CoachO
Hall of Fame
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2013
- Messages
- 3,392
I disagree with the idea that they cannot open holes in the running game. This type of offense will be more productive the more times they hand the ball off. They will have their share of 1 & 2 yard carries. But as they continue to commit to it, those 2 yard runs will turn into 4 & 5+ yard runs. With the sheer size of this O-line, they should be able to wear teams down over the course of 4 quarters.Yeah - I get that. We were supposed to be a smash mouth offense (allegedly). I'm just not sure we can look at this team and in particular, the O-line and say that smash mouth would work. Not that you can do the same and say that a passing game will work. It seems we have some pretty big weapons at receiver/TE and a lack of ability to continuously open holes for the running game. It's tough. I would love to see them run more but not if it means a constant diet of 3rd and long. I keep hoping they can figure things out. And if Hill is part of that figuring things out, I'm all for it. I just don't know that I lean that way.
I agree that with the big "weapons" they have they can and will be able to throw the ball when they want to. But it will be much more effective, and efficient if they dictate when and how they throw it. Everyone seems to think facing an 8 man box is taboo. But in fact, when you can force teams to commit to 8 and 9 man boxes to stop the running game, you then can exploit them in the passing game, especially with play action. Too often this year, Schottenheimer has gone away from the running game and just started airing it out, with this last game being the worst example of it. They were in a one score game for much of the 2nd half, and he completely abandoned the running game. Which lead to 9 straight incompletions and finished with a 10 - 32 passing performance in the second half.