I feel Saban is getting fed up with JPW

[CrimsonPride]

Anyone who doesn't see this team's improvement over last year shouldn't be watching football.

It's also good to remember we're playing freshmen and walk-ons as starters on D - does that really sound like we have the talent/depth in recruiting to be competitive week in and out?

There is no way to not see how this team has improved over last year. With last year's staff, I truly believe that we would have just barely beat Western Carolina and Vandy (ala Florida International with 16 palyers out & Duke), have would lost to Arkansas, Ole Miss, Houston and probably UT and would have been blown out by UGA, FSU, LSU & MSU.

This coaching staff has taught the players discipline (decrease in false start, holding and unsportmanslike conduct penalties), and technique (look at the routes the WR run to get open, better OL play and defensive play no one expected). No one can question the 180 degree turn around in conditioning. Against more physical opponents, not many players are going down due to cramps and we have sustained less injuries overall. I also believe this coaching staff has instilled an attitude of "fight until the end" in the players. Just looking at the players that no one really ever heard of before making huge contributions, it is obvious that this staff can spot, evaluate and develop talent.

I think the fandom was prepared for a sub par defensive unit do the the lack of dept and inexperience. We even knew there would be weaknesses on the OL. After the A-Day game, we thought that the offense would be able to pick up the slack and carry the team for a change. However, it appears that the defensive unit and special teams are keeping us close in games. I don't think anyone expected the offense to be the weak link for this team, particularly the QB play.

 

[GulfCoastTider]

Wilson reminds me of Favre, too. Folks like to talk about how great Favre is, but anyone who has closely followed his career cringes every time he is in obvious throwing situations in the face of pressure.

Favre holds the NFL record for INT's at 281 and has a career QB Rating of 85-ish. Favre's greatness comes in his gutsiness, determination and ruggedness. He's not a gifted QB at all.

When Favre has time to throw the ball, he's as deadly as any QB in the league. Same with JPW. When Favre has room to run, he takes off and usually moves the chains. Same with JPW. When Favre is facing a 3rd and 10 with a blitz on, he's as likely to throw an INT or put the ball on the ground as he is to complete the pass. Same with JPW.

JPW has his "Brett Favre moments," but no one should doubt his gutsiness or determination. And, in the last two games, he has taken a beating that would have broken his predecessor into little bitty pieces.

 

[BamaFanKyle]

It's also good to remember we're playing freshmen and walk-ons as starters on D - does that really sound like we have the talent/depth in recruiting to be competitive week in and out?

Exactly...the difference is that those walk ons and freshmen are playing over their heads and I'm more impressed by what they are doing than what our starting junior QB is doing. He is simply not good. I saw someone else say it best: If you have a bad/mediocre qb, then you will have a bad/mediocre football team. No ifs, ands or buts about that.

Again, I have been more impressed with how those "scrubs" (as some would call them) on defense have been playing than our supposed experienced leader on Offense. I have friends in Texas who care nothing about Bama football who watch parts of our games and their responses are always the same. "If you're qb wasn't so horrible, you guys would have a pretty good team." The sad thing is they're 100% correct.

True, the O-line is partly to blame for some of our offensive troubles, but the majority of it lies on the bad decisions made by JPW. That is the only area where he is consistent. I shudder to think of how bad he/we would look if it weren't for DJ Hall...

I really hope that we see GMac, Fanuzzi or anyone else (WHO GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN) get a chance to play Saturday and the coming weeks, although it seems like the only way that'll happen is if an injury occurs (which I do not wish on JPW).

 

[MNBamaFan]

Take a look at this JPW comment:

"I'm not going to lose my confidence just because I throw a couple of interceptions," said Wilson. "We just couldn't get things going. I don't know what it was. We never got going, never got moving and it wasn't a good day. We weren't clicking today."

This kind of comment burns me up. Yeah, I know "we" win as a team and "we" lose as a team but to say "We just couldn't get things going. I don't know what it was" is borderline ridiculous.

I'd have much more respect if JPW simply said "I stunk today. I made some bad throws and bad decisions but I'm going to work harder to improve".

Do you see what I'm saying?

 

[bayoutider]

BINGO!!!

As with most football games, the QB gets too much credit when we win and too much blame when we lose. It's a team loss. Did JPW play poorly and make some bad decisions.....certainly. Throwing that interception right before halftime was the worst thing JPW could have done, but if you've got first and goal from the three, poor lay from the OL combined with poor play calling combined with dropped passes from earlier in the game combined with having to settle for FG's combined with poor QB play combined with, I'm sure, other factors equals a loss.
If we had turned just one of those FG's into a TD, and just bulldozed our way into the endzone on the two running plays right before that interception, we could have gone into halftime leading 20-3. I believe the game would have been over for all intents, I don't think State had the firepower to come back. But we didn't, and we lost.
At critical times, all the players and coaches performed poorly. This loss was a team effort, and not caused by poor QB play. Would Fannuzzi or McElroy been able to pull the team out of the fire ?....I doubt it. Would they have thrown that interception right before the half ?....Maybe not. But whomever the QB is, they should never have been in that situation to begin with.
Sometimes great QB play can make up for poor play by teammates. Other times, as with LSU, great team play can make up for poor QB play. Unfortunately when the entire team plays poorly, and you're playing an SEC school, it usually means a loss.

