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A million questions roaming around my noggin

Da_General

Da_General

Obnoxious Musician
All of them about the gameplan. OK, the obvious first...control the clock and keep Peyton off the field. We all know that.

Now, what next? We can't run ONLY. We'll have to mix in some sort of passing attack to keep the Indy defense honest. Without AJ, how does this work? Does somebody step in and run all of AJ's routes? If so, who? The other Andre (Davis)? OK, that seems possible. It seems to me that'd be the best way to keep our offensive consistency, rather than having another starter come over and run his routes and then have a 3rd person run THAT person's routes. Or are they all interchangeable? How well do our WRs know ALL of the routes and positions? And what about blocking on run plays? How do our WRs stack up at that job? Does anybody block as well as AJ? I saw one play in the Panthers game where AJ laid a GREAT block on a DB to help Leach get a few extra yards. Who can do that?

These are the questions I'm pondering as I try to imagine how the game will play out with AJ on the bench.
 
I know it was only preseason, and I know it was only Arizona, but only 5 of Matt Schaub's 108 yards went to AJ that game. Like I said, it's only preseason, but that's helping me cope right now. But he doesn't have tunnel vision. He's not David Carr.
 
With AJ out, Schaub will just have to use his other weapons so I expect a big dose of Green and Daniels. Hopefully, one of the receivers can step up and make plays.
 
Da_General said:
All of them about the gameplan. OK, the obvious first...control the clock and keep Peyton off the field. We all know that.

Now, what next? We can't run ONLY. We'll have to mix in some sort of passing attack to keep the Indy defense honest. Without AJ, how does this work? Does somebody step in and run all of AJ's routes? If so, who? The other Andre (Davis)? OK, that seems possible. It seems to me that'd be the best way to keep our offensive consistency, rather than having another starter come over and run his routes and then have a 3rd person run THAT person's routes. Or are they all interchangeable? How well do our WRs know ALL of the routes and positions? And what about blocking on run plays? How do our WRs stack up at that job? Does anybody block as well as AJ? I saw one play in the Panthers game where AJ laid a GREAT block on a DB to help Leach get a few extra yards. Who can do that?

These are the questions I'm pondering as I try to imagine how the game will play out with AJ on the bench.
Click to expand...

They'll rotate various guys through the different positions. Andre, Kevin, and Jacoby will all go through #1's routes. But most of the time, the pass isn't thrown to the #1 because he's the #1, it's thrown to whoever should be open based on the defense and IF he's open. If Indy plays a lot of cover 2, look for OD to see the ball a lot. Expect them to use AD and JJ to try to drive the zones back and then KW and OD attacking underneath.

I don't think Matt's going to have a problem throwing to other guys.

As for blocking, KW is a great blocker as well. I think one of the problems with Davis and Mathis is that they aren't as good in the run game. They're smaller and I don't think they can block as well. Now... JJ, I'm not sure. I haven't watched him block.

But expect some weird alignments to try to take advantage of matchups. Expect to see something like 2 TE/1WR alignments trying to get everyone in the box and then try to spring Jacoby deep.
 
I think Schaub will be able to adjust, as PencilNeck said, I look for some 2 TE sets where Putzier and OD are both options. Remember, we have a real QB now so it's not the "WR running the 5 yard curl or scramble" mentality. Plus, I think JJ will prove himself this game.
 
TexMexVato said:
With AJ out, Schaub will just have to use his other weapons so I expect a big dose of Green and Daniels. Hopefully, one of the receivers can step up and make plays.
Click to expand...

I expect the same thing. Also, why not send Green out wide, with Mathis in the slot?

Why not send Green to the slot and hand it off to Leach, and then throw it to Green across the middle and then in the flat the next time. Mix in some play action and hit OD across the middle.

Jacoby or Mathis will have to get deep once the safeties move up to stop the run or the dink and dunk. And Schaub has the ability to read the coverages, find the soft spot in the zone defense and spread it around. Their defense will have to be on their game to "stump the Schaub".

Our QB makes the whole team better.
 
Mathis? I doubt he'll see much time as a WR. I prefer JJ, Walter, and Davis over Mathis. I think Kubiak's made it clear he doesn't like Mathis as a receiver too much.
 
Da_General said:
All of them about the gameplan. OK, the obvious first...control the clock and keep Peyton off the field. We all know that.

Now, what next? We can't run ONLY. We'll have to mix in some sort of passing attack to keep the Indy defense honest. Without AJ, how does this work? Does somebody step in and run all of AJ's routes? If so, who? The other Andre (Davis)? OK, that seems possible. It seems to me that'd be the best way to keep our offensive consistency, rather than having another starter come over and run his routes and then have a 3rd person run THAT person's routes. Or are they all interchangeable? How well do our WRs know ALL of the routes and positions? And what about blocking on run plays? How do our WRs stack up at that job? Does anybody block as well as AJ? I saw one play in the Panthers game where AJ laid a GREAT block on a DB to help Leach get a few extra yards. Who can do that?

These are the questions I'm pondering as I try to imagine how the game will play out with AJ on the bench.
Click to expand...

Hard to answer questions with limited data.

The only information we have is how good the Texans offense looked in the preseason with either the first or second string QB in. Very plug and play. Obviously you want the best players you can get on the field, but I've heard Kubiak say a bunch of times that he doesn't want a team that is about one guy.

Some people were beyotching in the preseason that the Schaub run offense wasn't get the ball to Andre enough. He seemed to spread the ball around pretty well.

