Riffer's Offensive Analysis Thread - (All Posts Welcome)

[Greythan]

Okay, just getting a jump start on this thing.

So, it strikes me that after reading Cribbs/McCoy's description of our lone explosive play yesterday.... the play wasn't designed.

Let's think on that for a second. All of Shurmur's gameplay resulted in 3 points.

Then....

Cribbs goes to his QB and says, "Hey may, the safety has been cheating me inside ALL DAY. I'm telling you a sideline go route is wide open!". McCoy says, "okay" and BANG, TD!

Number one, why were San Fran's safeties ignoring the sideline route when playing Cover 2/5 in the first place? There's no fear of getting burned. That's why.

Number two, which relates to number one, when your offensive coordinator doesn't notice the defense is playing soft on the outside, why should we be surprised that the other team doesn't fear us? Seriously, how the hell does our staff miss this?

I have an idea. We don't have an offensive coordinator. You know, the guy who does nothing but study what the other team's defense is doing during game play. The guy who would notice where the cracks are in the defensive scheme.

No, instead we have a rookie HC who's fumbling to remember where his challenge flag is while NO ONE is analyzing the opposing team's defense.

This is a joke. They should have muzzled Cribbs/McCoy. Its really a sick joke that the only explosive play yesterday came from two players drawing something up in the dirt.

Yuck.

[Enigmatic Evil]

Agreed 100% Greythan... now this post of mine is going to seem divergent at first because I wrote the most of it in Flugel's thread for the D...

ONE player (Joe Haden), is making a big difference on defense yet, when it comes to the offense we stress the team game and how one single player isn't going to make the difference here. I say to you, if they're good enough like Haden is on our D, they will make the difference. We need some offensive playmakers because I've been saying for 3 seasons that we need somebody to step up and yet, nobody is doing that. Here we are stagnating, it's no mystery to me. We need someone to step up on offense. I don't think the case of Greg Little is a square peg in a round hole so much as it's too large a round peice to fit right now. Little needs the reps to acclimatize himself with the NFL game but I hardly expect a Haden-esque leap of comfort for him. We shouldn't write Little off either, arguably he IS our best reciever. He arguably is, that's why he's starting over Robo, Norwood and Carlton Mitchell. He needs time to grow, our offense is growing together. There's going to be growing pains.

Realistically, outside of Little... Josh Cribbs is our best WR. He's made big catches, he has better hands than we give him credit for and he runs much better routes this year compared to last IMO (maybe having a healthy foot is making a big difference for Cribbs?)

I agree that Shurmur's playcalling has left a LOT to be desired but that's the nature of the beast. A Rookie HC/OC who is still learning the strengths/weaknesses of his players. Trying to make an offense work with limited offensive talent, and young talent that's learning your offense to boot. There's going to be some speed bumps. People expect this seamless transition but that's not how this works. Clearly we're all figuring this out now...

I want Shurmur to have this epiphany, and quit with the 'dink and dunk - move the chains' style offense he's been pushing. It's conservative, he's doing it to help Colt get comfortable. The main difference here is that, think back to last year. I don't remember Daboll's play calling really changing to suit Colt's rookie inexperience, no we pretty much threw Colt out there guns blazing and had some big wins too. This season? I think it's time for Shumur to take the safety net off of his offense. IF he doesn't have one... then I'm worried that maybe Holmgren got too excited reading what was on the back of the box before he hired this new coach.

[golfer704u]

Tom I am not doubting you, I just haven't read those quotes by McCoy and Cribbs yet. can you source them for me?


nevermind, just read it. Will comment in a bit

[golfer704u]

So what REALLY strikes me in that quote was. “I wasn’t in the read at all,"

What? Not, "I wasn't supposed to be his first read, second read." I wasn't in the read AT ALL> So bascially the play was designed for Cribbs to never get the ball. So all those people out tehre criticizing McCoy for not "seeing" "open" recievers? heck maybe our most open guys are the ones running routes that Shumur doesn't even have in the reads.....

[Greythan]

That's my point.

Quite frankly, I'm shocked the press hasn't made a huge deal out of this. As pathetic as this offense has been only to see our biggest offensive play in three weeks come from a WR/QB improvisation?

Unreal.

[golfer704u]

It just REALLY makes me feel that the "Colt can't throw deep passes" issue is much more about playcalling and Scheme than it is about Colt. I saw more plays called last year that asked Colt to look deep than I seem to now.

[Masters]

It's hard to throw many deep passes when the OL protection most times isn't holding up long enough for a deep route to even develope

[golfer704u]

Originally Posted by Masters

It's hard to throw many deep passes when the OL protection most times isn't holding up long enough for a deep route to even develope

I agree, but again look at what some of us were calling for in the past weeks. I can go find the threads if you want. "Just run a go and chuck it up there, worse thing you do is make the defense be more honest." and the one time Colt and Cribbs just decide to try it on their own. It works, but even it it hadn'te because quite frankly Colt under threw it. It at least shows you can take that shot.

I honestly believe Shumur is still trying to hard to implement the PERFECT WCO when we don't have the O-line or playmakers to make it work, and when they haven't had time to practice it well enough.

[Bronx Cheer]

The protection was pretty poor yesterday. My impression was that it wasn't at this level of bad in previous weeks, just inconsistent enough to give our offense the yips. Our Gs not only get pummeled by big DTs, but apparently they also have no clue how to handle a stunt. Lauvao in particular looked really bad yesterday.

Turning to Colt, two issues. First, does it seem to anyone else that he is less accurate on 3-step drops instead of 5 (or the gun). Maybe his height is giving him problems? I understand some may point to the pocket being pushed back in his face, but he seems to have problems even when it is holding up. Second, that Cribbs TD play was all kinds of ugly, but I liked the result. The pass was underthrown by at least 5 yards, perhaps more.

