Content Post Unofficial Offensive Line Analysis Thread, Week 1 Miami 2014

I think it is safe to say right now there is no hotter topic concerning Patriot football than the current performance and prospectus of the offensive line. Specifically as it pertains to pass blocking.

I invite those who have a little time to spare to join me as I attempt to go into deeper detail of the offensive line's performance against the very good pass rush of the Miami Dolphins.

For those of you who remember my offensive line breakdowns from a few years ago, I will be taking a much more "as I go along" approach here, and may be hampered by time constraints this week, so please feel free to contribute, keeping in mind we are striving for useful, play-oriented details here. I will probably not have time to post picture breakdowns myself but we'll see.

Useful, play-oriented details to follow:

***************************************************************

Disclaimer first: my demerits and analysis occur without knowing the play call or blocking rules for said play call and I cannot really determine whether a lineman opened the wrong way, didn't pick up a stunt he should have, or some other mental aspect of the game. Also I didn't see the game, and am currently working through a recording, 2nd half first, as that seemed to be the more interesting half.

The 2nd half play breakdown I ended up with:


That may not be all that useful to you. Here's some takeaways in plain English:

1. The Pats opened the 2nd half with a line featuring Wendell at C and Connolly at RG. This four play drive began with Wendell being driven back into Brady's five step drop by the nose tackle, and ended with Cameron Wake's strip sack of Brady over and around Hoomanawanui, with Ridely not providing any help. In between were a running play, and a play where the Dolphins only rushed three.

Given Devey's subsequent frequent struggles it is somewhat surprising they did not pull him for Wendell, but perhaps because Wendell getting sumo-wrestled into the QB has historically been his big problem the coaching staff felt they might as well go with the devil they didn't know and get some tape on him.

1b. Incidentally, Connolly had his own problems anchoring against the nose on the fifth drive. But it was only one play out of a whole half of work and otherwise I thought he was solid. He's very quick to the second level still.

1c. Just to make sure it's clear: "unanchor" is when the lineman is engaged in a block but gets walked back into the QB. All other demerits involve the lineman somehow losing position and contact with the rusher.

2. There was (and this is a common theme since I've been on this board) a lot of complaining about not enough screens to slow down the Miami pass rush. You will note that above I have freely handed out blocking demerits to Solder, Cannon, and Devey for their contributions to the screen game. In Cannon and Devey's cases, they did not slow down their DT's, Starks and Odrick respectively, enough to stop the screen from getting chased down from behind, or from the DT getting into the pass lane.

The Pats did not screen as much as you wanted not because they didn't think of it, but because it didn't work. Miami's defensive line sniffed nearly every one of them out.

3. The difference between Pressure and Knockdown sometimes is whether I see contact with Brady when the ball's released.

4. There were at least two plays where a DT split the gap between Connolly and Devey, after making contact with Devey first, and Connolly being otherwise unoccupied and looking at something else. It's hard to tell whether Connolly is at fault for not providing better help. The "mike" call Brady gives at the line determines which "way" Connolly goes to split the line into 3/2 blocks, and when its obvious he's going away from the problem I don't count it.

5. Please note that all of Vollmer's negative plays came after the 3rd drive, where Solder and Devey both lost their men causing Brady and two rushers to crash into the back of Vollmer's legs. He had to be subbed out for Flemming on the next play. Flemming did not distinguish himself kicking out against Wake on the next play, which fortunately was an inside draw.

Here is the above tabulated for your enjoyment:


If anyone remembers the line play of Week 1 2008, aka the Bernard Pollard game, Devey's performance reminds me of Billy Yates. I would be very surprised if after film consultation he was in the starting lineup, or even active, for Week 2. Vollmer I interpret as an injury-affected performance, and Connolly and Cannon were serviceable for a debut in new positions. That leaves Solder and Devey as the real concerns, and of the two Solder has a track record, had the harder job, and had fewer problem plays. Huge number of problem plays for Devey and I didn't notice any decisive wins. Just seemed to be a warm body in there. To his credit his 4th quarter was less horrible than his 3rd.

