The Random Thought Thread

[Dom McRaven]

As far as the offense is concerned, I wouldn't mind seeing less RPO and more up-tempo. For the latter, I want it in spades just to get some sort of rhythm going. I think more throws to the outside will work if they're open because I'm sure defenses will try to take away the middle of the field.

 

[UPennChem]

Anyone else feel like we don't have a great home field advantage thus far during the Lamar era? I understand he's 25 and 5 which you don't get without winning a lot of home games, but I feel like most of the losses have been at home?

Regular season:
Lost 3 to KC. 2 on the road and 1 at home.
Lost 1 to Clevland at home.
Lost 1 to Pitt at home.

Playoffs:
Lost to Chargers on the road
Lost to Tenn at home.

That's 3 total road losses and and 4 total home losses. So pretty similar, but there's something weird about the fact I feel better going on the road for big games as opposed to at home. Also I just get so freaked out about Tuck saying M&T is the hardest place to kick. Idk just random thoughts

 

[rmcjacket23]

Anyone else feel like we don't have a great home field advantage thus far during the Lamar era? I understand he's 25 and 5 which you don't get without winning a lot of home games, but I feel like most of the losses have been at home?

Regular season:
Lost 3 to KC. 2 on the road and 1 at home.
Lost 1 to Clevland at home.
Lost 1 to Pitt at home.

Playoffs:
Lost to Chargers on the road
Lost to Tenn at home.

That's 3 total road losses and and 4 total home losses. So pretty similar, but there's something weird about the fact I feel better going on the road for big games as opposed to at home. Also I just get so freaked out about Tuck saying M&T is the hardest place to kick. Idk just random thoughts

Well, couple things here:
1. Both the playoff games were at home. We beat the Chargers on the road in regular season, then lost at home.
2. If you break it down by regular season only:
2018: 4-0 home, 2-1 road
2019: 6-1 home, 7-1 road
2020: 2-2 home, 4-0 road

Obvious answer is he's 0-3 against the Chiefs. Really doesn't seem to matter if its home or away, though I guess technically we played better in the road games (but so did our defense).

He's 25-2 against everybody else in regular season. Both losses were home losses to divisional rivals, though I can't really put much of the Cleveland loss on him. That was an epic defensive failure, and there's very little he could have done to win that game.

His actual stats do skew a bit more towards better numbers on the road, but I wouldn't say they're dramatically significant. His rushing is basically the same home/away, though he does seem more turnover prone at home for some reason.

 

[rmcjacket23]

Really have to give the defense credit. They have been playing their ass off minus the Chiefs game. This isn't like years prior where Lamar just kept them off the field. Best defense we've had in a while.

Wouldn't rush Calais back. Let him come back when he's fully there.

Generally agree. I think they're somewhat prone to having bad drives or segments of games, like the Eagles and Steelers games, for example, but they're certainly not getting beat up for 60 minutes very often. We typically play at least one half of really outstanding defense in each game.

That being said, we're about the same or slightly worse than the 2019 unit. Giving up about 25 yards/game more, slightly worse on rush defense. PPG allowed is basically flat though.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

Generally agree. I think they're somewhat prone to having bad drives or segments of games, like the Eagles and Steelers games, for example, but they're certainly not getting beat up for 60 minutes very often. We typically play at least one half of really outstanding defense in each game.

That being said, we're about the same or slightly worse than the 2019 unit. Giving up about 25 yards/game more, slightly worse on rush defense. PPG allowed is basically flat though.

i think any stat that would suggest 2019>2020 defense, is probably that way because the offense has put them on the field more often and in less favorable spots than they were last year

 

[drjohnnyfever]

i think any stat that would suggest 2019>2020 defense, is probably that way because the offense has put them on the field more often and in less favorable spots than they were last year

I was going to suggest that our OFF time of possession was much higher last year. I think that is maybe the most underrated stat in Football. That stat alone allows a well rested DEF to really get after it. I would have loved to see what last year's group would have been like with the addition of Campbell...

 

[rossihunter2]

So which of these is true or both?
1: We don't have a personnel issue and the offenses trouble is due to Lamar not executing and hitting the consistently open guy given what the line is giving him for time.
2: The defenses are selling out to shut down Andrews, Hollywood, and our outside runs and we have not been able to adjust and call and execute the right plays to take advantage of what they're giving up.

I think Lamar has had his moments this year where number 1 is true. And in those moments I think everyone including himself would tell you yeah the struggles there are in him. However, I think our biggest issue is number 2. We have a DECENT, offensive line, an extremely mobile QB, a track team around him, and willing blockers at TE and WR. If the defenses sell out on any 1 or 2 things, we have the POTENTIAL if we can diagnose it to call the right play that we know can be executed with our team to achieve the desired goal. I feel like we just haven't adapted our philosophy. The last 2 weeks second halves have been better than their firsts, but I don't think it's a good strategy to stink up the place every first half to come out and hope you can turn it around second half.

it's both but neither of those are the biggest problem right now:

the biggest problem is the offensive line - it's inconsistent at best and frequently blows assignments and fails to execute on an individual basis - our problems on offence start and end with the offensive line (and Lamar)

there are plays we can make vs the adjustments other teams have made but Lamar has to make those throws and the OL has to execute their blocking assignments and not get blown up into the backfield

against the Colts (especially in the first half) all 3 of our interior OL guys were blown up at various points but also they were missing blocks in level 2 as well which compounds the issue because not only are you getting fewer yards before first contact but now even when you do have the chance to break a bigger run (or screen) we're not making the most of those schematic wins either...

the OL has to execute

that's not to say Lamar's been perfect or has played well - but the biggest problem right now with this offence is the OL

 

[rossihunter2]

As far as the offense is concerned, I wouldn't mind seeing less RPO and more up-tempo. For the latter, I want it in spades just to get some sort of rhythm going. I think more throws to the outside will work if they're open because I'm sure defenses will try to take away the middle of the field.

