Will Bill Honor Dante's Promise To Review The New Schemes Before Game One?

[mgteich]

Dante indicated that the changes in blocking scheme was an experiment and would be evaluated before the season started, with us going back to previous schemes if the new scheme is deemed not to be working.

I know that Dante does speak for the team, and there are two weeks of hard evaluation to come.

However, I think that it is reasonable to stop and evaluate.

 

[Ring 6]

Dante indicated that the changes in blocking scheme was an experiment and would be evaluated before the season started, with us going back to previous schemes if the new scheme is deemed not to be working.

I know that Dante does speak for the team, and there are two weeks of hard evaluation to come.

However, I think that it is reasonable to stop and evaluate.

Huh? They are constantly evaluating. They evaluate ever play, player, practice and game as part of their every day routine.
They do not say “hey let’s try something and in a month we can look back and see if we like it”
There really isn’t any change that needs to be made.
The offense has man blocking plays and zone blocking plays. Always has and always will. What works best is what will be used, and it will be some combination of both.
This off-season they had a perception that maybe outside zone runs might be a good fit with this roster. If it turns out to be correct they will run a lot of them. If not they will run only a few. Just like every other concept, play or package they have ever used.

 

[TheRainMaker]

I think Bill should scrap it as their blocking scheme was just fine last year. The best teacher of this is Kyle Shanahan.

 

[upstater1]

We tried this scheme in 2015 with DeGugliemo. It was a nightmare year for QB sacks. I'm sure Brady was not thrilled. So Dante came back and we ditched it.

 

[Wozzy]

The zone blocking has been horrendous... it has been the reason for most of the offensive struggles.

When does the coaching staff expect it to start working? Week 1? Week 8?

The time to reevaluate is now. It's not working.

 

[Ring 6]

We tried this scheme in 2015 with DeGugliemo. It was a nightmare year for QB sacks. I'm sure Brady was not thrilled. So Dante came back and we ditched it.

We never ditched it, we have always used it. That comes from the mouth of Dante
We will use it this year too, the question is how much.

I’m not sure how you connect zone RUN blocking with sacks.
And FYI Brady was sacked exactly as frequently in 2015 as in 2017.

 

[Wozzy]

I'm going to make a statement about game three of preseason, specifically the first quarter and a half when Mac and the starters were out there, and keeping in mind these are the Pat's starters versus mostly backups on the Raiders.

Outside of three "zone blocking" rushing attempts... which is the only thing people seem to remember about "blocking" in reading comments after this game, the blocking in this game was otherwise superb. Not just the offensive linemen... but the TE's, RB's and WR's as well.

In rushing, the "must have" plays on short downs where the O-Line fired out ahead or gap blocked it, they got the tough yards they needed. They created some big plays as well.

In passing, on the very first drive they were behind the count because of a "zone blocked" run for negative -4 yards previously. Mac dropped back to pass and had the cleanest pocket you could hope for, for some ungodly reason he ran outside anyway instead of just stepping up and passing. Opening drive nerves perhaps, they've been working on a lot of rollout passes the entire camp... but the pocket was clean. Any pressure he faced after that was because the clock ran out and nobody was open... he had forever to throw. Five seconds is a long time in the NFL.

Take away three zone blocks that all went for net zero or negative yards, and the blocking was great. They weren't scheming up a lot of offensive plays, they weren't scheming guys open, so there simply weren't enough guys open or the timing was off between QB and receiver.

They need to scrap the outside zone garbage or dial it back to where they use it in spurts like in the past... the zone run looks like sht.

If watching that quarter and a half tells you everything in 2022 is doomed, then you should probably go back to watching Antiques Roadshow instead.

One failed attempt at a scheme tweak in preseason doesn't make a season.

 

[Hyped]

Did not see the game yet. Will watch tape when I get home. But...tweaks are not permanent.

 

[Triumph]

Could somebody break down this film clip and point out what the OL did wrong?

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Could somebody break down this film clip and point out what the OL did wrong?

Did you see the diving tackle by Strange? Very impressive. That guy has cojones.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Could somebody break down this film clip and point out what the OL did wrong?

This was a Drew Bledsoe type play that would drive us nuts. He just flat didn't see the LB hiding there.

Andrews was getting blown up though.

 

[Wozzy]

Could somebody break down this film clip and point out what the OL did wrong?

When you look at it from the backside on the replay Bourne sat down in the defense when I believe Mac thought he would keep running. Mac ended up throwing a bad ball, one I bet he wishes he had back. He also had Jonnu open in the flat below waiting for the check down, which would have been the smart play on first down.

Mac and Zappe both threw one really bad ball last night, both ended up in INT's.

Preseason is for practice.

 

[Family]

Could somebody break down this film clip and point out what the OL did wrong?

The comments about the OL doing mostly a good job blocking are correct, but mostly it took 5 guys to block 3 or 6 to block 4, so our receivers who are average at separation were double covered, and of course there was Mac.

 

[Zuma]

When you look at it from the backside on the replay Bourne sat down in the defense when I believe Mac thought he would keep running. Mac ended up throwing a bad ball, one I bet he wishes he had back. He also had Jonnu open in the flat below waiting for the check down, which would have been the smart play on first down.

Mac and Zappe both threw one really bad ball last night, both ended up in INT's.

Preseason is for practice.

And Stevenson was there to block for Jonnu...they had room to run.

 

[Zuma]

I'm going to make a statement about game three of preseason, specifically the first quarter and a half when Mac and the starters were out there, and keeping in mind these are the Pat's starters versus mostly backups on the Raiders.

Outside of three "zone blocking" rushing attempts... which is the only thing people seem to remember about "blocking" in reading comments after this game, the blocking in this game was otherwise superb. Not just the offensive linemen... but the TE's, RB's and WR's as well.

