Game planning against our offense

[richzre]

I was thinking about how teams will play us defensively this year. Going into the season the perception is that we will have a strong running game and teams will game plan us by stacking 8 men in the box trying to stop Julius and co. tempting us to beat them with the pass. The question is...can we do that with Drew Bledsoe and this recieving corp? I'm hopeful but not confident. If our receivers don't get open, Bledsoe will start holding on to the football too long, get sacked and possibly fumbling. This could be the downfall of this offense. In a perfect world, Bledsoe will make Witten his favorite target, Keyshawn and Glenn will stay healthy producing enough of a threat to free up Julius. The key is a balanced offense with plenty of play action. I'm excited about the possiblities of the upcoming season, more so than in years past.

 

[Alexander]

I was thinking about how teams will play us defensively this year. Going into the season the perception is that we will have a strong running game and teams will game plan us by stacking 8 men in the box trying to stop Julius and co. tempting us to beat them with the pass. The question is...can we do that with Drew Bledsoe and this recieving corp? I'm hopeful but not confident. If our receivers don't get open, Bledsoe will start holding on to the football too long, get sacked and possibly fumbling. This could be the downfall of this offense. In a perfect world, Bledsoe will make Witten his favorite target, Keyshawn and Glenn will stay healthy producing enough of a threat to free up Julius. The key is a balanced offense with plenty of play action. I'm excited about the possiblities of the upcoming season, more so than in years past.

Blitz, blitz and more blitz. Both against the run and pass.

Make us make big plays. Jones will have to be elusive and hit on the draws. Johnson and Glenn will have to beat single coverage.

All anyone needs to do is watch tapes of our 2003 offense. Forget about 2004. We won't be airing it out like that.

 

[Eddie]

That's an easy one. Apply pressure. Bledsoe will crumple.

 

[Nors]

Apply the correct pressure on Bledsoe and drop your LB's and flood the flats.
Bellicheck has Bledsoe's number. Blitz and pressure up the middle. Collapse the pocket in front of Drew.

Allen, Johnson, Rivera are the keys to Drews season - JMO
JJ can hurt a team with his speed and we have Key, Glenn, Witten as outlets as well!

 

[burmafrd]

CONSIDERING THE NUMBER OF SACKS HE HAS TAKEN, no one can say Bledsoe crumbles. The ones that crumble throw a lot more INT's and more into the stands.
If Bledsoe can count on a good 4 seconds minimal protection, he will hurt you. Key, Glenn, Witten can all hurt you. Glenn can beat you deep, Key and Witten can move the chains. I think that teams will start out stacking against the run, making Bledsoe have to make plays to beat them. Against SD we will learn quickly how good the O line is, and how fast Bledsoe can check off or find a receiver. IF he can make plays, then the D cannot stack against run and JJ will eat them up. IF JJ has the season many think he will have, D's will tend to pay more attention to the run every game. Now if BLedsoe gets a hot hand and scorches a couple of teams, that might change some.
At our best, we could rival KC in points scored. Its up to our D to make whatever points we score stand up. Of course if you are scoring 24-27 points a game that is a whole lot easier then when you are scoring 14-17 per game.

 

[Alexander]

At our best, we could rival KC in points scored.

And at his best Bledsoe could be Payton Manning.

And at his best Julius could be Priest Holmes.

 

[Zaxor]

That's an easy one. Apply pressure. Bledsoe will crumple.

Agreed

we will see lots of up the middle blitzes with the De's in read and react mode than attack mode

 

[LaTunaNostra]

Allen, Johnson, Rivera are the keys to Drews season - JMO

Agreed, Nors.

Or Peterman....

and Gurode.

 

[Hoov]

Agreed

we will see lots of up the middle blitzes with the De's in read and react mode than attack mode

Yo dude, nice sig pic's, what's it say on that dudes bandana....blank and still tripping?

 

[Zaxor]

Yo dude, nice sig pic's, what's it say on that dudes bandana....blank and still tripping?

Thanks... I miss my Make love not war breathern...

bandana says 22 years and still tripping

 

[Idgit]

If the receivers consistently can't get open, *and* there's pressure up the middle, how, again, is this Bledsoe's fault?

