1. All about the quarterbacks at the start. Rex Grossman did an excellent job of never feeling the rush. He’ll make mistakes and he’ll look bad at times, but the guy stands in the pocket and keeps his eyes downfield. And when he has time, he’ll slice a defense. Of course, any QB in this league should be able to do that; the key is what happens when you’re under duress. I love how deadly Grossman is in the middle of the field, but I wish he would use other parts as well. Tough to win consistently by just targeting one area. I did not add up, yet, how many of his completions went to the middle but my initial guess is that 75 percent of his completions were in this zone.
2. But Grossman had a few plays in which the pocket was collapsing and he never strayed from his targets. However, I think we all have a good idea of what sort of quarterback Grossman is and will be.
3. For the most part, John Beck did a nice job of giving his receivers a chance to run after the catch. I’m a little surprised by this because there are times in practice, at least when we could watch a lot, where that wasn’t always the case. But in his two games it has been and that’s a good sign for him.
4. One problem with the bootleg was evident on the one-on-one deep ball to Donte Stallworth; when you cut the field in half, you lack options – especially when there’s just one receiver on that side. Stallworth was never open, but Beck’s options were run or throw to him. It was intercepted. Yes, Stallworth could have done a better job breaking it up. This is one reason some coaches do not like to run the bootleg as much as the Shanahan's; it limits you. But it can also be deadly off this running game.
5. What I liked about that play was how Beck talked about it in the locker room. He wasn’t bothered by it, at least not in terms of it scaring him from throwing it again. He almost had a corner’s mentality, moving on quickly from the play. I think we saw that on the next series when he led a 97-yard touchdown drive. Beck showed good athleticism, accuracy and touch on this series. Yes, it occurred vs. backups, but I was as interested in learning about his mindset as his talent. Both are important. Anyway, on this series, he had one throw in which he ran a bootleg to the right and as he turned a defender was bearing down on him. So Beck hopped and threw over the top of him to Logan Paulsen. It’s a subtle display of athleticism, but it’s there.
6. Also liked how Beck looked off Ed Reed on the deep ball to Anthony Armstrong. Beck kept his eyes down the middle of the field, freezing Reed. When he turned back toward Armstrong, Reed had no chance to provide help.
7. Beck only had three passes vs. the Ravens’ starting defense so I don’t want to go overboard on him. But I came away with a better sense of his mindset.
8. I still think Beck will win the job; higher ceiling and hasn’t shown a penchant for costly mistakes. At least not yet. This season will be about making the occasional big play and allowing games to be won with defense and the ground game. Advantage: Beck. He’s shown in two games he can play the way they want.
9. Very few plays with the fullback in the game in the first half. Very few. My unofficial count was three.
10. On Beck’s second deep ball, to Fred Davis, I think there’s a reason it didn’t work. Davis appeared to tip it off with his stance. He went in motion from right to left, but when he lined up he was slanted a little to the left. Did not see him after the game to find out if that’s how he was supposed to stand or if he should have had his shoulders square. Considering I’ve never seen a player line up the way he did, I have to assume the latter.
11. Hard not to like Trent Williams’ block of Ray Lewis on Tim Hightower’s touchdown run. But first it was Jammal Brown, who turned Terrell Suggs outside; Hightower cut inside and then received nice blocks from Will Montgomery and Kory Lichtensteiger and, of course, Williams. The guy who capped the run? Terrence Austin. It wasn’t a big block, but he came from the left side and, after a pit stop on another defender, ran to the safety. All Austin did was knock the safety a couple yards back. That, in turn, forced him to take a longer angle to the ball. And Hightower barely got inside the pylon. Had Austin not blocked him, Hightower doesn’t score. A team effort.
12. One thing about Hightower in protection, and I’ve seen this happen a few times: He sometimes hits his own blocker when going to help out. Suggs beat Brown on a play; Hightower came over to help but hit Brown, allowing Suggs to get inside. But he did no damage. This was the play in which Beck hit Armstrong for the deep ball. Armstrong, by the way, beat Dominique Foxworth right off the line.
13. Back to Hightower. He later hit Chester on a blitz pickup, allowing the defender (Cody) to get outside. He’s very aggressive coming to pick up the blitz; wonder if that sometimes causes issues. The couple times I saw him get beat in practice it came when he stormed to the line and the defender snuck inside. But Hightower also had a couple excellent pick-ups, in which he had to cross the quarterback’s face to pick up a blitz. Once, he lined up to the left of Grossman, in shotgun formation. Webb blitzed from the opposite slot. Hightower stepped straight up, spotted Webb and got to him in time.