If I had to pick the player with the most decisive "wins" it would be Cannon. Several times he was able to stand up his man solo. Please keep in mind that, just as back in the old Light/Mankins days, that does not necessarily make him the best player on the line. Guards have it easier than tackles. Which makes the ****show on the other side of the line pretty amazing really.

This is something of a positive takeaway here: I feel if the Pats can find a RG it will go a long way to solidifying the OL and letting the offense function. Cannon and Connolly, wherever he ends up playing, should be able to settle down after a couple of games, and Vollmer and Solder will hopefully bounce back from whatever is plaguing them. If the Pats have just a fifth JAG-level guy I think half the pressure in Brady's face we saw today goes away.

EDIT:
First half finally done.

Game totals:

Thanks much for this awesome analysis.

It's a life preserver while drowning in a sea of superficial knee jerk overreactions.

unoriginal said:

This is something of a positive takeaway here: I feel if the Pats can find a RG it will go a long way to solidifying the OL and letting the offense function. Cannon and Connolly, wherever he ends up playing, should be able to settle down after a couple of games, and Vollmer and Solder will hopefully bounce back from whatever is plaguing them. If the Pats have just a fifth JAG-level guy I think half the pressure in Brady's face we saw today goes away.

Click to expand...

Great analyis @unoriginal. Thanks for taking the time to break it down.

Out of curiosity, do you feel as though the RG could be a guy like Kline--or even Connelly (with Wendell going back to center)? Or are you suggesting making an outside acquisition somehow?

I think your analysis showed both inside + outside pressure fairly evenly, which is quite concerning.

I'm being mostly homerific tonight in the face of all the hysteria BUT I must say..I DO NOT get that 2nd half rotation with Wendy at center. I wanted Wendell GONE after the playoff loss LAST season. I do not know why the staff thinks he's suddenly going to morph into even an adequate starting center. If they are going to play Wendy, then for God's sake play Stork instead. What the hell is the DOWNSIDE?

Love your work, Unoriginal. Great effort, as usual.

I'll get into ranting about the makeup of in another thread, but one thing I did look at was Solder's work without Mankins on his right. On one of his sacks, it seemed like he'd first shied right, as if to help out the guard, before then trying to catch up to the speed rusher on the outside. I'm wondering how much of that sack was of the nature of what I saw from Mankins dealing with Wendell last year, where concern about the linemate to his right is leading to slower work for the guy getting the 'blame'.

Solder's never going to be the player I think many thought he would, but I don't he was done any favors by this being the first real game he'd played without Mankins to bolster him.

unoriginal said:

I think it is safe to say right now there is no hotter topic concerning Patriot football than the current performance and prospectus of the offensive line. Specifically as it pertains to pass blocking.

I invite those who have a little time to spare to join me as I attempt to go into deeper detail of the offensive line's performance against the very good pass rush of the Miami Dolphins.

For those of you who remember my offensive line breakdowns from a few years ago, I will be taking a much more "as I go along" approach here, and may be hampered by time constraints this week, so please feel free to contribute, keeping in mind we are striving for useful, play-oriented details here. I will probably not have time to post picture breakdowns myself but we'll see.

Useful, play-oriented details to follow:

***************************************************************

Disclaimer first: my demerits and analysis occur without knowing the play call or blocking rules for said play call and I cannot really determine whether a lineman opened the wrong way, didn't pick up a stunt he should have, or some other mental aspect of the game. Also I didn't see the game, and am currently working through a recording, 2nd half first, as that seemed to be the more interesting half.

