Some thoughts on the week after the pitiful season opener in New York:
Fan Reaction
The fan reaction to a bad loss is always the same – some fly off the deep end and want to fire the coach, change the QB and blow everything up while others toe the party line and pretend nothing is wrong (obviously there are a bunch of fans in the middle ground in there as well). To be quite honest, I was tilted towards the panicked fans hence my delay in throwing up any articles this week.
There just isn’t a ton to be confident about after watching that first game, particularly offensively. Defensively the team could have managed a few more turnovers if any of the cornerbacks could catch the ball (but we’ve said the same thing for years, so I doubt we’ll see a sudden increase in interceptions). Obviously we have to give the team some time and you don’t go changing everything after week one, but a better effort this week would be nice to ease some concerns.
Jason Campbell and Jim Zorn
It’s hard to give either of Zorn or Campbell a passing grade after week one. Zorn coached scared plain and simple. I know he doesn’t want Campbell to get killed and he doesn’t really trust the offensive line (although they aren’t a bad unit, so I’m not sure why), but you have to play to win. Running every 1st and 2nd down just isn’t going to get it done these days. He needs to open up the offense this week; the Saints aren’t a great defensive squad so Zorn should try to expose it.
Campbell was terrible in week one as well. He looked like a guy who was over thinking and worrying about technique instead of just throwing the ball. There were times where you could see Campbell staring at open receivers and just not throwing the ball. He’s got a big arm and he needs to trust himself to be able to make some throws. The idea to move him into the shotgun makes some sense as well. He won’t have to worry about making his drop in the crouched down position that Zorn prefers.
Both of these guys need to step up and show they belong this week. It isn’t a make or break weekend, but it isn’t going to take much for the fans to start getting on both of them if things don’t improve.