Why I love to see an offense fool a defense
-
Way back in the day, true story, I was a statistician for football, with a friend of mine.
It was as close to football as I could get, since I always had a very bad knee and was
forbidden to play contact sports.
And the one time I went and signed up anyways for tryouts, the phys ed instructor gave
me hell about getting him in trouble with my dr, and my surgeon who worked so hard
on my knee - well, he was a lot madder when the school called and they found out.
Whatever - but one night, we were getting beat 40 something to three. maybe six.
Away game.
I was sitting there, disgusted, because I could call every play, with few exceptions, that
we were going to run.
It's true. Winged T to the right, run right. and the rb - when he had his weight forward,
in an I formation, they always ran straight ahead. He would shift his weight and stance
to the right... yep, ran right.
Now, with the usual two wideouts, and the rb with his weight and stance centered,
it was a pass, and the rb helped pass protect.
So, being bored and disgusted, I was pretty much calling every single play correctly
before it ran. After a while, my friend was laughing and saying "how do you do that"
Well, next to us, were two local sportswriters of local small newspapers - they were
shaking their heads and laughing. Eventually, one of them called down the row in the press box,
that so and so should fix his play calling, because "this kid is telling us every single play
before you run it" and they both laughed.
Well, one of em knew the asst offensive football coach? that they were talking to, and they joked about
it again, and the jerkface, stupid coach smarted off about me being a pu**y, and me being
so much a wuss loser I was afraid to take the field so I should just shut the f*** up....
and that my parents must be so ashamed of me for being not being a man, to be so afraid to go
out for football and he should shut my mouth for me.
The whole press box got quiet, and next to the jerk, was a very tough defensive asst coach,
who knew me, and he stood up and told the jerk that if he said one more word about me,
HE was going to kick his ass and boot his ass out of the press box.
So, it was pretty quiet the rest of the game. lol.
On the bus ride home, at one point, the jerk up front - I heard him in the quiet smart off
about me quietly telling my friend and co-statistician what his plays were, and that
got me pretty po'd.
So, we finally get back to the hs, I get off the bus, and just as the jerk was reaching for his
door of his car, he was launched backwards, and put up against his driver's side.
Well, he smarts off, and I bounced him back and forth between his car and the car next to us,
and the asst coach, who also knew me, told him to never say one word about me again.
And I told him off like I never told anybody off before. Okay, I was -really- pissed, and
he stfu, and apologized, and I finally let him go with a shove, and apologized to the
coach who was getting a ride home, he said "it's okay, I got the picture".
And, I never heard about it again. Thought for sure I was going to be suspended, kicked
out of school, something. It just disappeared.
Except once, the next year, my senior year, I had the defensive asst coach for a class...
and one day he talked to me in the hallway - he laughed and said the jerk doesn't smart off
to people anymore, and it was a good thing neither one of us kicked his ass.
True story.
-
SO, I love to watch an offense get into the defenses' heads, and mess
with their minds.
Fool em.
Kosar loved to start an early part of a game off, by throwing way down field, just to
get into the defense's mindset, letting them know "it's all on the table".
That has been part of what has been wrong with the Browns. I have seen the same things
in the past. Not as obvious as in hs, but I've seen defenses seem to know what
the Browns were going to run, and they laugh after the plays - makes it so easy.
And since the Browns had wr limitations.... not good.
I believe this Browns coaching staff is so understanding of the game, love the game so much,
that they are teaching things like this to the players, and the players will be inspired to also
love the game, every game. They even worked to resolve the wr limitations in a serious way.
and, I believe Hue and Co, won't telegraph their offense, like Flip did. I believe the offense
is going to love being able to fool a defense, get into the defenses minds and warp their psychiesies.
No more of Flip's personel packages giving away what play was going to be run.
That was stupid. Nobody, but nooooobody thinks Hue and Co. are stupid. I can't wait
for the offense to play smart, outwit the defense football.
-
SO, I love to watch an offense get into the defenses' heads, and mess
with their minds.
Fool em.
Kosar loved to start an early part of a game off, by throwing way down field, just to
get into the defense's mindset, letting them know "it's all on the table".
