Well it took a few weeks and removing a back that can't catch (we should have just benched him), to see that Gase has changed it up based on the afct we can't run. I love how he utilized the Backs for 12 catches for 82 yards, total touches 28 for 165. It is high% based on the line and helped move the ball for 400 yards.
Except for the fact that the Raiders had one of the worst secondary in football and our coach chose not to test them. Doesn't seem very smart to me
It was probably not all due to the Ajayi trade, but there was a night and day difference between this game and all of the ones before it.
I think that was due to protecting Cutler more than anything- Gase had a habit of going conservative with Tannehill as well until RT would say, "Hey, open this sucker up some." That's the one thing you don't get from Cutler- he stays quiet. The big thing with Williams is that he'd stay in to block while scouting the field for the open area for the outlet pass. Cutler would scan the field and then glance where Williams was going, which makes it really tough for a defense to prevent. Sure, they were dink passes that only picked up a couple of yards here and there, but they are also ultra-safe plays that keep the sticks moving and Cutler clean. That's exactly what we needed last night and I thought it was smart play calling.
There was one play it was 3rd and long. Single coverage on Landry looked to have his man beat on a streak for a long gain, but Cutler checked down getting 7 or when 13 were needed. Coach just gives up on anything 3 and over 10.
Probably because by the time the receivers get to the 1st down marker on their routes, the QB's had to throw the check down because the defense is in his face.
He did not have much pressure yesterday and on that play he could have easily made the throw. Without question if you check down every play your chance of getting sacked go way down.
he literally went to his 2nd progression maybe a hand full of times yesterday he is taking his first read 80% of the time and they are all checkdowns, I said in another post that he hit landry on a cross route for about 9 yards and you could see stills running the same route but 15 yards deeper buck naked open but landry was option 1
It was fantastic design. Now, Drake and Williams aren't perfect. Better players would do an even better job, but I loved the plan and the execution. In my perfect world, the RBs would be about a third of the passing game every week. Its been such a long time since we've properly used them that way.
I thought Williams played a darn near perfect game- him reading the pressure and finding an escape route for Cutler was beautiful to watch. I loved seeing us line up in the eye as well with Drake leading and Williams trailing, but unfortunately we only ran it once and they handed off to the FB (Drake) instead of making it a true power-I run. That got me excited for what's to come though.
Yes that is tiring. The line seemed to block better yesterday, but then again we passed short probably to keep Kahlil off of Cutler. We just don't have a line that gives you confidence to sit back and fire the bombs we'd like to see consistently. But you'd like to see us throw for the first down in the air more often. Defenses know we will dink and dunk and seem to sit back to make the tackle if we complete it. Punt.
Gase said that the coverages were dictating a short passing game. Seems the safeties were deep and focusing on taking away the big plays, probably because of their CBs out... they preferred to give up short plays and keep everything in front of them.
That's fine, take the underneath stuff. We were moving the ball. Penalties and the Drake fumble killed us, and the defense didn't really play up to the level they've established in the beginning of the year.
But would you agree or disagree that if you have 9-10 play drives odd are increased that you are going to make mistakes as opposed to a 4-5 play drive?
Odds logically favor the 4-5 for the less mistake ... But it also depends significantly on the team ex. Our 4-5 to Brady's 9-10...... To be successful a team can not think like that even though it is the obvious logical answer...Now for us, I hate to say might not be so negative to consider but thats because we suck much more than the good teams. Success for the Fins will be more apparent when that isn't a consideration or thought at all. But we have a ways to go obviously...
There are risks inherant to both. Attempting deep passes in order to score quickly will lead to a lot more incompletions and punts, and some turnovers as well. My personal preference is to have a very smart, capable QB who can take all of the underneath stuff, nickle and dime the opponent to death, and then hit on the longer passes when his WRs beat their man to get open or the opponent makes a mistake or gets too greedy. I would never throw more than 20 yards in the air if I could.
Just get the ball to guys in space, let them make a move, you never know when they'll break one. It's up to the players to not make mistakes on high-percentage plays. The Erhardt-Perkins is a matchup-based offense, IIRC, someone with more football acumen can correct me on that if I'm wrong.
This was a case of system over personnel. Ajayi was not the type of back that fits gase's system, and gase seems incapable of adjusting his system to fit the strengths of his personnel. That's why ajayi is no longer here. Gase's system has always been about having quick backs who are good receivers. That is also why he started foster over ajayi at the beginning of last season which lead to his previous run in with ajayi. Ajayi is a power running back who needs to be in a power running scheme.
Seems strange that they can cover the deep ball better without their starting corners though. If that is actually true, then it speaks to their lack of respect for our running game, because we should have been able to methodically run it down their throats. We couldn't. Either way, we are either calling the wrong kinds of plays or more likely we just don't have the horses to scare anyone or even keep them honest.
I think that's the philosophy that defenses seem to have used on us for a few years now. I think it is also part of the reason Landry has a gazillion passes for underneath yards and few TD's for him and the offense in general. Some teams can live like that and then throw it up to their big guys in the end zone or whenever they need chunks. We seem to have to take what they give us all the time. But not many defenses are going to give you enough to win. You need the guys to go take what you want at some point. We don't seem to be able to consistently challenge for critical first downs or TD's yet.