Drew Olson - Week 10

In Drew's senior season at UCLA, he lead the Bruins to four exhilarating come-from-behind victories. He rekindled some of that magic on Friday in his 10th and final game with Amsterdam. He threw two touchdown passes, the second with less than three minutes left, in the fourth quarter to squeak out a thrilling victory over the Berlin Thunder 21-20.

It looked like Drew wasn't going to end on a good note. He wasn't having a particularly good game and that was punctuated with a nasty interception that he threw into the end zone that was returned 101 yards for a touchdown. Entering the 4th quarter his team was down by 13 but he stayed cool and put together two awesome drives that ended with a 20 yard TD pass and another 22 yarder for a score.

Drew went 16-28 for 243 yards. He also threw two picks and two touchdowns. It is always good to go out a winner and Drew proved that he still has the ability to pull out a victory, no matter how poorly the game is going.

(photo credit: NFL Europe)

Drew's final game in Europe

Drew Olson's final game of the NLFE season will be broadcast tomorrow at 10:00am on the NFL network. He has spent the last 9 weeks traveling around Europe (well, Germany and the Netherlands anyways) and the former Bruin is wrapping up his campaign this week against a hapless Berlin team. Should be a good show and lets hope Drew leaves on a positive note.

There were some very impressive quaterback performances this year in NFL Europa. The league is known for developing some good NFL QBs including Kurt Warner and Jake Delhomme. Hopefully the time Drew spent at Amsterdam will give him a leg-up on the competition when he gets back to the States. He'll have to fight for his job as Heisman winner Troy Smith will be joining the Ravens this year.

Warner didn't exactly light up the stage when he was in Europe but he went on to be one of the most successful quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen. Maybe Drew can follow in his footsteps. He's off to a good start, playing on Warner's former team. I don't know if the first Mr. Olson will be back next season or not, but here is to a great first professional season and hopefully many more to come!

(photo credit: sportsline)

Drew Olson - Week 9

Drew and the Amsterdam Admirals took on the Cologne Centurions this week. This was the team that absolutely crushed Amsterdam two weeks ago. Despite jumping out to a 10-point lead in the first half, the result was the same for Drew's crew. They struggled moving the ball and the receivers could not hang with Cologne's secondary.

It was another poor week for Olon's passing game. His receivers couldn't find any separation and pass after pass was knocked away. The game was summed up when Drew was intercepted late in the 4th quarter on a tipped pass that was returned 70 yards by Cologne. I'm not sure of his final numbers but lets just say they weren't any good.

Next week will be Drew's final game for the Admirals for the year. The Admirals are playing against the only team with a worse record, Berlin, so maybe Drew can go out with a bang.

Drew Olson - Week 8

Before this season, I didn't normally watch NFL Europa games. I'm not a big fan of the professional leagues and usually only watch the pros to see former Bruins in action. I have to admit, though, I've gained an affinity for the Amsterdam Admirals since Drew has been their starting quarterback. Usually, I don't care much if the team wins, just as long as Olson looks good; but this week I found myself getting excited as they raced down the field to try and score in the final seconds. It was a thrilling week full of crazy plays, bundles of points, and a wild finish.

This wasn't a particularly good week for Drew. He connected on 25 of 47 passes for 258 yards and 2 touchdowns. Those numbers sound pretty good, except when you also note that he threw two other touchdown passes... to the wrong team. In both halves, Olson threw passes that were intercepted and returned for touchdowns.

It was ultimately a difference maker in the game as Drew and the Admirals came up just short of winning this week: 38-41. He almost got them back into it by leading his team on a scoring drive in the final seconds of the 2nd half. He even managed to connect on this miraculous 2-point conversion where he somehow found a receiver, throwing back across his body, as he was knocked out of bounds. All of it was for naught, though, as the Admirals couldn't recover the ensuing on-side kick

Drew had a weird week where good passes would get dropped by his receivers and some bad passes would get bailed out by pass-interference calls. He struggled again with accuracy on long passes and that slowed down the Admirals effort to get back into the game. Consistency has been a problem all year and this game was almost like a microcosm of the season. You just never know what type of play you'll get from him each week or even each possession.

Drew Olson - Week 7

Before getting to this weeks game against the Cologne Centurions, the AP put together a nice little article about Drew's time in Amsterdam. Drew faces an uphill battle when he gets back to Baltimore this fall. He'll have to compete with Troy Smith, the Heisman trophy winner from Ohio State, who the Ravens picked up in this year's draft.

