dogfish
09-29-2007, 03:54 AM
JMHO, but i see only one way we win this game-- grab an early lead, dictate tempo and control the clock. . . quite simply, indy is the better team right now, and we have to execute at a high level if we hope to pull the upset-- the mental mistakes, missed tackles and cheap turnovers we had against jacksonville will get us blown out if they happen this week. . .
i'm really hoping we win the coin toss and get a chance to put our offense on the field first-- over the years indy has been very good at putting up TDs on their first possesion, which puts their opponent behind the eight ball early as they can drop into the cover-2 and let their pass-rushers pin back their ears-- it also helps to make the other team one-dimensional and protect their often-shaky run defense. . . it tends to get that little dome roaring, and it's been speculated for years that they also pump in extra "crowd noise" through the stadium speakers when the opposing offense is on the field-- i hope we don't have to burn freakin' timeouts because of problems with the helmet communications system again this week. . . :frusty:
i think we need to play with controlled aggression on both sides of the ball, and it starts with the play calling. . . although indy runs a cover-2 base defense, i'm not so sure they'll start out in it against a traditionally run-heavy team like denver-- they like to let their DLs concentrate on getting upfield to rush the passer and play the run second, and safety bob sanders spends a lot of time in the box supporting the run. . . sanders is an elite player in that regard despite his size-- the way he uses his body like a missile has contributed to his inability to stay healthy-- but his penchant to be very nosy in run support can potentially be taken advantage of by the deep ball. . . if sanders is playing close to the line i'd love to see us take a few shots deep early on-- risky, but i just don't think we're likely to keep up with them if we can't generate a few big plays on offense. . . when the safeties are deep, sanders likes to peek into the backfield, and can sometimes be moved with pump fakes-- the other S, antoine bethea, doesn't have sanders' big rep, but he may the sounder of the two in his coverage reads and angles. . .
people (including myself) said it was risky to let both their starting corners go, but it's already proven to be a good move. . . they had former high round draft picks marlin jackson and kelvin hayden waiting to take over, and they look to be upgrades. . . both are big, physical corners with good instincts for zone coverage and solid tackling skills-- in other words, prototypical cover-2 corners. . . hayden is listed as questionable with a quad injury, but i'm sure he'll play. . . their nickel is another former high rounder, tim jennings-- he's more of a traditional nickel, smaller and quicker, and if hayden happens to miss the game we'll have a mismatch there. . . at least our receivers have the size and toughness to match up well on the outside. . . javon walker is also listed as questionable, though he himself said that he intends to play-- we'll have to keep our fingers crossed, because his veteran savvy and precise route-running would be our best weapon to attack deep. . . walker has contagious energy that can ignite our offense-- every game that he's made big plays in since he's been here, we've won. . . if he's out there we need to get him involved early. . .
don't think that calling for the deep ball early means that i want to see a pass-heavy offense, though-- quite the contrary, i think we'll all agree that we need to pound the ball and play physical, and use travis henry to control the clock and hopefully keep manning on the sidelines-- if we can keep the score close going into the half we should have a good chance to use travis as the hammer late in the game. . . although their DBs are physical in run defense, their smallish front seven can be worn down if they have to stay on the field for extended periods. . . converted DE raheem brock is a finesse penetrator who can be blown off the ball when he can't win battles by using his quickness to get under the OL's pads. . . UDFA ed johnson has played surprisingly well in place of NT booger macfarland, but the master technician nalen may have a few tricks he hasn't seen yet. . . their DEs can occasionally disrupt running plays by shooting gaps with their speed, but otherwise are ineffectual in the running game. . . i doubt their DLs can consistently prevent our OLs from getting to the second level and creating trash. . .
LB rob morris is their best run-stopper, and the rush D really improved last year in the playoffs when they moved him to SAM. . . freddy keiaho replaced cato june at WILL, and gary brackett is their MIKE-- both are undersized but fast, and flow to the ball extremely well. . . their D isn't particularly tough up the middle without the eighth man in the box, and if we can hit a big play early and keep those safeties back we should be able to run successfully up the middle with the tight zone and some basic smashes and dives, maybe a few inside handoffs to the fullback (mike bell is out with a concussion, but cecil's physical running style is well-suited to attack their defense). . .
one thing they've been EXTREMELY vulnerable to over the years is the draw play, because of the way their DLs get upfield-- selvin young could pop a few nice runs if we use it, and i wouldn't hesitate to try it out of the shotgun on 2nd-and-long, even 3rd-and-medium when we're backed up in our own end. . . i've seen plenty of teams convert long 1st downs against them that way. . .
