Content Post Words on things I watched, read & heard II

[Mike the Brit]

Thanks for the long post, BGC!

The clips from Waldman were really helpful. What impressed me most about the run from the goal-line by Stevenson was not just the way that he sneaked through where there didn't seem to be space, but the way that he held onto the ball in a wrestling match. I'd not have been surprised to see him cough it up at the beginning of the season.

As for Josh McDaniels, sorry captain, but he is clearly a great OC. The design of some of those plays -- especially the third downs -- was simply beautiful. He has his own way of doing things and I can't believe that running up the middle so predictably on first down is the best way to "set things up" -- all the more so when you're doing it with J.J. Taylor. Why not throw on first down and run up the middle on second down for a change? But I'm along for the ride and don't think I can steer the car.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Solak talks / alluded to this in the article he wrote recently and I agree. Player development is problem around the league imo but not many have a higher profile than KS.
Unless you're rounds off from me in terms value I usually don't care and can accept a pick if a coach has a plan. It's when they don't have a plan and aren't "all in" on prospects they go out and get that itches my grundle.

Again it's a league-wide issue but KS has huge platform with tremendous influence and power. And he's put his name on a lot of players. Most recently, Lance. I was all in favor of starting Jimmy and still am bc this was a SB team very recently but it's **** or get off the pot time or just win it all.

I'm not sure there's a coach on a hotter seat going forward.

One player specifically that gets me and a lot do. Is Aiyuk. I was a can coming out but recognized and believed that he basically needed to learn a good part of the WR position in the pros. ASU just wasn't kind to these guys (Harry, Aiyuk) in terms of getting ready for the pros. Specifically with BA he needed a lot of room to make mistakes and a good mentor to just watch and learn from. He has some stuff you can't teach but was more of an athlete than WR coming out.

Flashed and produced his rookie year and showed exactly why you got him. Almost 800 yards, 5 TD. Not bad at all for his starting point but you knew there would be struggles. And it's been a small issue up until this point.

Not exactly comforting news for a team that's relying on a lot of young players to work out.

Fine line to walk bc they do have a team that can compete with anyone when on.



Ben is like 20 and really good at this. He literally started out on Twitter with 300 followers. Smart, does a lot of good work like volunteering, has went in missions before. I disagree with him a lot but he's really smart, articulate and really made something of himself at a young age.


*edit* as you can see from my expansive vocabulary, I'm not.

 

[BTTA]

Brown erased Clowney as a rusher. He definitely looked like a guy just coming back imo but he was excellent absorbing power or anything inside. He looked vg. Hopefully he can keep it together for the stretch run.

Andrews & Wynn were great in the run game. Especially in space.

Having 3 healthy guys like Onwenu, Wynn & Brown is a luxury very few teams have. All you have to do is look inside the division. A lot of Bills are calling Ford a bust, MB has been hurt both years so far and fins line is still shaky.

Every fan has their favorites and you want consistency and stability at those spots but I'm pumped we have three guys like that on our line. We're a lot better than we've shown and with some luck play like a top 10 group down the all important second half, stretch run.

When asked about having two good OT's a few years ago, Belichick spoke about how most teams have one good OT, one average one, and a handful of guys they hope will get better, and that any team with two good OT's was very fortunate.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Thanks for the long post, BGC!

The clips from Waldman were really helpful. What impressed me most about the run from the goal-line by Stevenson was not just the way that he sneaked through where there didn't seem to be space, but the way that he held onto the ball in a wrestling match. I'd not have been surprised to see him cough it up at the beginning of the season.

Rham was great the other day. Him and Harris are quite the powerful duo. Love how they run, especially through & off contact.

As for Josh McDaniels, sorry captain, but he is clearly a great OC. The design of some of those plays -- especially the third downs -- was simply beautiful. He has his own way of doing things and I can't believe that running up the middle so predictably on first down is the best way to "set things up" -- all the more so when you're doing it with J.J. Taylor. Why not throw on first down and run up the middle on second down for a change? But I'm along for the ride and don't think I can steer the car.

Josh killed it last game. He undressed took advantage of Cleveland's defense and I suspect that's what Bill was talking about recently. Outstanding game plan and I have no problem critizing Josh.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Instead of creating the horizontal stretches that make those offenses go, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels opts to get downhill with a combination of run concepts designed specifically to force linemen and linebackers to play slower than they’re used to.
The key is using fullbacks and wide receivers as “inserts” in the run game, lead blocking up to the second level and going between the tackles instead of on the edge.

