sven233

The nice thing about needing a center is that usually you can get the best one in the draft with a 2nd round pick. Same usually goes with guard. There are always the rare exception where the really good ones go higher, but you can usually get dominant interior guys in the 2nd round.

The thing is, every single time he has gotten banged up, it has been in the pocket or behind the LOS. He has never gotten hurt while running. He may be banged up now, but should be back to normal in a couple weeks. This offense will not get better until you either let him start being himself again or you completely overhaul it and make it an under center offense that uses play action a lot. You have to get the defense to respect the run, especially Allen's ability to take off at any time. Right now, they have no reason to do so and that is why the same offense that used to be one of the most dynamic in the league is now easy to defend.

In last weeks media sessions, Dorsey was questioned about the decision to go shotgun on 2nd and inches when the tush push....as many times as it was going to be needed, was the obvious common sense thing to do. This week, he figured that out and used common sense in all of those situations. Now, it's time for the media to start building up steam on the designed Allen runs. It's a glaring omission from the offense and it is hold the team back when teams don't have to respect the fact that Allen taking off for 40 yards any at any time is no longer an option. You can't run the same offense you have always run and take away the part that made the offense successful. Having the media push this and getting Allen back to carrying the ball at least 5 times a game would be the best thing for this offense. I guarantee you that if you burn a couple teams with Allen's legs again, other passing concepts will all of a sudden be much better.

Our offense used to look just as explosive.....just in a different way. Unfortunately, the coaching staff has removed the key component that was responsible for being explosive.....Allen's legs. Teams know that he is not running anymore and they are not respecting that part of his game anymore. That allows them to play better coverage on the back end when they know they don't have to worry about Allen taking off any any given play. Makes playing defense so much easier. If you don't want to run Allen, fine.....but you have to design a new offense to cover that lack of an option up. You can't run the same offense as you have since Allen has gotten here and then take away the part that made the scheme so dangerous in the first place. I guarantee if you get Allen back to having 5-6 designed runs a game and let him scramble again when needed and burn a couple teams with it, the rest of the offense will all of a sudden start looking better again.

Taking away the designed runs and telling him to not scramble is actively hurting this team in a lot of ways and it's one of the main reasons why the offense is not functioning. The thing is, they are trying to run the same offense as they have in years past without half, or more, of what made this offense great. This team has been a shotgun based offense for several years now, and that's ok, providing you are still doing the same things you have always done out of that formation. Over the past few years, you were able to keep defenses on their heels because on every play, they had no idea if it was going to be a run, pass, or Allen keeper. They had to respect every option and defend every part of the field. However, now that team know that there will never be a designed Allen run, and very often knowing that he will be throwing the ball away instead of scrambling, has neutered this offense. Teams have to fear or respect for Allens running ability and they adjust their defense accordingly. THey can play more press. THey can play more man with their eyes on the WRs instead of having to worry about Allen ripping off a 40 yard run because they know it is not in the offense anymore. Bottom line is you can't expect to run the same offense and get the same results you used to when you take away the biggest weapon you have in Allen's unpredictability with his legs. Right now, he may as well be Mac Jones with a better arm because that is how defenses are treating him. I guarantee you that if you ran the same offense you are right now, but throw in at least 2-3 designed Allen runs a quarter or even a half, more things would open up because defenses would be forced to watch out for Allen's legs. They is why we are having success with PA from under center.....teams don't know whether it is a run or pass and Allen can freeze the LBs for that extra second or so and find open guys. In shotgun, there is no mystery. They can see whether the back has the ball immediately and they know Allen is never going to just run with it making everything more predictable. I get it....we want Allen to stay safe and play another decade+. But we can't worry about that right now when we are trying to win a Super Bowl. It's time to go balls to the wall and do everything we can to win. We have a unicorn at QB. Every play that we line up for, a defense should never know what is coming at them. Every play should look like a run, pass, or the threat of an Allen designed run. If not, defenses are going to continue not to respect the scheme and are just going to know what you are running before you run it. That's not ideal. It's time to let Allen free and I guarantee you other things will open up because of it.

Out...... The fact is, this team relies a lot on the men in the middle. Jones and Oliver have been dominant this season freeing up the edge guys to do their thing. With them not there getting the interior pressure they were creating, defenses can move their double teams elsewhere.

The guy is 34 coming off an ACL with no camp or preseason. Getting back to running and cutting itself is one thing, but getting back into football shape is completely different. I wouldn't expect his snap count to increase dramatically on a short week here, but my guess is that after the simi-bye this Thursday is that his snap count starts to rise. He hasn't shown a ton of pass rush moves with the snaps he's had.....mostly rushing wide. But he's still ramping up. Also, it is so hard to get into any type of flow when you are only playing certain snaps periodically. Von has always been a rusher where he uses a few rushes in a row to set up other moves. If he's not playing consistently, he can't do that. Bottom line, it's early for him yet. It is still going to take a bit of time to get in football shape and get the body used to the punishment it takes. We all want him to be the Von we know he can be and I get having patience is hard.