The 2nd half play breakdown I ended up with:

Code:

1st Drive 3rd 10:46
Solder - Cannon - Wendell - Connolly - Vollmer
1.    Pressure Wendell 90 Unanchor
2.    Three rush

3.    Run
4.    Hoomanawanui/Ridley Sack 91

2nd Drive 3rd 6:55
Solder - Cannon - Connolly - Devey - Vollmer
1.    Pressure Devey 94
2.    WR Screen left - Solder 50 Demerit
3.    Pressure Devey Connolly 91 Stunt

3rd Drive 3rd 2:58
Same
1.    Run
2.    Clean pocket

3.    Run / Holding Hoomanawanui
4.    Screen Right / Devey 94 Demerit
5.    Sack Devey 98 (Possible Connolly) Sack Solder 58
6.    Run (Fleming in for Vollmer)

4th Drive 4th 14:02
Same
1.    Three Rush
2.    Pressure Devey 94 Unanchor
3.    Sack Solder 50 Spin Move Inside Vollmer 91 Vereen

5th Drive 4th 11:02
Same
1.    Pressure Connolly 90 Unanchor
2.    Quick out OPI LaFell
3.    Draw
4.    Great pocket

6th Drive 4th 3:29
Same
1.    Cannon Knockdown Rip/Swim move 98 Pressure Vollmer 91
2.    Pressure Solder 50 Unanchor
3.    Pressure Solder 50 Step Up Pressure Devey 94 Unanchor
4.    Sack Vollmer 91

7th Drive 4th 2:44
Same
1.    Demerit Devey 90 Swim
2.    Screen left Cannon 98 Demerit
3.    Cannon Knockdown 98
4.    Clean

5.    CB dog left
6.    Devey Knockdown 94 Unanchor
7.    Devey Pressure 94 Unanchor Missed Stunt 91

8.    CB dog right
9.    3 man rush
10.    Draw
11.    Sneak

12.    Overload blitz right
13.    Solder Stunt Pressure 98
14.    CB dog right
15.    Pressure Vollmer 91

That may not be all that useful to you. Here's some takeaways in plain English:

1. The Pats opened the 2nd half with a line featuring Wendell at C and Connolly at RG. This four play drive began with Wendell being driven back into Brady's five step drop by the nose tackle, and ended with Cameron Wake's strip sack of Brady over and around Hoomanawanui, with Ridely not providing any help. In between were a running play, and a play where the Dolphins only rushed three.

Given Devey's subsequent frequent struggles it is somewhat surprising they did not pull him for Wendell, but perhaps because Wendell getting sumo-wrestled into the QB has historically been his big problem the coaching staff felt they might as well go with the devil they didn't know and get some tape on him.

1b. Incidentally, Connolly had his own problems anchoring against the nose on the fifth drive. But it was only one play out of a whole half of work and otherwise I thought he was solid. He's very quick to the second level still.

1c. Just to make sure it's clear: "unanchor" is when the lineman is engaged in a block but gets walked back into the QB. All other demerits involve the lineman somehow losing position and contact with the rusher.

2. There was (and this is a common theme since I've been on this board) a lot of complaining about not enough screens to slow down the Miami pass rush. You will note that above I have freely handed out blocking demerits to Solder, Cannon, and Devey for their contributions to the screen game. In Cannon and Devey's cases, they did not slow down their DT's, Starks and Odrick respectively, enough to stop the screen from getting chased down from behind, or from the DT getting into the pass lane.

The Pats did not screen as much as you wanted not because they didn't think of it, but because it didn't work. Miami's defensive line sniffed nearly every one of them out.

3. The difference between Pressure and Knockdown sometimes is whether I see contact with Brady when the ball's released.

4. There were at least two plays where a DT split the gap between Connolly and Devey, after making contact with Devey first, and Connolly being otherwise unoccupied and looking at something else. It's hard to tell whether Connolly is at fault for not providing better help. The "mike" call Brady gives at the line determines which "way" Connolly goes to split the line into 3/2 blocks, and when its obvious he's going away from the problem I don't count it.

5. Please note that all of Vollmer's negative plays came after the 3rd drive, where Solder and Devey both lost their men causing Brady and two rushers to crash into the back of Vollmer's legs. He had to be subbed out for Flemming on the next play. Flemming did not distinguish himself kicking out against Wake on the next play, which fortunately was an inside draw.

