I donât know that youâre wrong, but I am always wary of fans evaluating effort. I just donât see how a fan watching on television can say with much confidence, "that guy isnât showing much effortâ. Maybe where a wide receiver is concerned itâs a little easier to make that call, but on the D line it seems tougher.
Offenses have been bringing in max protect schemes and running the football with cutesy misdirections plays, then taking what they can get downfield in plays that take forever to develop. Dom has been playing bend but donât break style defense until the redzone, on one hand, or the Packers have a healthy lead, on the other. I donât think youâre going to see Raji (and the rest of the D line) streaking toward the QB while Dom is rushing three guys against an entire offensive line, two tight ends and a fullback. On the other hand, I think it was during the Atlanta game that they showed a replay of Raji blocking up two gaps singlehandedly, waiting for the running back to make his cut, and stopping the play for no gain. That takes effort. Itâs not QB sack effort but it gets the job done, within the scheme, when a team is trying to trudge down the field 4 yards at a time.
Originally Posted by: Silentio