Frank "The not so much a tank" Gore

I don’t think it’s just the O-Line. I think Gore is protecting his body more. renke81 talks about how he’s not finding holes the way he used to, but I’m not sure he ever “found” holes. It always seemed to me like he made them. Even when he didn’t have room to run, he used to carry piles. He’d move his legs until he was long-past being tackled. He’d get a lot of second-effort yards.

The O-Line is terrible this year, and they have to carry a lot of the blame for Gore’s inability to move the ball, but I also really think he’s not the same runner that we remember from 2006. He’s had some ankle problems. He has the knee history. Running backs are notorious for not lasting in the NFL, and he’s always been considered a smaller guy to begin with. It does look to me like he’s taking the ends of his runs a little easier for the sake of saving his body. So he can stay on the field. Which is a good thing and a bad thing.

And I’m not trying to criticize Frank. I think his value to this team is still very high, both as a blocker and as a receiver. But I wouldn’t be surprised if his best days as a runner are simply behind him.

Preferably, someone with the speed to make it around the outside edge so we can add a new dimension to the running game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPAB4A4UqgY

we don’t want a rookie or second year RB in there for blitz pickup on 3rd down. Norris missed a lot of blocks lately in blitz pickup and pass protection in general.

We don’t have guys with enough experience on the bench who can step up if Frank were to leave. Maybe after camp next year and pre-season a rookie or Coffee will impress enough to trade Gore by the deadline…but I sincerely hope we can help him find a way to be successful again.

Pats have been notoriously good at knowing when they have exhausted the players full potential and end up getting great value out of trades. It doesn’t seem faithful, but this game is not about emotions of players. Its about winning. Remember, there were a few other players we traded/released years ago…Montana and Rice. Frank carries value now. I love the guy and wear his jersey with pride, but we need wins.

Raye has not been able to use Gore in any way to help this team. He is more of a TE than a RB, he blocks and catches passes. I’d be trying the option to get this guy involved. (jk)

I also noticed the line is not run blocking now…and why would they since they’re likely running 54,325 passing plays in practice now that we’ve given up on the run.

Norris has definitely looked awful.

He certainly enjoys blocking and seems to do it much better than Norris.

He can’t catch, most of the time he misses his blocks, when he does manage to make a block it’s by virtue of falling down in front of the guy. I really want him gone bad.

I thought it was just the O-line that sucked. He does suck. Every time he is in we have 10 players and the defense has 12

ie. two of them are injured, one of which is on IR, the other of which is the best OL we have. They are starting to play better…and Gore’s vision does leave something to be desired but the team needs to feed him the ball, and not a line of BS about his role. To say he’s still going to be involved and only have him touch the ball about 10 times is a crock.

One series per quarter, one down per series, something, anything to give him a few more touches.

I just thought of something…we should treat the Gore situation like the Alex Smith situation. Final 4 games are the chance to see how he does in this “new yet ever-changing” offense. But we have to give him the ball a tad more before we pass judgement.

When get gets hit he stops. Most good RBs keep their legs going.. .pushing for more. I am wondering if his ankle problems are keeping him from fully using his legs?

Not with our current line lol

I think we should keep Gore and pick up CJ Spiller. AT first to KR/PR,maybe a couple snaps a game when gore is resting. But throwing him screens and lining him up in the slot would also qork very well and create big plays.

Too easy to forget the Bears game. Also too easy to forget that the run blocking started poor from play number one in Arizona. Richal has improved and Sims has done better than anyone (me included) could’ve imagined. But this is not a run blocking line. I wonder how much better, even slightly, we’d be on offense and running had Pashos not been injured.

As for the fumble, what’s so maddening about it, besides the timing, was that it was an excellent play by the defender and bad luck that Frank hadn’t already gone down. He seemed to be one arm tackle away from getting a huge run and instead fumbles. The long return made it worse. As you said, give Frank some help and those kind of plays are big gainers.