Here is the above tabulated for your enjoyment:

Code:

Name        Sack    Knockdown    Pressure    Demerit
Solder        2            3        1
Cannon            2                1
Connolly                2
Devey        1    1        5        2
Vollmer        2            2
Wendell                    1

If anyone remembers the line play of Week 1 2008, aka the Bernard Pollard game, Devey's performance reminds me of Billy Yates. I would be very surprised if after film consultation he was in the starting lineup, or even active, for Week 2. Vollmer I interpret as an injury-affected performance, and Connolly and Cannon were serviceable for a debut in new positions. That leaves Solder and Devey as the real concerns, and of the two Solder has a track record, had the harder job, and had fewer problem plays. Huge number of problem plays for Devey and I didn't notice any decisive wins. Just seemed to be a warm body in there. To his credit his 4th quarter was less horrible than his 3rd.

If I had to pick the player with the most decisive "wins" it would be Cannon. Several times he was able to stand up his man solo. Please keep in mind that, just as back in the old Light/Mankins days, that does not necessarily make him the best player on the line. Guards have it easier than tackles. Which makes the ****show on the other side of the line pretty amazing really.

This is something of a positive takeaway here: I feel if the Pats can find a RG it will go a long way to solidifying the OL and letting the offense function. Cannon and Connolly, wherever he ends up playing, should be able to settle down after a couple of games, and Vollmer and Solder will hopefully bounce back from whatever is plaguing them. If the Pats have just a fifth JAG-level guy I think half the pressure in Brady's face we saw today goes away.

Click to expand...

Did you get any kind of concrete numbers for how often they kept a TE close to the line as a pure blocking 6th OL in an attempt to go bigger, or maybe how often they used a guy like Devlin to stay home and pick up pressure as well?

I know these are rather amateur-type questions for someone like yourself, but I'm a bit surprised that we didn't have some type of way to combat this in a better manner, even if that meant keeping 6-7 OL and only sending 3 WRs out on short routes.

I know that we've all seen some examples of extreme pressure before, many times actually vs MIA over the years (21-0, etc), but this way just about every single play.

While our OL looked like complete crap at times, I also think some obvious kudos go to MIA, who likely has one of the nastier fronts in the league.

I somehow missed this. Thanks so much for the awesome analysis.

This echoes my basic thoughts:

1. The Pats' have 4/5 of a decent OL. Solder and Vollmer had poor games today. Interesting that Vollmer's poor play may have been related to his leg. That gives me some hope. But generally Solder and Vollmer are solid. Cannon seemed promising at LG, and Connolly still has some burst to his game. We're 1 lineman away from a decent OL.

2. I don't see any reason for Wendell to be a part of the long-term line plan. He's a backup at best, just not strong enough to anchor against NTs. That's a fatal flaw. So we either need Stork at center with Connolly at RG, or Connolly at center with someone else at RG. That "someone else" could be Fleming, Devey (though I'm not hopeful on that one - I think he's more of a backup) or a player not currently on the roster. Finding an RG may be the easier way to go, as that position needs mainly a tough, physical guy and does not require exceptional athleticism. If a huge anti-Incognito guy, but his skill set would address a big need right now, and a little toughness on the OL would not be amiss.

supafly said:

Out of curiosity, do you feel as though the RG could be a guy like Kline--or even Connelly (with Wendell going back to center)? Or are you suggesting making an outside acquisition somehow?

Click to expand...

I don't think Wendell going back to center is the long term answer. Even with Devey's horrendous struggles they didn't put Wendell back out there after that first series where he failed to anchor against the nose. Unless there was an injury I think that says they were giving Devey a baptism of fire and they wanted to see if he'd pull out of the tailspin. Maybe he did, I'm not the coaching staff, but overall I think there must be a better option on the team. Or the practice squad. Or possibly the street.

EDIT: forgot to answer the question fully. My guess is if I'm right about Devey doing so poorly the team will evaluate other options, I think they'll try Kline first if only because Connolly is better at center than guard. I would be surprised if they acquired from outside at this point. I think they are committed to finding a young, inexpensive player that can do the job.

