This game was a tale of two halves. And the tale of the second half was sloppy.
That second half was the first time in the Joseph era at PN-G that I've been disappointed in the way the Indians played. There were way, way, way too many penalties. That was just as true of Crawford as it was of PN-G, and I gather that Crawford instigated a lot of the bad behavior and mental errors on the field that took yardage from PN-G. But I have become accustomed to, and come to expect, discipline from the Indians under Joseph's tutelage--especially when the opposing team is cutting up. I thought last week showed a lot of improvement since the season opener against Memorial. This week, it looks like we took several steps backward.
This is also a rare moment when I have been disappointed in the play-calling during the Joseph era. Ordinarily, I'm one of the last people on this site to criticize play-calling. In fact, I'm most often the one here defending the play-calling. And, I've had no real reason to criticize the play-calling since Coach Joseph arrived at PN-G. So, I hope the rarity of this expression on my part clearly signals its sincerity. I have to call out the decisions to throw the ball on 3rd and 6 from the Crawford 15 on the second-to-last PN-G drive of the game, and to throw it again on 3rd and 5 from the Crawford 10 on the last drive of the game. Both times, running the ball would have all but guaranteed at least a few years and the most likely outcomes were either a 1st and Goal or a 4th and short. In the latter case, we would not have been locked into a passing down on 4th down and we would have had more options available in the playbook on the next play. I can see at least a possible rationale on the last drive given we were trying to conserve clock at that point, but in the earlier case, we were trying to chew clock and running the ball would have better served that objective. Earlier in the Joseph era, our play-calling was much more conventional and run-heavy early in the season and became more elaborate, more versatile, and more pass-friendly as the season wore on. It seems like we've departed from that philosophy this season and I'm at a loss to understand why--it's served us very well in the past, as I always reminded the critics who stressed how boring they thought that modus operandi was at the time.
I was not concerned after the loss to Memorial. I am very concerned tonight. I believe the Indians can still pull it together and make this season another one for the history books. Jackson is coming along very well and made some stellar plays tonight--I think he just has a little fine tuning to do with his hands to perfect his game. Henry and Montgomery both look fantastic running the ball. Gholke and Benkert are playmakers. Ashworth is showing a lot of poise and maturity in key situations, and I think his passing game shows tremendous promise for improvement with a little better decision-making. And the highlights of the night, in my opinion, were the four interceptions our defense hauled in and all their backfield penatration and gang-tackling. But on the other hand, we forced four interceptions in a ballgame and still found a way to lose.
There's a ton of work to be done in practice.
