@theknees agreed. But more importantly, Grizz threw the ball early. The whole first drive was almost throws. And the 2nd TD drive. And when the Texans started putting more guys in the box and stuffing the run, he threw 2 straight long ones to Evans down the sidelines. He opened up the run with the pass most of the night.
Great game. Great finish. Baker balled out on that last drive. Bucky and White really propped up the offense for most of the game.
Shouldn't forget to give Grizz his flowers either.
STs needs work.
Grizz called a solid final drive but he was lefty v2.0 after the first two drives. Pretty ridiculous play calling quite frankly.
Egbuka was banged up and we're trying to force it down the seem? Throwing it up to Evans...
We didn't have any medium game in the 5-15 range after the first two drives. Threw it behind the line or 30 yards down field.
Baker bailed him out with that run and then Grizz called a gem inside the red zone... So props there.
No argument really. but given the circumstances, both OTs out, only one starting OL playing at his position, the entire let side of the OL reshuffled just a week or two before Week 1, no Godwin, no JMac, Egbuka tweaking a hammy, etc. that's just a lot to work around for a rook OC in his second game. And to do it in hostile territory, kind of on the fly (putting in Heck probably shortened the playbook quite a bit I'd imagine), I have to give Grizz some props that he was able to not just make a hash of things.
I mean, I watched Freddie kitchens when he was Baker's OC in CLE, and it was a clownshow. And one of the very few times Kurt Warner was critical of an OC/playcalls/play designs in one of his analyses.
Given that, I think Grizz did a decent job under difficult circumstances. And then he called that final game-winning drive. Now, Baker's 4th-and-10 heroics saved that drive, but Grizz called the plays after that and the offense drove right down the field and really made it look kind of easy against one of the best defenses in the league, if I'm to believe all the NFL pundits/analysts.
Great game. Great finish. Baker balled out on that last drive. Bucky and White really propped up the offense for most of the game.
Shouldn't forget to give Grizz his flowers either.
STs needs work.
Grizz called a solid final drive but he was lefty v2.0 after the first two drives. Pretty ridiculous play calling quite frankly.
Egbuka was banged up and we're trying to force it down the seem? Throwing it up to Evans...
We didn't have any medium game in the 5-15 range after the first two drives. Threw it behind the line or 30 yards down field.
Baker bailed him out with that run and then Grizz called a gem inside the red zone... So props there.
No argument really. but given the circumstances, both OTs out, only one starting OL playing at his position, the entire let side of the OL reshuffled just a week or two before Week 1, no Godwin, no JMac, Egbuka tweaking a hammy, etc. that's just a lot to work around for a rook OC in his second game. And to do it in hostile territory, kind of on the fly (putting in Heck probably shortened the playbook quite a bit I'd imagine), I have to give Grizz some props that he was able to not just make a hash of things.
I mean, I watched Freddie kitchens when he was Baker's OC in CLE, and it was a clownshow. And one of the very few times Kurt Warner was critical of an OC/playcalls/play designs in one of his analyses.
Given that, I think Grizz did a decent job under difficult circumstances. And then he called that final game-winning drive. Now, Baker's 4th-and-10 heroics saved that drive, but Grizz called the plays after that and the offense drove right down the field and really made it look kind of easy against one of the best defenses in the league, if I'm to believe all the NFL pundits/analysts.
The only thing I really disagree with you on is the strategy. You have an aggressive defensive line... Screens nonstop. Slants. Crossing routes. Hitches.
Why are we running deep fades and streaks? There's no time to step into those throws.
When he did start throwing screens and short stuff late we moved the ball.
Great game. Great finish. Baker balled out on that last drive. Bucky and White really propped up the offense for most of the game.
Shouldn't forget to give Grizz his flowers either.
STs needs work.
Grizz called a solid final drive but he was lefty v2.0 after the first two drives. Pretty ridiculous play calling quite frankly.
Egbuka was banged up and we're trying to force it down the seem? Throwing it up to Evans...