Joker said:

I'm being mostly homerific tonight in the face of all the hysteria BUT I must say..I DO NOT get that 2nd half rotation with Wendy at center. I wanted Wendell GONE after the playoff loss LAST season. I do not know why the staff thinks he's suddenly going to morph into even an adequate starting center. If they are going to play Wendy, then for God's sake play Stork instead. What the hell is the DOWNSIDE?

Click to expand...

Throwing Stork out there if he's not ready to handle stunts and such would severely affect his confidence and the confidence of his line-mates and QB in him. Maybe that's why they left Devey out there? Stork seemed good against the Giants starters Preseason Week 4 but Devey didn't look anywhere near this bad either.

Deus Irae said:

Love your work, Unoriginal. Great effort, as usual.

I'll get into ranting about the makeup of in another thread, but one thing I did look at was Solder's work without Mankins on his right. On one of his sacks, it seemed like he'd first shied right, as if to help out the guard, before then trying to catch up to the speed rusher on the outside. I'm wondering how much of that sack was of the nature of what I saw from Mankins dealing with Wendell last year, where concern about the linemate to his right is leading to slower work for the guy getting the 'blame'.

Solder's never going to be the player I think many thought he would, but I don't he was done any favors by this being the first real game he'd played without Mankins to bolster him.

Click to expand...

An approximate time would help greatly. My guess is that this was the 13th play of the 7th drive, i.e. the end of the game, where #50 Vernon and #98 Odrick did a twist: Verson crashed inside, pinning Cannon, and Odrick looped around outside and around Solder. Solder went with Vernon inside and smashed him into Cannon which left him in poor position to pick up Odrick. That may be a communication issue between Cannon and Solder more than an actual blocking issue, but my interpretation was that Odrick became Solder's man and he therefore allowed the pressure.

But based upon the way Cannon and Solder physically handled their business in the 2nd half, I would think Cannon would be the one worried about Solder rather than vice versa.

supafly said:

Did you get any kind of concrete numbers for how often they kept a TE close to the line as a pure blocking 6th OL in an attempt to go bigger, or maybe how often they used a guy like Devlin to stay home and pick up pressure as well?

I know these are rather amateur-type questions for someone like yourself, but I'm a bit surprised that we didn't have some type of way to combat this in a better manner, even if that meant keeping 6-7 OL and only sending 3 WRs out on short routes.

Click to expand...

To my eye they did it a few times. Obviously they tried with Hoomanawanui on Wake and that did not go well. After Vollmer really started to struggle after hobbling to the bench the Pats actually used Gronkowski quite a few times over there as well, or RB chips, and sometimes both. Gronk didn't give up any pressures but he wasn't winning the battle cleanly either.

Speaking of RB chip blocks, on the 3rd play of the 4th drive Vereen's chip on Wake basically spun him off of Vollmer's block, and Wake would have gotten an official sack if Vernon hadn't got to Brady first. That was one of Vollmer's two sack demerits and hey **** happens.

NO ONE, NO ONE, NO ONE is proposing that Wendell is the long-term answer for anything. Wendell was the backup interior lineman in a day when it was 90 degrees out, and when one of the starters was an untested UDFA playing his first day. Wendell played 22 of the 86 reps.

The OL play isn't on Wendell. Perhaps Barker or Kline COULD have been playing instead of him. However, Belichick has chosen to have Wendell as a Game Day backup.

I am fine with Wendell as a backup center until Stork is ready. Of course, I am also OK if it is judged by Belichick that Barker is NOW better than Wendell in that role.
==================
QUESTIONS/ISSUES

1) Cannon is the new LG. How did this work with almost no work with Solder next to him in the preseason or in other games? Is Cannon the answer? What was the reason for "surprise" rather than preparation?

2) When will Stork be ready? Or rather, when will Stork-Connolly be a better choice that Connolly-Devey or Connolly-Kline?

3) Is Devey really better than Kline as a starter?

4) Is Devey really better than Kline as a Game Day backup?
=================
BOTTOM LINE

We've known that this day has been coming for at least two years. The old guard interior lineman had to be replaced. We've brought in UDFA's and 4th rounders as the replacements in these THREE positions.

In the end, we moved a OT in his contract year to LG (has he ever played there)?

