#3 WR and kicker already decided?

[Ravenous1]

WTF KINDA COMMENT WAS THAT FROM BILLY??? For muthaf@#kn real? So you think imma let some young punk walk in and talk my job after being there for a couple years? Especially after having a shot at redemption? I would be kicking my ass off, i would be doing so many leg press i would look like MJG on steriods, I weould go watch that replay at the end of the NE game everyday and get so pissed off the next time I kick a f#@kn ball not only is it going to make it down the middle like money but you will never see that got damn ball again. I would mean mug Tucker every chance i get and show these caoches who's the f@#ckn boss kickin the ball. Cundiff pretty much rolled over like a bitch with saying that shit.

Lol that was my initial reaction also. If I were Billy I would have come in here with the attitude that nobody is taking my job because I am gonna kick my ass off. Not some namby pamby statement about how experienced he is and how young the other guy is. Well Billy maybe you should realize you may have the edge in terms of NFL game experience but you also have one experience that Tucker does not, yup missing an easy FG in the AFC Championship game. Man up and start doing your job dude. If this kid out kicks Cundiff I think they will go with him, less money, less stigma and frankly the kid will have outplayed a guy who should have come into camp like raging bull on steroids.

[wickedsolo]

IIRC, he had some sort of leg injury that was causing his pulls and shanks, and they brought in someone else while he healed.

Yea, they brought in Shayne Graham, who did really well...and should have STAYED.

[wickedsolo]

This. What happened in Foxborough last year should not factor in the decision at all. BUT if Tucker outperforms Cundiff in TC/preseason (as he has been thus far) he should absolutely get the job

If Cundiff felt rushed, he could have (and should have) called the time out himself. Kickers are coached to do that.

Secondly, that was a 32 yard pooch kick. It was a chip shot and it wasn't even at an odd angle.

He caved and that absolutely should have a bearing on him keeping his job. You can't go into a season wondering whether or not your kicker is going to be able to make those pressure kicks. Games are won and lost with special teams.

[wickedsolo]

"Justin is just a completely different guy. He’s a young kid out of college,” Cundiff said. “The maturity level is completely different than somebody like myself who’s been around. Going on my ninth season, I’ve kind of seen a lot, done a lot, that whole deal. So they have a little more experience with me here.”

Here's where Cundiff played his college ball



Here's where Tucker played his college ball



Somehow I'm thinking Tucker has seen alot and done alot kicking for the Texas Longhorns while Cundiff kicked at that football hotbed called "Drake University"

Wow. Startling contrast. Well played.

!!

Tucker kicked in a stadium that held over 100,000 people. That is something like 30,000 more than the RAVENS STADIUM! Tucker knows about pressure kicks. He kicked against Texas A&M and the Red River Showdown against Oklahoma. Those are some big rivalries.

[wickedsolo]

Kind of funny i was watching hard knocks 2008 cowboys and in a game against houston in the last seconds our own number 3 wr jacoby jones was thrown the game winning pass... He dropped it. Some things never change i guess. While i do find it funny/ironic i am hopeful that once he gets the offense down hell improve at least slightly in that area. For emphasizing wrs that can catch in the offseason ozzie did make a peculiar move bring him in.

He wasn't brought in here to be a possession guy though. He was brought in here because they needed another speed guy to line up opposite of Torrey to clear out coverage underneath for Boldin, Dickson, Pitta, and Rice.

Make no mistake about it, this offense is still going to be run through Rice. That's how Cam runs his offense. Having two speed guys to take away the safeties and corners does a lot for opening up the underneath. All Jacoby has to do is catch one or two deep passes and make the defense pay attention to him.

I don't like his inconsistent hands either, but if he can open things up underneath for Boldin, the TE's, and Rice, then it will be a good thing.

[Bl1tz]

Mental edge

[Paintballguy]

Yea, they brought in Shayne Graham, who did really well...and should have STAYED.

[JAB1985]

He wasn't brought in here to be a possession guy though. He was brought in here because they needed another speed guy to line up opposite of Torrey to clear out coverage underneath for Boldin, Dickson, Pitta, and Rice.

Make no mistake about it, this offense is still going to be run through Rice. That's how Cam runs his offense. Having two speed guys to take away the safeties and corners does a lot for opening up the underneath. All Jacoby has to do is catch one or two deep passes and make the defense pay attention to him.

I don't like his inconsistent hands either, but if he can open things up underneath for Boldin, the TE's, and Rice, then it will be a good thing.

i hear ya, just thought it was funny that the only site of him was dropping a game winning pass, with our history and all.

I do think hell be effective at taking the top off and opening things up underneath regardless with the safeties having to respect him and Smith, likely resulting in less big plays for both, imo. in that aspect with his speed i think hell be effective. with that said Tommy Streeter rand deonte thompson an a sub 4.4 to jacobys 4.5... theyre probably just as capable in that aspect alone.

