Maualuga Miserable in coverage...

[-GoBengals-]

it was only one pass that i saw, but he was caught peaking into the backfield and his guy was WIIIIDE OPEN....

i wrote it off last year to rookie mistakes, learning, etc..

but it happened a few times in the patriots game, and 1-2 in the ravens game. and again today..


how long does this last? still rookie learning?

he is "really good" against the run, but at best a liability against the pass.

thoughts?

[ColorChanginClique]

yeah it's still a fact

but he made one nasty ass play where he leaped over the oline and tackled the RB at the LOS.....ALA Troy Polomalu from last week

That makes up for his piss poor coverage skill for me.

I think they should just mask it as much as feasibly possible with Brandon Johnson.

But Dhani is also garbage....thankfully Keith Rivers has played fantastic this season so far. Physical and beastly in my opinion.

I think we need a big time LBer in next years draft cause I'd rather have MJ full time at DE....and Dhani gone after this year.

But obviously first round MUST be o-line....i mean...fuck....livings.....roland.....ugh.....

[unleashed]

Rivers-Maualuga-B-Johnson

I think it would be the most effective LB crew with the players we currently have on the roster. I love Dhani's leadership on the field, but i think Rey's athleticism is being mis-used a little by keeping him outside. Brandon is excellent in pass coverage.

[Elijah15]

yep yep,i saw that too

[|High School Harry|]

[quote name='GoBengals' timestamp='1285562343' post='923374']
it was only one pass that i saw, but he was caught peaking into the backfield and his guy was WIIIIDE OPEN....

i wrote it off last year to rookie mistakes, learning, etc..

but it happened a few times in the patriots game, and 1-2 in the ravens game. and again today..


how long does this last? still rookie learning?

he is "really good" against the run, but at best a liability against the pass.

thoughts?
[/quote]

The long pass completion to the tight end in the right flat was completely on him.
He was 4-5 yards in front of and to the right or the guy as he was running down the field looking into
the backfield like he was looking for the run to come that way and had no idea there was a receiver in his space.

A week or so back I said something about Maualuga not having the football smarts for the NFL and this is the kind of stuff I mean.

He is all or nothing. Diving over the line and his blocker to catch a guy behind the line of scrimmage or totally out of possession biting on
every fake or whatever the next.

He is not terrible but he is also not totally dependable.
Why is Dhani Jones still in there? Because he knows what he is doing and what is going on,
can play the mental part of middle linebacker although he is a physical liability.

Not going to take good coaches long at all to figure out how to exploit Rey Maualuga.
However, once he puts it all together (if he does), he is going to be a force to really be reckoned with.

[cincity]

[quote name='GoBengals' timestamp='1285562343' post='923374']
it was only one pass that i saw, but he was caught peaking into the backfield and his guy was WIIIIDE OPEN....

i wrote it off last year to rookie mistakes, learning, etc..

but it happened a few times in the patriots game, and 1-2 in the ravens game. and again today..


how long does this last? still rookie learning?

he is "really good" against the run, but at best a liability against the pass.

thoughts?
[/quote]

He did that on his the first big play against the Patriots also (a completion to the TE Hernandez) You see him attack the line of scrimmage and then realize it's a pass play and his man just runs by him to make a 30 something yard play. I see a lot of the LB's just take the bait of the direction of the play and always playing catch up once they realize it's a misdirection play. They're playing aggressive and not being disciplined.

[Bengals1181]

Rey has no business being at SLB. They're only doing it because they don't want to take Dhani off the field.




Overall I thought Rey had a very good game yesterday. His best of the season.

[cincity]

[quote name='Bengals1181' timestamp='1285588364' post='923414']
Rey has no business being at SLB. They're only doing it because they don't want to take Dhani off the field.



[b]
Overall I thought Rey had a very good game yesterday. His best of the season.[/b]
[/quote]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing.

[Jason]

[quote name='GoBengals' timestamp='1285562343' post='923374']
it was only one pass that i saw, but he was caught peaking into the backfield and his guy was WIIIIDE OPEN....

i wrote it off last year to rookie mistakes, learning, etc..

but it happened a few times in the patriots game, and 1-2 in the ravens game. and again today..


how long does this last? still rookie learning?

he is "really good" against the run, but at best a liability against the pass.

thoughts?
[/quote]

That's one of the reasons he slipped to the second round to begin with, other than his party nature. Most scouts saw him as a 2 down linebacker.

