Red Zone Play Calling

[Steelafan77]

Overall, wasn't a big fan of it. Whether that's due to it being a combination of the first game of pre season, knocking off rust and playing the Giants 1st string defense. FG's are nice but I prefer TD's.

[Legacy User]

There's a good chance they were still running scripted plays at that point.

[bradshaw2ben]

first of all, Haley has called both prior preseasons just like the regular season-- WYSIWYG

secondly, the presnap read was Moore would have a 1 on 1 but the Safety came postsnap, altering the route and reducing the window. This is why you call that route with a receiver who, even if the coverage changes or jumps the route, the player has physical skills to make the catch anyway.

thirdly, if any WRs are good enough since Ben makes them better, then rotating/utilizing all of the WR talent would seem to be a no-brainer. Unfortunately, that's not how the brain trust sees it-- they have conniptions about taking out the top guys, even if it makes no sense not to mix it up.

You had me until that third point. Your if/then doesn't hold water. Let's not take out AB for Moye to give a different look please.

this is what New Orleans does and what GB does... they mix and match for different situations and different plays. New Orleans got a recent first and goal from the 9 and Jimmy Graham AND Colston came off the field. Scored a TD on the next play, too.

I don't know if Moye deserves PT, but if you've got guys who are talented, find ways to use them. There's only one ball and lots of guys.

Besides, if it's okay to sit a talented WR for 3 TEs, it's okay to sit AB for a play.

[Legacy User]

I just can't get excited about playcalling in the pre-season. I don't have it in me.

[Legacy User]

Ummm, the goal in preseason isn't to score points. It's to find out what you're capable of and what you need to work on

[bradshaw2ben]

And do you think our play calling is optimal for the acheivement of that goal?

The problem isn't really the play calling-- it's the offense as a whole. We have a HOF QB and we're going to be near last in throws beyond 5 yards downfield and inside the numbers. Other teams are working their route combinations and timing in preseason, we're throwing sbubble screens and running end arounds.

Our offense has sucked out loud for two years-- it took Ben playing every snap of every game on O and AB playing out of his mind with YAC to be mediocre. We don't attack we don't block well we don't have nor exploring physical mismatches, we are obsessed with pounding the rock instead of running smarter-- it's actually painful to watch and it's largely the reason they pushed me to this point of frustration.

We even passed on running a 2:00 drill-- in an exhibition game where there is absolutely no risk. Blew my mind.

[jeemie]

And do you think our play calling is optimal for the acheivement of that goal?

The problem isn't really the play calling-- it's the offense as a whole. We have a HOF QB and we're going to be near last in throws beyond 5 yards downfield and inside the numbers. Other teams are working their route combinations and timing in preseason, we're throwing sbubble screens and running end arounds.

Our offense has sucked out loud for two years-- it took Ben playing every snap of every game on O and AB playing out of his mind with YAC to be mediocre. We don't attack we don't block well we don't have nor exploring physical mismatches, we are obsessed with pounding the rock instead of running smarter-- it's actually painful to watch and it's largely the reason they pushed me to this point of frustration.

We even passed on running a 2:00 drill-- in an exhibition game where there is absolutely no risk. Blew my mind.

Tomlin doesn't want to reveal his two minute plays to everyone. He'll keep them secret along with his secret two point plays.

[Legacy User]

B2B, I'm going to say this as nicely as possible. No insults intended, hope you don't take it that way. But my perception of your opinion is you're pissed they won't run the offense you want with the players you want. My opinion is the 60/40 pass ratio of many teams is misleading. The abiltiy to successfully rush the ball is what makes teams great. It doesn't mean run run pass punt. It means breaking off chunks and imposing your will in the red zone. If you dig deep enough, I think you'll see you don't need Kevin Love at TE to score a TD.

Just give the QB who you admit to being so high on a chance to work with his weapons that aren't as vertically as imposing as your fantasy team.

I'm not by any stretch a fan of Haley, but even I give him the benefit of the doubt way more than you do

[jebrick]

The only thing that worries me is that we argued about the same thing(Play calling) last year and it did carry over into the season.

[bradshaw2ben]

B2B, I'm going to say this as nicely as possible. No insults intended, hope you don't take it that way. But my perception of your opinion is you're pissed they won't run the offense you want with the players you want. My opinion is the 60/40 pass ratio of many teams is misleading. The abiltiy to successfully rush the ball is what makes teams great. It doesn't mean run run pass punt. It means breaking off chunks and imposing your will in the red zone. If you dig deep enough, I think you'll see you don't need Kevin Love at TE to score a TD.

Just give the QB who you admit to being so high on a chance to work with his weapons that aren't as vertically as imposing as your fantasy team.