 

[Chocolate Lab]

There's going to be a lot of press coverage on our receivers. I can't remember which game it was late in the season, but some team did this almost all game to our WRs and they couldn't get off the line. That's where lacking speed and (more importantly) quickness in our receiving corps really hurts us.

 

[Doomsday101]

Blitz, blitz and more blitz. Both against the run and pass.

Make us make big plays. Jones will have to be elusive and hit on the draws. Johnson and Glenn will have to beat single coverage.

All anyone needs to do is watch tapes of our 2003 offense. Forget about 2004. We won't be airing it out like that.

I hope teams do blitz us. I think some improvments in our front line is going to be a big help and I like the ideal of having 1 on 1 coverage with our WR and TE

 

[Zaxor]

If the receivers consistently can't get open, *and* there's pressure up the middle, how, again, is this Bledsoe's fault?

sometimes the QB has got to be able to buy a little time by sidestepping a rush...it ain't gonna happen with "the post"

does that answer your question?

 

[Zaxor]

There's going to be a lot of press coverage on our receivers. I can't remember which game it was late in the season, but some team did this almost all game to our WRs and they couldn't get off the line. That's where lacking speed and (more importantly) quickness in our receiving corps really hurts us.

I did not even notice that might have to break out the tapes and watch...

if that is true...that is bad news

 

[kartr]

Agreed

we will see lots of up the middle blitzes with the De's in read and react mode than attack mode

Agree also. Look at Bledsoe's numbers against the Pats and Steelers and Jets last year. Not even as good as Q's numbers in 2003. Bledsoe had the number 2 defense,Magahee, a healthy Moulds,Josh Reed and Lee Evans and still couldn't get it done.

 

[Zaxor]

Agree also. Look at Bledsoe's numbers against the Pats and Steelers and Jets last year. Not even as good as Q's numbers in 2003. Bledsoe had the number 2 defense,Magahee, a healthy Moulds,Josh Reed and Lee Evans and still couldn't get it done.

I have my doubts about Bledsoe in fact I have a whole list of concerns about him..

but I truly hope he puts them all to rest...but I wouldn't bet my money on it

 

[Idgit]

sometimes the QB has got to be able to buy a little time by sidestepping a rush...it ain't gonna happen with "the post"

does that answer your question?

I guess, technically, it is an answer to the question. But I think you're wrong. Bledsoe is capable of sidestepping the occassional rush. He might not be able to buy 14 secs in the pocket, but he can sidestep a rush.

The idea is to have a team around him that will give him at least one open receiver and time to get the ball to him. Bledsoe's job shouldn't be anything more than recognizing and executing in those situations.

Now, can he do that well enough to win a few playoff games? Who knows. But if the offense stalls this year b/c we can't pick up the blitz or get separation in our routes, that doesn't go on the QB.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The way teams stopped Bledsoe in '02 after his terrific start was by taking away the deep routes and making him move methodically down the field which is something he hates to do.

 

[playit12]

I have my own idea on how to beat our offense so I'll throw it out here.

Overload the rush on one side and slide over your defenders. If it were me I'd come from the strong side when Witten is in and from the weak when it's Campbell or two TE sets.

Bledsoe does not avoid the rush well and our line is better at run blocking then pass blocking. Additionally, JJ is still untested at picking up the blitz along with being slightly undersized in that regards.

Really there is only a few weaknesses to this gameplan.

First a fast reciever can easially get behind his coverage on the same side as the rush. (However Bledsoe has to step into the rush and the Line on that side has to buy that much more time) I don't think we have the speed at WR or the RT to pull that off.

Second, a good slot reciever can slip behind the rush to the sidelines and have quite a bit of open field. Again, we are weak at depth behind our starting two recievers and they won't be lining up along the line much.

Third the RB could slide behind the rush and catch the ball on the short pass.. However Bledsoe is not as strong with quick under passes, and JJ is still untested as a reciever.

Finally a mobile QB could avoid the rush leaving half the field weakly covered. Bledsoe is not that mobile however.


Until the cowboys beat me at it... this is how I would attack the field.