offense and the left tackle

[riggofan]

So, no Trent for four games obviously. I'm curious how you guys see that affecting the offense? Any expectations?

We haven't been great running the ball this year, can that actually get worse?

My biggest question mark is do you think its going to have a big effect on Cousins? He's been good over the past year+ at getting rid of the ball quickly. But will the change at LT have him getting rid of the ball TOO quickly and not taking shots downfield?

Nsekhe started two games at LT. That final meaningless game v. Dallas where the team was awesome. And that 34-20 loss to the Jets which was also one of Kirk's worst games of the year. Cousins was 25 of 43 for 196 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs that day, and the team rushed for 34 yards on 17 attempts.

Going to be an interesting game Sunday for sure.

[Burgundy&GoldForever]

I expect Nsekhe to get beat more than the ZERO times Trent Williams normally gets beat. I expect the team to leave a back to block instead of having the back act as a safety valve receiver. Can't do that with Reed. Could use two tight ends and have Davis block or chip and then go out. I don't expect it to be a disaster since I expect Kelley to get a good number of carries to the right side behind Scherff and Moses.

[HEROHAMO]

I would like to see a more run based offense with Trent out. Passing out of play action. We have to with Trent out. We average 20 to 25 carries a game. Bump that to 30 to 35 split between Kelly, Thompson and give Matt 5 to 7 carries.

[markshark84]

For those of you asking for more downfield/long passing attempts, don't hold your breath... With this OL, I'd expect to see more short passing routes (if you can even fathom that), less rushing attempts, and more TE help. It's not a good situation to be in. Our OL is already mediocre to below average, without Trent, we are now "poor".

Our HC/OC already call plays that make it easier on our OL to protect. I expect this to an even greater extent this sunday.

[riggofan]

For those of you asking for more downfield/long passing attempts, don't hold your breath... With this OL, I'd expect to see more short passing routes (if you can even fathom that), less rushing attempts, and more TE help. It's not a good situation to be in. Our OL is already mediocre to below average, without Trent, we are now "poor".

Just curious, by what measure is our OL mediocre or below average?

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

[HEROHAMO]

You can't average 111 yards rushing and 300 yards passing with a mediocre Oline. I'd say our Oline is top ten maybe even top five. The stats say we are top five.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

Oline is solid.. and better without Litch..

I think MarkShark is referring to Kirk getting rid of the ball quickly to help make them appear to be better. However, even on the few longer developing plays he has time.. finding the pocket and knowing where to slide is a learned skill with time. But the oline is definitely a strength on the team not a weakness

[Countertrey]

Oline is solid.. and better without Litch..

I think MarkShark is referring to Kirk getting rid of the ball quickly to help make them appear to be better. However, even on the few longer developing plays he has time.. finding the pocket and knowing where to slide is a learned skill with time. But the oline is definitely a strength on the team not a weakness

Well, no... he was pretty clear...

Our OL is already mediocre to below average, without Trent, we are now "poor".

Looks pretty specific to me... He thinks our O-line is not a strength...

[oj]

I don't see our O line as being a 'strength', I see the play calling making the best of it. But the OC is calling 'what we can do' and not 'what we shall do'. When was the last time you saw a 'counter tray', we don't have a Grimm & Jacoby to lead the runner. We have a O line that can protect Cousins and he has faith in them, but that is what we have.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

Welp, that's what I get for trying to bail him out... my "however" was basically pointing to where he was wrong.. but I failed to convey that

[oj]

Welp, that's what I get for trying to bail him out... my "however" was basically pointing to where he was wrong.. but I failed to convey that

Nope, I thought you said it right. They are good at what they do.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

Welp, that's what I get for trying to bail him out... my "however" was basically pointing to where he was wrong.. but I failed to convey that

Nope, I thought you said it right. They are good at what they do.

I thought so too!


To YOUR point tho... we not only lack a Grimm & Jacoby, we also lack a Riggins. Our runners are less of the brute top, more of the misdirection play call, make someone miss and get down field. While Jones and fat Rob do a good job of falling forward, they are better in space as opposed to blowing through the line and trucking lbs.

I think the personnel and play calling dictates that they get to the next level make someone miss then turn in the burners, as opposed to following the hogs down field giving the play time to develop, then trucking through a few players to break one.

Reminiscing sure feels nice though! Lmmfao

[oj]

Welp, that's what I get for trying to bail him out... my "however" was basically pointing to where he was wrong.. but I failed to convey that

Nope, I thought you said it right. They are good at what they do.

I thought so too!


To YOUR point tho... we not only lack a Grimm & Jacoby, we also lack a Riggins. Our runners are less of the brute top, more of the misdirection play call, make someone miss and get down field. While Jones and fat Rob do a good job of falling forward, they are better in space as opposed to blowing through the line and trucking lbs.

I think the personnel and play calling dictates that they get to the next level make someone miss then turn in the burners, as opposed to following the hogs down field giving the play time to develop, then trucking through a few players to break one.

Reminiscing sure feels nice though! Lmmfao

One mention of Jacoby and the Hogs and *sh$t* gets in my eyes making it hard to see. I think if we had the kind of speed and finesse that the Hogs had anybody could run behind them, having a diesel is extra topping on the cake. I thought Matt Jones would be the kind of power back that would lower his shoulder and challange a tackler, he's got the size, and I think that is role Gruden expected him to play but I have watched him run out of bounds to avoid a tackle.

[markshark84]

Oline is solid.. and better without Litch..

