Last night was not pretty. It started great with brisket chili and gumbo from Smoque, but then the game started.
I will remind anyone who will listen that Fitz teams tend to start slow, and improve dramatically over the season. There is clearly room for improvement, especially on defense. Before writing off O'Neill after one game, I think it will be more telling to see how he responds. My concern about him was that he would abandon the conservative but effective scheme employed by Hank and take more chances. I don't think we have the edge athletes to make that work. So now we will see how he adjusts. It is too early to write him off.
But I feel pretty confident in our QB situation. Hunter in 2019 was a deer in the headlights. He was a different player last night. He made several good reads on blitzes, leading to big plays, and was generally very accurate, and threw few balls that I thought were dangerous (disclaimer: I need to rewatch the game if I can stomach it to get a better sense of his progressions).
The O line sucked, but I have seen worse o lines get significantly better.
It was heartening to see Kirtz emerge as a playmaker. I thought he would. This should help Robinson and Washington. And great to see Pugh emerge like a buried cicada and make plays. That will be a big help for HuJo.
Finally, I offer this bit of good news.
Gotta keep poundin' the Rock, and try to be patient.
I will remind anyone who will listen that Fitz teams tend to start slow, and improve dramatically over the season. There is clearly room for improvement, especially on defense. Before writing off O'Neill after one game, I think it will be more telling to see how he responds. My concern about him was that he would abandon the conservative but effective scheme employed by Hank and take more chances. I don't think we have the edge athletes to make that work. So now we will see how he adjusts. It is too early to write him off.
But I feel pretty confident in our QB situation. Hunter in 2019 was a deer in the headlights. He was a different player last night. He made several good reads on blitzes, leading to big plays, and was generally very accurate, and threw few balls that I thought were dangerous (disclaimer: I need to rewatch the game if I can stomach it to get a better sense of his progressions).
The O line sucked, but I have seen worse o lines get significantly better.
It was heartening to see Kirtz emerge as a playmaker. I thought he would. This should help Robinson and Washington. And great to see Pugh emerge like a buried cicada and make plays. That will be a big help for HuJo.
Finally, I offer this bit of good news.
Gotta keep poundin' the Rock, and try to be patient.