You should post more often.

 

[jrob]

This satirical article about Favre is only tangentially related, but I figure we could use a laugh:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/dan_marino_hosts_hour_long_hbo

 

[Sierra65]

It's quite evident that JPW doesn't see the whole field. I'm seriously beginning to wonder if he doesn't have a vision problem. No slam intended. Yes, all QB's miss seeing an open receiver from time to time, but JPW seems to do it just about on every play. But your right about the mistake thing. He is gun shy right now

I recently heard Bill Romanowski on the radio discussing something very similiar to this description of JPW. In short, he commented that after repeated hits, quarterbacks will often "drop" their eyes and their field vision becomes impaired....i.e. missing wide open receivers, they just don't see them. Maybe all of the hits JPW has taken over the past 2 years has had a similar effect.

 

[Tidewater]

Take a look at this JPW comment:



This kind of comment burns me up. Yeah, I know "we" win as a team and "we" lose as a team but to say "We just couldn't get things going. I don't know what it was" is borderline ridiculous.

I'd have much more respect if JPW simply said "I stunk today. I made some bad throws and bad decisions but I'm going to work harder to improve".

Do you see what I'm saying?

I noticed the same attitude after his performance in the Vandy game (paraphrasing here): "So what? We won."
That is true to a point, but that kind of thinking is not how the way to get better.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

This satirical article about Favre is only tangentially related, but I figure we could use a laugh:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/dan_marino_hosts_hour_long_hbo

Marino is just ticked because Favre is mowing down every record he's ever owned and that Favre is playing (at 38) better than 90% of the qb's in the NFL. While he played about five years longer than he should. He looked like the walking wounded.

Favre is making his case as one of the top three qb's of all time. He's mentioned in the top five on most list but never the top three. It is absolutely jaw dropping and unheard of for a 38 year old qb to still be playing at the level he's playing. It is truly amazing.

 

[Bama1970]

Marino is just ticked because Favre is mowing down every record he's ever owned and that Favre is playing (at 38) better than 90% of the qb's in the NFL. While he played about five years longer than he should. He looked like the walking wounded.

Favre is making his case as one of the top three qb's of all time. He's mentioned in the top five on most list but never the top three. It is absolutely jaw dropping and unheard of for a 38 year old qb to still be playing at the level he's playing. It is truly amazing.

Favre has one thing that Marino will NEVER have: a Super Bowl Ring!

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Favre has one thing that Marino will NEVER have: a Super Bowl Ring!

But what Favre is doing now as a 38 year old qb is simply unheard of. I've watched Marino, Elway, Montana and Steve Young in the last years of their career and they were simply a shell of what they used to be. Marino and Elway especially. Yet Favre looks like he could realistically play three MORE years. Emmitt Smith was asked on time why he thought Terrell Davis is not being considered a HOF. He said a big part of "greatness" is longevity. He said a lot of player can have a great five or six years but he said only the great ones can do it for ten plus years.

 

[BamaFlum]

But what Favre is doing now as a 38 year old qb is simply unheard of. I've watched Marino, Elway, Montana and Steve Young in the last years of their career and they were simply a shell of what they used to be. Marino and Elway especially. Yet Favre looks like he could realistically play three MORE years. Emmitt Smith was asked on time why he thought Terrell Davis is not being considered a HOF. He said a big part of "greatness" is longevity. He said a lot of player can have a great five or six years but he said only the great ones can do it for ten plus years.

Brett still looks like a kid playing. He is really enjoying playing football. I would love to see him go out like Elway did.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Back to JPW, I think I know the problem. I'm a former heavy water kayaker - took the first low volume kayak down the Grand Canyon. I even have a rapid, "Broken Nose," named for me on a river, and I've come close to dying many times and I've had people ask me how I got out of jams. My answer was always that time slows down for me in a tight situation and I'm able to calmly assess my alternatives. I'm not taking credit for it; it's just a God-given gift, and I'm not sure it can be taught. Of course, if you have a mind that slows down and slow feet to go with it, it probably doesn't help you on the FB field. I think something of the like is what is going on with JPW. In certain circumstances, particularly after several hefty hits, I think his mind goes blank if his first option is closed off. I don't know how else you explain three straight throwaways by an experienced QB with receivers open.