[kdubdub]

I think that with the younger players it seems that they only fully get their shot when they are clearly better and not given the chance to grow into the position. The one exception is Gresham but you can argue that he was the best overall option with Reggie coming off a major injury. But, not just giving it over to Rey at middle, last year with Simpson, and Andre...at some point you have to let the talent be refined and battle tested on the field. I would rather a young player just show he cant do iit and not improve over a few games then never find out at all.

Rey makes mistakes but he has upside and was a 3 down backer at SC. He overruns just as many reads as Dhani anyway. That dude is the king of whiffing on a tackle.

[texbengal]

Yesterday was clearly Rey's best effort this year, but for sure he's still learning vs. the pass. That pass completion to Jeff King (TE) was a bad read by him. My hope is that he'll get better at recognition... he's a very aggressive/downhill LB, and that can/has been exploited. The Pats did it, too.

Like others, I believe MLB is his best position, but I don't think his mental grasp of the D comes close to Dhani's, which is why Dhani still plays... and overall, Dhani has played pretty well overall thus far. Rey can learn a lot from him re: preparation and approach to the game, but I fully expect that he'll be the starting MLB by 2011, if not sooner.

Either Brandon/Rey/Rivers is the wave of the future, with Brandon as weak-side, or MJ as the SAM and Rivers weak. If he doesn't start, I expect to see Brandon continue to play a lot, especially vs. the pass, where he's a very stout defender, and is also a good blitzer.

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='texbengal' timestamp='1285597025' post='923490']
Yesterday was clearly Rey's best effort this year, but for sure he's still learning vs. the pass. That pass completion to Jeff King (TE) was a bad read by him. My hope is that he'll get better at recognition... he's a very aggressive/downhill LB, and that can/has been exploited. The Pats did it, too.

Like others, I believe MLB is his best position, but I don't think his mental grasp of the D comes close to Dhani's, which is why Dhani still plays... and overall, Dhani has played pretty well overall thus far. Rey can learn a lot from him re: preparation and approach to the game, but I fully expect that he'll be the starting MLB by 2011, if not sooner.

Either Brandon/Rey/Rivers is the wave of the future, with Brandon as weak-side, or MJ as the SAM and Rivers weak. If he doesn't start, I expect to see Brandon continue to play a lot, especially vs. the pass, where he's a very stout defender, and is also a good blitzer.
[/quote]


I still like:

Rivers: MLB

Rey: WLB

BJ/other: SLB

[-GoBengals-]

[quote name='unleashed' timestamp='1285565671' post='923384']
Rivers-Maualuga-B-Johnson

I think it would be the most effective LB crew with the players we currently have on the roster. I love Dhani's leadership on the field, but i think Rey's athleticism is being mis-used a little by keeping him outside. Brandon is excellent in pass coverage.
[/quote]

he still has to cover at MLB too, see dhani jones horrible skills in week 1 too...putting him at MLB doesnt fix it.. it slightly lessens the exposure, but teams will run more cross routes with TE's to INCREASE the exposure..

[quote name='Bengals1181' timestamp='1285588364' post='923414']
Rey has no business being at SLB. They're only doing it because they don't want to take Dhani off the field.


Overall I thought Rey had a very good game yesterday. His best of the season.
[/quote]

not sure why people feel the need to justify his continued screw ups by saying he had a great game overall, he did GREAT against the run, but is pretty consistent in screwing up the coverages...

im trying to figure out if he had like 6-7 coverages and botched one or had one and botched one... tough to tell on the replay of the game but i dont see any other obvious coverages of him 1 on 1...

this is the type of thing that will lose big games for us... he and dhani's combined 5-ish screw ups in the pats game led to 3 TD's and 2 first downs if i recall, two to welker and one to the TE..

thats enormous..

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='GoBengals' timestamp='1285599460' post='923507']


not sure why people feel the need to justify his continued screw ups by saying he had a great game overall, he did GREAT against the run, but is pretty consistent in screwing up the coverages...


[/quote]


what's so hard to understand? One bad play in pass coverage doesn't define his entire play in the game.



If Carson goes 19 for 20 with 3TD's and a pick, does that pick define is overall play in the game?

[-GoBengals-]

[quote name='Bengals1181' timestamp='1285599898' post='923512']
what's so hard to understand? One bad play in pass coverage doesn't define his entire play in the game.



