You can say what you want

I understand what you are saying. And agree, but also hear me out.

The limited practicing time can explain some of your idea of poor tackling because we actually tackled pretty well until the late game when guys were trying to strip the ball instead of securing the tackle. I remember saying quite a few times that I saw a very good form by Stevens and Cox, and the corners did a fair share of tackling when they had too or didn't get beat. The issue is, yes, the missed tackles killed us for huge chunks and big plays. That Kylin Hill TD right after we scored I felt was the game-changer, without that play we win the game.

The dropped passes were very upsetting, and that's a mixture of lack of focus and the low energy you speak of. I think that will be corrected, and practice this week will be intense. Guys will be forced to be going full speed and catching (whoever drops a pass will start the drill or play over). I hope Jarvis Landry comes to check in on the guys and gives them the same speech he gave to the Browns WR corp when he first got to Cleveland. Drops are contagious some games. Brennan also needs to put the ball in better spots. A couple of drops hit people in the hands, but some were also behind the receiver.

Missed assignments - it was clear that the defensive schematics need to be altered a little, the guys seem like they haven't quite caught on to the entire purpose of the scheme yet. As I said in a previous post the run-defense was great, obviously, the pass defense was atrocious and too many of our guys were left on islands. Stevens will have to play more traditional safety this year and be a safety net in coverage (hopefully he's improved his coverage skills).

Offensively, we need to flip the script of whatever was being drawn up. We looked like a team that was trying to force the pass, and many times the receivers were open, but Brennan needs to get rid of the ball and get it into those windows. He keeps waiting for everything to be perfect and for people to be wide open, he's got to realize he needs to throw some of these guys open or hit them for the short routes, too much tunnel vision as well. We all saw the play where Marshall was wide open and Brennan tried to force the ball in between 2 defenders to a different receiver. He's got to slow himself down and stop being so scared to get hit.

My final point is towards that lack of enthusiasm and energy. These guys are pumped to play football, but no home team will have any home game advantages. Mississippi State did not get a full Tiger Stadium experience, and I think that would have certainly rattled Costello a little bit more. Our players feed off the energy, especially the younger guys, they haven't matured to level yet to realize they need to show up to every game, not just the big games where the crowd is screaming your name.

I understand there is no excuse for the performance that was given, and yes I kinda just gave a bunch of them. But what I'm getting at is this team has a lot of work to do and I think they will be able to correct a lot of what went wrong. Coach O is not going to use excuses he's going to figure out a way to win football games.