Of course, I've not been in JPW's situation, with Titus Brown thundering down upon me, but I have been in the position of having thousands of tons of water thundering down on me, with rocks waiting below. And, I have had the aforesaid broken nose and a crushed ribcage to show for it. When I think of "cool" in a QB, I think of Y. A. Tittle, playing for the Giants, when I was in school at NYU, calmly completing passes with blood pouring down his face, and he was about Favre's age, but bald. Or Fran Tarkenton, making yet one more 180 degree turn, leaving tacklers grabbing air, while he finally found the open man. Of course, having an OL which was even a feather better than makeshift would help, because JPW's worlds better with just a little time.

At least it's better than when I started in '57, when Whitworth was coming into classrooms and placing guys on scholarships who'd played HS football but who were total unknowns. Or Lambert, our BB HC grabbing players off intramural teams (who turned out to be point-shavers for gamblers).

Sorry for the late night ramble. You have to indulge us OFs...

 

[STONECOLDSABAN]

Havent seen McElroy but by wha ive seen of him wow! wished he played more

yeah those whole two plays he was in for. yep that determined a whole lot about him _eyes:

 

[Jack Bourbon]

I recently heard Bill Romanowski on the radio discussing something very similiar to this description of JPW. In short, he commented that after repeated hits, quarterbacks will often "drop" their eyes and their field vision becomes impaired....i.e. missing wide open receivers, they just don't see them. Maybe all of the hits JPW has taken over the past 2 years has had a similar effect.

Yeah Romanowski has seen this in person, I know--he did this to Chris Chandler in the 1998 Superbowl. On their first drive, ATL got down inside the 10, and BR nuked Chandler's head on a sack play. Chandler was all screwed up the rest of the game, and the rest is history.

It's hard to have poise when you're getting your brains beaten in regularly.

 

[bamanut_aj]

In context I was pointing out that if the QB was "stinking it up" we wouldn't have been in every game this year up until the last drive. I stand by that.

man, you haven't watched many of the games if you believe that. We were in those games in spite of our qb play much of the time. DJ has bailed him out NUMEROUS times this year, as has the defense.

 

[derek4tide]

man, you haven't watched many of the games if you believe that. We were in those games in spite of our qb play much of the time. DJ has bailed him out NUMEROUS times this year, as has the defense.

yep.

 

[CapstoneTider]

man, you haven't watched many of the games if you believe that. We were in those games in spite of our qb play much of the time. DJ has bailed him out NUMEROUS times this year, as has the defense.

No, I've watched them. We are in disagreement over whether "Stinking it up"
is an appropriate description for Wilson's play throughout the season. My point was if it was that bad, we probably wouldn't have been in the games at all. That's not saying that his play has been good like you are suggesting but rather just not consistently to the point of being called "Stinking".

My proof is he's still in the game, if he was as horrible all season as you're suggesting, then any QB on the team would be a better option.

 

[Tradition4ever]

It seems to me that JPW's biggest problem this year has been his pre-snap read of the defense. Just look at the Arkansas game. When Arkansas came out in man to man coverage of DJ Hall, JPW was able to recognize it and torch them. But eventually, Arkansas switched to a zone, and took DJ away from JPW. It seemed to me that after this switch, he didn't know where to go with the ball quite a few times, and he lost most of his effectiveness. Since that game, he's had one outstanding performance, the UT game. And in the UT game, the one thing UT couldn't or wouldn't do is take away DJ Hall, and JPW torched them as well. Every time an opposing D has taken away Hall, it certainly looks to me that JPW doesn't know where to go with the ball at least 80% of the time. That tells me that he is having great difficulty recognizing what the D is doing pre-snap, and he doesn't know where the open man is going to be, or doesn't recognize where the hot read is going to be. CNS has mentioned quite a few times lately that he was disappointed with our inability to find the hot read, or find the open man, and with our decisions to try and force it to Hall when someone else is open. I don't know if it is JPW who is having the trouble, or if it is the coaches who are having trouble correcting this problem, but it is troubling none-the-less. I was hoping that our offense as a whole would be improving week to week, instead of regressing like we've seen over the past couple of seasons, but it certainly doesn't look like that will be the case this year.

 

[bamanut_aj]

No, I've watched them. We are in disagreement over whether "Stinking it up"
is an appropriate description for Wilson's play throughout the season. My point was if it was that bad, we probably wouldn't have been in the games at all. That's not saying that his play has been good like you are suggesting but rather just not consistently to the point of being called "Stinking".

My proof is he's still in the game, if he was as horrible all season as you're suggesting, then any QB on the team would be a better option.

OR, our backups just aren't good. I can't imagine that's the case, but I personally don't know what other conclusion to come to. I think there have been many, many, many times this season where JP should have been given a break to come in and get his head on straight. Hasn't happened, so either JP isn't doing as bad as I thought and I'm just extremely critical about over throwing, underthrowing, keying in on one receiver, not reading zone defenses, etc; or we don't have other options.