Team	21 Personnel Snaps	Top Run Concept	#2 Run Concept	#3 Run Concepts
San Francisco 49ers	99	Outside Zone (42%)	Inside Zone (22%)	Man (15%)
Baltimore Ravens	74	Counter (25%)	Man (25%)	Power (21%)
New England Patriots	71	Man (24%)	Counter (22%)	Draw (20%)

Since Week 7, only one of the Patriots' 18 play-action passes out of 21 personnel have resulted in a quarterback hit (and only two pressures altogether). When the quarterback stays clean, he can work the ball downfield efficiently, leading to eight passes going for 15 or more yards. Selling downhill runs brings linebackers forward as well, creating perfect scenarios for Mac Jones to work with.

Defensively, this is still the best mind the NFL has ever seen, and no one better understands how to match up and find the winning edge situationally. In the past four weeks, New England is edged only by the Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins in percentage of dime snaps (six defensive backs).

Player (since Week 7)	Outside CB Snaps	Slot CB Snaps
J.C. Jackson	163	8
Jalen Mills	154	29
Myles Bryant	3	116
Joejuan Williams	95	2

Player	Box Snaps	Slot Snaps	Free Safety Snaps
Kyle Dugger	78	46	32
Adrian Phillips	80	29	51
Devin McCourty	30	11	139

What New England wants to do with that is hide the “rotation” of the safeties (which one is rolling down) and the “reduction” of the front (which outside linebacker is rushing, and which defensive tackle is slanting down inside of the offensive tackle). This is a rare approach in the NFL, as only three teams have played more than 45 total defensive snaps with an odd front and one high safety in the past four weeks.

Team	Odd Front, Single-High Snaps (since Week 7)	Defensive Grade (Rank min. 10 Snaps)	EPA/Play (Rank)
Pittsburgh Steelers	66 (1st)	63.0 (9th)	0.116 (12)
Miami Dolphins	58 (2nd)	59.2 (12th)	-0.035 (9th)
New England Patriots	49 (3rd)	75.3 (3rd)	-0.139 (6th)

This is much better for edge presence in pass-rushing situations, but it asks linebackers to take on uncovered guards in the run game. While the degree of difficulty is through the roof, it leads to incredible reps of Ja’Whaun Bentley and Dont'a Hightower flying downhill to fix the run fit for this defense. You can see teaching tape quality reps on the edge, as well, closing off creases by moving the point of attack into the backfield.

 

[The Brandon Five]

 

[The Brandon Five]

View attachment 37755

Pats went toe-to-toe with the Bucs and the Boys. They should be competitive against the Jills. The Bills schedule thus far:

Lost 23-16 to Pitt at home
Shut out Miami on the road (35-0)
Blew out Washington (43-21) and Houston (40-0) at home
Won at Arrowhead 38-20
Lost by a FG to the Tits (34-31)
Beat Miami at home 26-11 (coming off a bye)
Lost at Jacksonville 9-6
Blew out the Jete on the road 45-17

1-2 against teams with a winning record
Pats are 1-3 (3-3 if you don't count the losses inflicted by the Pats themselves)

So Pats have played six teams with a winning record, while Buffalo has played three

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Solak talks / alluded to this in the article he wrote recently and I agree. Player development is problem around the league imo but not many have a higher profile than KS.
Unless you're rounds off from me in terms value I usually don't care and can accept a pick if a coach has a plan. It's when they don't have a plan and aren't "all in" on prospects they go out and get that itches my grundle.

Again it's a league-wide issue but KS has huge platform with tremendous influence and power. And he's put his name on a lot of players. Most recently, Lance. I was all in favor of starting Jimmy and still am bc this was a SB team very recently but it's **** or get off the pot time or just win it all.

I'm not sure there's a coach on a hotter seat going forward.

One player specifically that gets me and a lot do. Is Aiyuk. I was a can coming out but recognized and believed that he basically needed to learn a good part of the WR position in the pros. ASU just wasn't kind to these guys (Harry, Aiyuk) in terms of getting ready for the pros. Specifically with BA he needed a lot of room to make mistakes and a good mentor to just watch and learn from. He has some stuff you can't teach but was more of an athlete than WR coming out.

Flashed and produced his rookie year and showed exactly why you got him. Almost 800 yards, 5 TD. Not bad at all for his starting point but you knew there would be struggles. And it's been a small issue up until this point.

Not exactly comforting news for a team that's relying on a lot of young players to work out.

Fine line to walk bc they do have a team that can compete with anyone when on.



Ben is like 20 and really good at this. He literally started out on Twitter with 300 followers. Smart, does a lot of good work like volunteering, has went in missions before. I disagree with him a lot but he's really smart, articulate and really made something of himself at a young age.


