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Strategy in the eyes of a Coach (And post #4,000)

KDawg

By KDawg
in The Stadium

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KDawg

KDawg

Posted
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Ok. I see alot of threads complaining about playcalling and the like. I coach the game of football and I played it. I study the sport like it was my business and there's still alot about the game that I don't know. I live and breathe the game and yet there are still some aspects that are foreign to me.

That said, I think there are a number of people here that don't quite understand alot of aspects of the game. And that's not an insult, that's not me saying I'm smarter or better than anyone else. It's just the fact that I think that some here haven't had the exposure to it as I have.

The game of football is, like so many have described, a chess match. One coach makes a move and the other counters. Some things during the game may seem like bad play calls, and in reality, they may be. Coaches aren't perfect. However, alot of the time those play calls are to set up something later in the game, without much hope of a big play occuring off of it. For example, Joe Gibbs running the football with Betts yesterday instead of Portis. Regardless of whether Portis was injured or not, Gibbs had a plan. Pound Betts and allow Ladell to take the beating that Clinton would have in order to have CP ready in the case of a fourth quarter necessity. By doing that, and then not needing him much in the second half, we now have Clinton Portis who may be slightly banged up, but is in alot better shape now than he would have been had he gotten all those carries. The same kind of deal with Shawn Springs. Springs didn't play this week despite the fact that he probably could have. This was because Coach was looking at the bigger strategic picture.

I've read threads where people are asking why we didn't get the ball to so and so. Well, they may have been tightly covered. We were playing an outstanding defense. And in the playoffs and especially when playing an outstanding defense in the playoffs, you don't force throws into tight coverage. The NFL is a league of professionals, and quarterbacks have to have the experience and smarts to not throw a ball into traffic. Mistakes kill in elimination games. Brunell, while playing pretty horribly yesterday, only made one terrible throw. His stats were awful, however, he didn't put us into the position to lose a football game. That's very telling. He may not have put us into position to score, but he certainly didn't put the Bucs in position to either. Whereas Simms, because of inexperience, allowed us to win the game with mistakes.

As a coach, I can tell you from experience, it's not how you win, it's just the win. Next week is going to be a tough game, and do you think for one second any of us as fans, or any of the players or coaches should be mad if we win in the exact same fashion? No way. A win is a win. Now, you can't be satisifed playing like the 'Skins did yesterday. They need to improve and they need to look at execution errors that they had. Coach Gibbs will also look over his playcalling choices and Coach Williams will do the same. They will work to turn it around, but if we win in the same fashion, it baffles me how anyone can be upset. Forget what the media says, you learn to block that out of your mind.

Anyways, thanks ES for having me since 2003, hopefully I'll be here for quite along time :)

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TheSkipper

TheSkipper

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I will add on to that:

There were clearly two "big plays" in the passing game that Joe was setting up the Buc's for. The Halfback Option Pass. (which was timely called. With a better pass it's a TD) The other play was the pump fake to the Slip Screen. Moss went deep and was open, but Brunell made a bad pass. Would've been a TD with a better pass.

Gibbs spends the whole game setting up those big plays, and when they are open, but not executed, it looks like a bad play call. Those two plays would've made an enormous difference in the rest of the game if executed.

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meetST

meetST

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I've read threads where people are asking why we didn't get the ball to so and so. Well, they may have been tightly covered. We were playing an outstanding defense. And in the playoffs and especially when playing an outstanding defense in the playoffs, you don't force throws into tight coverage. The NFL is a league of professionals, and quarterbacks have to have the experience and smarts to not throw a ball into traffic. Mistakes kill in elimination games. Brunell, while playing pretty horribly yesterday, only made one terrible throw. His stats were awful, however, he didn't put us into the position to lose a football game. That's very telling. He may not have put us into position to score, but he certainly didn't put the Bucs in position to either. Whereas Simms, because of inexperience, allowed us to win the game with mistakes.

exactly....and congrats on 4000!!! i

:laugh:

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DieselPwr44

DieselPwr44

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Great post KDawg. I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty.

