here's a cun/n/paste for today's ny daily news that got me thinking: The Bengals may have the best tandem of corners in the league in Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall, who both have six interceptions. Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer isn't afraid to put them in single coverage and throw everything else into the pass rush. Expect the Bengals to stack the line of scrimmage and try to stifle the Jets' No. 1 rushing attack and force Sanchez to beat them through the air. The Jets have reined in Sanchez the last two weeks, but Schottenheimer said he's not afraid to dial up pass plays for Sanchez if he has to. so... Sanchez: 20 ints, 9 lost fumbles, 5 lost games, rookie QB, locks onto receivers, can make horrible decisions (will throw into triple coverage to make a first down) Cincy: Best DB duo in the league, plays man-2-man almost every play, stacks the box on 1st and 2nd to stop the run, stacks the box on 3rd and long to unleash their own version of band of lunatics. Solution: have Sanchez throw on 1st/2nd off play action when the box is stacked against the run and DB's are playing one on one. We don't need to establish a huge run game for play action to work. Our #1 rush offense will be more than enough for the Cincy LB's to bite on a fake handoff to Jones/Greene. we need 10 yards per series, it doesn't matter how or when we get them. If Sanchez/Shotty can take advantage of Cincy's all out 'stop the run' mentality on 1st and 2nd downs the game is ours. having sanchez throw short, safe passes, slants, and bubble screens early and often on running downs will do 5 things: 1- get mark into a passing rythm that will greatly aid in the occasional long ball 2- put doubt into Cincy's front 8/9 on 1st and 2nd, which will aid in our run game 3- give our team 'another' dimension that we all agree we will need to beat the colts and bolts of the world 4- win the game for us 5- or, lose the game for us if mark is 'off' (i get this) Letting mark pass on 1st and 2nd will greatly aid him as far as ints go. if it 'aint there', toss it away and line back up 10 seconds later. no need for heroics to make a big 3rd down. -or- we can try a repeat last week, run run run, pass if need be. but with cincy determined to stack the box and stop the run (and Sanchez not so good when he 'has' to pass), a 180 degree turn around that confuses cincy would be sweet to watch
I hear what you're saying, but it's risky with Sanchez' inconsistency. Lets stick with what got us here, running the ball with occasional shots down field and playing tough defense. I honestly believe if we can contain Benson and win the turnover battle, it's a W for us.
first o play from scrimmage will be a down field throw......to keller. after that its gonna be the same stuff. MS is by no means ready to turn it loose. we will know when he is ready - sometime next year he will lead a come from behind win, with his arm, against a decent defense. thats when we'll know. jil
OP: just saying we all agree that we 'might' beat Cincy with the hand cuffs on Mark, but no way we go into Indy or SanDeigo and win without Mark airing is out. waiting until 3rd and long for mark to work his magic is when he gets into trouble....he's soooo competitive he will do almost anything to get that 1st down, even throw into triple coverage or run head first into line backers. having mark play catch with keller on 1st/2nd down will get him some air yards AND help to avoid the need for him to 'make the pass at all costs'. getting 4-6 yards on an easy slant on 1st down will make running the ball all that more efffective on 2nd and 3rd downs. to advance in the playoffs, mark needs to get a passing game going. and just like last week, 1st or 2nd down is where it should happen, not 3rd and 10. hemi: if you enjoy logging on here and reading the same 5 threads over and over, go for it.
I think that there is a misconception when we hear the words "let Mark throw", the game plan has changed, he is still throwing the ball, albeit only 16-20 times a game but he is still throwing the ball, the difference as we know, is that he is not asked to carry the team and throw the ball 30 plus times a game 20 yards down field. I like your point about the 3 wide receiver set, it is a very good package to use against stacking the box, because you can still run it with the qb under center, therefore it can be used to pass, run or play action.:up:
our passing game is a huge liability that we have exactly one week to fix. mark desparatly needs rythm and confidence if we are to advance. and 1st down is where he should get it with short, safe, controlled passing. shotty believes in a 'balanced' attack, run 30 times, throw 30 times. 1st downs should be 50/50 run and short, safe west coast passes to keller/jones/cotch. i'd add screen plays but shotty would have to google that....not enogh time.
If the Bengals put 9-10 in the box, we're not gonna have much choice. Sanchez is going to have to throw. Only a completed deep ball or two is gonna get the Bengals to back off and I fully expect them to attempt it. The only question is whether Braylon can catch the ball when it hits him in the chest.
Yeah, that's a real problem for this team..going into a dome or a 70 degree climate..it takes away our only advantage.
to sum it up folks. the first 3 weeks was a sanchez showcase the next 7 was a rookie rollercoaster the last 6 have essentially been us hiding our QB behind the running game. in the playoffs you dont hide deficiencies unless the other team decides to shit the bed, so Sanchez will have to make plays with his arm come hell or high water otherwise all the board talk can switch to the draft.
Agreed.....last weeks plan worked pretty well, no reason to deviate too much from it. I think the Bengals will step it up this week and it will be a much closer game. No turnovers & great defensive play should give us a win. Will this plan work against the Chargers? I doubt it, but thats a win and a week away.
this line of thinking is exactly what most of us hate about schotty. we are a team built to run the ball. it might seem like a brilliant idea to do the opposite of what a team is expecting, but there is a reason we are a run first team. our defense is very good, and the bengals offense is so bad that they get booed at every home game. even if the run game is getting stuffed early we need to stick with it, because the best way for cinci to win is to score points on defense. this game should be a battle of two heavyweights standing in the middle of the ring slugging it out. whichever team makes more mistakes on offense will lose. our best bet is to limit the potential for sanchez to throw a game changing int.
I totally agree, and I think Ryan probably sees the game the same way. You dance with who brung ya'......
I think they can get away with hiding hikm behind the running game against the Bengals, and possibly the Colts, but they would need to air it out against the Chargers and Ravens.
i agree it should be possible against the Bengals. but if the Colts ever had a lead on us I dont see the ground game keeping us in a shootout with them. either way this will be a good growth for Sanchez whether he makes good or bad plays I love the fact hes gonna know what a NFL playoff atmosphere is like right out the gate. hes got the big play ability we all know it, if anything its just typical rookie shit like having problems going through his progressions efficiently and trying to do too much at times. we'll see I agree you protect the kid until you have to but I would like to see some shots at them as to not be COMPLETELY predictable.
You have the throw sometimes. It seems they are allowing Mark to throw when the defensive alignment is favorable to throwing the ball, i.e. 9 in the box, etc. Lessens the opportunity to force the ball into coverage since there shouldn't be anything but 1 on 1 matchups. So on occasion they will have to throw on first and second down since the defense is probably gearing up for the run. Seems to be working fairly well. I hope Schotty doesn't get too trigger happy and go to it too much. Also, the weather this week in Cincy will be similar to last weeks game. Can't see having too many passing yards in those type of conditions.
To quote Chad O. Johnson - "Please, child." If the Jets come out throwing on Saturday they're probably going to lose to a team that they'd beat handily just by playing to their strengths instead of their obvious weakness. If Sanchez throws 25+ passes on Saturday the Jets are probably losing the game. If he throws under 20 they win. I know which of those scenarios I'm rooting for.
