Second viewing thoughts and grade report: Miami

I didn’t give this game the fine-tooth comb treatment I usually do. I did watch it a second time, but time constraints didn’t allow me to rewind play after play. I agree with Jags – we left points on the field. A decent game. Not the best effort.

Offense: B

This game sort of captured the Matt Ryan of the past month. He made numerous passes that only he could make, got really unlucky on a few plays due to his teammates, got lucky that a few of his bad throws weren’t picked, and ultimately responded when BC needed him. Ryan really let his fundamentals slip in the pocket. He was throwing off his back foot, side arming etc. He also got careless scrambling, which led to the fumble. Good overall game, not one of his all-time greats. Hopefully that has him primed for next week.

AC added another great game to his great season. Good tough runs early, followed by some tough catches in the middle of the game and closed with a big TD run. LV got a TD. Nice for him in his last home game. They both did well in pass protection. No one else really got any playing time of note.

Purvis had a good game, although we didn’t get it to him nearly enough. Loyte…not so much. In addition to his early fumble, he also dropped an easy pass that would have been for first down. Challenger finished his Alumni career with his best game in two months. Gunnell looked really good and may have the best hands of the young guys. Megwa – a couple of bad drops offset by some nice plays.

Outside of some bad, bad penalties, the offensive line played pretty well. Very good push early. They were moving in sync on the stretch plays. Good pass protection in general. Ramsey and Tennant had the best games. Both are moving very well on runs and on screens. Castonzo is a good run blocker. He struggled with some pass rush. Anevski got whistled for a dumb penalty. Cherilus was better.

I liked the play calling. We ran early using our offensive line advantage. Went away from the run to put some pints on the board and then closed it out with more conservative play calling. Did you ever think you’d see the day when our players were running away from Miami players?

Defense: B

The defensive line dominated upfront. They got great push on the Miami line. Solid game from Brace and Smith. Willette looked good. Ramella played well. Larkin had a quiet game. The second teamers were not used extensively (resting up for next week?).

McLaughlin and Akins had their best games of the season. McLaughlin was making plays all over the place and looked very good in pass coverage. Akins finally closed on a QB and was very disruptive in the backfield. Francois was quiet. Dunbar and Pruitt only saw limited action. Herzy was good, just lacking his usual highlight.

Gause played like a true freshman. He made a great move on his INT. He also got burned and looked lost at different times. Silva did his usual strong job in run support. Morris played well. Anderson wasn’t really tested.

Spaz faced a terrible offense with a limited roster and went vanilla. It worked. Miami really only had one long drive. Their first TD was more of a Ryan gimme than a defensive breakdown.

Special Teams: B-

The good: nice kick offs and kick coverage. Silva trying to make something happen on punt returns.

The bad: Sid missing a chip shot. Ayers – who has been great – muffing a punt.

Overall: B

This had an NFL feel to it, so Jags was ready. We didn’t play great or with loads of emotion but we won in a business like fashion. I have no complaints. Outside of some sloppy plays on offense that kept the score closer than it should have, it was a nice day. If their minds were in Jacksonville, they at least came away with the win.