I understand just how easy Belichick thinks it is to find OG's. I would suggest that centers are more difficult to find. And just maybe we should spend more than UDFA resources on TWO starting OG positions.

In any case, it is not a surprise to find that after using no serious resources on three positions at OL, we have serious problems on the OL.
============
To see this in another way, we are fine at center. We have an aging Connolly (playing OK), with a young backup being developed to start when he is ready. Connolly would still be a fine Game Day backup (well worth the money).

THE PROBLEM is at GUARD.

I'm interested to hear what Dan Koppen has to say tonight on CSNNE @ 7 PM. Supposedly he's going over the Xs and Os of the loss with Mike Giardi. If anyone in the media knows what went wrong, it would be Koppen.

mgteich said:

NO ONE, NO ONE, NO ONE is proposing that Wendell is the long-term answer for anything. Wendell was the backup interior lineman in a day when it was 90 degrees out, and when one of the starters was an untested UDFA playing his first day. Wendell played 22 of the 86 reps.

The OL play isn't on Wendell. Perhaps Barker or Kline COULD have been playing instead of him. However, Belichick has chosen to have Wendell as a Game Day backup.

I am fine with Wendell as a backup center until Stork is ready. Of course, I am also OK if it is judged by Belichick that Barker is NOW better than Wendell in that role.
==================
QUESTIONS/ISSUES

1) Cannon is the new LG. How did this work with almost no work with Solder next to him in the preseason or in other games? Is Cannon the answer? What was the reason for "surprise" rather than preparation?

2) When will Stork be ready? Or rather, when will Stork-Connolly be a better choice that Connolly-Devey or Connolly-Kline?

3) Is Devey really better than Kline as a starter?

4) Is Devey really better than Kline as a Game Day backup?
=================
BOTTOM LINE

We've known that this day has been coming for at least two years. The old guard interior lineman had to be replaced. We've brought in UDFA's and 4th rounders as the replacements in these THREE positions.

In the end, we moved a OT in his contract year to LG (has he ever played there)?

I understand just how easy Belichick thinks it is to find OG's. I would suggest that centers are more difficult to find. And just maybe we should spend more than UDFA resources on TWO starting OG positions.

In any case, it is not a surprise to find that after using no serious resources on three positions at OL, we have serious problems on the OL.
============
To see this in another way, we are fine at center. We have an aging Connolly (playing OK), with a young backup being developed to start when he is ready. Connolly would still be a fine Game Day backup (well worth the money).

THE PROBLEM is at GUARD.

Click to expand...

Like virtually every poster here, I'm a-okay with Cannon at guard. But I agree that there's a major criticism to be made here, and it's that if this was the plan, they should've made that move quite a while ago. Even if they didn't foresee this personnel grouping until after the Mankins trade, then IMO they should've sent Solder, Cannon and Connolly out for the first half of the fourth preseason game.

It's never a good thing to have that many guys playing together for the first time in week 1.

Thanks for the great analysis, Unoriginal!

This morning, Gresh & Zolak identified the Wake sack/Brady fumble play as THE turning point in the game. They said that Wendell was injured on the play and could not return and that Devey was overmatched at RG for the remainder of the afternoon.

unoriginal said:

I think it is safe to say right now there is no hotter topic concerning Patriot football than the current performance and prospectus of the offensive line. Specifically as it pertains to pass blocking.

...
This is something of a positive takeaway here: I feel if the Pats can find a RG it will go a long way to solidifying the OL and letting the offense function....

Click to expand...

What is Richie Incognito is up to these days? Still not convinced he is the villain that he is being portrayed to be. Will Dante Scarnechia will be consulted regarding this situation or as usual BB will go on with this "we are moving on" approach. We will have to wait and see. I will be very surprised if there are no roster moves before the vikings come to town.

IMO this is the best thread on the board today that was started yesterday...one page.

Meanwhile, the space aliens are going "Gun Hoe!!!" gonzo bananas in a bunch of threads about....Danny Amendola.It's either insanity or open trolling but somebody has to step in and put a stop to this. I posted this back in JUNE and it's coming to fruition just as I said it would. Crazy ,open liars are doing exactly what was said would NOT be allowed to happen.

