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 by aeneas1
5 years 8 months ago
 Total posts:   16894  
 Joined:  Sep 13 2015
United States of America   Norcal
Hall of Fame

the ravens are 2-0 in preseason play this season - last year they went 4-0 during preseason play, and the year before that 4-0 as well... all told, in the 9 years harbaugh has been the ravens head coach, the ravens are 27-9 in preseason play, having posted undefeated records 4 times, and winning records 6 times. that's flat out crazy.

comparatively the nfl's winningest team during this 9-year stretch, the patriots, are barely over .500 during preseason play with a 19-17 record - in fact the patriots have never gone undefeated during the postseason during this time, and have booked only 3 winning preseason records.

 by moklerman
5 years 8 months ago
 Total posts:   7680  
 Joined:  Apr 17 2015
United States of America   Bakersfield, CA
Hall of Fame

I think the better teams probably use the preseason for evaluation more than the struggling teams. I know some coaches feel that winning is an attitude so preseason games might matter but I'm not sure how much that sort of thing matters or lasts.

 by Elvis
5 years 8 months ago
 Total posts:   38463  
 Joined:  Mar 28 2015
United States of America   Los Angeles
Administrator

moklerman wrote:I think the better teams probably use the preseason for evaluation more than the struggling teams. I know some coaches feel that winning is an attitude so preseason games might matter but I'm not sure how much that sort of thing matters or lasts.


There are some pretty great examples that come up this time of year:

Lions went 5-0 in preseason the year they went 0-16

Spagunulo was 10-2 in preseason with the Rams.

Watching the Raiders, seems like Gruden wants to start fast, establish stuff in his first year.

Maybe McVay will feel the need to rehabilitate Mannion against the Raiders next week but i don't get the sense McVay sees any real value in trying to win, or even look good in these preseason games.

In one of his post game interviews McVay said he kind of liked putting players in bad situations just to see how they'd react, certainly something he'd never do in a game that mattered...

Edit: Here's a quote from after the game:

(on the young offensive line) “I think they did some nice things. There’s so many different moving parts up front with regards to the run game, protections, different calls and different communications. I think Coach [Aaron] Kromer [OL Coach] does a great job of getting those guys ready. We kind of by design wanted to put those guys in stressful situations to see how they handle it. Preseason is a great opportunity to really try and evaluate guys in some spots, where there might be some tough things they have to work through and see how they handle it – especially guys that might potentially contribute and have a chance to play for us as early as September 10.”

 by moklerman
5 years 8 months ago
 Total posts:   7680  
 Joined:  Apr 17 2015
United States of America   Bakersfield, CA
Hall of Fame

Elvis wrote:There are some pretty great examples that come up this time of year:

Lions went 5-0 in preseason the year they went 0-16

Spagunulo was 10-2 in preseason with the Rams.

Watching the Raiders, seems like Gruden wants to start fast, establish stuff in his first year.

Maybe McVay will feel the need to rehabilitate Mannion against the Raiders next week but i don't get the sense McVay sees any real value in trying to win, or even look good in these preseason games.

In one of his post game interviews McVay said he kind of liked putting players in bad situations just to see how they'd react, certainly something he'd never do in a game that mattered...

Edit: Here's a quote from after the game:

(on the young offensive line) “I think they did some nice things. There’s so many different moving parts up front with regards to the run game, protections, different calls and different communications. I think Coach [Aaron] Kromer [OL Coach] does a great job of getting those guys ready. We kind of by design wanted to put those guys in stressful situations to see how they handle it. Preseason is a great opportunity to really try and evaluate guys in some spots, where there might be some tough things they have to work through and see how they handle it – especially guys that might potentially contribute and have a chance to play for us as early as September 10.”
That's certainly how it looked to me. No interest in "winning" the game, just evaluating individuals.

 by aeneas1
5 years 8 months ago
 Total posts:   16894  
 Joined:  Sep 13 2015
United States of America   Norcal
Hall of Fame

Elvis wrote:(We kind of by design wanted to put those guys in stressful situations to see how they handle it. Preseason is a great opportunity to really try and evaluate guys in some spots, where there might be some tough things they have to work through and see how they handle it – especially guys that might potentially contribute and have a chance to play for us as early as September 10.”

makes perfect sense, my guess is he's not alone in this approach, altho it seems hard to believe that mcvay (or any other head coach) would be fine with a unit's, or a player's, complete failure in facing these challenges... in his presser mannion said "we never got in a rythm and i take ownership of that... we have plenty of opportunities to improve and learn from this..." i dunno, i didn't see the same indifference goin' on that other seemed to see....

 by moklerman
5 years 8 months ago
 Total posts:   7680  
 Joined:  Apr 17 2015
United States of America   Bakersfield, CA
Hall of Fame

aeneas1 wrote:makes perfect sense, my guess is he's not alone in this approach, altho it seems hard to believe that mcvay (or any other head coach) would be fine with a unit's, or a player's, complete failure in facing these challenges... in his preser mannion said "we never got in a rythm and i take ownership of that... we have plenty of opportunities to improve and learn from this..." i dunno, i didn't the same indifference goin' on that other seemed to see....

Did you see McVay change the tempo? Call more passes? Do anything to try and get Mannion in a rhythm? Seems an awful lot like they weren't worried about evaluating the passing game, Mannion or most of the offense.

Some individuals got work and put in unfavorable situations but this looked like practice for the Rams and a game for the Ravens.

Would you rather have it the other way? That the Rams took this really seriously and were focused on winning and then got their butts handed to them?

 by aeneas1
5 years 8 months ago
 Total posts:   16894  
 Joined:  Sep 13 2015
United States of America   Norcal
Hall of Fame

moklerman wrote:Would you rather have it the other way? That the Rams took this really seriously and were focused on winning and then got their butts handed to them?

eh? how about if i take it for what it was, the first preseason game of the season that featured no starters? a full-dress scrimmage where coaches continue to take a look at depth, where depth tries to separate from the pack, tries to move up the chart, tries to win a roster spot, by putting their best foot forward?

moklerman wrote:Some individuals got work and put in unfavorable situations but this looked like practice for the Rams and a game for the Ravens.

probably because it was practice for the rams, and the ravens. and just like practice coaches want to see execution, progress, positives... does it matter that the rams lost? or got their arses kicked? not to me, because it's meaningless in terms of what to expect when the real games start. does it matter to mannion that he posted a 7.5 qb rating while completing 3 of 13 passes for 16 yards? my guess is yes.

 by pmill66
5 years 8 months ago
 Total posts:   152  
 Joined:  Jan 14 2017
United States of America   LA Coliseum
Rookie

Hue Jackson of the Browns went 0-16 last year, bet he wanted that win yesterday.

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34 posts Apr 20 2024