Other than play-action to Kittle where it’s like a 6-yarder that goes for 20, I feel like we shy away from quick, shorter throws to get a handful of yards especially when we’re trying to get a first down to put a game away and today appears to be another example. Ball is snapped, Brock drops back and I don’t see a single receiver on my TV - just Brock, the OL and grass. Where are the short and underneath routes just to get 5, 6 yards? It’s like we rely exclusive on the run for those and it’s usually CMC for a yard or no gain, Brock running and being tripped up/trying to throw it last second but not before he’s down, or throwing it away because his closest receiver is like 15 yards down the fucking field and guys are in his face.
The timing throws from Mayfield today were brilliant and I would argue those were not a failure of the defense - they were just perfectly executed. We have a QB who can do that, so why aren’t we, especially when it’s a matter of ending a game with one or two first downs? It always seems like we’re looking for a first down throw as if it’s 4th down, every down.
Or maybe I don’t know wtf I’m talking about - happy to be corrected.
Playing with a lead late does seem like situational football that is not a strong suit for shanahan as a play caller sometimes. I don’t know enough to say if it’s about his choices or what the defense is taking away.
As for Baker completing those timing routes, I lean towards thinking our defense was willing to give up the underneath stuff and force them to complete lots of passes. It’s possible we are facing defenses doing the opposite and Brock is somewhat forced into taking deeper looks because the defense is aggressively taking away the underneath stuff as they can’t afford that first down.
I was frustrated with the CMC runs late in the game. If you are gonna run the ball late…bring in a fresh back to take advantage of a tired defense.