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Random Commanders Thoughts

McD5 said:
If people look objectively, which I know they won't, a few things were clear from studying the 4 teams yesterday.

1. Defense is the direction to go. Just load the defense all over the place. Scot's already aware of this.
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Condescending much? Sheesh man.

To your point, I expect to see a lot of defensive help this offseason. DLine and Secondary mostly.

As a side note, sure would have been nice to have had Wade on staff this year. Barry did a nice job I thought, but Wade really elevated that Broncos D to a whole other level. C'est la vie...


McD5 said:
2. O-lines are important, but insanely overrated. Both New England and Denver have two of the worst O-lines in the league. Seattle too, although they exited earlier. Dallas' O-line won them last place in the division. Ours is already better than most.

3. The days of offenses centered around a running game ended 10 years ago. In fact, having a RB like AD or Gurley can even hurt your team. Giving them the ball so many times limits your ability to score points and screws your offense.
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Dallas being last in the division had much more to do with Romo's injury than anything else. Our OLine did a nice job pass blocking this year, not so well run blocking; I expect another piece or two added, along with some better depth. We need more, and better depth, which I am certain Scot will address.

As for a bell-cow back, I think the days of that arrangement are ending, but if you have one, you use him. Good coaches will figure out a way to use talent they have on hand. If AP was on the Pats, do you really think they would pass 80% of the time like they seem to now? I do not.

McD5 said:
4. Top names at the WR position are also unnecessary. Julio Jones, Dez, Amari Cooper, Sammy Watkins? They'll be doing the same thing we are all doing for the SB--sitting on the couch.

Scot's on the right path. I suspect he'll just load thumpers all over the defense as he did in San Fran and Seattle.
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I would be thrilled with 5 defensive picks and 2 OLinemen in the draft. I might do cartwheels. I've been saying for a while we won't go WR in the 1st, and I'd be surprised if we did in the second. I think Scot will try to find another Crowder, maybe a little bigger, and develop some more talent in house.
 
I think we have enough offensively to be competitive but would like to improve at center. With Niles Paul back Reed will be in an even better position to be our 'big' receiver.

We must find a way to allow less points to get to the next level.
 
McD5,

There are bedrock principles in this game the span the test of time. Things that are fundamental truths to the game that never change.

The game is won up front. Doesn't matter who your QB or RB is if they are both flat on their back in the backfield. All you have to is ask Brady....who was put on his back multiple times or rushed into bad decisions or threw before he wanted to.

Two, if you want to do anything in this league, you have to be balanced, which means, run the ball effectively. I bet Tom wishes he had an offensive line and a running game good enough to take some pressure off.

And yes, we do look at the past and the Hogs and point to that as a path to success. QBs changed,RBs changed and WRs changed and the Skins still won. What was the one constant in all those years?

Being stout up front. Not just on O but on D too.

We've wandered in the NFL Wilderness(much like Moses and his people) not only because we lacked a competent QB but in large part because we had a front office that went over a decade without drafting a defensive lineman within the first three rounds and only played lip service when it came to drafting Olinemen.

What was Scotty's first moves in the draft? Oline and Dline.

So hope floats. Let's hope we don't forget the lesson anytime soon.
 
Diesel, I think you can narrow it down even more than that.

The game is still won up front, but it's won on the D-line, not as much on the O-line. If you have a great D-line you can crush the opposing QB as the Giants did to the Patriots years ago, and Denver did yesterday. A good D can hold the Patriots to 20 points. A bad one gives them 40.

If you have an awful O-line, you can still win the SB. The Packers and Seattle have proven that, and Denver will try again in two weeks.

Things have shifted dramatically.

It's no longer about building a dominant O-line and running the ball 35 times a game. That ended over 10 years ago.

The running game now is simply to keep a defense honest and to eat clock at crucial times. It's not a primary strategy to build an offense around.
 
McD5 said:
If people look objectively, which I know they won't, a few things were clear from studying the 4 teams yesterday.

1. Defense is the direction to go. Just load the defense all over the place. Scot's already aware of this.

2. O-lines are important, but insanely overrated. Both New England and Denver have two of the worst O-lines in the league. Seattle too, although they exited earlier. Dallas' O-line won them last place in the division. Ours is already better than most..
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If #1 is correct, then O-line in #2 is much more important than you give it credit.
If the good and great teams in the league are loading up on defense, then you HAVE to have a solid O-line to keep them from strangling your entire offense.
We saw a perfect example of that yesterday with Denver and NE. Even Tom Brady couldn't get himself out of the jam he found himself in, with a porous O-line, going against relentless defensive pressure. O-line is probably the 2nd most important area, right behind a defensive front 7.
 
