Coen believes in a strong rushing attack as the foundation of an offense.
A number of people here disagree with that concept even though it plays out every Sunday, especially for teams with mid to average QB play.
will be interesting to see what happens this season
Eh, I have to admit, it wasn't that many years ago that I had largely dismissed the running game in the modern NFL. The Mahomes circus back in the 2018/2019/2020 seasons will do that to a person.
However, Kyle Shannahan/McVay/Doug Peterson (maybe include Sirianni?) and most recently Andy Reid have proven repeatedly that a strong running game is critical to winning in the playoffs. The Chiefs don't win the SB, or even get to that SB, without Pacheco's efficiency and contributions on the ground in 2022. That 2nd half was the Pacheco show more than it was the Mahomes show. Likewise, a similar argument can be made for the Chiefs reaching/winning the SB in 2023. The running game doesn't have to be the focus of the offense, but it has to be at least productive, imo.
Defenses adapt so offenses change. But, one simple and undeniable rule exists no matter the trend of the day and that is that it is tougher for a defense to defend pass and run than just pass or run.
That reality means that anytime you can have a credible run threat you have a better chance to complete a pass … and same in reverse. The two concepts play off each other and that is particularly useful when your QB is NOT named Mahomes.
Defenses adapt so offenses change. But, one simple and undeniable rule exists no matter the trend of the day and that is that it is tougher for a defense to defend pass and run than just pass or run.
That reality means that anytime you can have a credible run threat you have a better chance to complete a pass … and same in reverse. The two concepts play off each other and that is particularly useful when your QB is NOT named Mahomes.
Yep.
Using the Chiefs this past season as an example, for most of the season Andy/Nagy were running the offense as per usual with about a 65%/35% pass/run ratio, with mixed results. And then the losing streak began when KC eventually went 2-of-6 in the late-middle part of the season.
What got the Chiefs back on track was simply adjusting that ratio to nearly an even 55%/45%. That happened somewhat gradually, going from 60%/40%, then by the time the playoffs began, Andy was passing just 55% of the time; a ratio he'd never approached in his 10 years in KC, outside of a single game here and there.
One of the things we've seen is that DCs can't run that two-high shell with three DLs (called the Fangio-6, I believe) if you can run the ball with any kind of decent efficiency. They have to switch out of it, bring in additional DLs and LBs to try and stop the run, and consequently only allowing them to have 5 DBs on the field, which naturally opens up the passing game.
One of the things we've seen is that DCs can't run that two-high shell with three DLs (called the Fangio-6, I believe) if you can run the ball with any kind of decent efficiency. They have to switch out of it, bring in additional DLs and LBs to try and stop the run, and consequently only allowing them to have 5 DBs on the field, which naturally opens up the passing game.
This was the Bucs 2022 season. They basically abandoned the run, went 66/33 pass to run.
didn’t go well. Evans had 6 TDs, 2 or 3 in late season game where the opposing defense went man against him lol
Offenses change with new OC’s, and while ours did, and made those ‘tweaks’ to the offense, the line play improved as the linemen adapted to it. When you add another OC, and upgrade the talent, you may have a similar tweaking/adapting period, but hopefully the new talent can adapt more quickly, and equally hopeful that a new RB will aid that adaptation.
I think one of the reasons we were effective last season is Canales system was different enough, that not a lot of NFC South opponents had experience/tape on it. Now that Coen will build off of that, we should have a faster integration to leverage the new talent, keeping defenses honest/off-balance. Still, that 2024 schedule is brutal, and our offense will likely have a few ‘adjustment’ period games, but the scheme & personnel should be better fits.
It should be fun to watch!
interesting tidbits:
Baker Mayfield finished the 2023 season with the 4th highest Passer Rating among all playoff QBs, 106.3. That makes him the highest rated QB (Passer Rating) in Bucs playoff history.
