the moniker "sieve" last night.
14.  We get blown out for the home opener against...Atlanta?  We barely beat the Bears...but the Lions blew them out.  This does not bode well.
15.  JJM showed some flashes, no question.  Kid's got an arm...but...plenty of low throws that even Thielen could not catch.
16.  Box score says we had 3 sacks, 3 TFLs and 6 QB hurries...but that did not overcome their running game gashing our DL.  
17.  Myles Price...where did you go? Our special teams did not look good last night other than punt coverage.  Our returns were very bad.
and finally...
18.  I know that many of us said "patience" with the red-shirt rookie QB.  And then we were teased with that 4th quarter comeback last week thinking "the future is now!"  I've seen one good quarter out of 8 so far.  I think the word of the day is "patience"...the switch does not get flipped in a week...it takes time.  Expect more games like this, not less.

[purplefaithful]

Getting CD back is prio #1, but prio #1a is Kelly.

I dont think his absence can be over-stated. He takes so much off JJM's plate.

[Mattyman]

Is Skules injured?

He looks lost and overwhelmed.

Judging by what I've seen, would Brandel to left tackle be worse than Skule?

[Zanary]

The topic of OL disasters and slants/quick hitters...this is really, painfully, familiar.

KOC has stated that he likes having plays that take a bit longer, he's ambitious, like's having 'home run' potential in any given pass play. The problem is, how many QBs have gotten beaten into pulp behind poor protection and lacking quick targets?

I gotta believe that Kirko was on the other sideline, watching JJM getting trounced, and feeling both empathy with a tiny amount of schadenfreude. He got roasted by Vikings fans for games where he had good numbers, but couldn't seal the deal as he got pummeled and our defenses bled points. Watching the young, MOBILE successor getting sacked a half-dozen times and failing to throw a single TD...yeah, I'll bet there were some conflicting feelings.

I'm dearly hoping I'm not going to watch McCarthy get "Pondered". For all the grief he gets, he was pretty ambitious and effective when he still had Percy and hadn't been pounded into paste, yet. His 'happy feet' were pure behavioral conditioning, and they got worse when his favorite target was traded away.

JJM has a stack of skill players, but has to build his instincts, awareness, and passing proficiency under a whole slew of microscopes. This is KOC's biggest test, the absolute defining point of his legacy: can he actually mold his brand new QB into the franchise player he and we dream of, or will he be the latest sideline disappointment?

All doom and gloom aside, I still have a ton of faith and optimism...but, last night's game combined with our last-in-NFL offense standing has me seeing a few red flags, if lessons haven't been learned.