You know who Kubiak's biggest fan is? Denver WR Rod Smith. He is the only undrafted WR to have over 10,000 yards. He loves everything about Kubiak and credits him for his career success. Physically, he is nothing like AJ, but still did alright for himself.

I say, screw the million questions and let's just bust em in the mouth. Physical football, baby.
 
The Pencil Neck said:
They'll rotate various guys through the different positions. Andre, Kevin, and Jacoby will all go through #1's routes. But most of the time, the pass isn't thrown to the #1 because he's the #1, it's thrown to whoever should be open based on the defense and IF he's open. If Indy plays a lot of cover 2, look for OD to see the ball a lot. Expect them to use AD and JJ to try to drive the zones back and then KW and OD attacking underneath.

I don't think Matt's going to have a problem throwing to other guys.

As for blocking, KW is a great blocker as well. I think one of the problems with Davis and Mathis is that they aren't as good in the run game. They're smaller and I don't think they can block as well. Now... JJ, I'm not sure. I haven't watched him block.

But expect some weird alignments to try to take advantage of matchups. Expect to see something like 2 TE/1WR alignments trying to get everyone in the box and then try to spring Jacoby deep.
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I looked and found that AD is 6'1", JM is 5'11" and JJ is 6'2". I never thought of AD as a smaller guy before, but I guess by today's standards he is.

While I was looking at their profiles on CBS Sportsline, I noticed this blurb off to the side:

"Texans coach Gary Kubiak said he isn't sure who will start at WR in place of the injured Andre Johnson for Houston's Week 3 game vs. the Colts. He said Kevin Walter, Jacoby Jones, Jerome Mathis and Andre' Davis will play a near-equal amount. "I haven't made that decision yet," Kubiak said. "We're just going to keep working all four of them. They're all going to play. They're probably going to rotate every two plays together, keep them fresh."

That kind of answers a lot of my questions. And if they're all playing to keep fresh, that kind of implies that they will be using their speed quite a bit, something that none of them are lacking (except for maybe KW).

The beauty of this is that the Colts have no idea what's coming, and I think we have a good shot at catching them out of position occasionally. This has the potential for a few good big plays, and we KNOW that Kubiak and Sherman will take risks and go for it when they get the chance. I'm liking our chances more and more as I keep contemplating the possibilities!

2 TE/1 WR...bizarre for us...

Hey, why not run-n-shoot while we're at it? Or have the 3 speedier WRs have a footrace for the endzone? Wow, Sunday can't get here fast enough!!!
 
Da_General said:
2 TE/1 WR...bizarre for us...

Hey, why not run-n-shoot while we're at it? Or have the 3 speedier WRs have a footrace for the endzone? Wow, Sunday can't get here fast enough!!!
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2 TE/1 WR? Bizarre? I believe that was our alignment on the 77 yard TD pass to AJ against the Chiefs.

KW is looked at as more of a possession type of receiver but I seem to recall his 40 time is pretty low too. Nothing like Jerome's 4.27 or Jacoby's 4.24 (he didn't run that well at the combine), but still in the 4.4 range.

So far this season, we've gone to empty backfield and 3 WR sets several times.
 
Da_General said:
Was it really? WOW, how did I miss that! Methinks I need to pay closer attention when we come up to the line!
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Yep. I just went back to the game and brought the play up. It's an I formation. On the left side of the line, there are 2 TE's (one on the line and the second in a flanker type of position), and on the right side, there's AJ split out wide. That makes it look like we're going to run behind those two TE's and caused the safety to sneak up in run support.

God.

I love watching that play.
 
The Pencil Neck said:
Yep. I just went back to the game and brought the play up. It's an I formation. On the left side of the line, there are 2 TE's (one on the line and the second in a flanker type of position), and on the right side, there's AJ split out wide. That makes it look like we're going to run behind those two TE's and caused the safety to sneak up in run support.

God.

I love watching that play.
Click to expand...

That's good coaching right there. Expect more of the same on Sunday.
 
We need to OWN the middle of the field on Sunday.

No matter whether is running the ball up the gut, or passing the ball to Owen, JJ, or Davis over the middle. Once we get those safeties up burn em on the outside with Mathis, JJ, or Davis. As we saw that last couple of games from the tacks and the Saints, the cornerbacks that were in Indy were products of the system. We should be able to pick on their new cbs, just like Manning did their old ones.
 
The Pencil Neck said:
Yep. I just went back to the game and brought the play up. It's an I formation. On the left side of the line, there are 2 TE's (one on the line and the second in a flanker type of position), and on the right side, there's AJ split out wide. That makes it look like we're going to run behind those two TE's and caused the safety to sneak up in run support.

God.

I love watching that play.
Click to expand...
If my memory hasn't failed me, I think we ran that set more than once.
 
I went back and review the first part of the Chiefs game, and saw some pretty interesting formations that we lined up in.

2nd play - 1 WR, 2 TEs, 2 RBs

5th play - 3 WRs, 2 TEs, empty backfield

6th play - 2 WRs, 2 TEs, 1 RB
Normal, right? Not really.
Both the 2 WRs lined up inside the TEs

7th play - 1 WR, 3 TEs, 1 RB
We had AJ on the far left
All 3 TEs stack close to the RT, with O.D. inside like an H-back, Bruener middle, and Putzier outside.
Green remained to block.

9th play - 1 WR, 2 TEs, 2 RBs

We never did have the same number of WRs on the field, on consecutive plays during that stretch.
That ought to give the Chiefs enough looks, and made it hard for them to substitute.
 
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