[CTcard]

 The problem on that safety wasn't that we got no push, it was that we had two on two and they both blocked the same guy.

I started writing about this as a reply to BC's response to the Garvin quotations. However, doing actual work got in the way.

I don't have the tape in front of me, but on that particular play we had three to block two on the right side of the line. Hall and the TE (who might have been an extra OL at the TE position) double teamed the guy to Hall's right. Meanwhile, Powell looked to his left, saw Burkett had the NT and rushed out to the second level to block (more or less) the LB. Andrus, who made the play, was lined up between Hall and Powell - just standing there, not jumping around or anything. It wasn't clear to me who got the blocking-read wrong, though kind of looked to me as if it were Powell (the announcers said Hall).

I obviously haven't done a large film study on this, but that's my distinct impression. If that's the case, then fixing it shouldn't be hard, in theory, better health and better coaching should go a long way.

It seems to me that the pass blocking has been a mess when guys blow their assignments and when they simply get pushed around. As you note, the path towards fixing things seems more straight forward for the former.

One development that has seemed odd to me and not generally effective is that on our jumbo short yardage packages we aren't just adding extra OL but are rearranging almost the entire personnel; or at least we were when we still had enough healthy bodies to swap out our personnel. Presumably the trade off is people who have trained for just these plays versus overall superior linemen.

I also wouldn't be surprised if, given an off-season to really look at what it takes to be a team that passes to open up the run instead of the opposite, we can scheme some better runs.

There are many, many positives to Coach Shaw but recognizing what his team is - and isn't - and adjusting gameplans and playcalling to those strengths and weaknesses is not one of them.

I agree that at least a couple of times the coaching staff has not done a good job recognizing what are the strengths and weaknesses of their team as the season approaches. [I've harped on 2014, and early 2015, a lot.]

While I think the offensive coaching staff did a good job reconstructing the offense on the go mid-season, it has holes largely because the base set of plays appear to be for a pass game that complements a run-first offense rather than the other way around. It's not surprising that the coaches would have expected that to be the nature of our offense, but they are the ones watching the players in practice every day and it is an imperative that they get this correct.

Anyway, we'll see. In theory we have the pieces for a top-5 offense next year. If that can come together and if the defense can get back to "not a liability" we could be in for a special year. We'll see.

That's certainly the optimistic take.
The OL is the second most important piece of the offense. With its performance this season, and likely turnover for next, it has a ways to go to support any theory of a top 5 offense. I don't see it as impossible, just a lot of development.

[CTcard]

 The problem on that safety wasn't that we got no push, it was that we had two on two and they both blocked the same guy.

I started writing about this as a reply to BC's response to the Garvin quotations. However, doing actual work got in the way.

I don't have the tape in front of me, but on that particular play we had three to block two on the right side of the line. Hall and the TE (who might have been an extra OL at the TE position) double teamed the guy to Hall's right. Meanwhile, Powell looked to his left, saw Burkett had the NT and rushed out to the second level to block (more or less) the LB. Andrus, who made the play, was lined up between Hall and Powell - just standing there, not jumping around or anything. It wasn't clear to me who got the blocking-read wrong, though kind of looked to me as if it were Powell (the announcers said Hall).

I obviously haven't done a large film study on this, but that's my distinct impression. If that's the case, then fixing it shouldn't be hard, in theory, better health and better coaching should go a long way.

It seems to me that the pass blocking has been a mess when guys blow their assignments and when they simply get pushed around. As you note, the path towards fixing things seems more straight forward for the former.

One development that has seemed odd to me and not generally effective is that on our jumbo short yardage packages we aren't just adding extra OL but are rearranging almost the entire personnel; or at least we were when we still had enough healthy bodies to swap out our personnel. Presumably the trade off is people who have trained for just these plays versus overall superior linemen.

I also wouldn't be surprised if, given an off-season to really look at what it takes to be a team that passes to open up the run instead of the opposite, we can scheme some better runs.

There are many, many positives to Coach Shaw but recognizing what his team is - and isn't - and adjusting gameplans and playcalling to those strengths and weaknesses is not one of them.

I agree that at least a couple of times the coaching staff has not done a good job recognizing what are the strengths and weaknesses of their team as the season approaches. [I've harped on 2014, and early 2015, a lot.]

While I think the offensive coaching staff did a good job reconstructing the offense on the go mid-season, it has holes largely because the base set of plays appear to be for a pass game that complements a run-first offense rather than the other way around. It's not surprising that the coaches would have expected that to be the nature of our offense, but they are the ones watching the players in practice every day and it is an imperative that they get this correct.

Anyway, we'll see. In theory we have the pieces for a top-5 offense next year. If that can come together and if the defense can get back to "not a liability" we could be in for a special year. We'll see.

That's certainly the optimistic take.
The OL is the second most important piece of the offense. With its performance this season, and likely turnover for next, it has a ways to go to support any theory of a top 5 offense. I don't see it as impossible, just a lot of development.