Analysis AMA: Post-Cowboy's Game (1 Viewer)

[TCUDan]

Are you as excited as I am over the expansion of Taysom's role in this offense? He's playing the Kyle Juszczyk role but with the added wrinkle of being able to pass and run effectively from the QB position and I like to think it makes it even harder to defend him.

I'm pretty excited. There's been conversation the last couple of years about him playing more of RB role, which I was really 50/50 just due to the wear and tear. Even running 11 man QB power, you still tend to take fewer direct hits because there often isn't a free-hitter in 11-man run game and defenders can't draw a bead on you when they're shedding blocks and having to adjust angles on the fly.

All that to say 1) I worry about his health (while he doesn't have a lot of wear/tear and doesn't seem to be slowing down at his age, he has always been a little injury prone), 2) I'd like to see him featured a little more in the passing game as opposed to his kind of lead-blocker heavy role right now, but I understand--this is them keeping him on the field as a fullback because of the threat he poses as a runner/catcher/thrower.

So I'm definitely excited. I just hope the news on his injury comes back to be minimal (I haven't seen any updates) and that he is able to stay clean from future injuires.

*I'd say I'm just as, if not more, excited about his role as a captain on the team than his role on the field.

 

[TCUDan]

While the plays themselves are not exotic, I do think people are not appreciating the way that Kubiak uses plays early to set up for plays later. We give so many different looks on purpose, then when we give the same look, we do something different next time. A great example is when we had presnap motion with Shaheed and faked a jet sweep right and then handed Karama the ball off tackle right. He got a chunk on that play early, I think for a first down. Then in the third quarter (I think) they have the same look, but faked the handoff to kamara and rolled Carr out on a naked play action bootleg, back to the sided of the field where Shaheed went into motion and went back to him.

Kubiak may be using "simple" plays, and I agree this offense isn't a "gimmick" offense, but KK is absolutely still playing 3d chess with his play calling. We are not scoring 40+ ppg based on sheer "execution."

Scheme matters.

Sure, but he's still doing that with the base offense. That's just good offensive play-calling. It should be complementary and situational and your raison d'etre as an offensive play-caller is always "simple for us, complicated for them"--meaning we are going to run our base stuff out of different looks and have answers and counters to it, and it's going to look complicated for you, but this is still our base and we're executing it well because we are getting a lot of reps on the nuts and bolts.

The formations/motions/etc. are just window dressing. It's a good job of 1) scouting and self-scouting by the staff, 2) always being mindful of your built-in answers, 3) talent and focus from the players to execute with precision.

 

[TCUDan]

Sure, but he's still doing that with the base offense. That's just good offensive play-calling. It should be complementary and situational and your raison d'etre as an offensive play-caller is always "simple for us, complicated for them"--meaning we are going to run our base stuff out of different looks and have answers and counters to it, and it's going to look complicated for you, but this is still our base and we're executing it well because we are getting a lot of reps on the nuts and bolts.

The formations/motions/etc. are just window dressing. It's a good job of 1) scouting and self-scouting by the staff, 2) always being mindful of your built-in answers, 3) talent and focus from the players to execute with precision.

I'd add to this--and I will beat this drum till the day I'm in the ground--most of the work is done during the week, not on gameday. The staff is doing a tremendous job of preparation, and while everyone recognizes what seems to be a big leap in play-calling competency on gameday, this stuff is mostly handled during the week. Again, that's from the HC to the coordinator to the position coaches. Meanings are focused, have purpose, and situational reps during practice are maximized.

Efficient games come from efficient practices. I always tell my guys, "We have (x number) of opportunities to win the game during the week."

If you win the game during practice/meetings, you have gamedays that look like this.

 

[TCUDan]

and that's the great part

to borrow a phrase - keep doing what we're doing and when defenses do start coming up with some answers to slow us down bust out the fancy stuff* just like Rocky switching back to southpaw against Apollo

*I'm assuming there is a bunch of fancy plays they're keeping in their back pocket, right?

It's safe to assume that. I always have a period during the week I call "Mickey Mouse Sh*t"... about 10 minutes we use to get reps of our trick plays. Everything from a flea flicker to a double pass to some of our unbalanced looks (I have an 8-man surface package called Rhino--8 lineman on the field, or 9 if I use one at fullback). You get your reps on air and maybe sprinkle it in sometimes during team periods.

For the Saints it probably include the Taysom QB stuff, any sort of reverses or just trick plays with a lot of moving parts. Any stuff where they have a defender coming in on offense. You get a few reps, you keep it fresh in the guys' minds, but you don't spend of ton of time on it. It's just there if you need it.

 

[TCUDan]

Thanks for all the great info Coach....

Above is absolutely what we are seeing, playing to our best players strengths, putting them in position to succeed.....BUT, the NFL is a very long season, that said what other offensive players do you think could be major contributors as the year goes on? Tipton, AT Perry, Holker, Mims?

