Short Cuts: Slow blinkers

After watching every play from every game this past weekend, and talking to some people who have broken down the games on film this week, here are some random thoughts from last week.

• Not having RB Ronnie Brown(notes) limits what the Dolphins can do with their Wildcat, so Miami may become more conventional with Ricky Williams(notes), who has run the ball really well the last two years. He’s very explosive still, and he’s also still physical. Miami’s OL struggles a bit, and they need deception to run the ball. The OL isn’t that athletic, so they can be exposed at times, so it will be interesting to see how Williams does if they do go more conventional.

• The Panthers have settled into a similar formula from 2008, running the ball, which is their profile. At this rate, they will be in every game if their QB protects the ball because their defense is playing well and their running game is dominant.

• Dolphins QB Chad Henne(notes) is a work in progress, but he almost always puts the ball in the right place, on the right shoulder. There’s calmness to his game as well. He doesn’t look like he’s playing at a hectic pace, and he looks comfortable.

• Dallas has struggled all year against the blitz, and that’s why QB Tony Romo(notes) is the most blitzed QB in the NFL, which tells you that teams know this. Romo is perceiving pressure these days, and he’s breaking down quickly. They do not handle the blitz well.

• Of course, you can offset the blitz some by running the ball, which is even more perplexing how Dallas is abandoning the run. Their OL is big and slow – they are maulers – and they need to run the ball much more. They need to be a run-first team, which they were early in the year, but they’ve moved away from that. RB Marion Barber(notes) ran well last week, actually. He didn’t get enough carries, but he ran the ball pretty well.

• Cowboys WR Miles Austin(notes) is getting double-teamed on occasion, which is likely why Roy Williams has been active. But Williams still looks extremely erratic, and almost lethargic.

• The Browns defense has actually played better lately. It’s actually an NFL defense as opposed to their offense, which is not an NFL offense. They have been doing it with scheme. Head coach Eric Mangini does know defense, and now that the season is progressing, they understand the scheme better.

• There’s still no rhythm or flow to the Green Bay offense right now. QB Aaron Rodgers(notes) is not a consistently good rhythm player at this point. They’ve also been running the ball erratically all year. With the weapons they have, they should be more consistent.

• 49ers QB Alex Smith became Alex Smith last week. He’s a bit of a slow-blinker, and he has an average arm, which is a pretty tough combination. That’s why his career has been in the toilet. He is improved this year, at least.

• The Packers defense is starting to play much better. It’s clear they are getting a better feel for their system. CB Charles Woodson(notes) is starting to become a dominant player.

• At first glance, it appeared as if Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger(notes) just had a bad game against the Bengals. However, upon further review, the Bengals confused Roethlisberger last week with a lot of different looks, and that’s how they beat him. He can be a bit of slow-blinker at times, and he was beaten mentally more so than physically last week.

• The Steelers got away from running the ball last week and it wouldn’t surprise if Rashard Mendenhall(notes) got a lot of carries this week. Mendenhall is still running hard and attacking when he has the ball.

• Falcons QB Matt Ryan(notes) is now losing his accuracy. He’s playing fast and not seeing things, and now he’s losing his fundamentals. He’s really regressed.

• Falcons RB Jason Snelling(notes) runs hard and he has some quickness to him, plus he’s a good receiver. He’s a nice player and you can get away with him for a few weeks as your featured back.

• Saints RB Reggie Bush(notes) is still a matchup nightmare, and teams treat him like one. But he’s only a matchup nightmare within the multiplicty of their offense. In other words, he’s a matchup nightmare within his role, not within all formations and looks the team runs. Kind of like a slot receiver like Steelers Mike Wallace(notes) is for a passing game.

• Saints WR Robert Meachem(notes) is also difficult matchup. They use him in a certain role and he’s effective, but he’s far from a complete receiver and a guy who should be starting soon. He’s a big-bodied receiver with skills, but he’s still very rough around the edges, and they use him in limited packages.

• The Jags offense has settled into being fairly consistent every week. QB David Garrard(notes) throws the ball better some weeks than others, but Maurice Jones-Drew(notes) is obviously one of the best backs in the NFL as a complete back, and the OL has been consistent in opening up holes for him.