I still have concerns about Brunell and worry that his poor play,if continued, will eventually catch up to us and end our season. But we're still alive and I'll have my fingers crossed for next week.

Congrats on 4000!!! :cheers:

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Peregrine

Peregrine

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One thing I dont get. We didnt playaction all game( i think I saw one weak attempt). Considering how much we tried to run the ball, I was sure(and so was my brother) we were trying to set up one big playaction bomb touchdown late in the game... but nothing. Notta. Didnt even take a shot.

Still majorly concerned with Brunell. Id rather see Ramsey in there right now, but I think Gibbs is going to keep him in just because he started all season. But we need some passing game at some point.

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KDawg

KDawg

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One thing I dont get. We didnt playaction all game( i think I saw one weak attempt). Considering how much we tried to run the ball, I was sure(and so was my brother) we were trying to set up one big playaction bomb touchdown late in the game... but nothing. Notta. Didnt even take a shot.

Still majorly concerned with Brunell. Id rather see Ramsey in there right now, but I think Gibbs is going to keep him in just because he started all season. But we need some passing game at some point.

Well, he may have been setting up the playaction, but then found we didn't need it so didn't want to throw it out there. In the playoffs you have to keep focus on the game at hand, but you also have to look ahead and think what may be needed. Playaction could be coming next week.

Can't show all your cards too early.

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KDawg

KDawg

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How good is Coach Gibbs he turned the defense into offense and offense into defense I would like to see someone else do that as effectively as he did...go skins I love gibbskin football

To steal a quote from TK...

"Ding!"

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tundey

tundey

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The offense wasn't pretty. But I think the defense more than made up for it. With the defense playing as well as it did, I like the ulta-conservative approach on offense. Why risk throwing into tight coverage when you can run off valuable seconds with a running play. Sure the run only got you 2.3 yards but you keep the clock running. Now if only your punter can punt, the Bucs have to work their way up the field to tie the game.

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LiveStrongSkins

LiveStrongSkins

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:applause:

We think just alike. Because of health reasons that took me away from Frostburg, I was forced into coaching early as well and thats when I took on a new approach to the game. Instead of going out and depending on instincts to play, I actually had to help play the chess match that is a football game. Film watching and devising a gameplan really changes the way a football game is looked at. When watching a skins game as a fan, the whole thing is watched through burgundy and gold shades. However, I dont question the same things that I used to because of coaching. I think the #1 misconception of Gibbs is him being "conservative" The fact of the matter is it is actually a arrogence to run when people know thats what you want to do. It takes more balls to call a run and execute it and even more balls to stick with it. As a coach you ALWAYS want to run when you can. However as fans, we all want to see the long scoring plays and crushing hits. However when I am coaching, its those same things that make me extremely nervous.

By the way, congrats on 4k. :cheers:

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skins4eva

skins4eva

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People make it seem as though it's easy to win on the road--IN A PLAYOFF GAME...It's not--in the NFL, a win is a win is a win. It's as simple as that. The "experts" who have knocked Gibbs either a) do not know the game that well; B) or b, simply make a big deal out of nothing in order to have something to talk about.

Gibbs saw the way our defense was playing and shifted to an ultra-conservative game plan, and guess what--it worked. And guess what else: our offense for all intents and purposes, had a bye-week and they will be coming out next week with something to prove---that much, I can guarantee.

If you win on the road in a playoff game--I don't care how it's done--it's an accomplishment. Great post Kdawg!

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AlexRS

AlexRS

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Agree 100%.

I was worried about our playcalling at some point (who wound't be? We lost 3 games in a row having a lead in the 4th). But then I realized that, well, you have to win the game if you have a lead in the 4th. You can call all runs and you still have to win the game. You can be as predictable as a can of soup and still win the game.

