Josh “tore up the game plan”

IllegalContact said:

22 is 2 TE's and 2 RB's......they were going 5 wide with gronk,allen,develin,burkhead, and edelman

Click to expand...

I understand what 22 personnel is. I didn’t realize that they went 5 wide with that particular grouping, though. Thanks for the explanation.

I have a man crush for josh

luuked said:

Personally I think because they waited until the Rams defense showed signed of exhaustion and a slightly slowed down pass rush. Which many expected for the final quarter. Spreading out in base also means that there are fewer bodies in the immediate vicinity to block for Brady against Donald, Suh, Brockers and Fowler.

I also don't think the gameplan was "torn up" as much as they went to the more risky stuff with the game on the line.

Click to expand...

Maybe but they could have gone heavy from the start using quick play action to Gronk or Edelman and then have Devlin and Michel/Burkhead chip and drift for dump offs.

Brady_to_Moss said:

I have a man crush for josh

Click to expand...

He has to be the heir right?

To me, this is the story of the game. That game was a pressure cooker, a battle between two defensive geniuses (philips and Belichick), and this blew the lid off. We were the ones that figured out the offensive wrinkle to break through. While we weren't getting points in the first 45 minutes, we were winning the time of P game, and that helped us pull this off.

In the fourth quarter, I started to feel like I was going to go insane with the pressure. Who do you want at the helm when the pressure is high like that? Brady or Goff? Definitely not me, I was freaking out I would have just run out of the stadium like my hair was on fire.

supafly said:

Just wait until they address the weakness at WR and Sony Michel becomes more of a weapon in the passing game.

Then you’re going to be able to have options all across the board in whatever personnel grouping you can imagine.

Click to expand...

Losing Gronk, assuming he retires, will reduce some of the flexibility you’re adding if the WR are upgraded.

mcmurtry86 said:

Losing Gronk, assuming he retires, will reduce some of the flexibility you’re adding if the WR are upgraded.

Click to expand...

That’s a mighty big assumption to make, especially judging by Brady’s Instagram post with him, but if so, I think it’s safe to say that they’ll explore other options via the draft/trade at the position.

Either way, the offensive options should increase with help from that piss poor group of receivers and a year of improving Michel’s blitz pickup and pass catching abilities.

McDaniels did what McVay was unwilling to do. We saw the result.

EddardSnow67 said:

McDaniels did what McVay was unwilling to do. We saw the result.

Click to expand...

Well said.
And I think, they would have been able to continue to drive and score, because the adjustment the Rams would have had to eventually make to stop the new personnel package would have made them vulnerable to the original game plan. The score would have become more lopsided as the Pats piled up points and Goff became even more limited.
"We would have routed them, but we just ran out of time."

McVay wasn't McVay in the SB, that's for sure.

neuronet said:

McVay wasn't McVay in the SB, that's for sure.

Click to expand...

If his eyes were a little wider (in the 4th), he might have gone full Reche Caldwell.

robertweathers said:

Josh sucks. He might as well work at Jiffy Lube

Click to expand...

he just opened a shop called Joshy Lube

EddardSnow67 said:

McDaniels did what McVay was unwilling to do. We saw the result.

Click to expand...

Unwilling, or simply unable?

Please give some details about what you think McD did that McV did not, so we can figure out if he simply did not have the ability to make that adjustment, or if he really refused to do it.

Thanks!

n6249c said:

Unwilling, or simply unable?

Please give some details about what you think McD did that McV did not, so we can figure out if he simply did not have the ability to make that adjustment, or if he really refused to do it.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

It's very possible he was unable to do it. My point was that he didn't, so I should have added "unable" as a possibility.

n6249c said:

Unwilling, or simply unable?

Please give some details about what you think McD did that McV did not, so we can figure out if he simply did not have the ability to make that adjustment, or if he really refused to do it.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

McD decided to base a drive on a personnel grouping (2-2, 5 wide) not in the game plan and not practiced, realizing that the Rams couldn't defend it.

McVay refused to adjust from 3WR formations, which were being destroyed, to another alignment. He was apparently thinking "we will do what WE do best, regardless of how it is defended today, because it got us here."

That was a huge strategic difference.

I read he felt if he could get the Rams into a base 3-4 they could exploit it for a drive.

EddardSnow67 said:

McDaniels did what McVay was unwilling to do. We saw the result.

Click to expand...

I have no idea what this means.

McDaniels used a great scheme near the end of the game. This scheme required that the rams be tired, that it use a truly great personnel grouping, and have a QB and TE that could complete a great catch.

I'm not sure exactly what McVay didn't do. Perhaps he did his best with what he had against our defense. When his RB's were shut down, they had to win with Goff dropping back and winning against our pass rush and secondary. As many analysts before the game indicated, that situation would mean a patriot win, and it did.

mgteich said:

I have no idea what this means.

McDaniels used a great scheme near the end of the game. This scheme required that the rams be tired, that it use a truly great personnel grouping, and have a QB and TE that could complete a great catch.

I'm not sure exactly what McVay didn't do. Perhaps he did his best with what he had against our defense. When his RB's were shut down, they had to win with Goff dropping back and winning against our pass rush and secondary. As many analysts before the game indicated, that situation would mean a patriot win, and it did.

Click to expand...

He wasn't willing or able to adjust his scheme to counter what the Patriots were doing at any time during the game. McDaniels eventually improvised, McVay didn't, for whatever reason.

I'm also not saying whatever adjustments he made would have worked, but he didn't really throw many wrinkles at the Patriots. What I'm saying doesn't take anything away from the Patriots.

The Patriots were a top 3 defense against 1 TE, 1 RB, 3 WR alignment all year. They were significantly worse vs. 2TE/1RB/2WR sets or 1TE/2RB/2WR sets, or vs. play action. The Patriots also played a high amount of Zone-quarters coverage, which was very rare for them this year.

Goff kept reading Man and getting zone. McVay had halftime to adjust to attacking a zone, but for some reason there were no noticeable adjustments.

I think one adjustment McVay wishes he made was going no-huddle. The Pats generated most of their pressure with stunts which require the stunting rushers to run farther than usual. Atlanta tired themselves out in SB51 with all of their stunting. Reducing the time between snaps might have slowed the rush and allowed Goff to get into a rhythm.

Goff was bad, but his OL was awful, especially on the interior. I think it was Michael Lombardi on a podcast last week that called out the Rams OL as being pass-blocking frauds and a weakness to attack. Said the same about Atlanta's OL prior to SB51 IIRC.

Regards,
Chris