I'm not by any stretch a fan of Haley, but even I give him the benefit of the doubt way more than you do

Look, you have got me alllll wrong. I precisely agree with you that the point is to break of run yardage in chunks and to be able to do whatever you please in the red zone.

I ask again: is our offense doing those two things? As presently operated, do you think it is going to accomplish those goals?

These questions are a setup, because I know you don't think so any more than I do.

Here are the top 10 NFL teams from 2013 in yards per rush attempt... how many of them are running attacks like ours? How many are spread based teams?

For instance, the Chicago Bears completely revamped their OL in one offseason, they pay for a franchise QB in C$2, they traded for a top WR AND drafted a physical early, despite having what most people view as one of the top RBs in the NFL... they score lots of points and they run the ball effectively-- they do not limit their attack to horizontal and screens and they fixed their weaknesses and problems.


2013 Rushing yards per attempt

1 Philadelphia Eagles 5.1
2 Minnesota Vikings 4.9
3 Washington Redskins 4.8
4 Green Bay Packers 4.7
4 Kansas City Chiefs 4.7
6 Oakland Raiders 4.6
7 Chicago Bears 4.5
7 Dallas Cowboys 4.5
9 New England Patriots 4.4
9 New York Jets 4.4
9 San Francisco 49ers 4.4

[jeemie]

B2B, I'm going to say this as nicely as possible. No insults intended, hope you don't take it that way. But my perception of your opinion is you're pissed they won't run the offense you want with the players you want. My opinion is the 60/40 pass ratio of many teams is misleading. The abiltiy to successfully rush the ball is what makes teams great. It doesn't mean run run pass punt. It means breaking off chunks and imposing your will in the red zone. If you dig deep enough, I think you'll see you don't need Kevin Love at TE to score a TD.

Just give the QB who you admit to being so high on a chance to work with his weapons that aren't as vertically as imposing as your fantasy team.

I'm not by any stretch a fan of Haley, but even I give him the benefit of the doubt way more than you do

Do you think this team will have the ability to rush the ball?

I didn't see any evidence it will be appreciably better than last year or the year before that.

The offense was painful to watch in 2012-13...and is likely to be so again in 2014.

[steelclan]

B2B, I'm going to say this as nicely as possible. No insults intended, hope you don't take it that way. But my perception of your opinion is you're pissed they won't run the offense you want with the players you want. My opinion is the 60/40 pass ratio of many teams is misleading. The abiltiy to successfully rush the ball is what makes teams great. It doesn't mean run run pass punt. It means breaking off chunks and imposing your will in the red zone. If you dig deep enough, I think you'll see you don't need Kevin Love at TE to score a TD.

Just give the QB who you admit to being so high on a chance to work with his weapons that aren't as vertically as imposing as your fantasy team.

I'm not by any stretch a fan of Haley, but even I give him the benefit of the doubt way more than you do

Do you think this team will have the ability to rush the ball?

I didn't see any evidence it will be appreciably better than last year or the year before that.

The offense was painful to watch in 2012-13...and is likely to be so again in 2014.

Other than Foster getting beat on first play I thought oline actually showed far more run blocking ability than they have in a while. Especially as the Giants knew exactly what was coming. As some have noted Glibert/Decastro stood out. From what I recall from past 2 pre seasons running the ball usually amounted to Ben being forced to work his magic on 3rd n long. Having Bell healthy, Blount as a back up and Archer as change of pace toss in Spaeth being healthy and its hard to imagine how the run game wont improve.

[jeemie]

B2B, I'm going to say this as nicely as possible. No insults intended, hope you don't take it that way. But my perception of your opinion is you're pissed they won't run the offense you want with the players you want. My opinion is the 60/40 pass ratio of many teams is misleading. The abiltiy to successfully rush the ball is what makes teams great. It doesn't mean run run pass punt. It means breaking off chunks and imposing your will in the red zone. If you dig deep enough, I think you'll see you don't need Kevin Love at TE to score a TD.

Just give the QB who you admit to being so high on a chance to work with his weapons that aren't as vertically as imposing as your fantasy team.

I'm not by any stretch a fan of Haley, but even I give him the benefit of the doubt way more than you do

Do you think this team will have the ability to rush the ball?

I didn't see any evidence it will be appreciably better than last year or the year before that.

The offense was painful to watch in 2012-13...and is likely to be so again in 2014.

Other than Foster getting beat on first play I thought oline actually showed far more run blocking ability than they have in a while. Especially as the Giants knew exactly what was coming. As some have noted Glibert/Decastro stood out. From what I recall from past 2 pre seasons running the ball usually amounted to Ben being forced to work his magic on 3rd n long. Having Bell healthy, Blount as a back up and Archer as change of pace toss in Spaeth being healthy and its hard to imagine how the run game wont improve.