Mayfield also owns the 4th highest career playoff PR of all currently active NFL QBs, with 100.4 (minimum of 3 playoff games played). Only Mahomes, Stafford and Purdy are ranked higher than him in that respect. Aaron Rodgers is 5th (100.1).
His 6 TDs in these playoffs tie him with Mahomes for first place in 2023.
His longest pass (56yds) in the playoffs make him 2nd in the 2023 playoffs behind only Stroud.
His yards/gm of 343/gm make him 3rd in 2023. For context, I invite people to check out both Burrow's and Lamar's playoff stats.
His yards/att during the playoffs of 8.9yds/att make him 2nd behind only Matthew Stafford (10.2).
Interesting stuff, proves it wasn’t just a fluke that Mayfield was able to win as much with poor interior line play & one of the the worst run games in the NFL.interesting tidbits:
Baker Mayfield finished the 2023 season with the 4th highest Passer Rating among all playoff QBs, 106.3. That makes him the highest rated QB (Passer Rating) in Bucs playoff history.
Mayfield also owns the 4th highest career playoff PR of all currently active NFL QBs, with 100.4 (minimum of 3 playoff games played). Only Mahomes, Stafford and Purdy are ranked higher than him in that respect. Aaron Rodgers is 5th (100.1).
His 6 TDs in these playoffs tie him with Mahomes for first place in 2023.
His longest pass (56yds) in the playoffs make him 2nd in the 2023 playoffs behind only Stroud.
His yards/gm of 343/gm make him 3rd in 2023. For context, I invite people to check out both Burrow's and Lamar's playoff stats.
His yards/att during the playoffs of 8.9yds/att make him 2nd behind only Matthew Stafford (10.2).
Hopefully they will be able to strengthen the interior o-line with a stud & improve the run game, so Baker doesn’t have as much pressure to create. That issue forced him to pick up first downs by squaring up against guys that eat QB’s.
I know his playing style puts him at risk at times, but if we can minimize pressure, keep the pocket from collapsing/plays breaking down, he will take fewer hits.
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Interesting stuff, proves it wasn’t just a fluke that Mayfield was able to win as much with poor interior line play & one of the the worst run games in the NFL.interesting tidbits:
Baker Mayfield finished the 2023 season with the 4th highest Passer Rating among all playoff QBs, 106.3. That makes him the highest rated QB (Passer Rating) in Bucs playoff history.
Mayfield also owns the 4th highest career playoff PR of all currently active NFL QBs, with 100.4 (minimum of 3 playoff games played). Only Mahomes, Stafford and Purdy are ranked higher than him in that respect. Aaron Rodgers is 5th (100.1).
His 6 TDs in these playoffs tie him with Mahomes for first place in 2023.
His longest pass (56yds) in the playoffs make him 2nd in the 2023 playoffs behind only Stroud.
His yards/gm of 343/gm make him 3rd in 2023. For context, I invite people to check out both Burrow's and Lamar's playoff stats.
His yards/att during the playoffs of 8.9yds/att make him 2nd behind only Matthew Stafford (10.2).
Hopefully they will be able to strengthen the interior o-line with a stud & improve the run game, so Baker doesn’t have as much pressure to create. That issue forced him to pick up first downs by squaring up against guys that eat QB’s.
I know his playing style puts him at risk at times, but if we can minimize pressure, keep the pocket from collapsing/plays breaking down, he will take fewer hits.
Yeah, that would be the plan. Though, Baker is Baker; he's sometimes going to square up against guys he shouldn't, lol. But with better/more consistent protection, it won't happen nearly as much, imo.
What I thought was interesting (among other things), was those numbers suggest that he's closer to the top of the middle tier of QBs, or even in that top tier of currently active -10 to -11 QBs. I knew that he'd played fairly well in his two playoffs but didn't realize that he'd played that well. But when I reviewed just those playoff games I realized that he could be sitting on a 3-1 or even a 4-0 record for those four games if not for a fumble by R. Higgins, a dropped TD by Evans or a collapsing defense or whatever. In short, Baker wasn't the reason for those two losses; it was mostly a teammate or a coaching decision or a slumping defense (or combo of factors) that cost his team those two games. But Baker played well enough to win all four of those playoff games.