I think as the year goes on, it will be important to keep our best players relatively fresh....

Tipton is the most intriguing to me. His makeup and journey really reminds me of Rashid Shaheed. Missed the entire preseason with an injury and still made the team. I think he is someone they could start pacakaging for later in the season, and if anything God-forbid happens to Rasheed, I think he is the man they see filling that role.

The thing is we've seen VERY little contribution from the receiver depth. For all the consternation about the Saints not having a true slot WR, Kubiak really has been mostly sticking to 21, 22, and 12 personnel. They're gonna have to see a very weak nickel look from an opposing defense or finally find themselves in 2-minute situation before I think we'll see larger contributions from the WR depth chart.

All that to say--I don't think we'll se much from those guys until we begin to weather some injuries (and this is the NFL--injuries will come). He's not on that list there b/c he's on IR and has been disappointingly unhealthy pretty much since he arrived, but the guy I REALLY want to see in this offense is Kendre Miller. You wanna talk about someone who could be an explosive zone running back?

The Saints have done a remarkable job of dictating the pace of games. Situations like 3rd and long and 2-minute--they haven't faced any of it because they've been so efficient. Maybe if they get into an actual 3rd and long we'd see more 11 and 10 personnel (3 or 4 WRs on the field), but they've stayed out of those situations.

That's a good thing. Clearly.

 

[TCUDan]

Barring injury concerns, is Taysom going to be fantasy relevant in this offense? Looks like he is getting snaps but his primary role seems to be lead blocking and decoy route running more than actual rushing/receiving and surprisingly simply absent in goal line situations. With the insane results after two games, can't argue with keeping with what's working but it certainly hasn't been a major part of the primary plan at this point.

As I've said with some of the other facets of the offense, Taysom is such a situational weapon. I like that they're keeping him on the field a lot more--his snap count has to be WAY up (honestly, I wish they'd use him less on ST)--but think about when he traditionally gets the ball in his hands.

They've also shown a willingness to feed Kamara the ball. 21 carries last game. That's rare to see these days. A lot of Taysom's situationals in the past were short yardage and red zone, and they've seemed more than content to hand the ball off to Kamara in those. You can't really argue with it.

I don't have it in front of me, but how many carries did Taysom have last game as a RB? Five? Seven? So they're taking those QB runs he used to get and replacing them with RB carries. Personally I prefer him running from QB (as I mentioned earlier) as there is much more of an opportunity for him to bust one, but I understand the logic. One he lines up at QB, you're taking away a lot of other options on any given play. It's tendency heavy, and Kubiak likes keeping things ambiguous before the snap.

I think there are definitely some more opportunities for Taysom to contribute as a pass-catcher, but when you only throw the ball 16 times, you can't really make a judgement off of that. I think we'll see him getting some backside flat routes off of split zone bootlegs and whatnot. Maybe some screens.

Oh and let's not overlook how great he's been as a lead blocker! Even after all these years it's still crazy to me how good he is at EVERYTHING. Definition of a football player.

 

[TCUDan]

thank you and i wanted to highlight this part- because AK41 referred SPECIFICALLY about this 2x in post game yesterday- the position coaches.

They're the unsung heroes. As a coordinator or HC, you try to stress attention to detail, but the details you have to concern yourself with are still so much more at a concept level. You need those guys down in the dirt, focusing on all the little minutia that in football can mean the difference between a great play and disaster.

You don't get this level of efficiency without those guys pounding the ground.

 

[TCUDan]

and a good offense is, part of, a good defense.

The pressure of the opponent to have to execute on every play, flawless, just to keep pace, helps the defense for sure.

I came into this season with ZERO expectation - new OC, team finding its way, players assimilating to new system.

I had no earthly idea that the dividends would be paid opening drive, game 1.

Im going to soak up this ride. Attempt to remain even keeled but as many ( and you ) have pointed out, starting to get vibes of 2009 offensive output.

We're doing to other offenses what we saw happening with us the past few seasons. They're pressing, trying to force plays to keep up. Knowing you have to score TDs instead of field goals, not trusting their defense to get the ball back to them--it cascades into turnovers and penalties and 3-and-outs.

It's more than just the scoreline that reminds me of 2009. It's this. It's the fast starts and brutal finishes. The ruthless efficiency. The Saints have shown me enough to believe that, if they can stay mostly healthy, they really have a shot at making a run.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Thanks as always for taking the time to do these @TCUDan

Klint Kubiak has deserved all the praise he's been getting the first 2 weeks my question is do you think it bothers Dennis Allen how much praise Kubiak is getting?

