SB Nation User Blog: TAYDIGGA

Maybe Bush's time finally has come

TAYDIGGA — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:49:28 -0000

Let it all come together and let Bush be Bush. Maybe then Bush can avoid the same fate as Maravich. Maybe Bush isn't too late or too early. Maybe Bush has arrived at just the right time to redefine the game. -Pete Yasinkas ESPN

To those who are a little overly-logical, comparing a basketball player to a football player may not make sense. But to those of us who understand sports and the competitve drive that each player has, no matter what the sport, and how that alone can link any two players from any sport--then this piece may interest you. Let me know what you think.

Urlacher knows what's up...

TAYDIGGA — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:36:25 -0000

Despite taunt, Brian Urlacher a fan of

New Orleans Saints' Reggie Bush

Bears' Urlacher praises Saints' 'dynamic' talent

By Vaughn McClure |Tribune reporter10:37 PM CST, December 10, 2008

Bears fans figure Brian Urlacher has every right to pummel Reggie Bush on Thursday night after what happened the last time Bush visited Soldier Field.

During the 2006 NFC championship game, the Saints running back ticked off all of Chicago when he pointed at Urlacher before doing a flip into the end zone to celebrate an 88-yard touchdown reception off a screen pass.

Urlacher certainly remembers—the final score, that is.

"I think we won that game, right? Honestly, to me, that other stuff was so blown out of proportion," Urlacher said. "I don't think Reggie directed that toward me.

"I don't even think about it until somebody brings it up. He was excited about his play and turned around and pointed, I guess. And I was the guy right there. He's lucky I didn't catch him. If I was running at full speed, I would have."

Urlacher used the words "respectable" and "well-spoken" to describe Bush, referring to their off-season encounters at various celebrity events. He has equally as much respect for Bush, the player.

"He's one of the most explosive players in the NFL," Urlacher said. "Any time he's in the game, it changes the way you have to approach their offense because he's so dynamic."

Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye recalled the Bush taunt but didn't make a big deal about it, either.

"I haven't talked to him about it since then," he said. "I said what I had to say that day, got over it. We won the game and, hopefully, he has learned his lesson."

Bush returned to the lineup Nov. 30 after missing five games with a knee injury. The Saints still racked up yards without him and enter Thursday night's game with the league's top-rated offense.

The addition of Bush, however, simply gives quarterback Drew Brees another weapon.

"Brees is the MVP of the league right now, in my mind," Urlacher said. "He has had a great season. He makes everything go for them.

"Obviously, when they run the ball, he's even better. But he's just a great quarterback, period."

Coach Lovie Smith said earlier in the week that the Saints get off the bus passing the ball, not running it. Regardless, Urlacher said the emphasis remains on stopping the run. Bush and Illinois product Pierre Thomas give the Saints a solid one-two punch. And veteran Deuce McAllister is always available for short-yardage situations.

"No, we can't focus on stopping the pass because we tried that against Green Bay, and they [ran all over] us," Urlacher said. "They handed it off every time they saw Cover-2. And they gashed us.

"[New Orleans] is not going to throw it every single down. So we have to stop them when they try to run it, put them in some second-and-long, third-and-long situations where we have a chance to get some pressure on them."

New Orleans ran for a season-best 184 yards Sunday against Atlanta. Last season against the Bears, Thomas made his first career start with Bush sidelined with a knee injury and ran for 105 yards. He also caught 12 passes for 121 yards.

"But he didn't hurt us that badly because we still won the game (33-25)," Urlacher said. "I'm not saying he's not a good running back. He catches the ball well. He runs it well. But we've been pretty sound against the run all season.

"We'll just get in our gaps and get up the field like we've done all season … and, hopefully, tackle better than we have the last couple of games."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-11-bears-chicagodec11,0,3766881.story

In defense of Bush

TAYDIGGA — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:45:41 -0000

My defense of Bush

Here’s my defense of Reggie Bush and why I think he is better than people are giving him credit for. There are a few things I want to address here so gird yourself for a long read.

Carries

Bush is averaging around 11 carries a game. Hardly enough for a "feature back" to get in a groove or do anything consistently. Some of you may say PT is getting less than that and doing fine. We will discuss that later. But lets look at the games where Bush was doing his thing and averaged above 4 yards per carry.

Denver

18 carries 73 yards 4.1ypc

That’s 8 carries over his average but guess what 11 of those came in the first half. That’s already his season average. That’s about what the usual "feature back" gets for a first half.

Carolina

9 carries 55 yards 6.1ypc

We all know Bush went out early in the third quarter didn’t see a snap, so this was in the first half. Again this is what the prototypical star back does in a game usually. And as I looked at the play by play he was allowed to get into a rhythm.

But now lets look at two of his "abysmal" games, not counting the last one unless you’re just a Bush hater and don’t want to give him the benefit of the doubt considering he really didn’t play much second half and was coming back from an injury.

