innocentbystander {l Wrote}:eepstein0 {l Wrote}:Think they’ll score plenty of points, but the defense remains problematic.
A good offense is the best defense. The offense needs to stay on the field for as much time as possible (the do that the defense will be fine) and they need to cut down on the penalties. Problem is, staying on the field with what appears to me a pure passing offense this year, I don't know how Cignetti will pull that rabbit out of the hat.
We saw last year how they'll approach this season. As they bring in talent, we'll see in a couple of years how they really want to play long-term. For now the defense is fairly weak overall, but significantly stronger in the secondary. Like last year, playing five DBs (or 4 plus a hybrid) will invite teams to run. So we want to figure out how to get offenses to target the secondary rather than run over us.
The way to complement this defense best won't be for the offense to stay on the field a ton of time, but rather to score quickly and put the opposition in a hole. They'll look a lot like the old Air Coryell Chargers. They'll throw a ton to jump ahead, and hope a defense knowing the opponent will pass can hold up enough to win.
They'll run effectively on a YPC basis, but only as a change of pace. Unlike say Coughlin's 1993 BC team, I don't think they're talented enough yet to be strong both running and throwing. So I think they'll focus on the passing game to make it as dynamic as possible, and to build good habits to reduce turnovers there. Given that focus, even with this offensive line they're limited in how much they can develop the running game. Hence a limited set of reliable running plays that a stable of essentially third-down backs can run to complement well a passing offense. Draws, counters, jet sweeps, RPOs, etc.
They'll keep throwing throughout the game, albeit perhaps a little more conservatively if they're trying to drain the clock. By jumping ahead, they'll speed up the game for the opponent and push them towards throwing to keep up. That funnels the opposing offense to target the secondary, which again is our relative strength on defense. Meanwhile our DL and LBs focus on the pass and adjust to the run. Doing so will improve the pass rush, again helping the secondary cover.
You'll recall Air Coryell's Chargers were quite successful with this approach. It burned out in the playoffs as they faced really good teams, but it maximized their talent's impact and gave them the best chance to win. They were better-positioned to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes as the other team would lose chances to outscore them. They always had the ability to come back if they did fall behind, to win a shootout. They had a puncher's chance against anyone. And if it hadn't been -10 degrees one Sunday in Cincinnati, they might even have won a Super Bowl.
This is not as reliable a way to play year-to-year or even game-to-game as say the Coughlin approach was. But until the Hafley recruits fully make their way through the roster, this gives the best chance to win this year. Next year will be quite the rebuilding year with so many leaving on offense (including Jurkovec presumably), but they can rebound to contend for the ACC again probably in 2023 or (more likely) 2024.
Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 4:06 pm