*edit* as you can see from my expansive vocabulary, I'm not.

Thanks for the great football info as always.

I read that article about Shanahan. Honestly, I wasn’t that convinced by the article content that Shanahan is a bad personnel guy. It cited a handful of draft misses, some of them not having a verdict yet. I thought it missed the most important part of problem: that player types Shanahan was able to steal previously are no longer sitting there, due to all these other coaches (referenced) who run a similar offense. It was also odd there was no real reference to Lynch and their relationship. Even “the process” the author referred too was pretty much glossed over after one example of Shanahan overriding scouts about a 4th round pick, which is pretty common.

Not saying Shanahan isn’t screwing things up as a GM…I just didn’t see a lot of inside info or notable, outlier data. Seemed closer to a fan rant from someone like myself.

I was looking at the tweets of one of the other guys you cite, Ben Baldwin (Computer Cowboy on Twitter). It was interesting what he was saying about Shanahan maybe a week ago while the 49ers were playing. Basically, Jimmy isn’t the problem but the guy who saves Shanahan’s ass because Shanahan runs way too much on early downs. He cites Jimmy’s outstanding 3rd and long conversion rates.

I remember in 2019, that 49ers offense was breaking of huge runs all the time. Without the home run running game threat, high volume running isn’t worth it IMO.

Anyway, I’ve been saying for three years, even when they were doing well, that Jimmy isn’t the right QB for Shanahan, since the offense is so micro-managed and predetermined. Wonder if next year he’ll get a chance somewhere else. Have this feeling he’ll wind up in post-Rodgers Green Bay, which has a similar concept to SF but I see Jimmy as being ideal with the amount of script/improv balance that Rodgers has currently. Just seems like an ideal fit there to me, if Rodgers is indeed leaving.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Thanks for the great football info as always.

I read that article about Shanahan. Honestly, I wasn’t that convinced by the article content that Shanahan is a bad personnel guy. It cited a handful of draft misses, some of them not having a verdict yet. I thought it missed the most important part of problem: that player types Shanahan was able to steal previously are no longer sitting there, due to all these other coaches (referenced) who run a similar offense. It was also odd there was no real reference to Lynch and their relationship. Even “the process” the author referred too was pretty much glossed over after one example of Shanahan overriding scouts about a 4th round pick, which is pretty common.

Not saying Shanahan isn’t screwing things up as a GM…I just didn’t see a lot of inside info or notable, outlier data. Seemed closer to a fan rant from someone like myself.

Yea I kind of took it as Shanny having to develop these guys he clearly ask for (Trey, Aiyuk, Williams etc) I get what you're saying. A lot of draft stuff is wonky, supposedly they love Harry & Aiyuk. I just took it specifically as a development issue but I hear what you're saying.

Ben is still like 20. I'm curious where he'll be in 10 years. Smart kid.

I was looking at the tweets of one of the other guys you cite, Ben Baldwin (Computer Cowboy on Twitter). It was interesting what he was saying about Shanahan maybe a week ago while the 49ers were playing. Basically, Jimmy isn’t the problem but the guy who saves Shanahan’s ass because Shanahan runs way too much on early downs. He cites Jimmy’s outstanding 3rd and long conversion rates.

I remember in 2019, that 49ers offense was breaking of huge runs all the time. Without the home run running game threat, high volume running isn’t worth it IMO.

I thought that was very interesting as well. I'm a Jimmy fan and even I was surprised a little. I like JG. He'll never carry you. He'll never give you multiple big-time throws or take multiple chances. He'll keep thing moving faster than the next guy. Good arm he can move the ball but you're not winning bc his arm. Obviously things are always changing but he's a really good tier two guy.

Anyway, I’ve been saying for three years, even when they were doing well, that Jimmy isn’t the right QB for Shanahan, since the offense is so micro-managed and predetermined. Wonder if next year he’ll get a chance somewhere else. Have this feeling he’ll wind up in post-Rodgers Green Bay, which has a similar concept to SF but I see Jimmy as being ideal with the amount of script/improv balance that Rodgers has currently. Just seems like an ideal fit there to me, if Rodgers is indeed leaving.

Yea I thought Jimmy and Shanny would kill it together but could see this too. I'd be surprised if GB went that way bc he'd compete with Love but again I agree with your point there.

I'd be curious and interested in watching Jimmy on Carolina this year. I think him, Brady and that team would be fun. Especially against Brady.

