Mothman wrote:
No offense, but heaping the responsibility on Ponder seems like an overly simple explanation to me. I don't think the o-line issues were a myth and they weren't confined to plays involving pass protection either. Cassel was better at recognizing the blitz and better in the pocket than Ponder and that reduced some of the negative plays that resulted from inadequate protection but there were still times when both QBs were back there when there were inexcusable breakdowns in protection. There were also far too many plays where the run-blocking was just plain lousy. There are reasons why Kalil's second season was considered a disappointment, why the right tackle position sometimes looked like a turnstile and why left guard is widely considered an area the team needs to upgrade and they extend well beyond Christian Ponder.
Obviously I am not saying the Oline was perfect in every facet of the game and every negative play can be blamed on Ponder. I think everyone knows that Charlie Johnson was overall pretty lousy this season. Matt Kalil struggled badly in a few games earlier in the season (the Dallas game especially). Phil Loadholt had a rough first couple games. These are not things that are all on Ponder obviously.
But there is a misconception from the fans that this offensive line was well below average this season, especially in pass protection. And that's simply not true. Your quote about RT being a turnstile for example. Loadholt had a really rough start to the season, but after a certain game (I can't remember which game it was, maybe the 3rd) he did not give up a single sack for the rest of the season. There is also a running misconception from a large group of fans that Brandon Fusco is a below average player.
I guess I just feel it comes down to a lot of fan's ability to realistically assess offensive line play. Most fans, and I'm not suggesting you or any other specific person, see pressure on a QB and automatically chalk it up to a failure in protection. Or they see a RB get stuffed at the line and again, failure for the oline. But that's not always the case, and the fact that we saw what appeared to be significant improvements from the oline when Matt Cassel was the QB is not a coincidence. And if you don't believe me, go back to the game day threads about those games or different threads about those games and compare them to the ones when Ponder was playing. You'll see a significant difference in the assessment of our line play.
I don't think Ponder is completely incompetent like others do, although he was at times this season. But if there is one thing that he is completely incompetent at, it's playing within the pocket. He's just not good at all the aspects it requires to be a good pocket passer. He struggles to read blitzes, which result in free men coming through the line and sacking him, something that is almost always blamed on the oline by fans, but in reality is a QB miscue. Ponder should recognize where his blitzers are coming from presnap, and should be able to exploit that, instead the blitz hits home more often than not. And the same can be said for Ponders feel for the pocket, it's just simply very poor. There have been countless times throughout his career when Ponder has simply run into pressure. It's a subtle difference, but the good QBs in the league will make just a shuffle one way or another and find that sweet spot in a pocket, where as Ponder will find a spot that makes it easy for defenders to tackle him.
Anyways, to sum up what I'm trying to say is that while you may think I'm just trying to "cop out" and excuse the line play on the QB, I'm not. In fact what I'm suggesting is that those who believe our line play, especially our pass protection, was horrible this season are actually copping out some glaring mistakes from our QB and putting the majority of the blame on an offensive line that was given a much larger task than many other lines in the league. And this is why there seems to be such a disconnect when you read what fans have to say about the line, and then look at website who actually evaluate the play of our oline (like PFF or the ESPN positional breakdowns). The "analysts" give out positive grades for the season to players like Fusco, Sullivan and Loadholt, and that doesn't fit at all what the fan's general beliefs are. And I think that's simply a misconception by the fans who are not as well versed, nor do they put in the amount of time it takes to truly analyze how well an offensive line is performing.
SHELTIES RULE!!!
