Running game woes: theories and what happened to the Faulk draw /delay play?

In some respects the delayed RB swing passes to White work like our draw play. Unlike Faulk, Woodhead, and Lewis, White does not break tackles well inside. He seems to utterly lack balance when changing direction, and he goes down at first contact. In the open field with a head of steam, it's a different story. If our OL blocked the delay better and he could get to the second level, I think we'd see the play more often, but White is the rare NFL RB who gets laid-out by arm tackles, so the holes need to bigger than they did with our prior three scat backs.

pencilneckgeek said:

In some respects the delayed RB swing passes to White work like our draw play. Unlike Faulk, Woodhead, and Lewis, White does not break tackles well inside. He seems to utterly lack balance when changing direction, and he goes down at first contact. In the open field with a head of steam, it's a different story. If our OL blocked the delay better and he could get to the second level, I think we'd see the play more often, but White is the rare NFL RB who gets laid-out by arm tackles, so the holes need to bigger than they did with our prior three scat backs.

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Fair points. I recognize that White just doesn't have the inside shiftiness/ strength that Lewis/Faulk had. However, you still need to complete the pass versus simply hand the ball off, and so the delay still has a better percentage of execution. Moreover, part of the function of a good draw play is not only that it can be successful (on occasion!), but, importantly, it helps slow down the pass rush a bit -- in theory, it at least should give pass rushers something to think about during the pass rush. The swing pass doesn't necessarily affect the rush in the same way.

So, I am going to maintain, futilely, that it could have a limited role in our game plan in Denver. Josh, are you reading this?

If there's one play I hate, it's the draw running play out of the shotgun.

archstanton543 said:

If there's one play I hate, it's the draw running play out of the shotgun.

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I don't, if you have a back (Faulk, Lewis) who can run it successfully.

I don't ever want to see James White run it, for example.

what happened to the Faulk draw /delay play?

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Faulk retired
Woodhead went to the Chargers
Vereen, who wasn't great at it anyway, went to the Giants
Lewis blew out his knee
White's not a good enough runner for it as a staple

So what do we do when Denver plays eight in pass coverage and dares the Pats to run?

TB_Helmet said:

Haha yeah, that play is probably the one that is hated the most by fans.

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I don't hate the play itself. It can be effective. I hate that McD routinely calls it after a long incompletion. Between the incompletion and the almost always stuffed draw, the series is over. The combination is just throwing away a possession.

I don't mind an occasional draw but a Delay would consistently leave us in 2nd or 3rd and long...Defenders get into our backfield too easily on running plays.

It's a game plan offense and they were quite happy passing last week. I can see Jackson getting carries if the opposition warrants. white just isn't a good NFL back, but he's a good receiver.

No reason, with a possible 2 games left, to force something when the passing game was well in synch Saturday.

Hopefully, we use Jackson more in the passing game. If he catches a couple passes out of the backfield or our passing game otherwise starts moving down the field in a hurry-up with him in there, the draw/delay could suddenly become much more effective. Unfortunately, the speed of Denver's pass rush will probably keep TB in the shotgun, and the delay doesn't seem to work as well as a fake. Maybe if they changed it to a shuffle pass, so the RB doesn't hang around suspiciously nonchalantly right next to TB12.

pencilneckgeek said:

In some respects the delayed RB swing passes to White work like our draw play. Unlike Faulk, Woodhead, and Lewis, White does not break tackles well inside. He seems to utterly lack balance when changing direction, and he goes down at first contact. In the open field with a head of steam, it's a different story. If our OL blocked the delay better and he could get to the second level, I think we'd see the play more often, but White is the rare NFL RB who gets laid-out by arm tackles, so the holes need to bigger than they did with our prior three scat backs.

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I don't agree on White. He shakes off hits and tacklers effectively. He doesn't get opportunities in the middle.