SF has to make noise this year with Jimmy. It's going to be tough to justify sitting Lance if you're not a playoff team or making a serious run.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Crack toss with plus blocking
- Andrews kills any vertical penetration and traps his man
- JJ has been handing out sticks like this all year.
- Great kick out by Brown!! Very quick locates smaller target and eliminates the threat. Not easy for a big dude and he made it look easy.
- Sweet little subtle cut by Harris up top before running a DB over lol. Very nice run, running through contact again! Who wants to tackle Harris & Rham 20 + times a game?
- Nice reach block by 76!


When I dress up, cosplay Bill and put my PTP (Patriot-Type Player) board together I look at it from a few different ways. I'll look at pure athletic testing, scheme fit (where they're coming from, what they're asked to do vs how it is here), individual personality (how the speak about themselves, the team, coaches, winning..) I'll see if they've been challenged in life or on the field. I'll look at from a view different lens if will.

Kyle Dugger was one of those guys that just lined up, checked all the boxes and has been really really good since. Like he tested out great and was a top 2-3 guy at S from a pure athletic sense.

Still he's made real strides in coverage. From having to see everything in front of him. To being able to make a mistake but still make a play on a ball. Definitely still has a lot of feel to pick up when sticking with someone in/out of their breaks but he's got to much better there. Keeping with his man in-route. Playing his man's movement's and tendencies in man coverage. I would not be surprised to see his role to evolve considering what he did in college and his skill set.

He makes plays like this a lot. This tackle will get a talking to but 23 beats him to his mark outside. Plays contain and forces the ball back inside. Great play by Bentley as well.


Barmore knifing through his man and Dugger sticking with Pitts.


Love this play. Three inside the tackle look.
- 98 just presses his man. Burst, extend and lock out. Controls his man and keep eyes up.
- God does a great job clogging that whole side really. There's no where to go.


Dugger & KVN were all over the place. Shutting down the MOF, underneath, flat area. We did a great job in zone tonight with only that fresh watch.

Barmore made 4-5 plays tonight in both the run game and rushing the passer. He stood out again! Had a sweet arm-over. He's on pace or tied or slightly ahead in terms of rookie pressures so far in his career. Right there with Parsons I believe. Tonight only helped.

JC is an animal. Unbelievable feel and ball skills. Talked about his ability to locate and play the play, its phenomonal. Unbelievable so good playing his man and the QB at the same time. Again his ability to locate the ball and make a play is as good as we've seen over the last decade or so. You throw his way it's almost as likely to be tipped, touched or INT as it is caught.

Harris & Rham combined for almost 6 per clip. Again good luck taking on those two all game. I'd live to see a little PA to one of them or Johnson coming forward. We need to keep them fresh so I don't mind them as a duo. Both are running with plus vision. The subtle cut above I mentioned by Harris. You see it from both these guys. Both are decisive and don't mess around. Obviously powerful. Keep using them in the passing game early on. Keep them fresh. Rham was 5 + per rush I believe. He looks good and once again please throw to him early on he can absolutely move.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Man this is so fun. Young team, rookie QB, in the thicc of it. Season is right in front of us .. games left with Titans in 10, Bills X2 and Indy. Literally the next four are it. Titans, @Bills, @Indy & Bills. There's the season.

The @Bills and @Indy will be tough. We'll prepare the **** outta Tennessee but Buffalo and Indy at their place will be tough games. 3-1 there and we're making the playoffs.

There's like two defenses left that really scare me (Pitt, Buffalo) and besides Mahomes which QB's scare you or we haven't already beat?

Stay healthy. Stay focused and we're in great shape heading into December.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I think you could make an outside or really argument for ...

Judon and JC for DPOY




Mac & Barmore O/D ROY.

Bill COY?

Long way to go but NEP looking ahead of schedule.

 

[Joker]

Man this is so fun. Young team, rookie QB, in the thicc of it. Season is right in front of us .. games left with Titans in 10, Bills X2 and Indy. Literally the next four are it. Titans, @Bills, @Indy & Bills. There's the season.
View attachment 37811
The @Bills and @Indy will be tough. We'll prepare the **** outta Tennessee but Buffalo and Indy at their place will be tough games. 3-1 there and we're making the playoffs.

There's like two defenses left that really scare me (Pitt, Buffalo) and besides Mahomes which QB's scare you or we haven't already beat?

Stay healthy. Stay focused and we're in great shape heading into December.

Pittsburgh lost TJ Watt...that defense has to suffer a bit

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Awesome stuff.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Good example of a QB working from a good pocket. Nice poise. Nothing special but this is what you want to see. Nice pick up from Rham. Light, quick feet from Mac, nice little snap using his hip. I think he jas room to grow here but this was clean and very efficient.