Norwood looked decent yesterday, but I didn't even notice Mitchell run a pattern. So much for clearing out things underneath...

[Bronx Cheer]

BTW, Braylon Edwards yesterday made me pine for a real WR. That quick 3 yard slant against Haden in the second half that he turned into a 10+ yard gain is something no pass catcher on this offense can do.

[Masters]

Originally Posted by Bronx Cheer

Second, that Cribbs TD play was all kinds of ugly, but I liked the result. The pass was underthrown by at least 5 yards, perhaps more. .

That's a bit of hyperbole there. The ball was certainly under thrown (in that he didn't continue to lead Cribbs), but not by 5 yards. Cribbs simply had to slow to almost a stop to catch it, not run back to the ball.

[Riffer X]

I wanted to watch the game again before expounding, cuz Lord knows that is always so enjoyable for this team, but anyways here are some frustrations: I am not one that is generally a coach or coordinator basher at all, but in our case it is totally apparent that it is warranted.

• No opponent specific game planning---I know this cannot be 100% true, but has anybody seen one play call all year that has looked specifically designed to beat a scheme?
• Head coach as OC---Yeah, I know it is done around the league, but right now this guy CANNOT handle it and is in over his head. I am assuming he has someone in the booth, but how is a HEAD COACH supposed to break down film all week of a defense's tendencies, implement a game plan designed at attacking those tendencies, then make in game adjustments to the current schemes he is seeing---all while standing on the sidelnes? For anybody that has ever played football or watched even a high school game standing directly on the sidelines, your vision sucks from that vantage point. You do not have a big picture view of rolling coverages, guys pinching oline gaps or any of that.
• Down and distances---I don't think he really cares where the first down markers are on third and long, I think he just picks another play from his cheat sheet.
• Lack of misdirection or anything that will make a defense pay from over pursuing---For all those that hated DEYBALLS as if he was Lucifer, that guy at least did a few things in just about every game that was designed to punish a defense for being overly aggressive. Right now, Shurms is feeding the sharks and we are the chum. I have the feeling they know the play before we do, and they aren't afraid of selling out.
• Lack of audibilizing---For one, he is still taking too long to get the plays in. With that, I don't know if Colt is allowed to call an audible even if he has the time to. Honestly, I don't think Colt even knows what he is looking at anymore, his brains are as scrambled damn near as much as the receivers. That designed swing pass to Little yesterday was the ultimate bastardization of offense, completely disgusting in how they gave that play away and then continued to execute it into 5 guys standing there behind the LOS.
• Coaching in practice---Greg Little is regressing folks, sorry to say it. The kid still doesn't know how to properly run and execute a slant route, let alone anything else downfield. You can throw his size and athleticism out the door, he has no idea how to use his body to shield defenders etc. What are they coaching these guys in practice?
• Giving days off after an ugly win---Shurms gave them off until Wednesday this past week since they lit up Seattle. This followed then getting 4 days off in a row during the bye week. Ummm, I'm not sure, but doesn't this team of all teams need to be spending extra time on just about everything? Gruden about had a conniption during a MNF game a couple weeks ago talking about how this new labor agreement sucks for teams needing work during the bye, but then our coach turns around and freely gives the team more days off.
• Player coach versus boot in ass---Might be time for Shurms to stop coddling these guys for not understanding the playbook or executing. I understand Carlton Mitchell still doesn't know the plays. I am sure there are others. I go back to hearing a couple weeks ago that a source close to the locker room said these guys still do no know their assignments. Here is the question: has Shurmur implemented way too much of his offense way too fast? Many coaches implement parts of their playbooks as they go, making sure that the team understands enough core plays before moving on and adding more. Either way, inexcusable on all parts for grown men who are getting nicely paid to not know their jobs.
• Misuse of talent---Regardless of what the exactly true story of Hillis is, they have managed to take a guy who was the fan favorite and guts of the team and make him pretty much irrelevant at this point. That is a whole nother thread in itself, but the bottom line is Hillis is nothing about being part of our solution right now. Where the fuck is Evan Moore? Let me get this straight, we signed this guy to a nice extension to not utilize him? Yeah, yeah, I get that he can't block and we are using Alex Smith since our lines blows, but if Mangie was pulling this shit, fans and media would be going ballistic calling for a front office/coaching disagreement. They still have no clue whatsoever how to get Cribbs more involved, you would think it is quantum physics or something. Colt has absolutely no go to guys at all, with the lone exception being Watson at times.
• Spacing on routes---When you don't send receivers downfield, guess what happens? They creep up and clog up all the throwing zones. You have to at least have guys running clearing routes regardless of the protection or lack thereof. When they do send someone deep (ala Little on the pick yesterday) I see nobody running through the intermediate areas. Where is the spacing at? It looks to me like 90% of the time there are receivers going out and then turning around about 7 yards or shorter downfield. It wouldn't matter if we had speed or not. On the throw to Cribbs, the safety had to worry about Watson in the intermediate crossing route, this is how Cribbs was open.
• Everything to the right---Not only does Colt want to bail right every time, anything that Shurms calls seems to be based going right. Think about it, everything is designed to go where the shit part of our line is. We essentially run away from Joe Thomas. Nuff said.
• Delayed hand off---Should not be in the playbook with this current team. That is a play designed for teams with good passing games and olines, nothing what we have right now. It is just providing a feast for the opposing defense.
• Lack of fundamental execution---Fumbled snaps, FB's knocking the ball out of the QB's hands etc. More lack of preparation and practice.

I could go on, but I think the fact we are seven games in right now and look like a high school team trying to run the WCO says a lot. I am still willing to give this thing time and let Colt develop, but I think if anything this offense has retarded Colt's development. We will see what happens.