(10-12-2020, 09:35 PM)Predator Wrote:

(10-12-2020, 08:59 PM)NeptuneBeachBum Wrote: I disagree.  Go back and watch the Houston game.  They were loading up against the run and daring us to throw it.  They knew they had been gashed by the run all year and they knew we had been running it well.  They schemed to take it away from us more than we gave up on it.

I am by no means a Gruden apologist.  That 4th down Wildcat run-pass option was absolutely disgraceful... I 100% agree with you on that.  But for the most part, they just shut our run down and forced us to move on from it.  You can argue we moved away from it too early, but I was not screaming at the TV to run the damn ball in the 2nd half.

They aren't stacking the box and daring you to pass the 40% of the time that Thompson is out there because they already know what to defend.

It also makes the odds of a run go up significantly during the other 60% so it would make perfect sense based on odds to stack the box a lot when Thompson is on the sideline.

It's what happens when your incompetent OC telegraphs 40% of the plays.

Think about it this way:  if you were a defensive coordinator game planning our offense... what would you do?  

You'd look at our offense an evaluate it first.  So far this season, we have had a decent running game with a nice little find at RB as a rookie free agent, and an improved O-Line (particularly in the running game at least).  Our passing game is West Coast philosophy (i.e. short, quick passing game, occasional shots and lots of check downs).  Most of our passing yards have been from yards after catch on short routes and check downs.  How would you stop this?

Answer:  Single high safety with the SS down, box loaded, and a Cover 3 zone behind it.  Occasional zone or man blitz.  You could play Cover 2 against us if you felt good about your corners tackling against outside runs.  That is exactly how Houston defended us and shut our running game down.  That is also similar to what Miami did to us.  I did not get to see the whole Cincy game, so I'm not sure there.  They are daring Minshew to throw deep... no one appears to be afraid of that.  They are allowing short completions that can be tackled quickly (hence Minshew's high completion %), but are not afraid of him taking deep shots.  In other words, they took pour running game away, dared us to throw deep, and we didn't get it done.  I am a little afraid the "book" is out on Minshew now.  He is going to have to show he can expand his game and hurt teams downfield, or it will get worse.

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