After reading everyone's thoughtful responses let me clarify my reasoning. Runyan was poor againsts Jacksonville, but has played well in earlier games. I want to sit him more to find out what we have in the rookies. New England has a 5th round draft pick starting at guard and playing well. We have a 2nd and 4th rounder on our roster who haven't dressed yet this year. Personally I think these kids are pretty good and lets put them in against a lesser team like Washington or Tennesse than saving them for the tougher games we play after that.
The bigger point is not who is playing well or who hasn't, but to shake this team up. If vets like Thomas and Runyan sit after playing poorly, everyone realizes they have to step up or find themselves on the benchy. Plus I don't want to sit the other youngsters (Andrews, Jackson and Herremans). Note to Leif, I did say to put Jean-Gilles in at guard and move Andrews or Herreman to tackle. And after the way McNabb got abused in the Jacksonville game, this group won't be much worse.
Howard is reported to have a slight groin injury. ( this was in the Inquirer or Daily News earlier this week). I want to sit him to let him heal, not because he is playiing poorly. In fact, before the injury, he was a monster.
I am pretty sour on all of our linebackers. If you want to give anyone a shot, it should be Jason Short who scares the heck out of other players. The 4-2-5 comment sounds pretty good. Considine, while he was put in for pass purposes is one heck of a tackler and made a lot of stops in the Jacksonville game. The problem is at safety, he is already 6-7 yeards down the field when the runner gets to him.
The defense has got to be tired with all they have played, but half the problem is the offense not sustaining drives and the other half is that the defense can't prevent the other team form converting first downs. Clearly they have played better in the first half of the last three games than the second, but more must be done.
There is still a chance to salvage the season, but it is slim at this point and we can't afford to come out flat anymore.
The bigger point is not who is playing well or who hasn't, but to shake this team up. If vets like Thomas and Runyan sit after playing poorly, everyone realizes they have to step up or find themselves on the benchy. Plus I don't want to sit the other youngsters (Andrews, Jackson and Herremans). Note to Leif, I did say to put Jean-Gilles in at guard and move Andrews or Herreman to tackle. And after the way McNabb got abused in the Jacksonville game, this group won't be much worse.
Howard is reported to have a slight groin injury. ( this was in the Inquirer or Daily News earlier this week). I want to sit him to let him heal, not because he is playiing poorly. In fact, before the injury, he was a monster.
I am pretty sour on all of our linebackers. If you want to give anyone a shot, it should be Jason Short who scares the heck out of other players. The 4-2-5 comment sounds pretty good. Considine, while he was put in for pass purposes is one heck of a tackler and made a lot of stops in the Jacksonville game. The problem is at safety, he is already 6-7 yeards down the field when the runner gets to him.
The defense has got to be tired with all they have played, but half the problem is the offense not sustaining drives and the other half is that the defense can't prevent the other team form converting first downs. Clearly they have played better in the first half of the last three games than the second, but more must be done.
There is still a chance to salvage the season, but it is slim at this point and we can't afford to come out flat anymore.
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