If Carson goes 19 for 20 with 3TD's and a pick, does that pick define is overall play in the game?
[/quote]

three straight games (not counting the several last year) of consistently just straight up ignoring his pass coverage is less definitive than 1 game of great run D?

what does palmer have to do with maualuga?

why do you continue to make completely off topic points to justify some poor play?

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='GoBengals' timestamp='1285600041' post='923515']
three straight games (not counting the several last year) of consistently just straight up ignoring his pass coverage is less definitive than 1 game of great run D?

what does palmer have to do with maualuga?

[b]why do you continue to make completely off topic points to justify some poor play?[/b]
[/quote]



why do you continue to dance around points that show how you're wrong?



You point out one bad play he had in the game, and are complaining that others recognize all the good ones? No one likes the bad play, but one bad play and 10 good ones doesn't equal a bad day.

[-GoBengals-]

[quote name='Bengals1181' timestamp='1285600295' post='923519']
why do you continue to dance around points that show how you're wrong?



You point out one bad play he had in the game, and are complaining that others recognize all the good ones? No one likes the bad play, but one bad play and 10 good ones doesn't equal a bad day.
[/quote]

complaining? i agreed that he had a great game against the run.. how is that complaining?

and how does palmer have anything to do with it? how does palmer change Rey?

you brought up palmer in a thread about Rey..

and one play?

are you fucking reading this?

its been every game all season long.. and its a continuation of last season... how are you confused and think its one play?

what a dumbass...if you cnat comprehend the topic.. dont respond..


1181: "NUGENT KICKED FIELD GOALS REY MAUALUGA IS FINE!!!!!"

[BBR]

I really wonder if Rey's best position in the NFL would be as one of the insider backers in a 3-4 defense. He'd be the one that came out when they switched to a nickel defense though. Him and Rivers would be a good pair inside. I'm not trying to head the conversation to a 4-3 vs. 3-4 debate, I just wonder if he's slightly out of place in the 4-3 that he's currently in. I love his play vs. the run, but I don't see how they can hide him in pass coverage.

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='GoBengals' timestamp='1285600940' post='923524']
complaining? i agreed that he had a great game against the run.. how is that complaining?

[b]and how does palmer have anything to do with it? how does palmer change Rey?

you brought up palmer in a thread about Rey..[/b]

and one play?

are you fucking reading this?

its been every game all season long.. and its a continuation of last season... how are you confused and think its one play?

what a dumbass...if you cnat comprehend the topic.. dont respond..

[b]
1181: "NUGENT KICKED FIELD GOALS REY MAUALUGA IS FINE!!!!!"[/b]
[/quote]


just because you ignored the point doesn't make it invalid.



Not exactly a coincidence that when anyone dare challenge your opinion, typically the first words out of your mouth are "what does that have to do with anything???? OMG!"

[Oldcat]

Kind of OT, but I did notice that Morgan Trent lost the ball and the man on that deep pass late in the game,
similar to the big pass in the Oakland game last year.

The guy is excellent with the play in front of him, but seems to have trouble orienting himself on those
deep routes. Hopefully he can work on that.

[sois]

Maualuga is a linebacker, I want him to excel at stopping the run and being decent in pass coverage. He is a 2nd year guy, he has done great at one phase of his job. I like him.

[Oldcat]

[quote name='sois' timestamp='1285608679' post='923585']
Maualuga is a linebacker, I want him to excel at stopping the run and being decent in pass coverage. He is a 2nd year guy, he has done great at one phase of his job. I like him.
[/quote]

Presumably, his long term position is MLB/ILB, so that will help his coverage problems, with less area to cover.

[Jrod]

So what! Who cares? Forget about it...We won!

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='Oldcat' timestamp='1285607403' post='923570']
Kind of OT, but I did notice that Morgan Trent lost the ball and the man on that deep pass late in the game,
similar to the big pass in the Oakland game last year.

The guy is excellent with the play in front of him, but seems to have trouble orienting himself on those
deep routes. Hopefully he can work on that.
[/quote]


yea he kinda got away with PI there, but that's ok because he got unfairly called on a late hit the play before.

[brian55662]

[quote name='Bengals1181' timestamp='1285610115' post='923598']
yea he kinda got away with PI there, but that's ok because he got unfairly called on a late hit the play before.
[/quote]


Rey does leave a lot to be desired with his pass coverage. Like many have said though he is more of a fit inside. While yes he would still have coverage responsibilities, it is a different drop all together and an easier read because he would be covering a back rather then a te or even a wr.