Fear The Spear said:
If #1 is correct, then O-line in #2 is much more important than you give it credit.
If the good and great teams in the league are loading up on defense, then you HAVE to have a solid O-line to keep them from strangling your entire offense.
We saw a perfect example of that yesterday with Denver and NE. Even Tom Brady couldn't get himself out of the jam he found himself in, with a porous O-line, going against relentless defensive pressure. O-line is probably the 2nd most important area, right behind a defensive front 7.
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Everything is important. That includes a kicking game.

But D-line has long passed the O-line in terms of importance. Seattle, New England and the Packers have all won SBs recently with awful O-lines.

A good D will not only stop the QB, but will also kill a running game. AD, 23 attempts, 45 yards against Seattle. That's no way to build an offense. The running game is now a side item--not the main course.

I'd say QB first, D-line and LBs 2nd, Secondary 3rd.

O-line probably fourth.
 
Absolutely incredible that one can watch Carolina play,with no accomplished WRs for Cam to throw to and watch them dominate the LOS by running the ball and then gather from that,that the run game is a side item.

Run the ball and stop the other guy from running the ball. Make them one dimensional,pin your ears back and hit the QB....

Still works in today's game.
 
Diesel, Carolina's top RB yesterday had 83 yards and 0 TDs.

The team scored 49 points.

No, that's not the way to go anymore.
 
McD5 said:
If people look objectively, which I know they won't, a few things were clear from studying the 4 teams yesterday.

1. Defense is the direction to go. Just load the defense all over the place. Scot's already aware of this.
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Nobody is gonna argue this one. We all want the joys of a loaded defense. The mantra for decades has been "defense wins championships". Still applies.
2. O-lines are important, but insanely overrated. Both New England and Denver have two of the worst O-lines in the league. Seattle too, although they exited earlier. Dallas' O-line won them last place in the division. Ours is already better than most.
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New England and Denver's Olines were middle of the back, not two of the worst. At least looking objectively, at what they have done stats wise. Seattle showed how much they needed a better Oline by getting wrecked last weekend.
3. The days of offenses centered around a running game ended 10 years ago. In fact, having a RB like AD or Gurley can even hurt your team. Giving them the ball so many times limits your ability to score points and screws your offense.
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Centered around it? Yeah, that ship sailed long ago, but balance is still highly important, which is why Carolina had significantly more rushes than passes attempted. Even the Donkeys were pretty close to 50/50. That is generally what happens with teams that win, as it allows your defense to rest, making number one easier to accomplish.
4. Top names at the WR position are also unnecessary. Julio Jones, Dez, Amari Cooper, Sammy Watkins? They'll be doing the same thing we are all doing for the SB--sitting on the couch.
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Yet another top reciever, or 2, named Demariyus Thomas(who was signed to quite a large deal this offseason) and Emmanuel Sanders. This point just doesn't hold water with the current data, and varies year to year. I'm not going to say one is required, but you conveniently created your list to exclude those two.

Scot's on the right path. I suspect he'll just load thumpers all over the defense as he did in San Fran and Seattle.
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We'll surely find out this one during the draft. I know we're all pretty confident in him at this point though.
 
McD5 said:
Diesel, Carolina's top RB yesterday had 83 yards and 0 TDs.

The team scored 49 points.

No, that's not the way to go anymore.
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They ran the ball 37 times rushing for 152 and rushed for three tds.

They attempted 28 passes.

Balance. They have it.

Hopefully Scotty fixes our lines and then we have it...so we can get down to the business of doing meaningful things. :)
 
Good post Shi, but I'd disagree on two things:

1. Those O-lines mentioned were awful. Not that the Patriots even care. They can lose their starting LT in the middle of the season and they still go to the playoffs. If you dig deeper, you'll see that those teams mentioned often start guys off the street on their O-lines.

2. The WRs. Great WRs don't equal SB appearances. Just go down the list. From ODB to Calvin Johnson or Deandre Hopkins, as a whole, their teams usually blow.

And finally, what is the worst thing a team can possibly do in the draft, aside from taking a punter or kicker in the first round? Taking a RB in the first round.

Look at the Rams. Now they are really screwed. They just wasted a 1st on Gurley. That means they'll suck for the next five years.

