First, they (Juergens and Pearson) are playing more wideout in a package with 2TEs and 2 WRs whereas last year they played alot of slot in an offense with 2TEs and 2 slots. That means that when these two guys play against man defense, they are being picked up by a cornerback rather than a LB or nickel back. This is a huge difference because neither has the speed to beat a true corner.

Second, there is no Mitch Mathews on this team. He drew the opponent's best corner and then typically teams would shade their safety to his side. There isn't that kind of threat on this team, so even when a WR beats his man, there is a safety there. WRs are almost double covered in this offense with its heavy package.

Third, these guys are learning a new offense, just like the QB. And it's very different from the old offense. This one involves a lot of reads that they have been learning on the fly.

Fourth, Kurtz wasn't healthy all offseason and so he didn't practice with the team until 3 days before the first game. He was behind in learning the scheme and it appeared like he was a step slower than last year until the last couple of games.

Lastly, the QB admittedly throws a harder ball than they saw for much of last year. There is more velocity and less trajectory on almost every throw (except the out routes where Tanner fully displayed his bazooka). With the tighter coverage these guys are getting from true corners instead of LBs, high velocity is how it has to be. If Tanner was in, he'd also be gunning it full blast on those 10-yard slants because the window is so small. And yes, Tanner does have an absolute gun of an arm too, so unless the WRs improve, he's going to get victimized by a ton of drops next year by Hifo, Moroni, Trinneman, etc. I hope that Akile Davis or someone can be the type of threat that Mathews was as a SR.