• The Jets, for some reason, didn’t make it a point to stick corner Darrell Revis on Mike Sims-Walker(notes) for most of the game. When he was on Sims-Walker, he was like Velcro and MSW couldn’t move when Revis was on him. Sims-Walker’s TD was a little lucky, since it was a terrible “tackle” by the defender.

• Ravens QB Joe Flacco(notes) is having a hard time right now. Teams are changing up coverage schemes on him, and he’s having a really difficult time seeing things. It’s not exactly about his limited weapons at receiver. But he will work through this eventually.

• Vikings QB Brett Favre(notes) is throwing the ball as consistently well as he ever has. Amazingly, there’s a precision to his game that he’s never really showed. He’s not making those throws that leave you scratching your head at all. He’s throwing it with great awareness and understanding, and he’s playing as well as any time he’s been in the league. There’s no reason for him to get out of a comfort zone because their downfield passing game is very much a function of Adrian Peterson and the running game. Their offense is consistently ahead of the defense; they are dictating to the defense.

• Vikings WR Sidney Rice(notes) isn’t naturally explosive, but he has deceptive speed, and he eats up yardage in his stride very well. He also catches everything thrown to him.

• Seahawks RB Justin Forsett(notes) is a guy who has good lateral quickness and acceleration; he’s really quick. He doesn’t have long speed, but he has that burst to him that stands out. He gets around the end quickly. He does not have timed speed, but he has football speed. He can be physical with his running style as well.

• Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck(notes) is starting to become erratic, so right now he’s a game-to-game guy. They don’t have a ton of talent on the outside, and you don’t have to account for their WRs, so these guys will be hit-or-miss.

• Cardinals QB Kurt Warner(notes) is throwing the ball really well this year still – other than a few rough patches. He’s oblivious to pressure; he just stands there. He did throw a pick in the end zone last week, but he got lucky because the defender stepped out of the end zone before catching the pass.

• Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin(notes) moved pretty well last week, so the week off apparently did him some good.

• Over the last few weeks Patriots QB Tom Brady(notes) has ironed out the kinks. He looks really comfortable the last 2-3 games.

• Jets QB Mark Sanchez(notes) right now is going through a hard time. He’ll make 2-3 good throws a game, but the rest of the time, he’s on 100 cups of Starbucks coffee. He’s playing way too fast, and he doesn’t appear to see things clearly. If the first read is covered, he’s lost.

• Bengals RB Bernard Scott(notes) hasn’t had a large enough sample in the NFL, but he’s not quite the type of back to excel in their zone-blocking scheme; he’s not a one-cut downhill runner. He’s more of a dancer, but he does have a lot of juice, and he’s a serious threat to go a long way if he can get to the second level. If he’s carrying the ball 15-plus times, he’s a serious threat to bust off a long run.

• Bengals WR Laveranues Coles(notes) doesn’t have much left in terms of explosiveness, so while he’s been much more active, it’s all the short stuff for him. But he should continue to be very active.

• It doesn’t look like Broncos QB Chris Simms(notes) can play anymore. He’s very slow with what he does, doesn’t anticipate well at all, and he’s not overly accurate, so there’s a lot wrong with him.

• Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno(notes) ran better this week, but his skill set is not that of a big-time back. He has to be very decisive because he’s not a guy who has to beat you with his quickness and decisiveness.

• Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson(notes) showed some lateral movement on is TD run, but he did still lose his balance on many runs when he didn’t need to.

• Chargers QB Philip Rivers(notes) is obvlious to pressure; you cannot teach a guy to stand in the pocket with bodies all around him.

• Bears QB Jay Cutler’s(notes) problem is that he’s morphed into the worst sandlot player you can possibly be. There’s no discipline, no technique, and no precision to his game whatsoever right now. He’s a great talent, but he has to find a sense of responsibility if he’s ever going to quiet his critics. He’s clearly trying to do way too much, and that’s not all his fault.