Talking about balls to call run after run when they expect it... how about balls for calling run after run in 4th quarter of consequent games? After you lost a game having with lead in the 4th having called run-run? Big balls. HUGE. But that is the only way to show your team that YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO WIN when this happens. No trickery, no gimmics. If you are ahead and in position to win the game - you effin do it. No trick plays, no bull. Run it down their throat and win the game. End of story. Trickery can win you a game or two (see Cowgirls vs KC), but to be a winner you have to win straight up.

:applause: at the post! Not sure about that sig tho - AB has been looking kinda scary.

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ThomasRoane

ThomasRoane

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I've been a coach myself for 20 years. Highschool and rec league. Course, Pros are infinitely more complex. But one thing I think works on every level. Early on as a coach I had several teams that made it to the Championship and lost. Then I learned the power of simplicity. We turned it around and won five straight. And the biggest difference is I stopped trying to outsmart the other guy. More games are lost than won. Just look at the Giants-Panthers. Did Carolina win or did the Giants with 5 TO's lose it? Same with us in TB. I think Gibbs was very smart in recognizing that the best thing we could probably do vs a great ball-hawking defense is just don't give them anything. (Still pissed at Taylor Jacobs for not breaking up that pass though)

I agree with Kdawg 100%. Gibbs knows what it takes to get us to the big game. He knows when to pace his guys. I don't know if Brunell will be able to make plays to help us win any playoff games. But I know without a doubt he's the best option on our bench for not giving the game away. As for CP I think he was being rested somewhat. But I think he got a stinger too from that KO of Quarles. If you ever had a stinger then you know it takes a while to get that feeling back. That's pretty serious for someone who needs to hold on to the ball.

Without Portis our running game suffered. And Gibbs has everything going off that. All his looks and play action are off the running game. That's where our big plays have come. Portis has learned patience and is getting the most out of his runs. Betts is just slamming in there before the line can really set up their blocks. He's getting 3 or 4 yds where CP would get 5 or 6.

So, we're on the right track. Just get the W. Whatever it takes. Keep it short and simple. In big games players are already jacked up. They don't need to be thinking. They need to react and just be physical out there. We've seen this from Gibbs teams before. They NEVER really looked too pretty. They just beat people up. Eventually, that sets up the big plays as the other team just wears down.

HTTR!

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jrfriedm

jrfriedm

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My feelings exactly. A win is a win, and we won. It may not of been pretty, but we still WON!!!! Now I agree we have/need to play much, much better this coming Saturday, but I think that we can and will. Lets just keep hopeing that the ball bounces our way and that we are able to come out ahead on the score board, regardless of ALL the other stats.

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gortiz

gortiz

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great post KDawg ... one of the few long ones I have read!

I think Joe's greatness as a coach was spotlighted when he decided NOT to go for the 52 yard feild goal, but then decided to go for the 47 yarder. Sure, the situations were different, but Joe knew what was at hand, and he ended up making the right decision... :notworthy

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Jumbo

Jumbo

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I keep reading more and more misinformed posts. I had to put my point of view out there.

And I know some of them have been mine no doubt :laugh:

I appreciated everything you wrote, share the same understandings, though I'm someone who does not feel they know near enough about football to be as comfortable as I'd like to be in some aspects of game analysis.

Hearing more of your background, I can see why so many of your posts make sense to me. Congratulations on 4000 (made it half-way there myself yesterday) and what a great season for all of us! :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

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KDawg

KDawg

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And I know some of them have been mine no doubt :laugh:

I appreciated everything you wrote, share the same understandings, though I'm someone who does not feel they know near enough about football to be as comfortable as I'd like to be in some aspects of game analysis.

Hearing more of your background, I can see why so many of your posts make sense to me. Congratulations on 4000 (made it half-way there myself yesterday) and what a great season for all of us! :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

Thanks all.

Good to hear that my posts have been making some sense :laugh:

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