Oakland

14 carries 27 yards 1.9ypc

The first half alone he gets 9 carries and only gets 20 yards. Weak!!! But in the second half he gets only 7 yards off of 5 carries. We stopped running the ball and we killed the Raiders. Sure he didn’t do too good but here’s the thing. During so many games I’ll be watching and looking at the ticker and see "A. Peterson 10 carries 33 yards". By the end of the third quarter what do I see. 21 carries for 103 yards. Which told me they kept running him and he finally broke for a big one. But before I transition lets look at another game. Let’s go to the first game.

Tampa Bay

Bush gets 7 carries in first half for 8 yards. PT gets a few carries and does great with what he gets. However, I looked at some video and I couldn’t tell who (cause I’m at work and the video quality isn’t that great) but noticed on the play in the third quarter when Devery Henderson caught the deep ball on a play action, a safety came in when Bush was in the backfield. On the screen pass that Bush scored on the free safety was spying on him and if it weren’t for a great block would have had him. Noticed this on a few plays. This didn’t happen with Pierre. Which leads me to my next point…

Defenses Plan for Bush

Check this quote out:

Coach Mike Nolan said this morning that his defense will have to play a game of "Where’s Reggie?" before every snap.

"I think it’s important right now to find out where he is on every play," Nolan said. "What we treat him as is kind of irrelevant.

"Everybody has to know where he is at all times because he does line up in the backfield, he lines up strong side, weak side and he’s very active in the offense."

(http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2008/09/24/49ers-plan-to-keep-a-lookout-for-reggie-bush/)

Treat this quote as an anecdote for what every coach is planning for #25 every game. Are coaches just ignoring whoever else is back there? No, but we have to remember Bush is probably the most highly touted college player ever. Those USC highlights are in coaches and players minds. And he’s shown some explosiveness in the NFL. So PT, Deuce, or Stecker aren’t going to get that type of attention. So when PT is in there to spell of course he’s going to get 7 yards when we pass all the time and the guy who was shadowing Bush can relax—a little of course. If you have safeties spying you all game and your offensive line isn’t the greatest what can you expect? Look at what we did to Adrian Peterson. We put 8 in a box, which happens to Reggie a lot, and we stopped him. But he has a superior line and now with a better quarterback, he’s still killing teams. Anybody see what happened to Davidson when Loyola literally double-teamed Stephen Curry all game last week? He didn’t do squat. But his teammates did and they still won. This is Reggie Bush’s dilemma. They didn’t double-team anyone else and two guards off the bench both scored double figures as they routed Loyola by 30 points. I see Pierre as those guys off the bench.

Reggie vs. Pierre

So the backup running back is averaging more yards per carry than the star huh? The Saints were 3-1 in games with him and without Bush. So he must be a better back. Well, not so fast. He’s been doing great against teams like Green Bay and Kansas City. But what are those teams’ stats like against the run? Uh huh. The whole 3-1 without Bush stat is a mirage. People don’t look at the games where Bush kept us in it against far better teams. And even won it for us against Tampa. Or at who we’ve played in those games (weak teams we’re supposed to beat) versus the teams we’ve almost beat with him. But Thomas should be starting? What about last game? He didn’t get the ball enough huh? Yeah sure, every time I use the not enough carries to get a rhythm excuse for Bush people overlook it or knock it. But it’s legitimate. I aint knocking Pierre. I think he’s solid. But when he finally gets the bulk of the carries against a solid team, that’s not putting 8 in the box or spying him, he gets 11 carries for 33 yards. He had a reception for 20 yards that brought a TD. A very Bush-like game to me. But we give him a pass for some reason. Must be the rose-colored glasses some of us choose to look at him through Which leads me to my final reason for why Bush isn’t living up to the hype, so to speak.

Pass Happy Coach

Payton passes way too much. But of course how do you think Brees is doing this with these stellar receivers. Wouldn’t defenses be ready for it? Well there’s a little distraction in the backfield. Call him a decoy, a bust or a star. Coaches call him dangerous and plan for him as such. Screw what fans say. Coaches take Bush serious and when that happens with a coach like Payton. Pass, Pass, Pass. I think he tries to pass to run. Which is unconventional but could work if he did it right. Last game he used a few delays and draws with Thomas that worked and with Payton’s style of offense it usually does. But when he runs he does it in a way that’s so obvious. I think defenses know that in the first quarter maybe even second he’ll attempt to run at the conventional times--first and second down. And so they stack the box or spy Bush who they usually have running out of the I or singleback formation—hence no fullback to block. Later he abandons it till he basically passes out (pun intended). What running back who has things being said, like what Nolan said, is going to excel with an offensive line that is as untrained as the Saints? Not Bush. I don’t care who you put back there, as far as stars go. LT, AP or Michael Turner they would not succeed behind a pass happy coach with a sub par line.

