Bad Offensive Gameplan

[#12]

I know there's this contingent out there that thinks Arians is the worst, never wanted him, hopes he leaves, etc. Much of what you say applies to them. I'm just saying that I think he should do more with his offensive gameplan and his play calling to make up for the weaknesses on the roster. We'd still be outmatched against teams like Houston, and the players might still have made the same mistakes. I'm not laying the loss at his feet. But I do think he could have done a better job, and I've said that practically all season long.

 

I think most people, myself included, have agreed all season that the play calling could be better. 

 

But when it got to this point:

 

- Arians will ruin Luck.

- I hope Arians leaves.

- Arians is the devil.

 

This is when I got off the train and called for a little perspective.  It's too early to be that down on Arians.  I don't disagree with much of anything you or the other critics say, and I've said many of the same things myself, but it's all about looking at the big picture and having a little perspective about it.  The Colts are weekly competing with teams with infinitely more talent and experience.  There are numerous teams with twice the talent and half the wins.  The Colts, with Arians at the helm, are doing pretty well for themselves. 

[ColtsBlueFL]

I think most people, myself included, have agreed all season that the play calling could be better. 

 

But when it got to this point:

 

- Arians will ruin Luck.

- I hope Arians leaves.

- Arians is the devil.

 

This is when I got off the train and called for a little perspective.  It's too early to be that down on Arians.  I don't disagree with much of anything you or the other critics say, and I've said many of the same things myself, but it's all about looking at the big picture and having a little perspective about it.  The Colts are weekly competing with teams with infinitely more talent and experience.  There are numerous teams with twice the talent and half the wins.  The Colts, with Arians at the helm, are doing pretty well for themselves. 

 

Agreed!  Arians has been installing shorter routes and the check downs.  Either Luck isn't seeing it or doesn't want to because he thinks primary target  is open enough.  But Luck has only 2 seconds to got through his read progressions.  He doesn't see check down option until he himself is down.  He's throwing off target because of the inside pressure, and the outside edge rushers have him contained in the pocket.  Arians says the sacks on the move are probably ok to Luck's health, but those hard hits (and head shots) from up the middle into the pocket are worrisome.

 

We've adapted at half time in games, and adjusted the game plan and routes recently.  Arians said he thought we could be where we are, with our main 25 guy.  but with all the injuries we've had, so many players lost, he's a little taken aback himself; never experienced anything like it.

[fvantagio]

nevermind.,

 

Arians is god.  Put him in the hall of fame. Best coach ever. Re-name the Lombardi after him.

No need to go to extremes. It just shows that there is no perfect system, only perfect execution. Peyton mastered the short passes and taking what the defense gives him. Brees and Sean Payton executed the deep balls, and seems etc. to perfection and have put up historically huge numbers. Bill Walsh used short passes while Mike Martz used the deep ball. BA's system can be successful. We just need adequate players on the Oline and time for these young skilled players to develop. If in a couple years the offense doesnt improve then we can begin to look for a new system. But right now we are heading to the playoffs which has FAR exceeded any of my pre season expectations. And because of that I dont want to see the front office or coaching staff change for a few years. In my opinion, it will be that consistency that will benefit Luck and these rookies the most.

[ColtsBlueFL]

I've done this before, but if you really want to know what I think we should do, specifically, here's a few of ideas:

 

1) Reduce the number of formations and personnel packages.

2) Reduce the amount of pre-snap motion.

 

Those two go hand in hand, in my mind.

 

 

And they should.  The motion offense is designed to-

 

Get the d to call an alignment, then the O shifts into a different look/play at the last second before the snap

Create mismatches- like a fst RB vs. linebacker, and also  by drawing a D player away from the point of attack by the motion man, or place an extra blocker at the point of attack. 

 

Sometimes you guess right, and others you get it wrong. It happens in football.

 

Colts used to use few alignments, because Peyton and the skill players could execute at a high level and the D knew what was coming and still cannot stop it.  Luck and our rookies are not that level.  Joe Gibbs won 3 SB's using motion offense.  Motion in and of itself is not a problem.  Arians might take a page out of Gibbs book and use it to set up motion to get blocking to a guy like Watt, as Gibbs did to thwart Lawrence Taylor.

 

It appears you and others think we need a new playbook (and some see that, by association, an new OC). That's fine.  I see it different.  I see a game we should have won yesterday.  Probably a game that our rookies will win after a little more experience.  I see great things from the playbook we have with some, near term with the changes already being made, and long term when/if we can fix the protection issues.  Arians is adjusting, but there are limits. Some teams have very good pass protection - 49-ers?  Bills?  Flacco seems to have time... Brady gets good looks downfield... we need build something similar for Luck for next year and beyond.  In the meantime, we have to get creative to protect  Luck without having to turn him into Alex Smith 2.0

[Superman]

And they should.  The motion offense is designed to-

 

Get the d to call an alignment, then the O shifts into a different look/play at the last second before the snap

Create mismatches- like a fst RB vs. linebacker, and also  by drawing a D player away from the point of attack by the motion man, or place an extra blocker at the point of attack. 

 

Sometimes you guess right, and others you get it wrong. It happens in football.

