The 1 thing this team is missing

ptcJacket

ptcJacket

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It’s been said that good teams find ways to win games. This year we clearly have lacked what’s necessary to be considered a “good” team and it’s not something that needs a myriad of excuses (needing better players, more majors, coaching, etc). We are a handful of plays away from being 7-1...and that’s what makes it so incredibly frustrating.

That one trait this team lacks: the killer instinct. Good teams have it. Not so good teams don’t. It’s found in the team’s capacity to capitalize on the opportunity to destroy their opponents’ chances and hopes. It can be either side of the ball. Today’s exhibit A: After a poor first half, we score 2 TDs in 35 seconds to open the 2nd half and go up by 15. We have ALL of the momentum. Foot on their throats. All we needed was to get them off the field and then, offensively, chew clock and pick up some first downs. We did neither.

Our 2014 squad had the killer instinct. Occasionally defensively: created turnovers. Mostly offensively: relentless first down machine.

We have the players to compete now. Do I wish our players were bigger, stronger, faster? Sure. But even teams with those characteristics that lack the killer instinct will still come up short.

One final comment. I think Ta’quan Marshall could be the best QB we’ve ever had without equivocation. But there is one thing holding him back and it’s holding our team back: he’s selfish with the ball.
 
ptcJacket said:
That one trait this team lacks: the killer instinct.
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So, how do you coach 'the killer instinct'? Sounds about as ineffable as talent.
One final comment. I think Ta’quan Marshall could be the best QB we’ve ever had without equivocation. But there is one thing holding him back and it’s holding our team back: he’s selfish with the ball.
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At the moment, there's a lot more than just that holding him back. His difficulty throwing the ball is really hurting the offense right now. Comparing some of his throws with the beauties the UVA QB was delivering was telling.
 
The killer instinct is something that teams develop. It can be instilled by coaches and players alike.

Quan has struggled throwing the ball at times this year. Still needs to develop touch in my opinion.
 
TM is the worst throwing QB Johnson has had. His downfield ball hangs in the air and his short pass shows zero touch.

I don't know how to fix that. Maybe we bring the number of passes down to about 4-6 per game.

The guy is a hardnosed runner and fast. So it falls on Johnson to make the tweaks to the O to fit Marshall.
 
ptcJacket said:
It’s been said that good teams find ways to win games. This year we clearly have lacked what’s necessary to be considered a “good” team and it’s not something that needs a myriad of excuses (needing better players, more majors, coaching, etc). We are a handful of plays away from being 7-1...and that’s what makes it so incredibly frustrating.

That one trait this team lacks: the killer instinct. Good teams have it. Not so good teams don’t. It’s found in the team’s capacity to capitalize on the opportunity to destroy their opponents’ chances and hopes. It can be either side of the ball. Today’s exhibit A: After a poor first half, we score 2 TDs in 35 seconds to open the 2nd half and go up by 15. We have ALL of the momentum. Foot on their throats. All we needed was to get them off the field and then, offensively, chew clock and pick up some first downs. We did neither.

Our 2014 squad had the killer instinct. Occasionally defensively: created turnovers. Mostly offensively: relentless first down machine.

We have the players to compete now. Do I wish our players were bigger, stronger, faster? Sure. But even teams with those characteristics that lack the killer instinct will still come up short.

One final comment. I think Ta’quan Marshall could be the best QB we’ve ever had without equivocation. But there is one thing holding him back and it’s holding our team back: he’s selfish with the ball.
Click to expand...

Your last point bears some discussion. People talk about him missing reads and such, but there are many times where he shows no intent whatsoever to do anything but keep the ball. Some of those are called plays of course, but in pitch situations it is easy to see that he is keeping the ball. We gotta find a way to get the A backs into he offense.
 
Killer instinct is like the "good clubhouse" in baseball. If a team gets lucky and wins a bunch of one play games, they have it. If they get unlucky and lose a bunch of one play games, they lack it. It's a retroactively assigned quality that is descriptive, not predictive.

The reality is that one play games usually come down to the bounce of a ball. The only way to ensure wins is to win by more than one possession.
 
Agree with Andrew. Even during our better years, we have had a lot of close wins that we could have easily lost, and led to us bitching about the players, coaches, etc.
 
andrew said:
Killer instinct is like the "good clubhouse" in baseball. If a team gets lucky and wins a bunch of one play games, they have it. If they get unlucky and lose a bunch of one play games, they lack it. It's a retroactively assigned quality that is descriptive, not predictive.

The reality is that one play games usually come down to the bounce of a ball. The only way to ensure wins is to win by more than one possession.
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There were points in the Tennessee, Miami, and Virginia games where we had taken a significant lead and only had to close the game out, but this team has demonstrated that when we go to stomp on our opponent's throat we'll pull a hammy.
 
Without the threat of a passing game there is no way to scheme to help TQ.

Thats on him. If he cant pass, we arent going to be good offensively. So if PJ wants to finish strong and salvage this, its time to put Lucas Johnson in. Teams are selling out against the run and we cant burn them for it. Leads to quick 3 and outs and negatively impacting our defense by keeping them on the field too long.
 
This team has some talent. We should honestly be 6-1, and no shame losing to Clemson. But that's the thing; we don't have the "it" factor; we seemingly blow any double digit lead we can get our hands on.
 
Jacketeer said:
This team has some talent. We should honestly be 6-1, and no shame losing to Clemson. But that's the thing; we don't have the "it" factor; we seemingly blow any double digit lead we can get our hands on.
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Ehhhh. I’m not sure of that. Outside of Jeune, I don’t see anyone on either side of the ball looking at making a career of football. I’m not even sure about Jeune because we can’t get the damned ball to him.
 
savbandjacket said:
Ehhhh. I’m not sure of that. Outside of Jeune, I don’t see anyone on either side of the ball looking at making a career of football. I’m not even sure about Jeune because we can’t get the damned ball to him.
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Yeah drafting a guy that averages 2 catches per game is a tough sell to any NFL franchise.
 
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