MNF: Rams at Niners

[dave mcbride]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Correction it was Matt Patricia who first worked it out to give him his due. He did it as the Lions coach in a game they still lost but he played a bear front, ignored all the pre-snap motion and gave them no run lanes and then just played coverage on the play-action. He didn't have good enough players to make it work, Vic Fangio the next week as the Bears DC did and then Belichick did in the Superbowl. 

 

Interestingly it is the defense Leslie Frazier went to against San Fran last year after they marched down the field against us on the first drive. Why? Cos it is the same offense. The "Sean McVay is an innovator" thing is a lie. He is re-selling you Mike Shanahan 90s chic. He is a good coach, don't get me wrong but I think he has gotten too much of a pass for what has happened to his offensive numbers since that Lions game in 2018. I showed the math in the summer, they average about a TD a game less since the book on how to stop them was put out there. They have good players so it isn't easy for every team to do it, but good teams, with good players and good coaches can do it. 

This is so true. And bear in mind that Mike Shanahan was Parcells and Belichick's bete noire in the 1990s. They struggled with that system throughout the decade. Shanahan beat the Pats 34-8 in 1996 (when BB was running that D) and then 27-21 and 23-10 vs. the BP/BB-led Jets in 1998. He also beat the Pats under Parcells 37-3 in 1995. BB beat Shanahan in 1999 and 2000 (Jets first, Pats second), but Shanahan then beat BB in both 2001 and 2002. The Pats won 30-26 in 2003 and then Denver beat NE twice in 2005 (regular season and a beat-down in the playoffs) and in 2006. The scores kept getting closer through all of this, and it is very clear that BB invested a ton of energy in figuring out how to stop it.   Finally, BB crushed Shanahan 41-7 in 2008 (the Cassel season). In his last game vs. BB (Washington in 2011), the Pats won 34-27.

 

Anyway, Shanahan's system was a thorn in BB's side for ages. He spent a LOT of time trying to master it. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by dave mcbride

[Albany,n.y.]

15 hours ago, QCity said:

 

No they did not. They spent a 4th round pick on Fournette. They took a risk on Gronk being out of football shape and Brown being a locker room cancer.

Fournette was a free agent after Jacksonville released him because nobody would give them a draft pick.  

[QCity]

2 hours ago, Albany,n.y. said:

Fournette was a free agent after Jacksonville released him because nobody would give them a draft pick.  

 

Ahh, you are correct. They traded the 4th round pick for the rights to Gronk.