we should also try to slow down the pursuit with a few misdirection plays-- i'm not sure i'd want to put javon in any extra harm's way at this point, but that kid marshall is pretty okay with the ball in his hands. . . :D a few counters would be a good idea as well-- i've pretty much given up asking for the bootleg, we obviously don't plan on using it much any more. . . :noidea: we've used more screens under dinger, and those are another way to take advantage of the D-line's aggression. . .
people have been complaining about our pass protection, but for the most part i personally think it's unfounded-- yes, we've had some pressure, but you're going to have that in the NFL. . . i sometimes think people expect our pass pro to look like what roethlisberger got against us in the AFCCG two years ago, but IMO that's unrealistic. . . cutler hasn't taken an unreasonable number of hits, and has generally had enough time to find his guy-- sure he has to step and slide in the pocket sometimes, but so does every other QB. . . one thing i noticed when i re-watched the JAX game was that we threw a good number of screens, which makes it look like he's under an intense rush and is forced to dump it off, but that's actually how the play is designed-- your OLs are supposed to entice the DLs upfield so the ball can be thrown in the space they've vacated. . . on over fifty percent of the plays where the protection "broke down" quickly, i'm almost positive they were called screens. . . we did have a few break downs in blitz pickup, but it's inevitable-- sometimes the D wins, too. . . for the most part cutler has done a nice job identifying them and finding his hot receiver. . .
that said, indy's pass rush certainly presents a tough challenge. . . their DTs are all quick, and freeney and mathis can scream off the edge. . . lepsis has stoned freeney in the past, but with his groin injury not looking to be entirely healed he may have some problems with freeney's electric first step if he can't kick out properly. . . both of our tackles are probably going to need plenty of help from graham and the RBs, especially if we do decide to look down the field. . . obviously maintaining manageable down-and-distance situations will relieve a good bit of that pressure. . .
in the short passing game, i'm sure we'll attack the cover-2 with the typical drags and crossing routes. . . stokley is familiar with their corners, and that should play to his advantage-- look for a few more big 3rd down conversions from him. . . our TEs have done very little in the passing game other than nate jackson' short TD against the jags, and it would be nice to get some more production from that group. . .
in summary, i'll come back to the phrase "controlled aggression". . . we obviously have to win the time of possesion battle and use a ball-control offense to take some pressure off the D, but we also have to put up some points this week-- we're not going to beat indy with a score in the mid-teens! even if we emphasize the run, cutler will have to make a few plays for us. . . if he sees some opportunities he's going to have to take them, because playing turnover free football won't be enough if we can't get the offense into a higher gear than it's been in so far. . .
i'm really hoping we win the coin toss and get a chance to put our offense on the field first-- over the years indy has been very good at putting up TDs on their first possesion, which puts their opponent behind the eight ball early as they can drop into the cover-2 and let their pass-rushers pin back their ears-- it also helps to make the other team one-dimensional and protect their often-shaky run defense. . . it tends to get that little dome roaring, and it's been speculated for years that they also pump in extra "crowd noise" through the stadium speakers when the opposing offense is on the field-- i hope we don't have to burn freakin' timeouts because of problems with the helmet communications system again this week. . . :frusty:
i think we need to play with controlled aggression on both sides of the ball, and it starts with the play calling. . . although indy runs a cover-2 base defense, i'm not so sure they'll start out in it against a traditionally run-heavy team like denver-- they like to let their DLs concentrate on getting upfield to rush the passer and play the run second, and safety bob sanders spends a lot of time in the box supporting the run. . . sanders is an elite player in that regard despite his size-- the way he uses his body like a missile has contributed to his inability to stay healthy-- but his penchant to be very nosy in run support can potentially be taken advantage of by the deep ball. . . if sanders is playing close to the line i'd love to see us take a few shots deep early on-- risky, but i just don't think we're likely to keep up with them if we can't generate a few big plays on offense. . . when the safeties are deep, sanders likes to peek into the backfield, and can sometimes be moved with pump fakes-- the other S, antoine bethea, doesn't have sanders' big rep, but he may the sounder of the two in his coverage reads and angles. . .
people (including myself) said it was risky to let both their starting corners go, but it's already proven to be a good move. . . they had former high round draft picks marlin jackson and kelvin hayden waiting to take over, and they look to be upgrades. . . both are big, physical corners with good instincts for zone coverage and solid tackling skills-- in other words, prototypical cover-2 corners. . . hayden is listed as questionable with a quad injury, but i'm sure he'll play. . . their nickel is another former high rounder, tim jennings-- he's more of a traditional nickel, smaller and quicker, and if hayden happens to miss the game we'll have a mismatch there. . . at least our receivers have the size and toughness to match up well on the outside. . . javon walker is also listed as questionable, though he himself said that he intends to play-- we'll have to keep our fingers crossed, because his veteran savvy and precise route-running would be our best weapon to attack deep. . . walker has contagious energy that can ignite our offense-- every game that he's made big plays in since he's been here, we've won. . . if he's out there we need to get him involved early. . .