We didn't have any medium game in the 5-15 range after the first two drives. Threw it behind the line or 30 yards down field.
Baker bailed him out with that run and then Grizz called a gem inside the red zone... So props there.
No argument really. but given the circumstances, both OTs out, only one starting OL playing at his position, the entire let side of the OL reshuffled just a week or two before Week 1, no Godwin, no JMac, Egbuka tweaking a hammy, etc. that's just a lot to work around for a rook OC in his second game. And to do it in hostile territory, kind of on the fly (putting in Heck probably shortened the playbook quite a bit I'd imagine), I have to give Grizz some props that he was able to not just make a hash of things.
I mean, I watched Freddie kitchens when he was Baker's OC in CLE, and it was a clownshow. And one of the very few times Kurt Warner was critical of an OC/playcalls/play designs in one of his analyses.
Given that, I think Grizz did a decent job under difficult circumstances. And then he called that final game-winning drive. Now, Baker's 4th-and-10 heroics saved that drive, but Grizz called the plays after that and the offense drove right down the field and really made it look kind of easy against one of the best defenses in the league, if I'm to believe all the NFL pundits/analysts.
The only thing I really disagree with you on is the strategy. You have an aggressive defensive line... Screens nonstop. Slants. Crossing routes. Hitches.
Why are we running deep fades and streaks? There's no time to step into those throws.
When he did start throwing screens and short stuff late we moved the ball.
Because if you don't keep reminding the D that there is a deep threat, the safeties start creeping down closer to the LoS, and soon your screens/slants/etc. start getting blown up. And ditto your run game. Been watching KC go through this exact scenario for almost three years now, pretty much ever since they traded Tyreek away. After '22, when everyone figured out that MVS wasn't a real deep threat, every defense started playing more man vs. KC, and dropping a safety into the box and suddenly the Chiefs vaunted screen game disappeared, as did the slants, etc. and the Chiefs didn't have a real deep threat or a good enough running game to make defenses pay.
i think it's necessary to remind the defense that you can deep on them, and that you're very willing to take those shots, just to keep them honest.
Sure but he went overboard with it
Texans defense is elite and you can't go overboard with being aggressive to clean up the lanes for Mayfield. Mayfield isn't a tall QB to begin with and the Texans stacking the box would have stiffled run attempts later in the game and clogged passing lanes with this makeshift OL.
Grizzard plays the long chess game well which is why I am impressed by him as an OC as he sets things up.
Sure but he went overboard with it
you could make that argument. I won't dispute that right now. Look, Grizz is a rook OC with a duct tape OL and most of his starting receivers out right now. A lot of what we're seeing on the field is both rudimentary in terms of play design and playcalling because of those limitations. And then he's learning on-the-job. So we're seeing him experiment in-game. So there's bound to be lulls in efficiency, especially once the script has been played out.
Bottom line, this offense right now is a work-in-progress, but we're doing it without the benefit of a healthy line up. I'm inclined to give Grizz more time, especially because he's doing a lot of things good enough or even well, I mean, we're still among the league's best 3rd down offenses, which was his specialization last season when we were ranked 1st in the league in that scenario.
Now, once everyone is healthy for a month or so, if the offense is still looking clunky for long stretches we'll probably have to revisit the issue.
Because if you don't keep reminding the D that there is a deep threat, the safeties start creeping down closer to the LoS, and soon your screens/slants/etc. start getting blown up. And ditto your run game.
This
Part of the problem might be that the Bucs (even with Evans) did have much of a deep threat. Egbuka may have more impact deep later, but was limited so then that left Evans
Part of the problem might be that the Bucs (even with Evans) did have much of a deep threat. Egbuka may have more impact deep later, but was limited so then that left Evans
That, and the fact that the OL is so banged up we're probably running more 12 personnel than we'd like, taking that third WR off the field. Also noticed we ran some pony packages vs. HOU. Probably did vs. ATL and i just didn't notice. But until we get a real OT back on the field I don't tink there's much else we can do.