Madden: "No Flow, No Rhythm on Offense"

[maverick4]

John Madden made what I think was a very insightful comment on our offense tonight. He said that for almost the entire game, the Patriots offense lacked flow and had no rhythm whatsoever. I completely agree. In regards to what Madden said, I thought our play-calling tonight on offense was abysmal.

I feel that play-calling, especially on offense, is like an art. The game of football is very much about momentum, chemistry, rhythm, and flow. A few yards here, a few yards there, keep moving the chains, get your players comfortable, make the defense think you are doing something, and then take advantage of that. All those 3-and-outs all night reminded me of the Drew Blesdoe/Ernie Zampese offense. Case in point - at one point Denver pins us DEEP early in the 4th quarter. We're down 10. And what do we do? Multiple failed deep pass attempts, and then punt. It was pathetic.

(I do know that our problems with the receivers in the passing game were primarily due to lack of familiarity with the plays, and that is a separate issue which I am not addressing here.)

 

[bbaptiste]

John Madden made what I think was a very insightful comment on our offense tonight. He said that for almost the entire game, the Patriots offense lacked flow and had no rhythm whatsoever. I completely agree. In regards to what Madden said, I thought our play-calling tonight on offense was abysmal.

I feel that play-calling, especially on offense, is like an art. The game of football is very much about momentum, chemistry, rhythm, and flow. A few yards here, a few yards there, keep moving the chains, get your players comfortable, make the defense think you are doing something, and then take advantage of that. All those 3-and-outs all night reminded me of the Drew Blesdoe/Ernie Zampese offense. Case in point - early on Denver pins us DEEP early in the 4th quarter. We're down 10. And what do we do? Multiple failed deep pass attempts, and then punt. It was pathetic.

(I do know that our problems with the receivers in the passing game were primarily due to lack of familiarity with the plays, and that is a separate issue which I am not addressing here.)

I agree totally. The lack of rhythm on offense was exacerbated by the shoddy play-calling, especially after Dillon went out. Good observation that needs to be discussed before we get into the usual Deion Branch argument

 

[maverick4]

Aside from issues with new receivers, and leaving lots of cap money unspent, a bigger issue in my opinion is our coordinators. I am a firm believer that while players are the ones responsible for making plays, the coordinators need to put the pieces in the right places and also make the right combination of calls. In a way, a coordinator is like a conductor, and the sequence he chooses is essential. Might this possibly be an explanation for our new 3-and-out offense and our non-turnover-causing defense?

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