(01-17-2024, 08:56 AM)Mikey Wrote: voted OL and playcalling. When you can't block, you don't call horizontal runs. Far too often those end around attempts put us in 2nd and long, which then led to Etienne up the middle leaving us 3rd and long, and then Trevor running for his life.

They never developed an identity. We weren't pound it down your throat, or spread the defense all over the field, or screw it, we're going deep. They just seemed to passively nibble to see what the D would let them get away with, rather than commanding the field. We're capable of more, I believe. If we can fix the problems along the line, I will be very interested to see what this team can actually do.

The identity was a finesse blocking unit unable to block even a minimum amount of power runs and also unable to block the zone scheme they were acquired to execute. 

Horizontal plays in both run and pass plays are Pederson's intended design and calling card. But he and Baalke failed to field a front five capable of executing it effectively enough to win the division while facing a #3 strength of schedule in the league in 2023. 

Fix 3/5s of the line and its a top ten offense. They hovered around 13th in the league in multiple key metrics with a bottom feeder line. They can take an impactful step forward by marginally improving it.

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