I think MarkShark is referring to Kirk getting rid of the ball quickly to help make them appear to be better. However, even on the few longer developing plays he has time.. finding the pocket and knowing where to slide is a learned skill with time. But the oline is definitely a strength on the team not a weakness

Well, no... he was pretty clear...

Our OL is already mediocre to below average, without Trent, we are now "poor".

Looks pretty specific to me... He thinks our O-line is not a strength...

Well, from the source --- both of you are correct in a way.

I think our OL looks better in PassPro because Cousins is able to get the ball out quickly. I also think our OL is a weakness in our OFF ---- well, I did at the time I wrote the post. I have always been one of those guys that thinks anyone can be an effective RB if you have a good OL. I was pretty impressed with the OL yesterday without Trent. While it was one game, for that game, I was definitely wrong as to us having a poor OL. I still think our OL has improvement to do, but they have improved greatly since week 1.

[mastdark81]

Oline is solid.. and better without Litch..

I think MarkShark is referring to Kirk getting rid of the ball quickly to help make them appear to be better. However, even on the few longer developing plays he has time.. finding the pocket and knowing where to slide is a learned skill with time. But the oline is definitely a strength on the team not a weakness

Well, no... he was pretty clear...

Our OL is already mediocre to below average, without Trent, we are now "poor".

Looks pretty specific to me... He thinks our O-line is not a strength...

Well, from the source --- both of you are correct in a way.

I think our OL looks better in PassPro because Cousins is able to get the ball out quickly. I also think our OL is a weakness in our OFF ---- well, I did at the time I wrote the post. I have always been one of those guys that thinks anyone can be an effective RB if you have a good OL. I was pretty impressed with the OL yesterday without Trent. While it was one game, for that game, I was definitely wrong as to us having a poor OL. I still think our OL has improvement to do, but they have improved greatly since week 1.

That but he actually isn't like he was year one of Gruden getting the ball out at record speed and forcing stuff. He's actually been given the time consistently to go through all of his progressions and when teams do blitz more times than not he's finding the right person to through to.

[Burgundy&GoldForever]

Oline is solid.. and better without Litch..

I think MarkShark is referring to Kirk getting rid of the ball quickly to help make them appear to be better. However, even on the few longer developing plays he has time.. finding the pocket and knowing where to slide is a learned skill with time. But the oline is definitely a strength on the team not a weakness

Well, no... he was pretty clear...

Our OL is already mediocre to below average, without Trent, we are now "poor".

Looks pretty specific to me... He thinks our O-line is not a strength...

Well, from the source --- both of you are correct in a way.

I think our OL looks better in PassPro because Cousins is able to get the ball out quickly. I also think our OL is a weakness in our OFF ---- well, I did at the time I wrote the post. I have always been one of those guys that thinks anyone can be an effective RB if you have a good OL. I was pretty impressed with the OL yesterday without Trent. While it was one game, for that game, I was definitely wrong as to us having a poor OL. I still think our OL has improvement to do, but they have improved greatly since week 1.

You show me a team whose offense is designed around getting the ball out slowly and I'll show you a team that sucks. Defenses blitz 80% of the time in the modern NFL. It's one hell of a lot easier to design an offense built around timing or count than it is to try to pick up a blitz nearly every down. I don't want to see the team try to pass protect for five to seven seconds because it's not necessary. This team can move the ball without much issue.

If they get that red zone thing figured out they will be downright scary.

[markshark84]

You show me a team whose offense is designed around getting the ball out slowly and I'll show you a team that sucks. Defenses blitz 80% of the time in the modern NFL. It's one hell of a lot easier to design an offense built around timing or count than it is to try to pick up a blitz nearly every down. I don't want to see the team try to pass protect for five to seven seconds because it's not necessary. This team can move the ball without much issue.

If they get that red zone thing figured out they will be downright scary.

The complexity of the NFL is staggering these days. Timing routes are now the norm --- which is one huge difference vs. college. However, it only takes a DL or OLB 1-2 seconds to get to a QB --- so no picking up the blitz in most scenarios (outside of the screen, quick out, etc.) will lead to a sack. OL is still the key to a successful offense. I agree with you on the 5-7 second thing, mainly because Cousins performs better in structure and is not as effective with 7 seconds just trying to find an open guy. He is best in that 3-4 second range where everything is structured and he knows where everyone will be at any given moment. When the play falls apart is when he panics.

That being said, I think that we learned yesterday that this offense can move the ball very easily until it gets inside the 20. I haven't put an exact finger on what happens, but I have started to believe it is a combination of the playcalling and de-commitment to the run game.

But long story short, I agree with what you are saying. It doesn't mean that I think our OL's passpro doesn't look better because Cousins likes to get it out quickly though.

[riggofan]

I watched the Steelers and Pukes try and fail on SIX two point conversions yesterday. Watched the Patriots last night, first and goal from the two yard line, try four times unsuccessfully to punch it in the end zone. Its tough going down there.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

Something of note, our patchwork OL did a great job against one of the best Defenses in the league yesterday. Not only did we move the ball efficiently, Kirk had good numbers as well as the rbs combining for over 100 yards on the ground.

Not sure what else you could ask of them... I'd say that's the result of good oline play. The only thing we could hope for is more time on the longer developing plays. However, I didn't see anyone just getting blown up repeatedly, even when Mosses went down.

Still need to find a way in the redzone. Play calling and execution seems to be more of a culprit then our Oline not doing their jobs