RPO worked so well in the 2nd half vs the colts though - it was partly what helped open up our passing game (and offence in general)

 

[rossihunter2]

i think any stat that would suggest 2019>2020 defense, is probably that way because the offense has put them on the field more often and in less favorable spots than they were last year

yeah yards/game stats probably not a useful comparison - yards/drive would be more useful given the dramatic change in number of possessions from last year to this year

 

[JO_75]

The NFL just did the opposite of what this is supposed to do. I get the NFL wants more minority coaches but rewarding draft picks for them getting hired? Who is going to hire Eric Bieniemy in KC now because giving the Chiefs two more picks is the worst thing you can do when the goal is to beat them, not to help them stay good. This is going to have the opposite impact the NFL thinks it will have.

 

[cdp]

The NFL just did the opposite of what this is supposed to do. I get the NFL wants more minority coaches but rewarding draft picks for them getting hired? Who is going to hire Eric Bieniemy in KC now because giving the Chiefs two more picks is the worst thing you can do when the goal is to beat them, not to help them stay good. This is going to have the opposite impact the NFL thinks it will have.

Did you really expect the NFL & the owners to come up with a well-rounded solution?

 

[JoeyFlex5]

The NFL just did the opposite of what this is supposed to do. I get the NFL wants more minority coaches but rewarding draft picks for them getting hired? Who is going to hire Eric Bieniemy in KC now because giving the Chiefs two more picks is the worst thing you can do when the goal is to beat them, not to help them stay good. This is going to have the opposite impact the NFL thinks it will have.

this is an extreme measure, and i dont mean in that in a good way.

 

[rossihunter2]

The NFL just did the opposite of what this is supposed to do. I get the NFL wants more minority coaches but rewarding draft picks for them getting hired? Who is going to hire Eric Bieniemy in KC now because giving the Chiefs two more picks is the worst thing you can do when the goal is to beat them, not to help them stay good. This is going to have the opposite impact the NFL thinks it will have.

the initial proposal was to reward teams that hired those minority coaches which had different problems

i dont have much of an issue with this - teams are already not hiring minority coaches so the threat of 2 3rd round comp picks isnt really going to stop teams from hiring someone (especially with how hit or miss those picks usually are)

but a forward thinking team is going to look at the potential gains of that situation and in the long run it means that minority coaches should have better chances at advancing to positions within coaching rosters that allow them to showcase themselves better for potential senior roles elsewhere (or within their own organisation)

part of the hiring issues has been that minority coaches (especially black coaches) have been pushed towards the defensive side of the ball or into less-pass-focused roles like RB coach which in turn means there's a clear ceiling on their progression - very few defensive coaches are getting hired to HC roles and very few RB coaches are getting offensive coordinator roles (or QB coach roles) which is traditionally the type of role that gets you HC jobs on the offensive side

this is an incentive for teams to give chances to talented coaches for selfish reasons

and if it doesnt work then it cant have any worse effect than the problem the league currently has where Eric Bieniemy can't get hired but guys like Adam Gase get multiple years to fail at multiple teams and fill-in-the-blank white QB coach who once looked at McVay can get a HC job

it's not an elegant solution and I'm not sure it's the one I would have come up with but it's a problem that requires some affirmative action to solve and this is an attempt to do that

 

[airconteka]

2 3rds is a lot though

 

[Edgar]

Just watching Harrison/Queen over the last two weeks with Harrison seeing a lot more time this week;

We knew Harrison was better taking on and shedding but he actually shows better than Queen in coverage.

 

[rossihunter2]

Just watching Harrison/Queen over the last two weeks with Harrison seeing a lot more time this week;

We knew Harrison was better taking on and shedding but he actually shows better than Queen in coverage.

Harrison absolutely popped Quenton Nelson coming downhill on one play too - literally rocked him back in the hole then shed to make the tackle - he comes downhill better than any LB in the class - when he's in the game he's clearly being given more strong-side responsibilities than Queen (which is what we expected)

from what ive seen so far i think its important to differentiate their coverages - Harrison has a great feel for zones especially when given the hook/curl responsibility and he has a lot of experience at that from his time in Ohio and you saw it in the senior bowl practices too - he knows his limitations and he understands the ability his length gives him - he's had some promising moments in man-coverage but that's where his weakness lies

there's still no making up for hair-trigger speed and when Queen triggers it's special and he's physical but in a different way to Harrison - he's way more raw in coverage than Harrison - he can be taken advantage of and sometimes gets pulled out of his zone by the QBs eyes

 

[airconteka]

The draft class is awesome. 5 starters basically.

 

[Dom McRaven]

The draft class is awesome. 5 starters basically.

And don't forget Proche (assuming he wasn't part of your 5).

 

[gtalk12]

Tell me how I almost hugged a random guy today at a target in south Florida

I mistook him for EDC for a second behind a Ravens mask Lmfaoooo

 

[airconteka]

And don't forget Proche (assuming he wasn't part of your 5).

I actually meant to say 4 but lets go with that lol