I see this way too many times from Schotty and it drives me bananas. Why in hell would you take away the run option or a glorious PA opportunity in exchange for a SG empty back set?! It's almost as if we are letting the defense off the hook with this type of mentality. And to clarify, I'm not saying that I think we should absolutely positively run the ball on 2nd and 4 or 2nd and 5ish but at LEAST give a look that leaves that option open... And then the other huge issue I have is with the horizontal run plays for S. Greene. Green runs north and south very well, especially last night, then when I see the occasional stretch play it baffles me. Its not a play we run well, its most certainly not a play that suites Greens running style well either, so just another big ??? on why some of these plays are being called. Some people get very defensive when someone attacks Schotty, but these are two very specific scenarios wthat I see time and time again that I think Schotty deserves 100% of the blame for and the worst part is that he isn't learning from these mistakes, because these issues come up time and time again.
Schotty became Schitty again, that's for certain. after a string of well called games he definitely put us in bad positions. everytime we went empty backfield, Sanchez would get mauled and we'd be in ridiculous third and long (3rd and 14, 3rd and 16). With that said, there were a billion other reasons we lost. that doesn't get him off the hook but he certainly should take a share of the blame
thank you for this post because there is nothing i hate more than doing this. Also when we do go in shotgun we have the running back leave the backfield which normally results in a sack! so frustrating
The 5 wide sets boggle my mind. Sanchez isn't A. Rodgers, so lets not try to force him to be. At least if you go 5 wide you better make damn sure that the ball is out of your hands almost instantly, especially when there's a potential overload blitz coming your way. It just seems to me that Schotty likes to run a fancy offense that requires a more experienced passer who can recognize things much quicker than what Sanchez can do right now. Schotty also maybe gets bored with run run run.... even when teh run is workign so well. I swear last night if we ran the ball 30 - 40 times we would've won this game. I can't even remember a run, aside from the drive killing stretch play, where we didn't get at least 4 yards. Or on that first drive, we get to the red zone and after a 3 yard run, we go empty and pass pass fail. Its a familiar formula, where Schotty is coaching himself into a bad spot and he doesn't have a good enough QB to bail him out. I'm beginning to wonder if Rex just says Schotty is awesome because he HAS to say that or if he really believes it. If he really believes it, then that is a scary thought. I miss Paul Hackett, I know, that's sad to say
Thank you for shedding light on this. I couldn't believe my eyes, either. They're running the ball effectively and then just go empty backfield? Does not compute.
Plus that formation plays to Sanchez's weaknesses this season. The QB needs to know where his receivers are supposed to go, have faith that his receivers will be there and can make the catch, and can get the ball out quickly. Its as if Schotty saw the Bills run the spread a bunch and figured, "hey this is neat," then implemented it regardless of the strengths of his team.
We definitely gave up on the run too early. I hate the premature shift into desperation catch-up mode.
1) It's as if Schotty out-thinks himself. Like he sees the run working and figures that the D must be able to stop it eventually, so he mixes things up to counter what he thinks the D will adjust to. 2) That's crazy talk. Just because Schotty is like a current crazy & worthless GF doesn't mean we should have any reason to pine for our ex boring & fat ex.
This is still the best thread after the game. I sat there in frustration seeing these shotgun calls or how about the few times where we got the ball and passed 3 times in a row and went 3 and out.
I agree with your main point, but I dont think anyone gets defensive when people criticize Shotty, he must be the safest target on the team by a country mile.
hes got quite a few hardcore sympathizers for some reason maybe the guys got puppy dog eyes or something
If we didn't turn the ball over twice we would have been able to run it a lot more. You cannot win against them if you lose the turnover battle.
I have said it before and will say it again. Shittenheimer should not be calling the plays. He consistently puts us in bad situations.
last i checked we abandoned the run before the first int and the score was like 16-9 at that point. no reason to abandon the run when you are averaging nearly 5 ypc.
This is my biggest problem with him, and has been for a long time. Yes, I think empty backfield is insane, yes, play action should be used much more, yes, Greene should be used north/south, not east/west, etc. etc. But most of all, a coach's job is to put his players in situations where they have the greatest chance to succeed. Let's say all of the Sanchez haters are right, and he sucks at recognizing blitz packages and disguised coverages and always will. THEN DON'T CALL PLAYS THAT REQUIRE THOSE SKILLS. I always thought the goal was to win the game, and that means playing to your own team's strengths and against the other team's weaknesses.
I wanted to throw a remote at my television. I could not believe the number of times we were in shotgun early in the game.