14. I do like how quickly Hightower cuts, once he sees the backside of his blockers. See the backside, cut that way. Hightower does this well.
15. This was the good Fred Davis blocker game. Don’t know which one we’ll get next week. But he moved his feet very well and mostly kept his hands inside the defender.
16. Still don’t like Chester’s strength. Good thing he moves well.
17. Saw something on that same play that I’m not sure I saw a lot of last season. Williams set in his stance, looking at Terence Cody across from him. But Lardarius Webb blitzed off the edge. As he did, Williams calmly slid over and Lichtensteiger stepped over to take Cody. A seamless block, but it had the appearance of two guys who had played a little bit together.
18. Every time I think Brown is showing me one thing, he shows another. I see him move his feet on some sets, then I see him fail to do so on others, relying on his arms. He still gets beat too much to the inside (set him up wide, spin or cut back in, pressure). I saw him stop Suggs; I saw him get to a linebacker and move him back. Then I also saw him try to engage Cody with his arms almost at his side. Meanwhile, Cody’s arms were inside and on Brown. Guess who won this one? Also saw Brown get beaten inside by Suggs, only to get good help from Chester. But Chester had to redeem himself after allowing linebacker Tavares Gooden to go right through him on the previous play.
19. By the way, Brown gets away with false starts every other game. Saw him do it in an earlier preseason game; not called. Happened Thursday, too.
20. Do I need to point out that Leonard Hankerson made a nice grab of a Beck pass thrown at his feet. Sometimes those catches are easier for a guy like that because he’s not thinking of turning upfield. He has to focus to make those grabs. With his big mitts, it’s probably not as tough as it seems either.
21. Roy Helu was OK in blitz pickups. Still see a tendency to put his head down before contact. Not gonna work against an elite rusher coming hard up the middle. Did see him get one linebacker in the hole so perhaps he’s improving. But I loved how Helu, despite his home run ability, seems to understand not to force a run. Of his 35 runs this preseason, only five have lost yardage. One of those occurred Thursday when he lost one yard. But it should have been three or four; instead, Helu after being hit pushed himself forward with his right hand. He typically falls forward.
22. I haven’t seen the same Mike Sellers blocks of old. I’ve seen him get neutralized more than in the past; saw him get moved back a yard or two a couple times Thursday. He’s definitely a better backup at this point.
23. Hate to always point out Austin’s footwork, but I love finding examples of why he’s able to survive despite his small frame (listed at 5-foot-11, not even close). Anyway, it wasn’t just on his touchdown where it was impressive. Actually, all he did on that play was turn a screen pass into a punt return. He set up his blockers with a cut inside and then dashed back out for the easy score.
24. But the other time came on one of his third-down catches. Austin, in the right slot, was facing Webb. He tried to jam Austin, but was beaten quick off the line. So instead of hitting Austin square, he reached to his outside, giving Austin a free pass inside for an easy catch and run for 28 yards. Give Beck credit for a nice throw, but also give a nod toward Austin for creating that sort of separation.
25. The backup offensive line is a mess. Artis Hicks actually was fine Thursday night, but the rest of the group had major issues. It’s not just that they would get beat, it was how bad they looked doing it. I’ll give Willie Smith a pass; he’s an undrafted guy and not ready for a roster. And Big Mo Hurt is a seventh-round pick for a reason. There were times Smith was almost fully bent at the waist when he engaged his man. Hurt got lit up so bad one time he got knocked on his ol’ Pile mover. Another time, on the same play, Hurt was standing straight up while Smith was bent over. Both of these players shouldn’t be asked to play in a real game right now. No big deal.
26. But Sean Locklear might have to play. He almost needs to overcompensate for what he thinks is coming in order to stop it from succeeding. On one play, he tried to block defensive end Pernell McPhee. Yes, The Pernell McPhee. But when Locklear did so, his head went down and he whiffed. Because his outside leg wasn’t all that far outside, McPhee went right around him for a sack. Did I mention this occurred one play after Locklear tried to shoulder block a defender coming between the guard and tackle. I’m not an expert on tackle play, but athletics is about moving your feet. If you only try to, say, hit with a shoulder lean you’re in trouble. Locklear was in trouble. Kellen Clemens’ pass was tipped. Another time, Locklear set wide. Guess what happened; McPhee went right into him and then inside for easy pressure.
27. And Erik Cook gets knocked back too often. That is all.
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