There are two moves Rex made this week that look to be strikes down the middle. * One, Confronting Schottenheimer's Offense in general, his handling of Sanchez, and Sanchez's handling of the Offense. * Two, Confronting "Kerry Rhodes Personality Syndrome" on the defense. I dont think u can give Rex enough credit for these: not only for beginning to take the reins on the offense which Schottenheimer has been driving wildly out of control, but for transforming the demeanor of the defense with the brave confrontation with the "Rhodes personality complex" of the team. These moves were nothing short of a "soft takeover" of power on the team. Sure, Rex held an office of authority on the team through his "legitimate power" (for those who know management theory) of HC, but he nevertheless did not really have complete control over the "hearts and minds" (even with his verbal and emotional antics), as certain players misinterpreted and took advantage of the freedom he gave. His system relies on trust. Certain players, most notoriously Rhodes, broke that trust. Likewise, before last week, from the beginning of the Rex Regime, the understanding between Schottenheimer and Ryan was that - seemingly - Schotty was to stay on as OC but would have "Total Control". Until recently, the offense has been an autonomous unit, largely independent from Ryan's purview and control. We saw today an offense that was much more like the overly sober Chad and Curtis offenses than the wild and weird Schottenheimer offense. You saw numerous passes to RBs -- 38.5% of Sancho's completions were to RBs and 60% of those RB completions were for 1sts. And you saw the effort to get Sancho high percentage completions in an effort to get a rhythm. The team ran the ball 39 times against Carolina and attempted fewer than 20 passes. Not quite classic dink and dunk, but much closer to it than usual. On defense, the Eric Smith for Kerry Rhodes move seemed to have been a stroke of tactical genius. Smith's intelligent and hard-hat style of play was a panacea for the defense. His play was a major factor in the game and set a tone for the defense, likely striking fear in the hearts of some players on offense and defense from before the game even began. The move also benefited Rhodes, as became clear in his garnering 2 impact plays of the year, his first and second. The move to insinuate himself into the offense and Rex's benching of a "star player" (the right one, as benching the wrong guy could backfire) showed Rex is not to be messed with AT ALL. In one week he transformed himself, his CS, and both the offensive and defensive units. Rex's antics are more likely to work with it known that he is willing to let heads roll, with it known that he is the dude in control. No one else. Not Rhodes and his entourage of hair dressers and personal organizers, and not Brian Schottenheimer with his wildly exotic but hair-brained scheming and playcalls. We can only hope this trend continues to refine the team in his image and create unison between units on gameday. The problem has been the lack of sync across the various units of the team.
Hell of a post Vader. Good shit. I really think Ryan should keep Smith as his starter at safety. Kerry Rhodes played a hell of a game as a package player.
great post. Hopefully we won't hear stupid trash talk from the locker room leading up to the Bills game Thursday, let's just go out there and pound them. Let the bruises do the talking
Definitely. Fans have been calling for Carrie and Schotty's heads on a platter, it's about time Rex did something. I think both these moves had a huge impact. Our offense only scored 10 points, but I think that was in part due to Keller and Greene's turnovers. And Smith is a hard hitter but "intelligent" is a word I'd be reluctant to describe him with. I think this move will only benefit Rhodes if Rex continues to start Smith.. neither of those picks warrant Carrie's redemption. He needs to learn humility and clearly he hasn't yet.
Our playoff chances are very slim, but there's still a small chance. We're still a very competitive team. If this team keeps playing winning football, we can expect big things in 2010. Free agents will WANT to play for this team...a team on the rise with a coach players want to play for and a young quarterback that can lead this team. 2010's off-season will be very important for the future of the franchise. We have to bring in quality free agents and rookies that can contribute quickly. Say this team finishes up 9-7 or 10-6, but still misses the playoffs - it won't sting that much because we've seen big time improvements...and this team can only get better.
Agree, though I don't think Rex was introducing himself into the offense so much as he was providing additional supervision and direction. Certainly seems to have righted a ship that seemed to be sinking fast.
Im really glad Rex decided to add more imput into the offense. Up until now he just looked like a glorified defensive coordinator. Very bold move by Rex making these tough decisions this week. This guy is showing that he has what it takes to be a great headcoach in this league. Hopefully he continues to grow and learn from his mistakes.
he's smart in the sense of knowing or ability to learn and process. he was going to go on to an academic career if not for pro football. if u saw him out there today, he had a good grasp of the calls that needed to be made. None of the numb-nuts shit like what happened with Rhodes at the end of the Jax game.
No I know what you mean and he could very well turn out to be a heads-up player. But since he's been here the guy has made more than his fair share of knuckleheaded plays. The fact that he's been so solid this year doesn't quite erase memories of what he was doing last season.
Goddamn that was a very well written post. There is a lot of optimism with Rex being more administrative as the HC.
I forgot who said it, but one of the Jet players got asked who the smartest player on the team is and they said Eric Smith.
as rex grows as a better "all around" head coach and learns from his mistakes we are going to really blossom. i think this guy has what it takes and just needs seasoning and time to grow into himself as the head guy. he's already improved a great deal and now all needs to do is become a better clock manager.
I meant football IQ, just what we've seen so far from him. That's pretty interesting though and the first I've heard of that. I am a fan of Smith and I love the intensity he plays with, so what I said wasn't meant as a slight.
I give credit on Rhodes b/c outside of the 2 INts he was making plays so he lit a fire but offensively he gets no credit. People act like Sanchez is throwing 3-4 INTs a game, that happened in 3 of 11 games. We were't 4-6 b/c of Sanchez. The D played great yesterday and that is #1 why we won. If the D plays like that it will give us a chance to win every week.
Part of me agrees with you, Darth, but another part of me can't help thinking . . . wasn't this just because the Panthers really suck?
way tooo many big words for me, but i have to admit that's the first long post i actually read the whole way through.....wonderful job vader (i was looking for the 'link' but then realized you wrote it!!). so now onto buff. a short week. i doubt rex will change anything (rhodes) especially after a win.