That has been part of what has been wrong with the Browns. I have seen the same things
in the past. Not as obvious as in hs, but I've seen defenses seem to know what
the Browns were going to run, and they laugh after the plays - makes it so easy.
And since the Browns had wr limitations.... not good.
I believe this Browns coaching staff is so understanding of the game, love the game so much,
that they are teaching things like this to the players, and the players will be inspired to also
love the game, every game. They even worked to resolve the wr limitations in a serious way.
and, I believe Hue and Co, won't telegraph their offense, like Flip did. I believe the offense
is going to love being able to fool a defense, get into the defenses minds and warp their psychiesies.
No more of Flip's personel packages giving away what play was going to be run.
That was stupid. Nobody, but nooooobody thinks Hue and Co. are stupid. I can't wait
for the offense to play smart, outwit the defense football.
SO, I love to watch an offense get into the defenses' heads, and mess
with their minds.
Fool em.
Kosar loved to start an early part of a game off, by throwing way down field, just to
get into the defense's mindset, letting them know "it's all on the table".
That has been part of what has been wrong with the Browns. I see the same things
in the past. Not as obvious as in hs, but I've seen defenses seem to know what
the Browns were going to run, and they laugh after the plays - makes it so easy.
And since the Browns had wr limitations.... not good.
I miss me some Bernie Kosar. Thanks for the campfire story leading up to it Cal. I supplemented 2 cups of turbo-caffeinated coffee for marshmallows. At least you had company with your perception of that blowhard.
Flip's offense looked like his background. He was a QB Coach so Qb looked like the least of our problems in 2015. As far as the oline goes, he was warned you can't part time a zbs with something else if you want consistent results. A lot of the passing game in the zbs sets up to look like a run on the line of scrimmage every play; and by the time someone can read Alex Mack or Joel Bitonio or John Greco isn't trying to get to the second tier - it's already too late to get to their zone drop on time. Flip's experience or lack thereof in command of the entire offense missed this big time. I LIKED Flip but his experience level at OC meant growing pains from learning curve required.
In 2014, we got off to a 7-4 start without needing excuses for a pretty big injury volume with a more experienced OC. Even within the 9 losses, in 6 or 7 of those we had 2nd half leads or tie scores meaning the will to compete was always there. We didn't always have the play makers to finish the job so opponents could adjust while we had nothing to attack with on the perimeter especially in the red zone in particular. When Travis Benjamin had to lead our WR Corps with 4 TD receptions and in yards per reception on part time duty in 2014 - teams could load the box and sellout to defend the run. Defenses were sticking their chins out at Hoyer and whoever else we looked to and we couldn't seal the deal on many of those leads we had.
In saying all that, guess who got a chance to join a 6-4 team in progress? If Josh Gordon was the Mr Wonderful everyone keeps telling me he is - joining the pleasant surprise unfolding in 2014 was an ideal time to reward the ONLY NFL team to put their money where their mouth was at the supplemental draft with "we believe in you Josh." He had 1 good effort his first week back to help us get to 7-4 before not caring enough to know the plays, quitting on several routes he wasn't the primary receiver, and giving the coaching staff a reason(s) to suspended him for the final week reminded me this guys is a complete waste of time. If that didn't prove where he prioritizes his football career as well as putting Johnny Manziel in charge of his social life - nothing will say his apologists away from Mr Wonderful while another piss test gone wrong needs more of the same alibis and excuses. This cat has had more than 9 lives while 2014 proved he was about 100 bong hits past offering big play ability. That 2014 stage didn't have as many 2nd half junktime opportunities as his 2013 dream season we only won 4 games in.
We need play makers on both sides of the ball to help us win more close games than we've been able to. It sure looks to me like the current FO looked for play making prospects that prioritize football over partying but I've been wrong before though.
-
In HS we had a WR who converted to Tailback his senior year run for something like 1600 yds on his way to the Parade All-Star team.... obviously way over 100 ypg except for one, mid-seasonish game where he was held to under 60.
After the game their staff told ours that they always knew when his number was called as he would hitch up his pants as he settled into his 2-pt stance..
BTW... he made the Parade team as a WR despite not playing the position all year. He was a helluva WR as a Junior...
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login