Offense looks to Johnson for more help

[nunusguy]

"As the Texans reworked their offense last spring to put more emphasis on protecting David Carr and on quickening and streamlining almost everything, they changed Johnson's role as well."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3325888
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I should bite my tongue and not be negative, but can't help but think this is
mainly being done to mask weaknesses in our offense - inadaquate pass blocking by OL, lack of prominant #2 WR, absense of bonafide 2-way TE.
But there is a positive side - hopefully some of our younger players like
Mathis or Murphy or other players not apparent to us right now might develope quickly and meet these needs. With the new season right on us now, we're gonna know shortly how effective the new stadegy will be.

[Runner]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

"As the Texans reworked their offense last spring to put more emphasis on protecting David Carr and on quickening and streamlining almost everything, they changed Johnson's role as well."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3325888
************************************************** ***
I should bite my tongue and not be negative, but can't help but think this is
mainly being done to mask weaknesses in our offense - inadaquate pass blocking by OL, lack of prominant #2 WR, absense of bonafide 2-way TE.

It might also be a sign of diversifying the playbook as the skill position players improve and/or gain experience.

[SA Fan]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

"As the Texans reworked their offense last spring to put more emphasis on protecting David Carr and on quickening and streamlining almost everything, they changed Johnson's role as well."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3325888
************************************************** ***
I should bite my tongue and not be negative, but can't help but think this is
mainly being done to mask weaknesses in our offense - inadaquate pass blocking by OL, lack of prominant #2 WR, absense of bonafide 2-way TE.
But there is a positive side - hopefully some of our younger players like
Mathis or Murphy or other players not apparent to us right now might develope quickly and meet these needs. With the new season right on us now, we're gonna know shortly how effective the new stadegy will be.

so what if it is?
Do you expect to coaches to act like there isn't a problem and let Carr get sacked a record time again?
The coaches are trying to rectify problems they see in the offense, isn't that what they are supposed to do?
you could make the argument that they should have done this in the offseason with draft and FA acquisitions...Really....they should have....but the offseason is over with so they need to address it anyway thy can.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Runner

It might also be a sign of diversifying the playbook as the skill position players improve and/or gain experience.

OK I hear you Runner, and I do appreciate your take on it.

[Crank_It_Up]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

...I should bite my tongue and not be negative, but can't help but think this is
mainly being done to mask weaknesses in our offense - inadaquate pass blocking by OL, lack of prominant #2 WR, absense of bonafide 2-way TE...

IMHO, I don't think they are trying to mask anything. The weakest link on the team was not the O-line, it was our defense. That was addressed, this seems to be an attempt to make the best of a bad situation till some personnel changes can be made next year on the O-line. It will be fun to watch.

[Corrosion]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

I should bite my tongue and not be negative, but can't help but think this is
mainly being done to mask weaknesses in our offense - inadaquate pass blocking by OL, lack of prominant #2 WR, absense of bonafide 2-way TE.

These reasons are exactly why the Texans chenged their offensive gameplan from long down field passes to shorter quicker routes .... No matter how good Carr and Johnson are ......Neither can be effective with Carr on his backside

[Blake]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

"As the Texans reworked their offense last spring to put more emphasis on protecting David Carr and on quickening and streamlining almost everything, they changed Johnson's role as well."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3325888
************************************************** ***
I should bite my tongue and not be negative, but can't help but think this is
mainly being done to mask weaknesses in our offense - inadaquate pass blocking by OL, lack of prominant #2 WR, absense of bonafide 2-way TE.

C'mon man. This is getting a little silly. I mean isnt it a good thing that we get our #1 player more involved? Yes, our team has a few missing links, but so does most everyother team.

Im looking for a 100+ catch, 1400 yard, 14 td season from that boy.

[El Tejano]

Originally Posted by DC_ROCK

C'mon man. This is getting a little silly. I mean isnt it a good thing that we get our #1 player more involved? Yes, our team has a few missing links, but so does most everyother team.

Im looking for a 100+ catch, 1400 yard, 14 td season from that boy.

I agree with that statement. How many times did we read last year that Palmer needs to have Carr throw the ball to Johnson. Heck, theres even a member on this board who goes by the name of Throw it to Johnson or something like that. We are now doing that. 1st we have to remember that this team is trying to be a run first team but so far whenever we are forced to throw, teams sit back in cover two and remove our best weapon from the picture and make us beat them with our second and third options. Now by moving Johnson around, you might line him up with a 3rd or 4th option DB. What this means is, 'hey, you better get out of that cover 2 defense and play us man to man' (which I like our chances when it comes to that) or ' Okay, go in that cover two, line up our Pro Bowl receiver against your 3rd or 4th string nickel or dime, let our guy find the whole in the zone and kill you for more yards after the catch because A) he is strong enough to brake tackles and B) all of your good tacklers in the secondary are so far upfield covering Bradford/Mathis and or Gaffney.'