[wickedsolo]

I agree.

All it takes is Jacoby or whoever to catch a deep pass once for the defense to start backing off and paying attention.

[lobachevsky]

All it takes is Jacoby or whoever to catch a deep pass once for the defense to start backing off and paying attention.

IIRC one of the factors in the immortal ass-kicking delivered to the Tar&Piss in Week 1 last season was the presence of Lee Evans--a known deep threat that the PGH secondary had to account for on every play, which opened up all sorts of goodies in the short passing game and helped the running game as well.

Two certified deep threats, plus a QB with a howitzer arm who can find them, a sure-handed TE or slot receiver and R2, bids fair to create utter havoc.

I have the feeling that teams will start out concentrating on R2, Torrey & Q, & daring Joe to beat them going to Jacoby as the least-known quantity in the equation--& they will continue to play that way until&unless Flacco-to-JJones starts ripping them a redundant nether orifice...

[Rxdoxx]

I agree.

All it takes is Jacoby or whoever to catch a deep pass once for the defense to start backing off and paying attention.

Truth, didn't we see this play out last year?

Defensive co-ordinators began taking heavy doses of Immodium AD after seeing Torrey's first 3 career catches.

All we need is a catch or two early. If we get 2 drops, he'll bring as much fear as Patrick Johnson used to.

[JAB1985]

Truth, didn't we see this play out last year?

Defensive co-ordinators began taking heavy doses of Immodium AD after seeing Torrey's first 3 career catches.

All we need is a catch or two early. If we get 2 drops, he'll bring as much fear as Patrick Johnson used to.

if you have a guy that can get behind the defense and they dont respect it and leave him open thats just asking for it. Even if he drops it once or twice theyll still have to respect it because if he does catch it, its a TD vs the underneath stuff hed be going after instead being less likely of scoring. Speed has to be respected regardless, especially with Joes arm.

[BigPlayReceiver]

He wasn't brought in here to be a possession guy though. He was brought in here because they needed another speed guy to line up opposite of Torrey to clear out coverage underneath for Boldin, Dickson, Pitta, and Rice.

Make no mistake about it, this offense is still going to be run through Rice. That's how Cam runs his offense. Having two speed guys to take away the safeties and corners does a lot for opening up the underneath. All Jacoby has to do is catch one or two deep passes and make the defense pay attention to him.

I don't like his inconsistent hands either, but if he can open things up underneath for Boldin, the TE's, and Rice, then it will be a good thing.

So it's well documented that I (and the rest of you) are more imaginative than Cammie, but IF, however, we DO implement the no-huddle* then I would like to see a nice decoy package at some point with R2 lining up as the lone wide-out opposite a bunch formation, or more conventionally in the slot opposite Q. We actually saw this (i.e., R2 out wide in a 4 WR set) in PS'10.


*Hell I'm so confident that we will, I'm adopting the "NH" abbreviation already

[BigPlayReceiver]

if you have a guy that can get behind the defense and they dont respect it and leave him open thats just asking for it. Even if he drops it once or twice theyll still have to respect it because if he does catch it, its a TD vs the underneath stuff hed be going after instead being less likely of scoring. Speed has to be respected regardless, especially with Joes arm.

Agreed....and the NH would amplify this quite a bit.

[Paintballguy]

if you have a guy that can get behind the defense and they dont respect it and leave him open thats just asking for it. Even if he drops it once or twice theyll still have to respect it because if he does catch it, its a TD vs the underneath stuff hed be going after instead being less likely of scoring. Speed has to be respected regardless, especially with Joes arm.

Speed also draws pass interference flags. Torrey Smith caused the most pass interference yards last season.

[JAB1985]

Speed also draws pass interference flags. Torrey Smith caused the most pass interference yards last season.

true, many ways you can be an effective part of the offense without even catching the ball.

[The Excellector]

Wicked actually brings up a good point. The kicker could have called timeout if he wanted to. Couldn't he?

[Paintballguy]

Wicked actually brings up a good point. The kicker could have called timeout if he wanted to. Couldn't he?

Any player on the field can call a timeout. Assistant coaches or players on the sidelines cannot call a timeout. Of course the head coach can call a timeout also.

[HoustonRaven]

Any player on the field can call a timeout. Assistant coaches or players on the sidelines cannot call a timeout. Of course the head coach can call a timeout also.

Rex Ryan called an infamous one a few years ago that cost us the game against the Pats.

[The Excellector]

Rex Ryan called an infamous one a few years ago that cost us the game against the Pats.

Billick took the heat for him, to an extent, only for Rex to stab in the back that same season, as documented in Rex's book.