"I've been watching what Drew's been doing in Amsterdam," Ravens coach Brian Billick said. "We think the time in Europe is going to serve him very well, and hopefully when he comes back we'll have a chance to see how it translates into what we're doing here."

Former UCLA quarterback, and current Ravens QB coach and Offensive Coordinator, Rick Neuheisel had this to say about Drew. "It's not all pretty with Drew. He's kind of a throwback to Billy Kilmer. His ball doesn't always spiral and it isn't always going to be gorgeous. But he's a winner, which is why we encouraged him to go to Europe - to prove once again that's what he is."

The coaches say there will be a competition for the backup spot on the roster, but I have a hard time believing they would cut their recent draft pick in favor of a free-agent who just spent time in the "minor" leagues of NFL Europa. If Drew doesn't make it at Baltimore, he may be able to find a spot on another team. Smart accurate quarterbacks are always good to have around. Drew is keeping a positive outlook and his latest blog entry is pretty upbeat about the whole thing.

Anyways, back to this weeks game. The Admirals got absolutely crushed by Cologne, scoring their only points in the 4th quarter after the outcome was no longer in doubt. Cologne has one of the best defenses in NFL Europa and they completely stifled Olson's offense.

Drew connected on 16 of 38 passes for 196 yards and 1 touchdown. Not a good effort, but the majority of the blame fell at the feet of his offensive line. The Admirals frequently used this weird spread formation with large splits between the big guys up front. They couldn't hang with Cologne's athletic defensive front and Drew was constantly under pressure. They had negative yards in the first quarter and it didn't get much better from there. Drew didn't complete his first pass until almost 4 minutes left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Olson threw a lateral on a poorly-executed swing pass that ended up going over the running backs head and the ball was recovered by Centurion players deep in Amsterdam territory. He was fortunate that it only ended up in a field goal. Even when Drew was able to connect with his receivers, they would not get many yards or would turn the ball over on a fumble. He struggled with accuracy on longer routes and as Amsterdam fell further behind, the worse his attempts became. It was an all around ugly game.

It doesn't look like the Admirals are going to make the World Bowl game this year. So that means Drew only has three more weeks left in his season with Amsterdam. Next week he takes on the Rhein Fire.

Drew Olson - Week 6

In one of those weird scheduling quirks, Drew Olson and the Admirals played Hamburg again this week. Last week, Drew had just an awful game. He missed on his first 5 passes and then threw a nasty pick-6. To make matters worse, he got injured and missed almost the entire game.

In the rematch this week, things could not have gone any better. The first series or two stalled on some penalties, but after that the Admiral were rocking. Drew had, by far, the best game in his professional career. He connected for 3 touchdown passes and even ran one in himself. He had a total of 308 passing yards in a brilliant effort.

The Admirals finally put together a complete offensive game. The running back, Smith, had 4 touchdowns (two of those were passes from Drew) and the offensive line was dominant up front. Drew looked very comfortable and I think he is finally getting back some of that confidence he had his Senior year at UCLA. Hopefully Drew can keep the momentum going for the rest of the season.

Drew Olson - Week 5

Here is how you know you're having a bad day as a quarterback. Your first five passes are incomplete and your 6th attempt is tipped, intercepted, and returned 30 yards for a touchdown. Just to add injury to insult, you suffer a bruise to your calf and have to sit out the rest of the game while your understudy almost leads your team to a thrilling come-from-behind victory.

That about sums up the day Drew Olson had against the Hamburg Sea Devils this past Sunday. Drew finished the day with a dismal 2 of 7 with 1 INT. We'll have to wait and see if his leg injury is bad enough for him to miss any more games. He injured the other leg, not the one he broke while at UCLA, so hopefully it isn't something serious.

In one of those weird cosmic twists-of-fate, Drew's backup for the game was Corey Bramlet. Bramlet was the quarterback for the Wyoming Cowboys when Drew broke his leg back in 2004 in that gawd awful Las Vegas Bowl. Just to make things even weirder, Corey faced off against his older brother Casey who was the starting QB for Hamburg.

Drew Olson - Week 4

Another week and another up-and-down game for Drew. He just can't seem to put together an entire game and this week against Frankfurt was no exception. He's going to have to perform for four quarters if he wants to see playing time on Sundays back in the States.