Say what you want about Dennis Allen but his defenses have always been top notch. Offense has been weak, he brings in Kubiak, offense is much improved and Kubiak is a god, with the fans and national media

In 2009 Sean Payton's offenses were always top notch. Defense was weak, he brings in Gregg Williams and the defense is much improved. Williams' name was mentioned quite a bit, he got credit but I don't recall him getting godded up like Kubiak kas been. In fact, I remember Payton getting praise for having the foresight to bring him in

Allen doesn't seem to be the type but is it possible his ego is bruised just a bit with all the shine Klint is getting?

 

[Rexman100]

Every single team in the NFL has inside and outside zone in their playbook. It's not something extremely unique as a concept.

What made Gibbs version different was the details--the way he coached the line--and the way they used their 21 and 12 personnel looks (FBs and TEs). The "wide zone" that he gets credited with is also not something super unique, but again, the way he coached it (for example, the use of cutting on the backside and second level) is what made it unique. The years the Broncos seemed to be able to plug in any RB and they'd run for 1000 yards were in large part due to Gibbs' version of the zone running game and the massive cutback lanes it creates.

It fit into Shannahan's system (and his tree) because of how it paired up with the play-action passing game and the bootlegs and the screens. But again... literally every team has some version of this. No one is reinventing the wheel from a concept level.

Gibbs was a position coach, and it's the position coaches that make any system work. What Kubiak is doing isn't radical play design, it's good coaching by him and the coaches under him. It's attention to detail. It's accountability. It's, rather than asking each player to just beat the man in front of them, it's telling them to do their job, the way they are being taught, and trust that they will win--and defining what "winning" means.

Maybe Shaheed doesn't get open on the post, but he opens up Olave on the over route. Maybe Penning doesn't get the end reached, but the guard washes the LB and a cutback lane opens on the outside zone. Instead of it being "you're gonna have to beat everyone 1 on 1" it's just "hey, do your job, and if the defense overplays you then it's gonna let us win somewhere else."

Again, it all comes down to coaching which is involves a lot more than play-calling and design (thought that is also important).

Ultimately the Saints are executing really well on the details--and those little details add up to some very big plays.

Is it new how they scheme a defender. Instead of using a TE to chip every down. They mix it up, sometimes two te’s followed by a RB. Then the next play, penning is one on one. The next play, some variation, of a tackle and a guard. Always mixing it up, Parson said, man it’s like running thru a maze every play. Do you think this element is unique?

Some fans are concerned that KK will take any HC job when he’s offered. Talk about what he would consider in the decision making process. Is he one-and-done if offered, or does he realize that it takes an elite defense, and a high quality Qb to be HIGHLY successful and patiently chooses his next team, Ala Jon Gruden.

 

[SaintsFanInNY]

My only question is when does @TCUDan start coaching for our Saints?

 

[St. Widge]

One thing this system--and it seems, Kubiak's philosophy--is that it is ALL ABOUT getting the best players on the field. There are far fewer 3 and 4 WR sets (10 and 11 personnel)... it's almost exclusively 21, 12, and 22 personnel, and very little rotation. Olave and Shaheed are taking the lion's share of snaps. Has any other WR had a target in these first 2 games?

I thought that too about them not using 11 personnel and I know 12 and 21 are staples of the Shanahan/Kubiak system, but I was surprised to find out in an Underhill article that they actually used 11 personnel 24 times in week 1 (their most used personnel grouping in week 1) and then only used it 6 times in week 2 mostly because they were using Backs and TEs on Parsons. Kubiak is really changing things based on the specific opponent which is great.

 

[Grumpy Old Manatee]

Today I Learned:

The term “raison d’etre”

Thanks Dan.

 

[Innominate]

I don't remember if it was last year or the year before but when I would do these AMAs I'd always get questions about the defense's tackling--why it was bad, if they needed to live tackle in practice, etc.

At the time what I said was it's this cascade effect (someone can search for it to get my exact words)--basically you have guys pressing, trying to do more than their job, to make a play b/c they don't have confidence in their teammates or the scheme or whatever it is, so THEY need to make a play. So now they're getting out of their lane, trying to force big plays instead of letting the plays come to them. That's when you get bad technique and discipline, which leads to missed tackles, blown coverages, penalties, etc.

How many actual new faces are there on the defense? Where is the massive upgrade? Will Harris???? Chase Young??? Lattimore didn't even play this game.

No. It's the same guys, playing more sound, more composed, and trusting each other. Just like the offense--it's almost the exact same players, playing with confidence.

I just saw in a segment with Tyranny Mathieu. He was saying I'm the system we have , we have enough good players we don't need super humans, we just need people to do their job. That gives players opportunities to make plays

 

[Andrus]

They're the unsung heroes. As a coordinator or HC, you try to stress attention to detail, but the details you have to concern yourself with are still so much more at a concept level. You need those guys down in the dirt, focusing on all the little minutia that in football can mean the difference between a great play and disaster.

You don't get this level of efficiency without those guys pounding the ground.

Thanks for doing this, Dan!