It's a great thread ,Unoriginal...one I would have expected to be 10 pages long by now...the paucity of replies is a pretty sad indictment of the kind of "posts" that pass for discussion this season.

Was surprised by the rotation of the ring around the rosie they had yesterday. Did they not just have otas, training camp and preseason to figure this mess out? Definitely a work in progress it seems. Seems to be a combination of a lot of things. Most notably, talent, loss of Mankins,loss of Dante perhaps? Absolutely not ready for what came up in the 2nd half and the proper adjustments weren't made. Or perhaps they are just not talented enough ? At any rate,they have time to get this straight. I can't imagine this will be a every week thing where Brady is getting clobbered. They've got to get it figured out.

Overall performance in the 1st half wasn't too bad. They were getting some penetration and Brady was stepping up,but even then you could tell the pressure was there. 2nd half was a disaster and Miami has a couple of guys who can definitely take advantage and they did. Hooman was brought back for his blocking and he didn't look very good at it with a couple of key whiffs. Solder wasn't consistent enough for your starting LT. Too many fly byes to feel comfortable there.

We will see how it goes. I think they can turn this around with some precise practice and coaching to get the right grouping out there that works best.

Joker said:

IMO this is the best thread on the board today that was started yesterday...one page.

Meanwhile, the space aliens are going "Gun Hoe!!!" gonzo bananas in a bunch of threads about....Danny Amendola.It's either insanity or open trolling but somebody has to step in and put a stop to this. I posted this back in JUNE and it's coming to fruition just as I said it would. Crazy ,open liars are doing exactly what was said would NOT be allowed to happen.

It's a great thread ,Unoriginal...one I would have expected to be 10 pages long by now...the paucity of replies is a pretty sad indictment of the kind of "posts" that pass for discussion this season.

Click to expand...

Unoriginal broke down the line play for all to see. I've linked to it in other threads I think this work intimidates a lot of the posters, from all the various perspectives, but it's a great read for those who take the time to look it over.

Me, I love it. I still remember that incredible work he did on the Super Bowl in 2007. One of these years, I may actually decide to set up my computer to TV connection, get the games, and break things down from there with stills, clips and Photoshops (of course, having to learn Photoshop is one of the reasons I've never done this, but still). If I ever do, it'll be in a (no doubt) failed effort to come close to Unoriginal's level of work.

parthasas said:

What is Richie Incognito is up to these days? Still not convinced he is the villain that he is being portrayed to be. Will Dante Scarnechia will be consulted regarding this situation or as usual BB will go on with this "we are moving on" approach. We will have to wait and see. I will be very surprised if there are no roster moves before the vikings come to town.

Click to expand...

This offensive line could only stand to benefit with Incognito joining it. Excellent breakdown as always, unoriginal. I really missed these.

Deus Irae said:

Unoriginal broke down the line play for all to see. I've linked to it in other threads I think this work intimidates a lot of the posters, from all the various perspectives, but it's a great read for those who take the time to look it over.

Me, I love it. I still remember that incredible work he did on the Super Bowl in 2007. One of these years, I may actually break down, set up my computer to TV connection, get the games, and break things down from there with stills, clips and Photoshops (of course, having to learn Photoshop is one of the reasons I've never done this, but still). If I ever do, it'll be in a (no doubt) failed effort to come close to Unoriginal's level of work.

Click to expand...

No need to use Photoshop. If all you want to do is label use arrows, circle and the like, just use Microsoft OneNote's clipping feature to get stills in and use its tools to do the above.

KontradictioN said:

This offensive line could only stand to benefit with Incognito joining it. Excellent breakdown as always, unoriginal. I really missed these.

Click to expand...

I've said it before (and received some heat for it) and I'll say it again: I would welcome Incognito on this team as a one year stopgap.

Yes. Thank you. More Please.

I personally think the merry-go-round at C/G that they had going backfired as it didn't let the line get into a cohesive rhythm.