Not enough to make a difference in my mind as much Haley's offense is simplistic bullshit that makes it easy for defenses and requires nearly superhuman effort from players just to be average.

I'm hoping he has more tricks of his sleeve...I am not holding my breath.

[Legacy User]

I don know if they'll be able to run the ball, but if they can, I think the offense and its new weapons can be very good. Routes not based off of physical domination, but YAC. Watching Jericho Cotchery running a crossing actually made me feel embarrassed for him. The added speed, if the run game takes off, will create "open grass" for a lot of players. Add in the best receiving RB they've had in decades, ill just say I'm optimistic

[bradshaw2ben]

if you don't receivers with body control or ability to go across the middle to do anything other than drag routes-- not to mention no plus blockers among the top 3 WRs, it's going to hurt the run game.

[Legacy User]

if you don't receivers with body control or ability to go across the middle to do anything other than drag routes-- not to mention no plus blockers among the top 3 WRs, it's going to hurt the run game.

They aren't leppers, just maybe don't adjust to the ball well 3 feet off the ground

[StillMadAtSlobber]

The only thing that worries me is that we argued about the same thing(Play calling) last year and it did carry over into the season.

Yeah, I was wrong thinking it wouldnt and then the September of shit rolled in with Haley convinced that running into a 10 man box, repeatedly would some how, eventually catch the D off balance. I am pessimistic that we will see the same full retard ground pounding attempt this year, despite all of the "yeah we will run more no huddle" bullshit PR coming out.

[Nick79]

How can people bitch about playcalling in preseason?

WTF? Makes total sense! Preseason is where you should have guys practice what they would do when the real season comes. Including the coaches. And if you want to evaluate talent, then evaluate Bryant or Moye on a fade pass, or evaluate Wheaton running a slant on 1st down in the RZ.

[Nick79]

There's a good chance they were still running scripted plays at that point.

LOL, still looked like a typical RZ sequence for them in the regular season as they often blow opportunities playing just like that.

[Legacy User]

How can people bitch about playcalling in preseason?

WTF? Makes total sense! Preseason is where you should have guys practice what they would do when the real season comes. Including the coaches. And if you want to evaluate talent, then evaluate Bryant or Moye on a fade pass, or evaluate Wheaton running a slant on 1st down in the RZ.

You just don't get it do you?

[Nick79]

How can people bitch about playcalling in preseason?

WTF? Makes total sense! Preseason is where you should have guys practice what they would do when the real season comes. Including the coaches. And if you want to evaluate talent, then evaluate Bryant or Moye on a fade pass, or evaluate Wheaton running a slant on 1st down in the RZ.

You just don't get it do you?

Apparently not? I don't get WTF you are talking about, but I am RIGHT.

[bradshaw2ben]

I agree with Nick-- let's try some stuff with guys who are unknowns while there is little risk. Maybe I don't get it either.

[Steelafan77]

No way. Going into the season not fully aware of what guys can do is the best policy. Either cut them and watch another team have success with them or have them ride the pine pulling splinters out of their asses. I'm not getting it either.

[K_C_]

Wait, IC "felt embarrassed" while watching Cotch, who played incredible football last season, running a crossing route?



Is this the same guy that thought Hines Ward and his Betty White decrepit ass deserved a roster spot 2 years ago?

[Orangesteel]

Every season we continue to botch with Ben at the helm makes me think maybe some of the coaches don't "get it" either.

[Legacy User]

Wait, IC "felt embarrassed" while watching Cotch, who played incredible football last season, running a crossing route?



Is this the same guy that thought Hines Ward and his Betty White decrepit ass deserved a roster spot 2 years ago?

Smiley faces to cover up being butthurt?

[Legacy User]

[l

You just don't get it do you?

Apparently not? I don't get WTF you are talking about, but I am RIGHT.

Referring to evaluating coaches and play calling

First, pretty good bet the entire offense isn't close to being installed. Secondly, the goal of preseason isn't to put your whole offense on tape.

[K_C_]

Wait, IC "felt embarrassed" while watching Cotch, who played incredible football last season, running a crossing route?



Is this the same guy that thought Hines Ward and his Betty White decrepit ass deserved a roster spot 2 years ago?

Smiley faces to cover up being butthurt?

10 TD's.

Free agent contract from a playoff team.

Likely starting WR.

OR

FACEBOOK PETITION AND NO INTEREST FROM 32 TEAMS!!!



Yeah...butthurt.

[Legacy User]

He retired before free agency


[insert smiley face here]

[K_C_]

He retired before free agency


[insert smiley face here]

Yeah.

Teams were beating down his door so he retired.



but, if he ever wants to try a comeback, he can try another FACEBOOK PETITION!!!