Why? Because like Minny with AD, or Chicago with Forte, Kansas City with Charles...etc......they are now going to feel like they have to give Gurley the ball 25x a game.

That will kill that team. They won't score any points.
 
But I don't think anyone here wants us to take a RB with the first round pick in April.

(nor are any here sorry if the Rams did indeed screw themselves)

But asking for protection for your QB and a RB who can run well should not be too low on your list.

Again, if the Pats had Adrian Peterson on their team, Belichick uses him. And they probably win yesterday to boot.
 
DieselPwr44 said:
They ran the ball 37 times rushing for 152 and rushed for three tds.

They attempted 28 passes.

Balance. They have it.

Hopefully Scotty fixes our lines and then we have it...so we can get down to the business of doing meaningful things. :)
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I think you are taking that out of context. You mean Cam ran/scrambled successfully. Not the RBs.

I couldn't imagine anything worse than being a fan of "a running team" where one guy just carries the rock all season. Take a look at this year's rushing leaders.

AD.....basically a 10 year wasted career.
Doug Martin....how did his great running game help the Bucs?
Todd Gurley....they are screwed for five years mainly because they drafted him.
Run DMC......last in their division.

Could you imagine having been a fan of the Vikings for the last ten years? Knowing the AD wasn't ever going to take you anywhere?

How about a Chiefs fan, watching J Charles waste his career, and ten years of your life?

The Bears and Forte?

Atlanta with Steven Jackson?

Now teams go to the SB with lesser-named RBs and a focus on the passing game and defense.
 
MikeSr619 said:
Doug Baldwin and Gronk are both damn good WRs. Even if he is a TE he is used as a WR.
Demarius Thomas is a damn good WR
Anquan Boldin is a damn good WR
we can go all the way back to when the Steelers played the Cardinals in the SB and Fitz was on that team. Great WRs DO in fact equal super bowl appearances as much as any other player does.
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TEs are becoming as important as WRs.

Thomas and Sanders are both great WRs. Prior to yesterday's game, Manning had thrown only 1 TD all season at home. That's insane!

Denver isn't in the SB because their WRs caught a combined 1 TD pass at home all season. They're in the SB because of that defense.
 
MikeSr619 said:
In the past 10 years a WR has gotten MVP 3 times. that is 1/3 of the time.

quarterbacks have gotten it 27 times
running backs have gotten it 7 times
wide receivers have gotten it 6 times

Marshawn Lynch has proven that a RB helps propel a team to the SB his entire time in Seattle.
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Marshawn is incredible. He might be the only RB in the last 15 years that actually carried a large part of a team to the SB.

On the other hand, that defense carried a large part of that team to the SB. It's hard to say it was Marshawn.

Since Marshawn was drafted, another 200 RBs have also been drafted. Not exactly great odds for a team to try.
 
McD5 said:
Marshawn is incredible. He might be the only RB in the last 15 years that actually carried a large part of a team to the SB.

On the other hand, that defense carried a large part of that team to the SB. It's hard to say it was Marshawn.

Since Marshawn was drafted, another 200 RBs have also been drafted. Not exactly great odds for a team to try.
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Frank Gore in 2013 was just important to the Niners and their playoff success.

Ray Rice was pretty important to the Ravens Super Bowl run in 2012.

That's four of the past six Super Bowl participants. And two of the past three winners.

In fact, FIVE of the past six Super Bowl participants had a 1000-yard back. The sixth team had Tom Brady.

This year, the Panthers have the #2 rushing attack in the NFL. Yes, a lot of that is Newton, but more of it is Stewart, who rushed for 989 yards in 13 games.

So that would be six of the past eight Super Bowl teams sporting a feature RB. The evidence does not support the idea that feature backs are being phased out of the game.
 
I really cannot believe we are having this argument again. I really can't.

So...in one breath it's the DL that is most important, but the OL doesn't have to be. Well...wouldn't logic dictate that neutralizing a great DL with a great OL would be the logical solution?
 
It's real simple...great teams are capable of running the ball late in the game to eliminate the threat of the opposing team making a comeback.
 
McD5 said:
1. Those O-lines mentioned were awful. Not that the Patriots even care. They can lose their starting LT in the middle of the season and they still go to the playoffs. If you dig deeper, you'll see that those teams mentioned often start guys off the street on their O-lines.
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The Patriots having to start guys off the street on their O-line was their downfall. Their Oline restructuring and injury woes caused Brady to get hit more than any QB in the past decade. I believe they actually made the case for what happens when your O line is NOT up to par.
 
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