10-02-2018, 03:28 PM
I see many have chimed in in agreement with Hulk's comments on the OL. So I will merely say "me too" and let it go at that.
But a few additions.
While the loss of Bright, Schultz, and Marx has clearly hurt the run game, problems were brewing last year with them. Everyone noted the boom or bust nature of our run game, and Hulk and others have discussed stats like stuff rate at length. The OL has been developing issues (of different sorts) since the end of 2015.
Though I have not charted it, my impression is that Power is probably still our most consistent run play (or at least Power plus Counter). However, we now run more inside zone than Power, which looks less effective. And, the inside zone-read out of the shotgun isn't really a read as I think there is never any intention for Costello to keep.
We only called run plays on 37% of our snaps on Saturday. We saw in the second half what that leads to as any semblance of a pocket disappeared.
I am not sure what the solution is. The OL is not going to get fundamentally strong and sound mid-season, though I am hoping improving health will lead to some improvement and better synchronization. Playing less stout defensive fronts would help - we'll see some of those but not all. Personally, I would like to see more Power when we run and when we pass against a stacked box more routes that hit the receivers on the run (hopefully running away from defenders). But that's no cure-all.
Fortunately, we won't have to be particularly great on offense to find wins in most of our remaining games.
But a few additions.
While the loss of Bright, Schultz, and Marx has clearly hurt the run game, problems were brewing last year with them. Everyone noted the boom or bust nature of our run game, and Hulk and others have discussed stats like stuff rate at length. The OL has been developing issues (of different sorts) since the end of 2015.
Though I have not charted it, my impression is that Power is probably still our most consistent run play (or at least Power plus Counter). However, we now run more inside zone than Power, which looks less effective. And, the inside zone-read out of the shotgun isn't really a read as I think there is never any intention for Costello to keep.
We only called run plays on 37% of our snaps on Saturday. We saw in the second half what that leads to as any semblance of a pocket disappeared.
I am not sure what the solution is. The OL is not going to get fundamentally strong and sound mid-season, though I am hoping improving health will lead to some improvement and better synchronization. Playing less stout defensive fronts would help - we'll see some of those but not all. Personally, I would like to see more Power when we run and when we pass against a stacked box more routes that hit the receivers on the run (hopefully running away from defenders). But that's no cure-all.
Fortunately, we won't have to be particularly great on offense to find wins in most of our remaining games.