tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15561288.post1807203830157416054..comments2023-12-25T14:06:47.943-05:00Comments on Domer Law Blog: Complete DominationWackohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11573984468865704789noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15561288.post-7337819165147549752007-01-07T11:05:00.000-05:002007-01-07T11:05:00.000-05:00He was efective in the first half, as the Irish us...He was efective in the first half, as the Irish used the pass to set up the run. At the start of the game, LSU was stacking the box, daring Brady to beat their man coverage. As Brady moved the ball, the linebackers had to drop into coverage, leading to Darius' 100+ yards in the first half. In the second half, LSU again challenged Brady - this time to beat their zone coverage, stacking the box against the run.<br />Because Brady couldn't move the ball, and LSU had 8 guys in the box, Darius couldn't run either.<br /><br />In most games, you would be correct, but not this one. Brady had a very good game in the first half against the 3rd-ranked pass defense in the country. He did not have a good game in the second half.<br /><br />In his defense, even when he managed to find the seam in the zone and deliver a ball on target, Rhema would drop it.Wackohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11573984468865704789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15561288.post-12347980470024563492007-01-05T21:05:00.000-05:002007-01-05T21:05:00.000-05:00Brady Quinn looked downright average in the second...<i>Brady Quinn looked downright average in the second half, which is a tremendous credit to the adjustments that the LSU defense made.</i><br /><br />Umm... Brady Quinn looked downright average in the first half, too. He was okay in the second quarter, but that was only after looking awful in the first quarter. This is what I wrote <a href="http://www.brendanloy.com/2007/01/not-good-2.html">at halftime</a>:<br /><br /><i>Memo to Fox commentators: STOP PRAISING BRADY QUINN. BRADY QUINN IS HAVING A BAD GAME. Terry Bradshaw’s commentary about how “poised” he is was completely ridiculous, given how shaky and nervous Quinn was in the first quarter (which Bradshaw himself acknowledged 2 minutes later, with no hint of irony). Quinn’s first touchdown pass was a poorly advised throw into a double coverage, and he was incredibly lucky that Grimes made an incredible catch. Granted, he should have had a touchdown pass on the throw that hit Samardzija on the helmet, so that kind of balances out. But he also threw an interception into double-coverage that was wrongly overturned on replay, in addition to the interception that’s on the record book. And he threw a ton of passes into the ground (not always intentionally), at his receivers’ knees and ankles (not always under pressure), etc. For heaven’s sake, his completion rate is <b>11 for 25</b>. He is not playing well. The only reason Notre Dame is in this game is the surprising success of their running game. I suspect LSU will adjust its defense and take that away in the second half, so Brady will need to play much better if the Irish are to have a chance. I hope he does. But praising him for that first-half performance is crazy.</i><br /><br />LSU did indeed adjust, but it wasn't the passing game that their adjustments took away, as your comment seems to imply -- it was the running game. The passing game was never there. That's too bad, because Brady had a great career at Notre Dame, and it's unfortunate it had to end with such a subpar performance. I don't know how much of it was poor play on his part and how much of it was good play on the LSU defense's part; I'm not a good enough football analyst to make that call. I do think he was rattled/nervous in the first quarter, but after that, I'm not sure what the problem was. But regardless, it's not like he was playing well in the first half and then became "average" in the second half. He was never on his game. Alas.Brendanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11130902583586203257noreply@blogger.com