Hindsight: The domino effect of the offensive line troubles

I understand.
But I am trying to find out
What happened 4 wks ago . . .that the bottom fell out.

Or was it that it was longer than 4 wks ago

Nov 11 HOU13 @ CHI 6 <---- Hard Fought Victory - Confidence High

Nov 18 JAC 37 @ HOU 43 <---- Slight Concern Started - But Division Game

Nov 22 HOU 34 @ DET 31 <---- Concern Grew

Dec 02 HOU 24 @ TEN 10 <--- Ship Righted?

Dec 10 HOU 14 @ NE 42 <--- UH OH!!

Dec 16 IND 17 @ HOU 29 <--- Ship Righted?

Dec 23 MIN 23 @ HOU 6 <--- UH OH!!

Dec 30 HOU 16 @ IND 28 <--- OH *****!!

Rocket River

 

meh, we have cap concerns. those moves provided us with flexibility. The upside is better. we'll only get better on the line in subsequent years.

 

It seems that the opposing teams are smelling blood in the water recently and really sticking it to the o-line.

 

I agree that o-line play has slipped and that is a huge culprit, but I think the league has caught up with our offense as it is now.

The biggest culprit IMO is that our Play-action has been virtually eliminated by defenses. That was our bread-and-butter, where all of our big plays on offense came from (especially the PA boot). I think somewhere over the past 6 weeks, teams decided to sell out on our play-action and take their chances that Foster wouldn't hit any homeruns in the running game (which he almost did last Sunday). This has thrown the whole system off - Schaub is a bit rattled due to the increased pressure, making him look pedestrian when really he is the same QB. The play-action is what has always made this offense and Schaub's execution of it is what made him as a QB. Without it, Schaub and Kubiak are nothing.

Kubiak is going to have to find a way to make it work again, I just don't know if we have the personnel to make it work. You could add extra blockers, but the typical guys you would use (Graham and Casey) aren't great blockers. I'd also like to see more of Tate due to his better downhill speed, and more screen looks to Foster.

I think this week will be a key point in Kubiak's head coaching career. Cincy is a stout defense that he'll have to find a way to move the ball against.

 

Thank you. People still will not see that. They just keep blaming the o-line. The fact is that almost every team has a problem somewhere on their line, but the QB makes adjustments (at least the great ones do). Without the bootleg Schaub is useless, because he does nothing else.

 

Man, everyone needs to read this truth. You hit it on the nail, but many will still deny it.

 

Thing about the bootleg is . .. there is also about a 0% chance he will run for more than 3~4 yds . . if the pass is not there. . . he will throw it away for 0 gain.

Rocket River

 

The league catching up to a scheme is one thing, them being unable to stop it is a mark of the really good teams. If teams are cheating towards the QB rollout, why aren't teams scared of a big run off Foster? Regressed OL play is the (main) answer right?

 

No doubt the right side of the line isn't winning in the trenches in the run game. But Foster's lack of burst and constant slipping is hurting us too.

It's scary to think that we were a referee/coach's goof (Forsett TD at Lions) away from being 11-5 and possibly not even winning the division. We've got a lot to address this offseason. I still don't count us out this postseason, but obviously the offense has to correct itself somewhat and the defense has to start manufacturing some turnovers again.

 

The FO knew Schaub's inability to adjust and his lack of mobility.

Duh. They gambled that not paying top dollar for the O-line would be okay. You can't blame the QB. You (rhetorically) knowingly took a risk and are now paying for it. Obviously a different QB may have been the better choice. But you work with what you agreed to take on. The O-line should not have been weakened if sticking with #8 was the plan.

 

exactly, our coaching staff pride themselves on a system that revolves around lighter, on purpose, linemen. I wouldn't give up on newton and jones just yet as it takes timing to get the scheme to work as one.

What some people are not mentioning is that during the december debacle, we managed to go from top 11(11th) in 3rd conversions on offense to below par. That's because our qb isn't great at 3rd and long, most aren't. Infact, luck is the best one on 3rd and long.

If we can't get yards rushing, 3 rd and manageable is not going to happen. Only the madden and fantasy dorks have this idea that a qb throws at least 10 40+ yard bomb PER game. In reality, those happen around 1 a game on average, and schaub has always been right up there with explosive pass plays.

3rd and manageable is what we need. also, we use to get off the field on 3rd down defense, now not so much. damn the domino effect =(