I don't need the K-Gun offense. That is a hard offense to run in today's NFL. But, what I do want is an offense that plays with pace. I would love to run a modified hurry up where we get to the line immediately and have more time to see what personnel the defense has on the field and control the tempo of the game. It would also help the offense to stay focused and maybe get into a rhythm. No, I don't need the K-Gun, but an offense with a sense of urgency and pace would be a welcome change.

The thing is, he can be this, if not even more, every game. He is a great route runner and gets open a lot. The thing is, they have him running 2 routes......outs to the sideline to be an outlet when needed and the occasional stick route. Where are the seam routes? Where are the deep in breaking routes to the middle of the field. Where are the slant routes? All of these he ran amazingly in college. His film is littered with him making plays in the intermediate areas in the middle of the field but you never see him there. Heck, he ran a few of these routes in the preseason and we haven't seen it much, if at all in the regular season. He was really nice today. Maybe our best weapon on offense. But there is so much more there that Dorsey is leaving on the table.

On a positive note, now we only have to wait 4 days to get upset about everything all over again!!!!

A trade for a meaningful player is so hard to do mid season. Yes.....Davis is invisible and we need to find someone besides Diggs that can get open. But we also need someone at one-tech that can be stout against the run and help ease the loss of Jones. A starting CB would be great as well. We have so many holes right now. But there are guys on this team, namely Kincaid, that can develop into a weapon with just a little bit of creativity. But instead, he's constantly running shallow out routes and the occasional stick route and that is the extent of his usage. Trading for more offensive players will probably feel like banging your head against the wall because there is absolutely no creativity on offense.

I'm going to try to find a silver lining here. It isn't going to be easy, though. Look.....here's the thing. I hate this loss. I hate every loss. But after all those starters went down on defense, it was very obvious the #1 seed was out the window. It was always going to be about running the gauntlet in the Playoffs. This year, there is no dominant team in the AFC. Throw a handful of teams in a hat and any one of them can beat any other team on any day. So, this is about playing your best football in January and February. Right now, we are playing our worst football not only of this season, but some of the worst football we have played in years. The thing is, as bad as it is, there is no doubt in my mind that at the end of the season, we will still be good enough to make the Playoffs. And when that happens, what happened this week, last week, the week before, etc......whatever it is, makes no difference. Winning the division, while nice, doesn't mean a whole lot. Yes, we lose a home game. I get that. But potentially having to play in a warm weather city, a dome, or whatever, isn't the worst thing for this team that isn't built to run and stop the run in potentially bad weather. This has been a bit of a tangent for sure. But the point is simple. GET THIS CRAP FIGURED OUT NOW. Do it before it is too late. Find a way to get in the tournament and play your best football and, if you win, all of this gets forgotten. But man, there is so much work to do.

It isn't happening, but I'd be OK with this coaching staff being let go and moving on. This team has talent on it and it is being wasted.

Glad we used a TO there to let them score.

It was bound to catch up with us at some point. Can't play bad teams at their level. Got burned today.

Defense folded under pressure

My biggest takeaway from this last drive was that Dorsey used common sense and didn't go shotgun with a foot to go. But now of course, McDermott and the defense are giving it away.

Well, defense.....it's on you one more time..... Find a way to get a stop.

Two more chances to use it to get a foot. Do it until you get in.

You have 2 chances to get a foot. Tush push it twice more if needed. If they stop you 3 times in a row, so be it.

WOW

That was a really nice drive. They played with some urgency and pace which I have been asking for all game. They seriously need to consider a move to a more uptempo offense. I'm not talking about a hurry up offense where you snap the ball as fast as possible, but rather getting to the line quickly and just move with a pace. We'll see what happens from here. But, last drive aside, this offense has looked bad There are a lot of reasons for it, but I think a big part of it is that no team respects Allen's running ability anymore.. I know you don't want Allen taking unnecessary hits and you want to extend his career, but not having any designed runs and discouraging him from scrambling is taking away from who Allen is as a QB. Allen is the QB he is because he, at least in the past, has been able to control games and keep teams guessing because at any moment, he can take off for 40 yards. When you actively take away his ability to hurt teams with his legs, you are not getting the most out of who he is.

The thing is, the defense hasn't been the majority of the problem. It's the offense that can't score.......

We can't force a 3rd and long.....heck, barely even a 3rd down, so no....not much. Anyways, that drive ends this one. On to Thursday. Get ready to hear about trying to find a rhythm and execution, etc..... whatever.

Freaking Knox. Worst Bean contract. Never comes up big.