• Bears RB Matt Forte(notes) looks slow running the ball, and he looks very plodding even on the screen passes he’s putting up yardage with.

• Titans QB Vince Young(notes) rarely throws the ball between the numbers because they don’t think he can do that. Because of Chris Johnson, there’s always a safety in the box, so they get a lot of single coverage on the outside. Throwing it inside the numbers is harder with all traffic. But if they stay ahead of the down, they can move the ball very well this way.

Near Misses
I don’t claim that these are every near miss from this past weekend, but this is what I saw.

• Raiders RB Darius Heyward-Bey dropped a 55-yard pass, running right near the goal line. Raiders WR Louis Murphy(notes) had a 40-yard catch called back on the next play.

• Falcons WR Michael Jenkins(notes) had a 40-yard pass thrown to him running into the end zone, but it was too far, and the coverage was good.

• Raiders RB Michael Bush(notes) was tripped up on the long run he had on the first drive. He would have scored if he didn’t have that piano on his back.

• Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe(notes) was wide open on a passing play in the red zone against the Raiders, but QB Matt Cassel(notes) didn’t see him. Bowe could have easily scored.

• Jets TE Dustin Keller(notes) had a 40-yard pass to him down the field, incomplete.

• Jags RB Maurice Jones-Drew got stuffed inside the 2 on a carry, and then he fumbled on a bad exchange on the next play. Of course, he also knelt down at the 1 on what would normally be a TD to eat up more clock.

• Jets WR Braylon Edwards(notes) caught a 25-yard pass in the back of the end zone, but he was out of bounds. He had another pass thrown to him in the end zone on the next play, but it was incomplete. Later, on another drive, Edwards failed to haul in a catch in the end zone on which he was open but had the pass broken up, so he could have easily had 2 TDs.

• Bengals WR Laveranues Coles had a 30-yard pass thrown to him while streaking to the end zone, but it was incomplete.

• Steelers WR Mike Wallace had a 35-yard pass thrown to him in the end zone, but he was well covered. Later in the game, Wallace had a 20-yard pass thrown to him in the end zone, but it was over his head. He also had a 45-yard bomb thrown to him, incomplete.

• Dolphins WR Ted Ginn dropped a 50-yard bomb on the opening play of the game for the Dolphins. It would have been a tough catch.

• Bucs RB Carnell Williams(notes) appeared to have hauled in a 20-yard TD pass in the end zone, but it was incomplete off the ground.

• Lions WR Bryant Johnson(notes) dropped what would have been a TD just before halftime against the Vikings.

• Saints WR Marques Colston(notes) tried to leap over a defender to cross the goal line for a TD, but he fumbled the ball out of the end zone.

• Titans QB Vince Young almost ran in a TD against the Bills, but his knee was down inside the 1.

• In addition to giving up two big plays to WR Brandon Marshall(notes) last week, the Redskins let WR Eddie Royal(notes) get wide open deep, but QB Kyle Orton(notes) overthrew him. It should have been an 85-yard TD, so the Redskins had some major breakdowns in coverage last week.

• Brandon Marshall had a 20-yard pass thrown to him in the end zone, no go. And then he had another bomb thrown to him in the end zone that was picked.

• Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin caught a pass inside the 10 and stretched for the goal and missed crossing the plain by less than a foot.

• Seahawks WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh(notes) bobbled a pass in the end zone and couldn’t hold on.

• Cardinals WR Steve Breaston(notes) had a TD called back, and QB Kurt Warner missed him on what could have easily been a 20-yard TD; he threw it to the wrong side.

• Packers WR Donald Driver(notes) failed to haul in a pass in the end zone.

• Colts WR Pierre Garcon(notes) caught a pass in the end zone, but was out of the end zone.

• Titans TE Bo Scaife(notes) had a pass thrown to him in the end zone, but it was a poor throw by QB Vince Young or else he might have scored.

• Falcons WR Roddy White(notes) was brought down at the 1 on a catch and run.

• Jets RB Thomas Jones(notes) might have taken a screen pass to the house but it was overthrown.

• Vikings WR Bernard Berrian(notes) had a pass thrown to him around the 1, but it was broken up.