Official 'It got blowed up what next?' Thread

[Chris]

Mostly due to less offensive snaps but I get your point. Houston did run marginally more though by percentage.

 

[Bulldog]

This was my first extended look at Johnson and the Lions offense in a winner take all game.

The Lions offense is well coached, they don't take many penalties and the coaches are able to integrate rookies like LaPorta and Gibbs and have them perform like veterans in a big game.

The Lions have a good offensive line and they ran multiple blocking schemes to keep Aaron Donald off balance and prevent him from impacting the outcome of the game.

The resurrection of Goff is impressive as well. He credits Campbell and Johnson with restoring his self-confidence after he felt the Rams organization basically blamed him for losing the Super Bowl to the last of the great Belichick/Brady teams in 2018.

It's one thing to draft a quarterback and have him come in and hit the ground running (which is rare), but it's also rare for a guy like Goff to come that far forward from where he was 2 and a half years ago.

If the Lions had a credible defensive backfield the score would not have been this close.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

How our prospects did:

Harbaugh: Won College National Championship
Johnson: Won playoff game 1 against Rams
Slowik: Annihilated Browns playoff game 1
Quinn: Lost to Greenbay at home. Slaughtered.
Vrabel: Fired and sitting at home.
Belichik: Fired and sitting at home.

I don't think Belichik is a prospect. I also think it's possible Jerrah is sending a plane full of gold bars to wherever Bill is to get him to come to Dallas.

I'll add a few we've requested interviews with:
Mike Macdonald: DC Ravens - Having a beer with Anthony Weaver, laughing at Mike McCarthy, and preparing to host a playoff game while on a bye.
Anthony Weaver: Assistant HC and DL coach, Ravens - Having a beer with Mike Macdonald, laughing at Mike McCarthy and preparing to host a playoff game while on a bye.
Raheem Morris: DC, Rams - Did a pretty good job in the second half but his Rams lost to the Lions. FWIW, I like Morris a lot and think he should get a second shot somewhere. I'd love to see him in Atlanta, if they could figure out QB (Kirk?) he could do really well. Btw, Morris was on that EPIC 2013 Shanahan staff that went 3-13 with Kyle, LaFluehr, McVay, yadda yadda yadda. (So was Slowik, for that matter.)
Aaron Glenn: DC Lions - Won a playoff game and REALLY hang in there with McVay and the Ram's offense, particularly in the second half. That was impressive.

 

[Bulldog]

Belichick is not going to 'interview' in the sense others will.

He is sitting at home or playing golf in Florida and waiting for an owner to call so they can discuss dollars and a contract.

If Belichick actually gets on a plane it will be because he is going to sign a contract and be introduced as the new Head Coach.

Dallas seems to be the perfect landing spot for Bill.

The weaknesses Dallas has on defense are all things Bill can correct.

If McClay stays in his job Bill will get good front office support to improve several positions of need.

You would also expect some players that have talent but are not disciplined performers like DeMarcus Lawrence who take needless penalties game after game may be released.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

This was my first extended look at Johnson and the Lions offense in a winner take all game.

The Lions offense is well coached, they don't take many penalties and the coaches are able to integrate rookies like LaPorta and Gibbs and have them perform like veterans in a big game.

The Lions have a good offensive line and they ran multiple blocking schemes to keep Aaron Donald off balance and prevent him from impacting the outcome of the game.

The resurrection of Goff is impressive as well. He credits Campbell and Johnson with restoring his self-confidence after he felt the Rams organization basically blamed him for losing the Super Bowl to the last of the great Belichick/Brady teams in 2018.

It's one thing to draft a quarterback and have him come in and hit the ground running (which is rare), but it's also rare for a guy like Goff to come that far forward from where he was 2 and a half years ago.

If the Lions had a credible defensive backfield the score would not have been this close.

The offense was really good in the first half. But got bogged down in the second half. My criticism of the Lions offense for the games I've watched this year (about 4 in total) has been there are times when Ben Johnson just goes into a "run run run run" mode, and if they don't get 4-ish yards per carry, it's a problem, and they bog down and punt a lot.

They didn't run the ball particularly well yesterday, and part of that is the Rams knew they were going to run the ball and it was clearly a key to stop them. Overall they were 25 for 79, a 3.2 average. Not great overall.

They had a stretch in the second half with 3 drives where they went FG (9 plays), punt (4 plays), punt (3 plays). In those drives, they had
- Drive 1: 3 rushes, -1 yards total.
- Drive 2: 2 rushes for 4 yards total
- Drive 3: 1 for 6 yards on second down. Incomplete pass on first and third downs.

That's 6 attempts for 9 yards over 3 drives. It put them in known passing situations a bunch, and Goff took 2 sacks over those three drives as well.

I don't know what the solution is, but this has been what I've witnessed in all the games I've watched, and granted, they've played good teams in all of them: they go into an offensive lull at some point where they try to run the ball, can't, and then can't get out in front of the sticks. And keep at it for 2-3 drives before adjusting.

It's REALLY hard to find a statistic to support this, because over the course of the game, it tends to even out. And they are generally a very efficient and explosive offense.

It's just when they're playing good teams, this trend seems to pop up. They rely on the run game to keep them in manageable down and distance as much as any team. If it's stopped, they struggle.