 

Colts used to use few alignments, because Peyton and the skill players could execute at a high level and the D knew what was coming and still cannot stop it.  Luck and our rookies are not that level.  Joe Gibbs won 3 SB's using motion offense.  Motion in and of itself is not a problem.  Arians might take a page out of Gibbs book and use it to set up motion to get blocking to a guy like Watt, as Gibbs did to thwart Lawrence Taylor.

 

I said reduce motion, not get rid of it entirely. Motion has its place, obviously. But sometimes, it will help the defense as much as it helps you.

 

It appears you and others think we need a new playbook (and some see that, by association, an new OC). That's fine.  I see it different.

 

I don't see how you get that impression from what I posted.

 

I see a game we should have won yesterday.  Probably a game that our rookies will win after a little more experience. 

 

My criticisms exist independent of Sunday's game, and they are valid in both wins and losses this season. Like I said earlier, this isn't a knee-jerk reaction to a bad loss.

 

 

I see great things from the playbook we have with some, near term with the changes already being made, and long term when/if we can fix the protection issues.  Arians is adjusting, but there are limits. Some teams have very good pass protection - 49-ers?  Bills?  Flacco seems to have time... Brady gets good looks downfield... we need build something similar for Luck for next year and beyond.  In the meantime, we have to get creative to protect Luck without having to turn him into Alex Smith 2.0

 

To the bolded, that's my whole point.

 

As for the line, my hope is we add some talent this offseason and get some help from the guys already here, and maybe we'll be better next year. But I don't really think it matters what kind of line you have, teams pay a lot of money for pass rushers these days. Defenses put a premium on pressuring the quarterback. Even with an elite line, your gameplan should try to neutralize a good rush.

 

Arians did make some adjustments in Sunday's game. I just wish he had done a few specific things that -- I think -- would have helped the pass protection and the quarterback.

[ColtsBlueFL]

Here's a little tidbit about motion offense for those who want a little taste of why and what-for-

 

http://coachhoover.blogspot.com/2011/09/boise-st-texas-shift-and-motion-package.html

[ColtsBlueFL]

I said reduce motion, not get rid of it entirely. Motion has its place, obviously. But sometimes, it will help the defense as much as it helps you.

The link above explains why I like it. Tom Landry introduced it, Joe Gibbs enhanced it. Both very successful HC's.

 

I don't see how you get that impression from what I posted.

Not you specifically, then. But quite a few others, yes.

 

My criticisms exist independent of Sunday's game, and they are valid in both wins and losses this season. Like I said earlier, this isn't a knee-jerk reaction to a bad loss.

Before Sunday, I saw 9 wins vs 4 losses.  Should have been 10.  I have a rule. If it ain't broke, don't break it. ;)

 

To the bolded, that's my whole point.

 

As for the line, my hope is we add some talent this offseason and get some help from the guys already here, and maybe we'll be better next year. But I don't really think it matters what kind of line you have, teams pay a lot of money for pass rushers these days. Defenses put a premium on pressuring the quarterback. Even with an elite line, your gameplan should try to neutralize a good rush.

 

Arians did make some adjustments in Sunday's game. I just wish he had done a few specific things that -- I think -- would have helped the pass protection and the quarterback.

I think they're still trying to work that part out.  You have to draw it up, put in the playbook, then practice it until folks 'get it'.  Otherwise almost any idea will be fruitless.  Arians has been making adjustments, within and from game to game.  I'm happy is doing so without drastically altering scheme and make the players start all over.

 

I think going full on Alex Smith mode won't get the job done, though.  But I also don't know what will.  I'll let the payed guys handle that part and ride it out with them.

[ColtsBlueFL]

This road game is ultra important. And Arians thinks the KC defense is top notch, and to be respected.  So I wonder what game plan will be effective against them?  What is Arians drawing up, and if you all had the chance, what would you do against the KC D?

[thunderkyss]

We don't need to go deep all the time. Just fill their secondary with bodies and make them make mistakes. Brady and the Pats threw a lot of quick passes against them. We did it on the Hilton TD, and it worked to perfection. Need more of that sort of play.

 

 

That was a great play by Luck. Great read on the safety & a perfectly thrown ball in just the right spot.

 

I've read several posts so far, saying that Indy could have beat Houston if Indy didn't make so many mistakes, or that Indy will get their mistakes fixed & should beat Houston week 17.

 

Well Houston made some mistakes as well, & this was one of them. #27 was the deep safety on that play. Had he backpedaled to stay deep, Luck wouldn't have thrown that ball & took another sack. I don't know if he was shown pictures of #27 doing that, but he sure looked like he was expecting it.

 

Our frk'n deep safety let two guys run right past him, while he stood flat footed the whole time.

 

You'll be happy to know he was benched after that. You didn't see him in the second half. Hopefully you won't see him week 17 either.

[Jules]

This is just an example of what we read here alllllll season in terms of Arians threads.

 

Not knocking him, just showing how many wanted him out it seems since day 1. He is now gone. I think he did a great job filling in for Pagano though.......

 

 

[JoKeR]

This is just an example of what we read here alllllll season in terms of Arians threads.

 

Not knocking him, just showing how many wanted him out it seems since day 1. He is now gone. I think he did a great job filling in for Pagano though.......

I thought he was good but not great. I saw a lot more potential if we had a good line.