The TEs, the Turnovers, and the Jackson 4 out of 5

[redrum52]

100k light work

 

[Tank]

Give this man whatever money it takes

His helmet kinda weirds me out though. lol

 

[rossihunter2]

Also forgot to mention… running game works better when we spread it out right now. Going heavy seems to telegraph too much, and we can’t get away with that with our current OL. Not like recent years where we can tell other teams exactly what we’re doing and dare them to stop it.

21 and 12 personnel but spread is the ideal setting right now
get the most out of ricard

lots of teams are struggling in the passing game at the moment without going heavy and keeping 6 guys into block for play-action - lots of the big passing plays last week were with 6 OL (or heavy 12 personnel) and play-actioning off it

think you've got to spread teams out to run, and you've got to actually threaten play-action and the intermediate passing over the middle to punish linebackers for coming downhill vs tight formations

 

[rossihunter2]

Also lends credence to the fact that I have no idea why fans think the goal line is "give it to Henry 4 times" territory. He's not a great short yardage back (never has been) and the Oline isn't effective on condensed fields in the running game.

We aren't very effective in goal line situations anyway, but running a spread out O and having some variability between pass and run is optimal. No idea why people want to line up in I formation and ram it up the middle four times.

especially given one of the most predictable and least effective plays right now is the tight formation inside zone up the middle with derrick henry on 1st down... rarely gets more than 3 yards and often gets a lot less than that

that would actually be one of my bigger criticisms of Monken's playcalling rather than all the stuff that people have been pillorying him for

 

[rossihunter2]

To your defense, there's a middle ground between both sides, I feel. I don't know what his numbers were in 2024, but in 2023, Henry was the 4th best short-yardage back in the NFL, converting at 83%. I went back to dissect it, and it was fairly straight forward. Mostly dives and stretches out of the I-formation. We did some of that last night, with two varying results.

The first attempt was a healthy 6 yard gain that was almost a score. Brace yourself for the second attempt:


View attachment 7482

On a run intended into the center of the defensive line, FB Pat Ricard blocks LCB Jack Jones. LG Andrew Vorhees pulls and doubles on an already halted DLE Bradley Chubb. And nobody touches MLB Tyrel Dodson and ROLB Jaelan Phillips, who meet at the summit for a TFL. The closest assignment adjacent to Dodson is RG Daniel Faalele, who's immediately beaten by a swim move courtesy of LDT Jordan Phillips, and thus can't finish out the combo block to move onto the MIKE.

Then we pivoted to two passing plays, and worked off of the running game for the score. Which is a solid mix of both facets. But nobody can look at the play above and tell me any RB is supposed to make it through that gauntlet. That is the definition of doomed by design.

two things

1) i really liked jordan phillips in the draft
2) daniel faalele always seems to have his worst blocks in goal-to-go short yardage situations

 

[rossihunter2]

On the other side of the trenches though... it ain't flashy but healthy Travis Jones is back and it's paying off. It feels really unfortunate that he doesn't have a competent running mate outside of Jenkins to take advantage of what he's doing. Feels like a spot where Peebles could fit but they're worried about that run defense...

also hasn't even needed that much of a running mate to be effective
still absolutely dominant when left single-blocked

just a shame, he and madubuike could have been game-wreckers together this year

 

[rossihunter2]

I’ve been upset that peebles has been a healthy scratch but last night tells me that yeah we need guys who can hold up in the run game. Our run D is essentially jones and Jenkins holding up and Ro/Hamilton cleaning up

the switch to playing full gap assignments with heavier boxes has absolutely opened up the linebackers to attack - and if you want to replicate that without being in base defence you need guys who can take on double-teams/re-set the LoS with pocket push

i'd still like peebles for those 3rd and longs but i think they're clearly fine with Travis Jones being in those situations and if that's all peebles is here for, they've clearly decided there's more value having other guys on the field than him right now which i do get

 

[SepticeyePoe]

 

[rossihunter2]

Yeah I do get it to some extent. I think Okoye and Urban both provide value in spurts as well, but if it's Peebles vs. Bryan, give me Peebles. Bryan looks like a guy out there. Nothing more, nothing less. Just kind of exists.

bryan was frequently picked on by the bears on sunday
havent seen the coaches film for this week yet but i imagine it might have been the same

 

[Simba]

This man is a national treasure

 

[Simba]

also hasn't even needed that much of a running mate to be effective
still absolutely dominant when left single-blocked

just a shame, he and madubuike could have been game-wreckers together this year

Yeah to be clear, I mean that there's no one next to him that can benefit from what Jones is giving out there. Jenkins is a solid player but we all know he should be more of a rotational guy than DL2. Having even some modicum on interior rush next to Jones would seemingly open this baby up.

