First quarter
1st offensive series.
2-10
Slaton ran left end, then cut back up the middle for 11 yards.
Good blocking by all.
I wish I had time to go over this game earlier. As it is, I'm only going through it now.
This second run was a good pickup by our offense.
Another good play, was the one where Slaton hit the cutback lane, & ran over the safety to get 10 yards & the first down. The OL worked well together, & blew up the Raiders line.
This is the same play. Our second snap of the game. Seeing it from the Stadium, and my first impression after seeing it one time in real speed was that all looked well. But after watching it again, with the DVR, We've got several recurring issues, that we've been guilty of commiting in the past.
But before I get into that.
One thing I noticed right off the bat, is that we're in a 2 WR single back set. Dressen is in the slot, and OD is Lined up tight.
But, you've got KDub outside lined up against a CB. Dresson lined up against a LB, and Greg Ellis (DE) standing up, lined up against OD. The Safety is out of the picture, and Asumga(??) is lined up one on one with AJ wide on the left.
I'm thinking this would be a good situation to change to a pass play. OD against Greg Ellis, I'd take that match up all day long.
But what happened instead, the entire line moves to the left, except Brown, who does the same thing he did on our first play. He does start right, but there isn't anyone to block as the DE crashes in. This time, Studdard is there to take him on, & if Brown doesn't come back and assist, I doubt Studdard would have stopped the DE from getting to Slaton. If Studdard was capable of doing that job, & Brown would have released to the second level, since there was no one to block, SS could've gone around the left end, like it looks like the play was designed, for a big gain. Andre took off, Asamuga turned his back to the OL, and took off after AJ, so there was no one else on that side. Brown could have stopped the LBs from making a play.
But, as it was, Meyers also did a good job hitting the DT in the side, and was pushing him to the left. He was held up by Studdard & Brown. The three of them managed to get good push on the DE & DT, and SS had plenty of time to press the LOS, then cutback after the LBs were too far to the left to stop him. SS actually cuts back, because a LB was already coming around the left corner, since Brown wasn't there to stop him.
Brisiel, who I usually like does a
good job releasing to the second level, and getting to a LB. But he slows down, and puts his hands out, waiting for contact. I've seen him go out there and put a helmet on LBs, and Maul them over. why he didn't do this, I don't know. But the LB was allowed to get away from him, and pursue the ball to the Left (pretty much out of the play). Brisiel follows him.... again, I don't know why, there were other people on that side that could've used a good block, like the Safety who finally comes down, and hit SS.
Winston did the absolute worse job of any of our linemen, & I think he's been consistent with that in both the passing & running game. Greg Ellis is all worried about OD, he even stood up, and at the snap, he's waiting for OD to run into the pattern. So Winston is free. He stands up, and moves laterally to the left, looking for someone to block. No one ever comes, so he decides to go into the second level. Greg Ellis has already figured out it's a run play, so he is trying to chase down the play. Winston tries to cut block him, but misses. So he's rolling around on the ground, not doing a Damn thing.
Now, a big part of this run, is that the Raiders DTs were aweful sluggish coming off the snap. Meyers was able to blindside the first DT, which he hadn't been able to do our first three games. & Winston was able to "run around" the second DT, and get off clean. OD was even able to run up under this guy, and stop him from getting to SS in the backfield. I don't think OD is a particularly good run blocker, but he got the job done this time.
Joel Dressen comes in, and since Ellis had already backed up, Dressen thinks (he puts his hands on him) about assisting OD with 93, the big slow DT. But he sees not much needs to be done, so he moves up & thinks about blocking Ellis & runs straight at him. But you can see that he made a conscious decision that Ellis wasn't a major concern of his, as he changed direction, and went after the OLB, who he also got hands on. Joel Gently pushes the LB to the left, as he does, he just happens to be in Michael Huffs way, as Huff tries to run through Dressen to get to the ball. Dressen's head goes back, but he doesn't move, Huff & the LB still have to go around Dressen to get to SS. This is 13 yards from the LOS.
Kevin Walter gets off the line Clean. Looks like he's making a Bee-Line to the OLB that Dressen eventually got. When he got 2 yards past the LOS, he stopped, turned around, and set up to provide the cutback lane SS ran through. From the stands, I could see KDub doing a lot to help the passing game. I usually consider him to be a good run blocking WR. But here, he's waiting for the contact, & if you're playing against a CB who doesn't like contact, that's fine. But if you're playing against Cortland Finegan, Brandon Flowers, Asamuga, or Winfield... they'll run around you, & still make the play.
These are the reasons we're called a finesse team. Walter waiting for contact. Dressen gently pushing the LB, Winston rolling around on the ground, Owen Daniels doing just enough.
When we play a team that wants to win, each of these "good things" will be the reason a play gets blown up. Because the other player was more aggressive than the guys we played last Sunday.
As another example, the big slow DT, #93.. OD just barely got in his way. He made a little contact, then moved on. Instead of #93 going to get Slaton, he went after OD.... WTF??
