I'm more skeptical than optimistic. Feels like 2-4 or 3-3 vs. anything higher. Could easily be wrong as my view is not strongly held.
Here's why:
1.) Since Goff got his bell run against WSU, he's struggled with his footwork and presence in the pocket. His lights out #'s against the blitz have dropped off and more than the "one bad game" against Utah, he just doesn't look the same when I watch him on tape. I'm concerned he crossed a threshold in terms of the # of hits he's taken and that is going to impact his performance especially when pressured. Given our OL is not likely to take a HUGE step forward in pass protection and that teams will see film from WSU and Utah to understand that getting to Goff mentally is the key, I'm not sanguine about Goff having a superstar like back half of the year.
2.) Our run defense looks like it can be had any time Jalil is not on the field. Utah's OL gashed some big holes last week and so did WSU and UW at times the two weeks prior. Jalil changes everything but his knees are a wreck and now his elbow is hurt. If he's seeing less than 1/3 of the snaps in obvious run downs, we're going to be in trouble especially as we face great running attacks with USC, UCLA, Stanford and Oregon coming up.
3.) TO ratio isn't going to hold. It didn't against Utah and it's not likely to be as good as it was the 1st half of the season. Not saying we're not a strong, opportunistic defense. We are. I just don't see us winning 4 of our last six because we have a 2:1 or better ratio here. Some good fortune is factored into those #'s and good luck is a tough thing to count on.
4.) Something isn't right with our offense. It's good but it's just not great and for us to win 4+, it's going to need to be great. Some of it may be Goff (see #1), some of it is that our OL has not gelled and has a challenge at center. Some of it may be Lasco's injury. I don't really know other than we've never gotten into a rhythm for 3+ quarters in a single game all season.
I like our team and I don't see any of the remaining games save for Oregon State not being close so we'll have a chance to win all six games yet I fear our slow starts and slow finishes on offense plus Jalil's health are going to mitigate our upside.
That said, our opponents may see attrition in their upside as well. UCLA could be going the wrong way fast and Stanford is holding their DLine together with duct tape. However, my sense is that Oregon could get better with Adams coming back and USC only has upside IMO with Sarkisian gone. And based on the last two weeks, it appears as if ASU is finding itself.
Really hope I'm wrong.
Here's why:
1.) Since Goff got his bell run against WSU, he's struggled with his footwork and presence in the pocket. His lights out #'s against the blitz have dropped off and more than the "one bad game" against Utah, he just doesn't look the same when I watch him on tape. I'm concerned he crossed a threshold in terms of the # of hits he's taken and that is going to impact his performance especially when pressured. Given our OL is not likely to take a HUGE step forward in pass protection and that teams will see film from WSU and Utah to understand that getting to Goff mentally is the key, I'm not sanguine about Goff having a superstar like back half of the year.
2.) Our run defense looks like it can be had any time Jalil is not on the field. Utah's OL gashed some big holes last week and so did WSU and UW at times the two weeks prior. Jalil changes everything but his knees are a wreck and now his elbow is hurt. If he's seeing less than 1/3 of the snaps in obvious run downs, we're going to be in trouble especially as we face great running attacks with USC, UCLA, Stanford and Oregon coming up.
3.) TO ratio isn't going to hold. It didn't against Utah and it's not likely to be as good as it was the 1st half of the season. Not saying we're not a strong, opportunistic defense. We are. I just don't see us winning 4 of our last six because we have a 2:1 or better ratio here. Some good fortune is factored into those #'s and good luck is a tough thing to count on.
4.) Something isn't right with our offense. It's good but it's just not great and for us to win 4+, it's going to need to be great. Some of it may be Goff (see #1), some of it is that our OL has not gelled and has a challenge at center. Some of it may be Lasco's injury. I don't really know other than we've never gotten into a rhythm for 3+ quarters in a single game all season.
I like our team and I don't see any of the remaining games save for Oregon State not being close so we'll have a chance to win all six games yet I fear our slow starts and slow finishes on offense plus Jalil's health are going to mitigate our upside.
That said, our opponents may see attrition in their upside as well. UCLA could be going the wrong way fast and Stanford is holding their DLine together with duct tape. However, my sense is that Oregon could get better with Adams coming back and USC only has upside IMO with Sarkisian gone. And based on the last two weeks, it appears as if ASU is finding itself.
Really hope I'm wrong.
