Thread: This Weeks Ten Observations................

Originally Posted by soulman

Down the list of the ten.

1) Martz play calling has to improve and give Hanie a better chance to use his specific skill set to win this game. Just run some good old fashioned straight forward plays and forget the cute stuff. Let Forte and Barber keep him out of jams with their running so he doesn't have so many 3rd and longs that result in three and out. He also needs to let him make some plays with his feet like he did last Sunday. He can't throw on the run as well as Cutler but he runs better on the run than Cutler. Let him run! He won't break.

2) Just more of one. Martz has called that play twice this year and it's failed twice let's not see if the third time is the charm.

3) We'll see. Filling Cutler's shoes was never gonna be an easy task but Hanie doesn't need to. He just needs to play his game, not Cutler's.

4) Yeah that wearing down thing on defense worries me alot more when we play the Broncos here than it does playing KC in Chicago. All the more reason to keep the defense off the field with smart ball control and long drives.

5) Robbie.......yes!!!!! I remember when he arrived with the Bears and struggled beyond 45 yards and now he puts them through from over 50 with room to spare. He also must be close to the top of the league in kick offs past the endline too. He's alwasy been ultra accurate but now his leg is that much stronger too.

6) KC has a bottom ten ranked offense and most of that has been with Cassell playing. If Palko plays they're even less potent and even if Orton starts it's his first start with KC and he hasn't started in Denver for weeks so he's got to be a bit rusty. Maybe the breaks fall our way this week. (Does anyone else think the name Tyler Palko reminds them of that all time great Replacements QB Shane Falco?)

7) Yeah, the Raiders only had 6 penalties hmmm. I'd say they were the beneficiaries of some pretty benevolent refs. There was a lot more that should have been called then were.

8) 304 yards total offense for Hanie but of course 80 of those came on one huge play and another 50 from his feet. I hope Martz pays attention to that this week. That bomb to Knox was the first really long heave I remember us collecting on this year. There have been some chances but they didn't connect.

9) Who cares what Jay Cutler did in his first start with Denver? It's ancient history.

10) When you have 172 yards rushing on just 27 carries (6.37 ypc) you should win the game. We should do that well again this week only with a better outcome.

If there was ever a situation that called for a ~ 60/40 run/pass gameplan, then last week's game in Oakland was it. What did MM do? The exact opposite. Why? God alone knows. It's not like Forte & Barber were getting stuffed every time or the Raiders have such an awesome run-D. It's not we were way behind and had to pass. It's not like CH was lighting it up either in the first half. I just don't get why MM feels the compulsion to get cutesy and out-think the obvious.

The first 2 picks were bad decisions by an inexperienced QB with jitters...not unexpected. The 3rd was a game-changer and is mostly on MM for stupid playcalling that put his QB in a difficult position there was no discernable reason to put him in. Running the ball north-south there puts us up 10-9 (prob 14-9) minimum going into half and we probably win the game. Big difference playing with a lead and some mo in the 2nd half, esp. with a young, new QB. Too dumb for words on MM there.

Robbie G is MONEY...nuff said.

Hanie's running ability is pretty impressive. Not saying trying to turn him into Tebow or Vick, but Lovie could say "Caleb, if it ain't there and you see an opening, run the ball and SLIDE."

Blaming the refs is usually lame and they weren't the reason we lost, but the overall officiating was pretty "home team friendly" no doubt.

Lovie won his one challenge but another easy one got away. He should have challenged the CH-OOB call and would have won for sure. Challenges still remain challenging for Lovie for some inane reason.

KC's offense utterly blows--they haven't scored an offensive TD in some ridiculous number of consequetive quarters now. This is a game that CH must win and not give away. Anyone notice Bowe completely give up on breaking up that INT last weekend?