don't think that calling for the deep ball early means that i want to see a pass-heavy offense, though-- quite the contrary, i think we'll all agree that we need to pound the ball and play physical, and use travis henry to control the clock and hopefully keep manning on the sidelines-- if we can keep the score close going into the half we should have a good chance to use travis as the hammer late in the game. . . although their DBs are physical in run defense, their smallish front seven can be worn down if they have to stay on the field for extended periods. . . converted DE raheem brock is a finesse penetrator who can be blown off the ball when he can't win battles by using his quickness to get under the OL's pads. . . UDFA ed johnson has played surprisingly well in place of NT booger macfarland, but the master technician nalen may have a few tricks he hasn't seen yet. . . their DEs can occasionally disrupt running plays by shooting gaps with their speed, but otherwise are ineffectual in the running game. . . i doubt their DLs can consistently prevent our OLs from getting to the second level and creating trash. . .
LB rob morris is their best run-stopper, and the rush D really improved last year in the playoffs when they moved him to SAM. . . freddy keiaho replaced cato june at WILL, and gary brackett is their MIKE-- both are undersized but fast, and flow to the ball extremely well. . . their D isn't particularly tough up the middle without the eighth man in the box, and if we can hit a big play early and keep those safeties back we should be able to run successfully up the middle with the tight zone and some basic smashes and dives, maybe a few inside handoffs to the fullback (mike bell is out with a concussion, but cecil's physical running style is well-suited to attack their defense). . .
one thing they've been EXTREMELY vulnerable to over the years is the draw play, because of the way their DLs get upfield-- selvin young could pop a few nice runs if we use it, and i wouldn't hesitate to try it out of the shotgun on 2nd-and-long, even 3rd-and-medium when we're backed up in our own end. . . i've seen plenty of teams convert long 1st downs against them that way. . .
we should also try to slow down the pursuit with a few misdirection plays-- i'm not sure i'd want to put javon in any extra harm's way at this point, but that kid marshall is pretty okay with the ball in his hands. . . :D a few counters would be a good idea as well-- i've pretty much given up asking for the bootleg, we obviously don't plan on using it much any more. . . :noidea: we've used more screens under dinger, and those are another way to take advantage of the D-line's aggression. . .
people have been complaining about our pass protection, but for the most part i personally think it's unfounded-- yes, we've had some pressure, but you're going to have that in the NFL. . . i sometimes think people expect our pass pro to look like what roethlisberger got against us in the AFCCG two years ago, but IMO that's unrealistic. . . cutler hasn't taken an unreasonable number of hits, and has generally had enough time to find his guy-- sure he has to step and slide in the pocket sometimes, but so does every other QB. . . one thing i noticed when i re-watched the JAX game was that we threw a good number of screens, which makes it look like he's under an intense rush and is forced to dump it off, but that's actually how the play is designed-- your OLs are supposed to entice the DLs upfield so the ball can be thrown in the space they've vacated. . . on over fifty percent of the plays where the protection "broke down" quickly, i'm almost positive they were called screens. . . we did have a few break downs in blitz pickup, but it's inevitable-- sometimes the D wins, too. . . for the most part cutler has done a nice job identifying them and finding his hot receiver. . .
that said, indy's pass rush certainly presents a tough challenge. . . their DTs are all quick, and freeney and mathis can scream off the edge. . . lepsis has stoned freeney in the past, but with his groin injury not looking to be entirely healed he may have some problems with freeney's electric first step if he can't kick out properly. . . both of our tackles are probably going to need plenty of help from graham and the RBs, especially if we do decide to look down the field. . . obviously maintaining manageable down-and-distance situations will relieve a good bit of that pressure. . .
in the short passing game, i'm sure we'll attack the cover-2 with the typical drags and crossing routes. . . stokley is familiar with their corners, and that should play to his advantage-- look for a few more big 3rd down conversions from him. . . our TEs have done very little in the passing game other than nate jackson' short TD against the jags, and it would be nice to get some more production from that group. . .
in summary, i'll come back to the phrase "controlled aggression". . . we obviously have to win the time of possesion battle and use a ball-control offense to take some pressure off the D, but we also have to put up some points this week-- we're not going to beat indy with a score in the mid-teens! even if we emphasize the run, cutler will have to make a few plays for us. . . if he sees some opportunities he's going to have to take them, because playing turnover free football won't be enough if we can't get the offense into a higher gear than it's been in so far. . .