Bottom line, Baker plays better in the playoffs than a lot of so-called top-tier QBs do. And does so pretty consistently, regardless of whether he has a great run game or OL or receiving weapons.
What I thought was interesting (among other things), was those numbers suggest that he's closer to the top of the middle tier of QBs, or even in that top tier of currently active -10 to -11 QBs.
Now, do his other 86 starts and tell us how he's in the Top 10 to #11 QB's.
He's a middle tier QB and hopefully he improves, and most importantly, shows some consistency.
Fortunately, we re-upped him to a contract that gives us an out in 2 years if he doesn't. If he does, then great, we have our answer.
Yeah, Brad Johnson proved we can win a Super Bowl with a mid tier QB.
Especially if you make the mid-tier defense, bottom tier, o-line, and last-rung, running game…a little less mid.
Nice that some portions of the team are capable of punching above their weight class.
And as the accountants & fantasy football crowd loves to point out, maybe we’ll even save the Glazers some money while doing it!
Otherwise, everyone gets an ‘out’…
Nice that some portions of the team are capable of punching above their weight class.
I agree.
Offense - Points Scored - 20th in the league
Defense - Points Scored Against - 7th in the league
Yeah, Brad Johnson proved we can win a Super Bowl with a mid tier QB.
We sure did!
All we need are 4 hall of famers on defense (should be 5) and one that will go down as one of the greatest D's in modern NFL history.
I'm with you on this plan.
Or, improve the offense & defense, by half.
In one FA period & draft (2, including last years haul).
What I thought was interesting (among other things), was those numbers suggest that he's closer to the top of the middle tier of QBs, or even in that top tier of currently active -10 to -11 QBs.
Now, do his other 86 starts and tell us how he's in the Top 10 to #11 QB's.
He's a middle tier QB and hopefully he improves, and most importantly, shows some consistency.
Fortunately, we re-upped him to a contract that gives us an out in 2 years if he doesn't. If he does, then great, we have our answer.
Uh, I don't understand why I'd do that, when I quite clearly limited the discussion to his playoff performances. So his other 86 regular season games wouldn't be relevant, at least in terms of this particular discussion. See how that works? Note how I even used the word "suggest," to infer that there's obviously some degree of uncertainty, largely because it is a pretty small sample size. Though the fact that he did make it to the playoffs twice with two different teams and performed at a high level in both seasons would seem to bolster his credibility as a better-than-average playoff QB.
But you seem to have some thoughts on Baker's career, and I'm sure it's not the same superficial lazy analysis that we usually read, and I'm ready to be fascinated. It would be a nice change of pace, so please why don't you tell me about Baker.
In light of the Cousins benching thought to look back to see how our FRONT OFFICE did under a similar scenario.
To begin with, we went with Mayfield over Cousins (presumably) so the Mayfield deal was $100 million over 3 years, as compared to $180 million over 4. So, that is a Bucs front office WIN?
The Falcons plan with Penix sort of mirrors what we did with Trask. Licht specifically identified this dead cap period as one reason. I doubt the Falcons would be able to trade Cousins if they wanted to (they might not) given the no trade clause AND the size of the contract for a 37(?) year old struggling QB with an Achilles injury. So, they either have the most expensive back up or they cut him and take a $65 million dead cap hit over two years?
I thought the Brady dead cap hit was "only" $35 over two years?
So, that is Bucs front office WIN number two?
Of course, they won both games this season but we are in the lead presently, so I guess the COMPETITIVE outcome this season is still up in the air?
yepp, we clearly won there. let's hope we win the division as well, then we can laugh at them
p.s. few of us wrote that several times, brady cap hit was worth every penny, noone was upset because of that