I think I'd like to see a little more quick game from them to offset the run game a bit, so there are a couple of different ways to stay on schedule.

But what do I know.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Belichick is not going to 'interview' in the sense others will.

He is sitting at home or playing golf in Florida and waiting for an owner to call so they can discuss dollars and a contract.

If Belichick actually gets on a plane it will be because he is going to sign a contract and be introduced as the new Head Coach.

Dallas seems to be the perfect landing spot for Bill.

The weaknesses Dallas has on defense are all things Bill can correct.

If McClay stays in his job Bill will get good front office support to improve several positions of need.

You would also expect some players that have talent but are not disciplined performers like DeMarcus Lawrence who take needless penalties game after game may be released.

The question for Bill, (this should be sung): "What do you do with a problem like Dak Preeeeeeescotttt?" (Sing it, I swear, it works.)

Can Bill "Fix" Dak? Who really only needs fixing in the playoffs? Do they trade Dak, look for another QB? Kirk? Somebody else?

 

[Bulldog]

I think part of that was the plan to limit Aaron Donald and Cobi Turner and prevent them from forcing turnovers and sacks in the passing game.

It made Detroit a bit more conservative. I think you would see a different scheme against the Buccaneers or Eagles next week.

The Rams defensive front 7 is legitimate.

 

[Bulldog]

Dallas is stuck with Dak as his dead cap hit from an outright release would be huge.

My guess is Belichick would have Dak throw the ball LESS and run the ball more as well as target Ferguson, Lamb and Gallup on shorter routes more frequently.

Dak is not a guy that can win a championship throwing it 45-50 times like Mahomes, he's just not that guy.

But if he uses play action and Dallas keeps third downs to manageable distances I think it will cut down on mistakes.

That intermediate out is one where Dak consistently fails to push the ball far enough when pressured, so perhaps its one Bill takes out of the playbook.

One of the elements that has helped Jared Goff in Detroit is the use of play action off the run.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I think part of that was the plan to limit Aaron Donald and Cobi Turner and prevent them from forcing turnovers and sacks in the passing game.

It made Detroit a bit more conservative. I think you would see a different scheme against the Buccaneers or Eagles next week.

The Rams defensive front 7 is legitimate.

Maybe, but I saw the same thing against the Chiefs and Dallas.

Your point might still hold, both of those teams have the legit DLs and front 7's. So does Philly, but they're a mess, so who knows. The Bucs, I'll admit to not being overly familiar with.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Dallas is stuck with Dak as his dead cap hit from an outright release would be huge.

Yeah, you're right about that. They're stuck. They might be able to trade him post June 1, but that would spread the pain out over 2 years.

I don't think he's bad at all. I think he presses when he gets nervous. There is a ton of pressure on him. He's shouldering the entirety of pressure from the Dallas fans for the last 30 years of underperforming in the playoffs. It's not really fair to him, but it is what it is.

 

[Bulldog]

Kansas City finished #2 in the NFL in sacks with 57, just behind Baltimore. Chris Jones is one of the best players in the league.

We can criticize Detroit's approach but it appears the goal is to limit turnovers first and then take advantage of scheme to get a one on one for St. Brown or Reynolds down the field and then work LaPorta in the red zone.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Kansas City finished #2 in the NFL in sacks with 57, just behind Baltimore. Chris Jones is one of the best players in the league.

We can criticize Detroit's approach but it appears the goal is to limit turnovers first and then take advantage of scheme to get a one on one for St. Brown or Reynolds down the field and then work LaPorta in the red zone.

I'm not so much criticizing as identifying. It's a trend. We'll see if it continues.

I'm not sure what you do differently. And they won. So, there's that. When they needed a couple first downs at the end of the game to ice it, they got them. And that is impressive.

 

[Bulldog]

The team that beats Detroit will be able to limit chunk plays to St. Brown and LaPorta.

The Rams secondary was not able to do that and so they were always playing from behind in the game.

That last drive everyone knew a pass to make the key first down was going to St. Brown but the Rams still couldn't stop it.

Also, it seems Johnson has Goff make certain throws and stay away from others. The scheme is tailored to him while in Dallas you get the feeling that McCarthy was putting too much on Dak throwing the ball, and not recognizing that certain throws should be taken out of the playbook as first reads because Dak floats the ball on them and they end up as picks.

 

[Primus Porcus]

SilentThreat, blaming Peters for the pick of Lance is again like blaming Kyle Smith for the drafting of Dwayne Haskins.

where did I do that?

 

[Bulldog]

No, you didn't. I was expressing the view that anyone putting a Trey Lance caution button on Peters should consider the circumstances that Kyle Smith, the director of player personnel, found himself in for the 2019 draft when Snyder told the officials to make the Haskins pick, period end of discussion.

Because Smith was allowed to move on we learned through leaks what actually happened during the draft.

The 49ers organization isn't as much of a leaky boat so I don't think we have the full story on the thinking behind moving up and selecting Lance.

But the chances the Assistant GM with Shanahan and Lynch in the room was the driving force behind all it to me seems doubtful.

I think it was a Shanahan inspired selection and it backfired on him.

What I remember of that draft was how FEW games Lance started in college and what level program he was playing in.

I wondered how this guy could be one of the best prospects in recent years and be worth all of that trade compensation.