The way you game plan for an overly aggressive defense is to perfect your screens, draws and quick passes. Make them play honest in their base defense then things will open up offensively.
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The way you game plan for an overly aggressive defense is to perfect your screens, draws and quick passes. Make them play honest in their base defense then things will open up offensively.
I just watched the game via NFL Game Rewind & the one problem was Alex Smith was inaccurate on a couple of throws that he should have had, although at least he did not try to force it and he did not have any picks. Let's hope Alex has a better day throwing the football this coming Sunday against the Texans.
Not enough Off-Tackle smash plays were run to Eric Fisher's side of the field. Only 3 times did they do it and the Raiders didn't stop it. Take advantage of Fisher's drive-blocking ability, as he often overpowers defenders on running plays and drives them 10-15 yards off the line of scrimmage. Fisher struggled early, but from the middle of the 2nd QTR on he was OK. They need to give Fisher more of an opportunity to put defenders on their heels, instead of the other way around.
The O-Line was not the problem with the Offense in the 2nd half, it was just poor throws and receivers not getting open. McGrath did not catch a pass. Give credit to the Raiders Defense as they played well & constantly changed their defensive looks & coverages.
Hopefully, the Offense will get on track sooner rather than later, as it's going to be needed down the stretch.
Thanks for the insights. Good to be able to watch the game when you are not actually wrapped up in it.
While watching the game it really did seem to me that Alex Smith was having an off game. Without a doubt he was getting chased a lot, but it did seem to me that when he did get a little time to throw and there was a man open (not often enough) that he was not throwing as accurately as usual. Add that to his being chased and receivers not getting open and the game could easily have gone the wrong way.
But as seems to often be the case with our offense, in the end they did score enough points to win the game (with a lot of help from the D) and our defense slammed the door on any Raider dreams of a come-back in the 4th quarter.
So I guess I can't complain....though these games that are still up in the air in the 4th quarter are certainly killing my nerves.
GO CHIEFS!!!!!!
I noticed those throws as well. There was one to Avery that could have been a td that was overthrown. There was one to Mcgrath that was overthrown badly and a screen to Charles that was overthrown. That's where I think the O line getting in his head was. He just seemed to be rushing the throws when he didn't need to. It was a bad day for Smith and he'll have to get better if this team is going to win many more games.
All in all, if the Offense was going to have an off day, then yesterdays game against Oakland was the time to do it with the Chiefs Defense being so dominant in the 2nd half.
But they cannot rely on that on a weekly basis and that was something Marty relied to heavily on and exactly why Marty could not win in the post-season. If the issue isn't resolved, then you are probably looking at the same scenario as 1995.
There is certainly some truth and logic to what you say, but I am not entirely certain this team couldn't win a playoff game or two with the Offense playing the way it has been. I don't think we will know the answer to that for sure until we have played Denver twice and the Colts. If our offense continues to play about like they have been and we win one or two of those then I'd say we have a decent chance against any team we meet in the playoffs....especially if we were to go in as a Wildcard.
I am not saying we CAN make a serious playoff run without a substantially improved Offense, but I'm not at all convinced that we can't.
But certainly any chance of making the SuperBowl will need our Offense to show more life than they have.
Who'd have really thought 8 weeks ago that we would be having conversations like this today???
Agreed, on many points. Just to mix it up, maybe Reid out to try a game where the playcalling is 60/40 run/pass as opposed to the other way around. I'm not sure where the Texans D stands on rushing defense, but would think it'd give their DC fits if he came in with a game plan based on stopping a west coast style passing attack, with linebackers looking for screen plays. Our O-line is either young or banged up (or a combination of both...) so I'd think putting those guys into a position where they can focus on just driving people backwards would be the way to go. Also would be great to see Davis and Sherman get some reps, too.
Certainly would seem like a good way to confuse an opponent's DC. Though trying to fix what seems to be working OK worries me.