Drew looked masterful in the first half. He connected on most of his passes, including a long bombs to his favorite target Skyler Fulton. Olson also rattled off a 12-yard scramble on a 3rd-and-10 that kept a crucial drive alive. His team was rolling and Drew hit two TD passes to give the Admirals a 19 - 0 lead (they missed 2 extra-points). The running game for Amsterdam was much better this week and that relieved some of the pressure on Drew and gave him a legitimate play-action pass in that first half.

It looked like Drew might get a 3rd TD pass in the 2nd quarter but he got picked with a few minutes left. It was a very similar situation to the first game Amsterdam played against Frankfurt. Drew just under threw a pass near the end zone and it ended up in a Galaxy player's hands.

The 2nd half continued where the first left off. Drew was struggling and the Admirals had a number of 3-and-outs. Olson also threw another interception deep in his own territory that could have cost Amsterdam the game. His team managed to hold on to the lead (just barely) and squeaked out the win. Not a great way to finish the game, considering the very hot start. Olson finished 16-32, 2 TD, and 2 INT.

In my opinion Drew needs to work on getting rid of the ball more. It seems like he is trying to force the ball on every play and that is accounting for the high number of interceptions he has for the season. His arm strength just isn't there as he almost always under throws players on longer routes and he has a hard time with placing the ball on passes over 20 yards. He's putting up decent numbers considering he doesn't have a lot of help around him, but consistency is definitely a big issue right now.

Drew Olson - Week 3 (redux)

The NFL network showed the Admirals game today at 3:00 AM (thank goodness for Tivo). I didn't watch the whole thing but did catch the final drive. Drew had a masterful effort. He connected on 9 of 9 passes and lead the team on a 65 yard scoring drive in the final 5 minutes.

It was probably the best series I had seen Olson put together since the very first drive in the first game. He look poised, hitting his receivers on crossing routes and dumping off to the backs on these nice little swing passes. He has struggled the last two weeks in the second half, so it was great to see him get over that hurdle.

(photo: nfleurope.co )

Drew Olson - Week 3

With the NFL draft coverage, the NFL network didn't show the Admirals game today. Too bad, because Drew Olson threw a game-winning touchdown pass to Japanese wide receiver Noriaki Kinoshita with 53 seconds remaining to lead the Amsterdam Admirals to a 14-10 victory over the Berlin Thunder.

The late game heroics brought back memories of Drew leading the Bruins on those amazing 4th quarter victories in 2005.

Olson went 19 of 31 for 235 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. One good thing about Drew starting for Amsterdam is that the Admirals throw a lot of passes. They lead the league in attempts and it seems like Drew is passing on almost every down.

( photo: NFLEurope.com)

Drew Olson - Week 2

Drew started his second game for the Amsterdam Admirals, of NFL Europa, yesterday. This week's match featured two former PAC-10 quarterbacks as Olson faced off against Cody Picket who played for the Washington Huskies from '99-'03.

Here's the box score. Olson went 16-30 for 115 yards with no TDs and no INTs.

Olson got off to another good start this week. He completed 6 of his first 8 passes and helped lead the Admirals to a touchdown on their first series. Drew had a particularly nice pass on 3rd and long to keep that first drive alive.

After that first series however, things went quickly downhill. The Amsterdam O-line did a poor job of giving Drew time to pass and he would routinely find the pocket collapsing quickly around him. False start and holding penalties also helped stall out drives in that first half. Drew lost the ball on a fumble again this week, as he was stripped from
behind while scrambling on a broken play.

The second half wasn't any better as Drew continued to struggle. He had a number of early pass attempts that were off target. However, he did have a nice series near the end of the 3rd quarter, which featured a great catch and run from the running back Smith. Overall, not a great game for Drew.

It is interesting to listen to the commentators on the broadcast talk about Drew. In both games so far, they have mentioned that he has a great arm. I was surprised to hear them say that because arm strength was a common complaint from fans during his tenure at UCLA.

Here are some notes I had from last weeks game:

Drew Olson - Week 1

He got off to a great start and lead the first series 80 yards for a TD. He got dinged up on the next series and sat out a bit (that old knee injury acting up). Lead his 3rd drive for another TD. He had an INT in the last seconds of the 2nd quarter but otherwise had a great first half!

The second half wasn't so great as he got picked again and lost the ball on a fumble. The Amsterdam OC must really like Drew because he called in pass after pass. I think the defense started to key in on that. Olson finished the game having completed 22 of 35 passes for 260 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 INTs.