 

[SepticeyePoe]

bryan was frequently picked on by the bears on sunday
havent seen the coaches film for this week yet but i imagine it might have been the same

I think I saw him give up a pretty big run and I had to look up who he was

 

[Baltimorican]

Yeah to be clear, I mean that there's no one next to him that can benefit from what Jones is giving out there. Jenkins is a solid player but we all know he should be more of a rotational guy than DL2. Having even some modicum on interior rush next to Jones would seemingly open this baby up.

It's exactly the irreplaceable thing we lost when Mads when down.

 

[Baltimorican]

two things

1) i really liked jordan phillips in the draft
2) daniel faalele always seems to have his worst blocks in goal-to-go short yardage situations

It's like by the time he's got his body moving in the right direction, the play is over.

 

[Truth]

two things

1) i really liked jordan phillips in the draft
2) daniel faalele always seems to have his worst blocks in goal-to-go short yardage situations

Same here, and for sure, man.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

Charlie Kolar is a meme dude

 

[JoeyFlex5]

This week it didn’t feel like we were leaning on Lamar to constantly make big plays, deep drops and downfield throws weren’t a clear priority and I feel like it has been ever since monken got here.

The quick drops, quick routes, quick releases worked incredibly well. We struggle to run, we struggle to pass protect, the OL is that bad, but we do have guys that can get open in a hurry on shorter routes, we got guys that can pick up YAC, and Lamar can play that game.

If we wanna mask our OL problems then quick passing and play action might be the key.

 

[Dom McRaven]

This week it didn’t feel like we were leaning on Lamar to constantly make big plays, deep drops and downfield throws weren’t a clear priority and I feel like it has been ever since monken got here.

The quick drops, quick routes, quick releases worked incredibly well. We struggle to run, we struggle to pass protect, the OL is that bad, but we do have guys that can get open in a hurry on shorter routes, we got guys that can pick up YAC, and Lamar can play that game.

If we wanna mask our OL problems then quick passing and play action might be the key.

And if there was ever a defensive unit we REALLY need to implement this on, it's the Flores-led Vikings defense. I see he tried to zero blitz Hurts at the end of the game that served to their detriment.

Now granted, Lamar has matured as a passer since that debacle in Miami in 2021, but I'm sure Flores is gonna try it again. Tryna tell me that a Keaton or Hill screen isn't gonna feast if timed right?

 

[rossihunter2]

This week it didn’t feel like we were leaning on Lamar to constantly make big plays, deep drops and downfield throws weren’t a clear priority and I feel like it has been ever since monken got here.

The quick drops, quick routes, quick releases worked incredibly well. We struggle to run, we struggle to pass protect, the OL is that bad, but we do have guys that can get open in a hurry on shorter routes, we got guys that can pick up YAC, and Lamar can play that game.

If we wanna mask our OL problems then quick passing and play action might be the key.

if they can get any part of the offence going it opens up the rest of the offence
were struggling to get much going early, created some success in the quick passing game, which opened up play action and the intermediate passing game, which opened up the running game in the 4th quarter

it's not necessarily going to be the same formula every time but they just have to find the one part of the offence to get going and then the whole offence functions at a very high level

 

[JoeyFlex5]

if they can get any part of the offence going it opens up the rest of the offence
were struggling to get much going early, created some success in the quick passing game, which opened up play action and the intermediate passing game, which opened up the running game in the 4th quarter

it's not necessarily going to be the same formula every time but they just have to find the one part of the offence to get going and then the whole offence functions at a very high level

Exactly. The concern I have against the Vikings is Flores seemingly is the mastermind behind the sticks coverage that shut Lamar tf down in 2021, and the quick pass game is gonna have a hard time against that, so we might need to lean on the OL a bit against that pass rush which is a recipe for total disaster