OT What teams are employing an interesting strategy this season?

[slam]

One reason I think ratings are down beyond the "sportz entertainment" issues is that the actual on field product is both bad and boring. Previous seasons have had wrinkles like the read option, packaged plays, the Wildcat, etc. Whether they had lasting power or not, they were interesting to think about at the time.

Aside from the Patriots' strategy of having two tight ends better than everyone else's best tight end and the short kickoff, I can't really think of a team employing a strategy worth writing home about. Some teams are better than expected, some are worse but nothing seems innovative. Am I wrong? What teams are doing something interesting on the field?

 

[Dorito Dink]

The Jets have employed an interesting strategy of throwing the ball to the other team.
It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for them.

 

[aluminum seats]

One reason I think ratings are down beyond the "sportz entertainment" issues is that the actual on field product is both bad and boring. Previous seasons have had wrinkles like the read option, packaged plays, the Wildcat, etc. Whether they had lasting power or not, they were interesting to think about at the time.

Aside from the Patriots' strategy of having two tight ends better than everyone else's best tight end and the short kickoff, I can't really think of a team employing a strategy worth writing home about. Some teams are better than expected, some are worse but nothing seems innovative. Am I wrong? What teams are doing something interesting on the field?

I don't think it's lack of innovation that's contributing to the decline...doubt many tuned in because of the wildcat. It's the protests, oversaturation and overall mediocre product.

 

[Dorito Dink]

In all seriousness, you bring up an interesting point with the Read Option. I think so many NFL teams became infatuated with the idea of having an athletic QB that can run the Read Option. Innovation and wrinkles are great but you can’t run these types of offenses as your base offense in the NFL. You still need a smart QB that can go through his progressions and hit the open man. Eventually, NFL coaches dissect these gimmick offenses (wild cat, read option, etc.) and then you’re exposed because other teams piggyback off the strategy to stop it.

In the 9ers case, I think they really screwed the pooch on getting rid of Smith and going with Kaepernick. Yes, hindsight is 20/20 and they almost won a Super Bowl with him, but Smith was a perfect QB with that offense and elite defense. He was a game manager who didn’t turn the ball over. Instead, they went with an immature primadonna who was completely exposed after a couple seasons.

The Skins bit hard on the RG3 hype as well. Again, the read option was great for about a season. Then he wasn’t himself after the injury and couldn’t make the throws good quarterbacks make.

My .02

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

One reason I think ratings are down beyond the "sportz entertainment" issues is that the actual on field product is both bad and boring. Previous seasons have had wrinkles like the read option, packaged plays, the Wildcat, etc. Whether they had lasting power or not, they were interesting to think about at the time.

Aside from the Patriots' strategy of having two tight ends better than everyone else's best tight end and the short kickoff, I can't really think of a team employing a strategy worth writing home about. Some teams are better than expected, some are worse but nothing seems innovative. Am I wrong? What teams are doing something interesting on the field?

I think a lot of it has to do with overall crappy offenses that don't have polished passing games or the ability to put up big points consistently. After the Patriots, who is the best offense in the league? The Steelers even with Big Ben fell flat on their faces half the time, Rodgers is overall down, Dallas has a good offense but in Safe Mode, Brees is good but the Saints are garbage and turn the ball over a lot too (and suck on the road), the Panthers suck now, the Cardinals basically suck now, the Bengals are way down from a great offensive season last year. There are typically a handful of really good offensive teams that make the league exciting for the masses, and this year there only one that makes your jaw drop is the New England Patriots.

 

[Brandon_Cox]

Other than the Pats, the Falcons play pretty entertaining ball. Matt Ryan is running Kyle Shanahan's offense to perfection. Too bad their defense is wretched or they would be a threat.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

I think so many NFL teams became infatuated with the idea of having an athletic QB that can run the Read Option.

It's not a sustainable strategy in the long term because inevitably these athletic QBs will get injured.

Personally I think the root problem lies in the terms of the CBA. The higher pay for veterans plus the cost of a decent QB forces teams to go very young on average, and then the lack of practice time built into the CBA catches up. Hence more penalties, more mistakes, more broken plays and overall simpler systems. And guys that could have been good given time and patience end up getting cut. So the average quality just keeps dropping.

The NFL and players need to revise the CBA to allow more practice time for young players and also start some sort of developmental league so the slower-developing players get a chance. And they need to cut the minimum veteran salaries, otherwise these experienced mid-level guys get cut out of the market because they are too expensive.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Here's a suggestion that the Raiders are using a very unusual strategy - hold or otherwise push the envelope on just about every play and assume the refs will get tired of throwing flags:

The Raiders’ Bad Behavior Might Be What Makes Them Good