Can someone explain to me what #55 was doing on 4th and 1?
Rewatching that play is pissing me off. Based upon what happened to the center on that play, I think the play call was actually sound. It appears to me our LT and FB execute well enough against the DE and OLB to get the first down.
It appears to me that this play failed because nobody even attempted to pick up the play side DT, who blew up Cobb in backfield. Meanwhile, the LG looks like he perhaps tried to double team the DE but ends up legitimately not blocking anybody on a 4th and inches running to his side. WTF?
I see a lot of folks concluding that we don’t have the talent to win. I think we’re perhaps a bit disadvantaged. But to my own eyes, that one play didn’t fail because we lost a physical battle in the trenches, it failed because we didn’t even try to get a hand on the closest threat to the ball carrier.
Seems like something we’ve seen a thousand times the last couple of years. Good news is that I think we have room to improve this season, but I’m concerned that it happened in October already.
Maybe I’m missing something or don’t know ball, I only ever played in high school. But leaving a DT uncontested on the run side is not a play design feature I’m familiar with.