Sorry about posting a new topic but I felt it was needed. Every week I hear someone question that Carr doesn't throw anything more than 5 yard dump passes. It's really almost the complete opposite. He has worked on his dump off passes all offseason because they were his biggest weakness the last 2 years. His YPA is 9.23 after this week. He leads the AFC and is second in the NFL only behind Daunte Culpepper who has Moss jumping out of the heavens making catches. I think it is a very common misconception that David tends to pass the ball to his check off recievers more than people would like.. I think it is true that he usually starts off the game throwing short passes trying to get himself comfortable with his recievers. The big problem this year has been sacks though. Is it just me or does it seem like our offensive line has taken a few steps back so far this year? We have a great future here in Houston with the Carr/Johnson connection. But I do agree this team needs to air it out more often take a few more chances, not just on third and forever. I think they need the passing game to open up the running game not vice versa. Of course all of this is just my opinion. Blah.
I've never said he doesn't throw down-field... and I don't complain about the dump-offs because they've actually been very effective this year. I just saw yesterday that Carr had a hard time "completing" these downfield passes, as some of them were nowhere close wide-open receivers (he was much better in the second half, though). Maybe his problem is neither accuracy or decision making... as I do agree with you that the offensive line's shortcomings is the number 1 hindrance in Carr's development. He may, in fact, be the best QB ever... but if he doesn't have an offensive line that can block, we'll never see it. The dump-offs, WR screens, and check-downs are all in such high prevalance because we have an awful offensive line... we're just trying to mask the problem. The dwindling sack numbers are not because of a vastly improved line... its more due to an increase in the # of the type of receptions I just mentioned.
Good point; when looking at the line McKinney, Weigert and Wade are all solid lineman but don't come close to being great. Then on the other side your got Wand who is below average and Chester Pitts who is average at best. It didn't help on sunday having Weary and Wand both starting on the line.
Ok that makes more sense. I understand what you are saying. The jury is still out on the zone blocking scheme for me. I did like the fact of how they where trying to move carr around and get him some throwing lanes. He has an absolute beautiful arm. I would like to see this team under a different Offensive Coordinator though. Chris Palmer has done a lot to bring Carr along now he needs someone that can open up the complete package that Carr can provide. Thanks for the reply Nick.
he still makes some questionable decisions, as in yesterday's first quarter. but even the best QB's make questionable decisions. Favre has made a career out of questionable decisions. he's getting better. that's what you want to see. you want to see that your young QB looks better this season than he did the season before. i think we're clearly seeing that. beyond that, his teammates seem to have a TON of respect for him...i think primarily because he took his licks in the first season and never begged out or complained.
On the highlights, and the pick, it looks as though the WR slips or falls down. What did you guys see? They were ripping him on ESPN, but it looked like the WR went down.
Gaffney fell down, but the throw was horrible. Carr is an excellent quarterback. I think the most surprising and pleasing thing about him is that he is much more mobile than I expected he would be. I'm actually all for him leaving the pocket a little more frequently - if you can consistently get 5 yards, why not. The dissapointment, of course, is the TD:INT ratio. It has got to improve on a daily basis now, which means every game more TD throws than interceptions. I think the reason Carr forced it Sunday was because he knows this, he knows it's been hard for him to throw the TD passes (for whatever reason), and he knows they can't keep consistently settling for FG's, so he forced it.
