Post by marinersmedia on Mar 31, 2010 17:50:34 GMT -5
Steve McNelly's Mariners Report Card
UNBREAKABLE WILL EARNS PASSING GRADES VS. RICHMOND
BALTIMORE, MD (March 31, 2010) – As I told owner Dwayne Wells after the Mariners exciting win last Sunday, “if that doesn’t get you jacked up, check your pulse!” Mariner fans, players, and staff are still on cloud nine after the Mariners won a thriller against the Richmond Raiders last Sunday at the 1st Mariner Arena. This was not a pretty game for the Mariners, but as former Ravens quarterback and Super Bowl Champion Trent Dilfer said, “I’d rather win ugly then lose pretty”. Despite winning ugly, the Mariners proved that they have the heart and desire of a champion, and now has the attention of the entire AIFA, along with a member of the a certain rival team that was in the stands on Sunday afternoon. The exams are in; let’s see how the Mariners did against the Raiders last Sunday:
OFFENSE: C+
The offense didn’t seem to click last Sunday, but they did keep us in the game. Richmond ran the same amount of plays (40), but outgained the Mariners 310 to 180 total offensive yards. The star of the Mariners offense was Isaiah Grier, with his 28 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Mariners quarterback E.J. Nemeth had an off day, completing 9 of 23 passes for 80 yards and no touchdowns. While he did have a less-than-accurate outing last Sunday, he did not throw a single interception which speaks volumes about his decision making on the football field. A couple of the Mariners wide receivers had a couple of dropped passes, but still make good gains and kept the Mariners in the ball game. The Raiders defense was tough, but the Mariners offense did just enough to keep them in the game and come out with a tough win.
DEFENSE: B
The Mariners defense gave up a lot of yards last Sunday. As mentioned before, the defense gave up 310 total offensive yards, including 283 yards through the air and 27 yards on the ground. Raiders quarterback Robbie Jenkins threw 296 yards and six touchdowns. It seemed as if the Mariners had their backs against the wall with time winding down. Jenkins completed a pass that took the Raiders to the one yard line. Mariners defensive lineman Fearon Wright and the rest of the Mariners defense read the play perfectly and stuffed Jenkins on 4th and goal, and the rest is history. Richard Johnson also came up big early in the game, with a 39 yard interception return for a touchdown.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B+
The special teams get high marks for this game, especially the foot and strong will of kicker J.R. Cipra. Cipra booted five unos that kept the Mariners in the game, and went 3/5 on field goals. Cipra’s scoring was endless, but the ones that gave the Mariners the victory was a 40 yard field goal with four minutes to go, and then an uno on top of that to give Baltimore a four point lead. Cheers to Coach Simpson for giving the All-Pro kicker out of Ohio Northern a chance to give the Mariners the win. Richard Johnson must also be commended for his role on special teams, as well as defense. A field goal returned for a touchdown gave Baltimore 38-31 lead going into the 4th quarter.
Stats look very pretty to some people, but the quality of how you won the game matters so much more. How you play in the 4th quarter when you have been getting pushed around all game long, and then you step up matters more to me than stats any day. The only numbers I care about are in the win/loss column, and that reads 4-0, Mariner fans. However, for those of you concerned with stats, here’s a closing stat for you: Richmond quarterback Robbie Jenkins had one rushing attempt for zero yards. We all know where that run was attempted.
UNBREAKABLE WILL EARNS PASSING GRADES VS. RICHMOND
BALTIMORE, MD (March 31, 2010) – As I told owner Dwayne Wells after the Mariners exciting win last Sunday, “if that doesn’t get you jacked up, check your pulse!” Mariner fans, players, and staff are still on cloud nine after the Mariners won a thriller against the Richmond Raiders last Sunday at the 1st Mariner Arena. This was not a pretty game for the Mariners, but as former Ravens quarterback and Super Bowl Champion Trent Dilfer said, “I’d rather win ugly then lose pretty”. Despite winning ugly, the Mariners proved that they have the heart and desire of a champion, and now has the attention of the entire AIFA, along with a member of the a certain rival team that was in the stands on Sunday afternoon. The exams are in; let’s see how the Mariners did against the Raiders last Sunday:
OFFENSE: C+
The offense didn’t seem to click last Sunday, but they did keep us in the game. Richmond ran the same amount of plays (40), but outgained the Mariners 310 to 180 total offensive yards. The star of the Mariners offense was Isaiah Grier, with his 28 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Mariners quarterback E.J. Nemeth had an off day, completing 9 of 23 passes for 80 yards and no touchdowns. While he did have a less-than-accurate outing last Sunday, he did not throw a single interception which speaks volumes about his decision making on the football field. A couple of the Mariners wide receivers had a couple of dropped passes, but still make good gains and kept the Mariners in the ball game. The Raiders defense was tough, but the Mariners offense did just enough to keep them in the game and come out with a tough win.
DEFENSE: B
The Mariners defense gave up a lot of yards last Sunday. As mentioned before, the defense gave up 310 total offensive yards, including 283 yards through the air and 27 yards on the ground. Raiders quarterback Robbie Jenkins threw 296 yards and six touchdowns. It seemed as if the Mariners had their backs against the wall with time winding down. Jenkins completed a pass that took the Raiders to the one yard line. Mariners defensive lineman Fearon Wright and the rest of the Mariners defense read the play perfectly and stuffed Jenkins on 4th and goal, and the rest is history. Richard Johnson also came up big early in the game, with a 39 yard interception return for a touchdown.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B+
The special teams get high marks for this game, especially the foot and strong will of kicker J.R. Cipra. Cipra booted five unos that kept the Mariners in the game, and went 3/5 on field goals. Cipra’s scoring was endless, but the ones that gave the Mariners the victory was a 40 yard field goal with four minutes to go, and then an uno on top of that to give Baltimore a four point lead. Cheers to Coach Simpson for giving the All-Pro kicker out of Ohio Northern a chance to give the Mariners the win. Richard Johnson must also be commended for his role on special teams, as well as defense. A field goal returned for a touchdown gave Baltimore 38-31 lead going into the 4th quarter.
Stats look very pretty to some people, but the quality of how you won the game matters so much more. How you play in the 4th quarter when you have been getting pushed around all game long, and then you step up matters more to me than stats any day. The only numbers I care about are in the win/loss column, and that reads 4-0, Mariner fans. However, for those of you concerned with stats, here’s a closing stat for you: Richmond quarterback Robbie Jenkins had one rushing attempt for zero yards. We all know where that run was attempted.
