Originally Posted by
TopekaRoy
I'm not worried for four reasons.
First, coaches rarely (if ever) game plan for their opponents in preseason. They want to see how the starters perform in basic sets without double teaming elite receivers or scheming to take away the pass. That will change in the regular season.
Second, look at who we played---two elite QBs in Drew Brees and Big Ben and a third who led his team to the Super Bowl, last year. The Saints had the #1 passing offense in the NFL and Roethlisburger extended a lot of plays by avoiding the sack and giving his receivers more time to get open. We won't face QBs like those most weeks.
Third, I'm less concerned with how many passing yards our defense gives up than how many points they give up. They completed a lot of passes, mostly for small or medium gains, but the receivers were tackled as soon as they caught the ball and there were very few yards after the catches. But when they got into the red zone our defense stiffend up and held them to mostly field goals.
And fourth, It's very early in the season and we have a new offensive coordinator. Players are still shaking some rust off and getting used to new assignments. They will get better as the season goes on. Also most starters don't go all out in the preseason. They just want to make it through without getting injured in games that don't count. I'm confident that they will step up their games when it counts.
Hmm, I guess that's five reasons!