In rushing, the "must have" plays on short downs where the O-Line fired out ahead or gap blocked it, they got the tough yards they needed. They created some big plays as well.

In passing, on the very first drive they were behind the count because of a "zone blocked" run for negative -4 yards previously. Mac dropped back to pass and had the cleanest pocket you could hope for, for some ungodly reason he ran outside anyway instead of just stepping up and passing. Opening drive nerves perhaps, they've been working on a lot of rollout passes the entire camp... but the pocket was clean. Any pressure he faced after that was because the clock ran out and nobody was open... he had forever to throw. Five seconds is a long time in the NFL.

Take away three zone blocks that all went for net zero or negative yards, and the blocking was great. They weren't scheming up a lot of offensive plays, they weren't scheming guys open, so there simply weren't enough guys open or the timing was off between QB and receiver.

They need to scrap the outside zone garbage or dial it back to where they use it in spurts like in the past... the zone run looks like sht.

If watching that quarter and a half tells you everything in 2022 is doomed, then you should probably go back to watching Antiques Roadshow instead.

One failed attempt at a scheme tweak in preseason doesn't make a season.

I don't believe for one minute that BB will continue to force zone blocking any further...no ****ing way. Maybe he never intended to use it much but wanted to get the guys to understand what to do when needed. Or maybe it's a Miami smoke screen. I just can't beleive this will continue. Against Miami...I fully expect to see gap blocking and the Mac Jones we saw last season along with the other players.

 

[paco130]

I think Bill should scrap it as their blocking scheme was just fine last year. The best teacher of this is Kyle Shanahan.

Scrap it!!!

 

[catent]

My guess is that they want to be able to zone block effectively in order to make their offense less predictable and more diverse/flexible. I don't think it's a wholesale scheme change, nor do I think they are committed to being a "zone blocking team", per se. I think they realize the impact of effective zone runs and the strain that puts on a defense in order to defend it (and the associated looks, PA bootlegs, etc). I also think some of these changes are being made in order to craft an offense that's better suited to Mac's natural skills and aptitudes.

Will the offense eventually become consistently effective with zone blocking schemes? I don't know, but I do think it's a good thing to practice and I don't mind them struggling in the process of practicing.

 

[StrawHatPatriot]

I'm going to make a statement about game three of preseason, specifically the first quarter and a half when Mac and the starters were out there, and keeping in mind these are the Pat's starters versus mostly backups on the Raiders.

Outside of three "zone blocking" rushing attempts... which is the only thing people seem to remember about "blocking" in reading comments after this game, the blocking in this game was otherwise superb. Not just the offensive linemen... but the TE's, RB's and WR's as well.

In rushing, the "must have" plays on short downs where the O-Line fired out ahead or gap blocked it, they got the tough yards they needed. They created some big plays as well.

In passing, on the very first drive they were behind the count because of a "zone blocked" run for negative -4 yards previously. Mac dropped back to pass and had the cleanest pocket you could hope for, for some ungodly reason he ran outside anyway instead of just stepping up and passing. Opening drive nerves perhaps, they've been working on a lot of rollout passes the entire camp... but the pocket was clean. Any pressure he faced after that was because the clock ran out and nobody was open... he had forever to throw. Five seconds is a long time in the NFL.

Take away three zone blocks that all went for net zero or negative yards, and the blocking was great. They weren't scheming up a lot of offensive plays, they weren't scheming guys open, so there simply weren't enough guys open or the timing was off between QB and receiver.

They need to scrap the outside zone garbage or dial it back to where they use it in spurts like in the past... the zone run looks like sht.

If watching that quarter and a half tells you everything in 2022 is doomed, then you should probably go back to watching Antiques Roadshow instead.

One failed attempt at a scheme tweak in preseason doesn't make a season.

My guess is that they want to be able to zone block effectively in order to make their offense less predictable and more diverse/flexible. I don't think it's a wholesale scheme change, nor do I think they are committed to being a "zone blocking team", per se. I think they realize the impact of effective zone runs and the strain that puts on a defense in order to defend it (and the associated looks, PA bootlegs, etc). I also think some of these changes are being made in order to craft an offense that's better suited to Mac's natural skills and aptitudes.

Will the offense eventually become consistently effective with zone blocking schemes? I don't know, but I do think it's a good thing to practice and I don't mind them struggling in the process of practicing.

It's more than just the blocking though. I believe Kendrick Bourne mentioned new verbiage, and a new system in general a few months back

This would also align up with his and Mac's frustration as a well.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Could somebody break down this film clip and point out what the OL did wrong?

Onwenu was too wide to see through.

 

[Ring 6]

It's more than just the blocking though. I believe Kendrick Bourne mentioned new verbiage, and a new system in general a few months back

This would also align up with his and Mac's frustration as a well.

Once again, they didn’t change the offense. There is not a new system.
They “streamlined” the terminology.
Allow me me to explain. Our offense is based upon complimentary routes. Back in the 70s there were 9 routes in the route tree.
1- flare
2- drag
3- in
4- out
5- hook
6- out and up
7- flag
8- post
9- go

The classic was 741 Wr runs a flag, TE runs an out, RB runs a flare. The qb reads which receiver the cb and lb take and throw to the other.

As the passing game evolved numbers were replaced with words which would represent a combo, as well different route for the backside guys. (741 had the fb block and the wr on the other side run a post to try to occupy the safeties.)
Over many years with many different players you develop an enourmoys “vocabulary”. They simply eliminated some of the terminology and changed a bit of what remains. This took about a week of practice to implement. It’s over it’s only an issue with people who don’t understand or want to complain.