Take away his TD’s and yards and the Saints are in a far worse position than they are now. Trade him and watch him live up to his potential on a team with a far superior line and you better hope it’s not a team in the NFC south, that would really make us sick and as much as it would bother me I’d be happy for him. As redundant as it sounds, we still don’t know what Bush could do. He’s not in a system that uses him just right. How much practice do you think is really devoted to running the ball when we pass as much as we do. Don’t forget the games where Deuce got a bulk of carries and he didn’t get 4 yards per carry. Let’s look at all the factors here, not just our emotions. Sure, I joke about being his apologist but I also watch film and study the Saints. No back is going to excel when as soon as he gets the ball there are two linemen in his grill. Nobody! Who Dat!

Raiders may punt to Bush...

TAYDIGGA — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:29:13 -0000

As good as he is. I don't want any turnovers. He's prone to them, I'll admit it and he'll admit it too. He gets too caught up in the moment of juking and forgets to protect the ball. Anyway check out what the Raiders have to say about it:

“Are you kidding me? I watched the game, I watched the special teams and the Saints didn’t have a lot of spark and you could tell the fans were starting to get out of the game until he touched the ball on those punt returns,” Oakland‘s Ike Ekejiuba said Wednesday. “When you watch somebody like that, who has the ability to change the game, it focuses a team because you’ve seen what he can do. The whole world has seen what he can do. Everybody watches Monday Night Football. Now you’re the next team that’s coming in and there’s going to be a lot of talk about Reggie Bush and what he brings to the table, which is a lot. You don’t want to be the next team that’s on Reggie Bush’s highlight.”

For the Raiders, it’s a matter of staying disciplined and not allowing Bush to break into the open. Oakland, currently 14th in the NFL on punt coverage, faced a similar situation last season against Chicago and opted to go right at Devin Hester. Hester was bottled up all afternoon and never got unleashed.

“We took a stand last year and said, ‘Alright, we’re going to kick to this guy’ and that’s what we did,” Ekejiuba said. “We kicked to him and we went down and covered the kick. It’s a big statement to make if you’re going to kick to somebody like that.”

Bush is different than Hester, though, in that he has more moves and can avoid would-be tacklers much better than his speedier and more flashy counterpart.

“Chicago’s special teams, they work as a unit. Hester’s going to break one or two tackles then he gets to his wall,” Ekejiuba said. “But Reggie, he reverses field which makes him really dangerous. The way he did it, he broke four tackles every time he touched the ball on the two touchdowns. So it’s not going to be individual effort. You’re not going to go out and tackle Reggie Bush one-on-one. You’re not going to. It just doesn’t happen. So this is where we’ve got to come together as a unit. We’re counting on Shane Lechler to kick the ball like he always does and we’re counting on the whole punt team to, ‘OK, let’s go down here, minimize his gains and keep Shane’s punt average up and send him to the Pro Bowl again.’^”

How do you not give Bush the ball? The offense can score every time it has the ball, but that would require converting third downs -- and they are worst in the league at that.

Pro Bowl punter Shane Lechler can boot the ball out of bounds, though he'd rather have a boot to his head.

Expect Lechler to kick it high and long, giving the coverage units enough time to storm downfield and inspire Bush to wave for a fair catch.

Colston Probable...

TAYDIGGA — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:44:18 -0000

Per the Times-Pic

Jeremy Shockey (groin) was held out of all phases of Saints practice Thursday. Marques Colston (thumb) had "limited" participation again.

Colston may be listed as questionable on Friday's final injury report, but looks increasingly likely to face Oakland. We'll have a better idea of his status tomorrow. Shockey will likely need to practice in full Friday to have a shot to play. He's getting close, but owners should wait on him another week. Oct. 9 - 3:12 pm et

Colston and Shockey May Return Against Oakland

TAYDIGGA — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:27:46 -0000

Per the Times-Pic.

Finally, some good news on the injury front. Receiver Marques Colston and tight end Jeremy Shockey were both back in practice on a limited basis. They should still be considered questionable for Sunday's game against Oakland, but Coach Sean Payton said he was more optimistic than earlier in the week.

"I was pleased with what I saw today, and I saw more than I expected to see," Payton said. "Both of them actually took reps and moved around pretty good. You know, we'll see tomorrow how they feel, especially when it comes to Jeremy. But Marques looked good."

Jeremy Shockey (groin) and Marques Colston (thumb surgery) were both limited participants in Saints practice Wednesday and could play this week. Sean Payton says both could be ready for the Raiders, which is a great surprise.It sounds like Colston is likely to play if he has no setbacks. Shockey is more questionable. The Saints' secondary receivers could lose snaps.

Poll

Do you believe they will be back by Sunday?

Yes

25 votes

No

33 votes

58 votes | Poll has closed