BradyManny

Time for my annual "why don't we run Maroney outside more often" thread. Please note that is not a Maroney bashing thread and is not really a reaction to his poor production yesterday.

Thinking back to the Jaguars playoff game, I remember Maroney have great success running off tackle. He certainly has the speed for it, and our OL seems built for it. So why don't we see it more often?

With one of our best run blockers out (Neal), I don't think we'll be consistently opening up running games early in the game. Once the defense was tired, Jordan was able to run over the D with success, but early in the game, there wasn't much, if any, room for Maroney to run. Wouldn't the added dimension of running outside the tackles slow the defensive penetration in the inside running game?

BradyToMoss

LoMo in between the tackles isn't cutting it, he's way too tentative.

How about some designed stretch type plays like the Colts run for Addai and let him find a seam on the outside, then hit it.

How about some delayed draws out of the shot gun as well as basic swing passes on misdirection plays.

It's clear, the guy needs space to utilize his burst. What I don't want to see is him running out of a 2-TE set with Heath Evans in the game, that has nothing but disaster written all over it.

What was nice to see yesterday was it looks like someone reads our board over there , we didn't see that wasted-down Heath Evans up the gut for -1 play. Hopefully that's gone for good.

BradyManny

I don't think its LoMo's fault. When there's holes, he has success. Football Outsiders had him as about the 6th most successful runner last season - basically meaning he's on the verge of getting into that elite group.

I really think its more to do with the OL. Maroney makes as much out of it as he can.

But I agree about running sweeps like the Colts do w Addai. I think we'd have great success with that. And Brady would be great with the play action out of it like Manning does - when he's back that is...I hate to advocate emulating the Colts, but its a successful play, and we have the tools for it now.

Box_O_Rocks

Maroney's so-called "poor production" is missing a critical measurement - the Pats scored on their first two drives with Maroney running the ball. After he left the game with a reported shoulder injury, it took Meriweather's interception to get the Pats into scoring position again. Maroney forced the Jesters to defend the run, an element apparently lost once it was just Morris and Faulk running the rock.

The outside zone or "stretch" play the Colts use is also run by New England. If you have a team who sets the edge well and turns the run back inside it isn't as effective - think back to the NE 2003 & 2004 defenses shutting down the Colts in the playoffs. NE ran inside zone plays aganst the Jesters, partly, I'm sure, because the stronger run blockers tend to be Mankins, Koppin, and Neal (Yates in this case). With the loss of Graham, the NE TEs haven't been as effective blocking - that may be a factor. It's also a slower developing play, with the increase in defensive speed within the league, that makes it a more difficult play to execute.

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BradyManny

Good points all around.

Again, I wasn't trying to say something negative about Maroney here - I thought he gained as much yardage as possible on every carry he had. He was making good cuts and making something out of nothing a lot. There were a lot of green jerseys around him. I'm just trying to think of a way they can get Maroney some open space to work in.

Spiral

Just a thought--Steven Neal is much more mobile than Yates or Hochstein. May have to wait until (if?) he gets back in the lineup to see more outside runs.

sieglo

Cassel is actually better running the stretch play than Brady since he's quicker to get to the point of handoff.

fourthandmiles

[QUOTE=BradyToMoss;1037578]
How about some delayed draws out of the shot gun as well as basic swing passes on misdirection plays.
QUOTE]

As long as the do something about that damn draw play the kept running last year that seemed to NEVER work. Anyone know why that never worked?

Thanks for a great question on a subject (LoMo) that gets so negative attention.