Even if you get out of the cover two and play man to man, you now have to guess wether Bradford or Johnson or Mathis is going long.

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

I should bite my tongue and not be negative, but can't help but think this is mainly being done to mask weaknesses in our offense - inadaquate pass blocking by OL, lack of prominant #2 WR, absense of bonafide 2-way TE.

I know it's repeating what someone else said, but so what if it is?

The coaches have recognized those weaknesses, and are at least making the effort. They could just stick their heads in the sand, and pretend they don't exist.

Now, how successful they will be? That's another question. You might be able to get around the lack of a #2 receiver . . . by itself. You might be able to get around a bonified 2-way TE . . . by itself. But a line that can't block??? . . . not over a 16 game stretch. And if you take all 3 of them together . . . .those are weaknesses that will be exploited, no matter what the coaching staff does. They have to get it done up front.

[Runner]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

OK I hear you Runner, and I do appreciate your take on it.

To be clear, I don't mean that diversiying the O is the only reason. I agree that it is also a way to help the line.

There is another thing I don't recall seeing posted. The read and react offense that we used last year not only resulted in taking longer to get passes off, it also required the entire offensive unit to recognize what was going on and act in a coordinated manner.

This might answer the questions of the average fan about 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th receiver rankings on this team. There is more to it than speed and hands. Even precise route running doesn't finish the equation. It is precisely running the correct route for the defensive scheme. Some of reads had pretty subtle differences.

It is hard for Carr to hit the 2nd or 3rd check down reciever if the reciever is in the wrong place, or if the reciever is correct and Carr is looking in the wrong place (can I say the latter on this board?).

That might be a reason for a few (not all) of the "look at Johnson, throw to Davis" plays last year.

[HJam72]

If we force the opponents to play more man to man defense, won't that hurt DD's running game?

I still like the fact that they're gonna try it, though. Next offseason they better fix anything that is still wrong with the O-line.

[powda]

aj is easily the best weapon we have...why wouldnt we scheme to get him the ball more often?

right after the season it was mentioned over and over again how in the last 8 games of the season aj was in single coverage once...they had to do something.

infact i made a post about it last year durring the season as one of the things i thought they could do to improve (motion). my focus on it though at the time was to give carr a better look at the defense mostly.

todays paper also explains how carr's responsibilities at the line have changed some...now hes just reading safetys?

thats kinda scary.

[Davis37]

Originally Posted by HJam72

If we force the opponents to play more man to man defense, won't that hurt DD's running game?

I still like the fact that they're gonna try it, though. Next offseason they better fix anything that is still wrong with the O-line.

Not really because most teams will still have 2 deep safety every play (unless we are running all over them). It will just be harder for teams to roll coverages to Johnson if they dont know where he is going to line up. Also, when Johnson goes in motion it will cause the secondary some confusion (hopefully).

Think about this... We line up in 3 WR set with Johnson in the slot. We motion Johnson to the same side of the field as Mathis (or Bradford). Now the def has to think of what to do. Bracket AJ with a DB and a safety like last year and take the chance of Mathis going over the top, or drop the safety deep and have AJ rip you a new one in the middle of the field (or on the outside with an out route). This is the kind of confusion and mismatches they are hoping for.

[Grid]

Sounds to me like they are taking the advice of the fans and doing things to get johnson the ball more.

[ATX]

I'm just happy we got a guy like AJ on the team. He's something special. In a couple of years, he's gonna be the top WR in the NFL. Thank You Detroit for taking Rodgers. I'd also like to thank Atlanta for taking Deangelo Hall instead of Dunta Robinson.

[Davis37]

Originally Posted by atxcoolguy

I'm just happy we got a guy like AJ on the team. He's something special. In a couple of years, he's gonna be the top WR in the NFL. Thank You Detroit for taking Rodgers. I'd also like to thank Atlanta for taking Deangelo Hall instead of Dunta Robinson.

Speaking of Deangelo Hall, did he get fined or anything for throwing punches during their game last week? What a stupid thing to do... Punch someone in the helmet... Not only does it not hurt them because of their face mask, but you could break a bone in ur hand. What a moron!

[ATX]

Originally Posted by Davis37

Speaking of Deangelo Hall, did he get fined or anything for throwing punches during their game last week? What a stupid thing to do... Punch someone in the helmet... Not only does it not hurt them because of their face mask, but you could break a bone in ur hand. What a moron!

once again, thank you atlanta for taking deangelo hall.