Rewatching the offensive snaps for notes and here’s some things I’m noticing

[Housh]

Tight ends got 3 targets early. 2 to Hurst and 1 to Wilcox on that amazing run. One thing i noticed immediately was they were all wide open.


The play designs to all 3 were perfect and we got good plays out of 2/3 of those first 3 targets to TEs. Burrow throws a better pass and we probably get 3/3 catches on those targets. Dolphins very clearly didn’t care much about our TEs catching passes. The 4th target to a TE was also wide open. It was the seam to Asiasi where we got an unnecessary roughness in our favor. It was wide open but did require a very accurate pass that Burrow simply missed. So by my count unless i skipped over some plays on accident that’s 4 tight end targets that were wide open.


The run game as actually great early. Even with our formations basically giving away what we want to do Mixon was getting yardage very well. On the 4th and 1 toss, Collins blew a block and ruined the play. It was actually a good play. La’el just missed a pretty easy block and that guy forced Mixon to stop which allowed everyone to hang tackle him. If Collins gets that block he’s walking to a 1st down as long as Wilcox keeps his block which he probably would’ve because he had a great game blocking.


There was a throw to Boyd at 6:58 that Burrow missed pretty badly, then the play after Burrow missed a pretty tough throw to Tee on an out route.

Once again up until this point non of the plays were extraordinarily bad. I’d actually go as far to say that so far(6:50 2nd quarter) the playcalling has been great. The players just didn’t execute the plays correctly. This is 2 drives that were ended by Inaccurate Burrow passes and one ended by Collins missing an easy block.

At 5:43 TUA goes down.

We block the FG after Teddy B comes in cold and throws a great 16 yard pass.

At 4:22 we get another VERY BAD missed block by La’el Collins who at this point looks slow and lost. The guy La’el missed makes the tackle on Mixon who had no chance of success one because La’el missed another block but 2 because the Dolphins had 8 in the box. That was a poor run design and should’ve been checked to a pass which is on Zac and Burrow. The next play Burrow with time decided to checkdown to Mixon very quickly. He only scanned one side of the field and it was a poor decision. Someone came through the middle but he had tons of space to scramble outside the pocket. Burrow wanted to get the ball out quickly but ended up still taking a big hit here.


Then we have the Tee bomb which is a rousing success. The Fins for some dumbass reason put 2 safeties on the right to double Chase and Boyd and left Tee 1 on 1. Tee destroys Xavien Howard.

At 12:15 left in the 3rd we have a run where Mixon only gets like 4 yards but if he bounces it outside he’s only got 1 guy that can stop him from getting a huge gain. Number 40 possibly makes a play on it but Mixon doesn’t even try and he gets 4 yards up the middle but at this point Mixon is running right into the defense and is showing no creativity or vision on his runs. The very next play Burrow checks down very quickly to Mixon and the crowd hates that play. It was Uber conservative and Burrow didn’t even go thru reads. He checks down to Mixon the second his 1st read isn’t open. He doesn’t even look anywhere else even tho he had time. He gets sacked the next play. Crowd is pissed. At this point not only is Birrow not going thru progressions but Zac is running against formations where the Dolphins have literally the whole team in the box. This is dumbass playcalling and bad play by both Burrow and Mixon now.

On 3rd down at 10:59 left in the 3rd we run a pick play with Tee and Hirst meant to go to Tee but Hurst and Tee literally run into each other like dumbasses and Burrow eats a sack. Another drive ended by BOTH bad playcalling and poor player execution.

At 6:40 left we take a deep shot to Chase who once again just doesn’t track the ball correctly and it’s incomplete. Burrow throws a high IQ ball because the defender isn’t looking back at the ball. A veteran WR likely draws a flag here but Chase should’ve caught it. Idk what happened here. Ball was also under thrown. The very next play we take a decent shot to Chris Evans and once again a receiver fails to track the ball and he drops a pretty solid pass. Another drive ended by poor execution. Whenever we’ve gone to anyone but Tee at this point it’s ended the drive.

The next drive we target Hurst in the seam who’d arches a great pass but La’el once again sucks and gets a hold call. That was the 5th target to a TE btw and would’ve been the 4th great play out of 5 attempts if La’el didn’t hold. At this point it’s 2:36 left in the 3rd and for some reason unbeknownst to me we went a whole quarter PLUS without even targeting a tight end.

At 1:32 left in the 3rd we call what i can only describe as a dumbass call and a dumbass decision by Perine.. Not only did we run with 8 men hugging the LOS, Perine plows into the defense with room outside. When i say room I’m talking possibly 20+ yards if he bounces out.

It becomes the Tyler Boyd show as Boyd catches 3 passes and throws the me great one to Chase.


At 14:19 left in the 4th we see maybe the worst run by Mixon because it was a wide open TD if he bounces outside, but he runs right into the defense AGAIN, and when i say this one was BAD, it was BAD. This is just a bad run. At this point i honestly think we’re getting stuffed so badly becaus the Dolphins are PURPOSELY not guarding the outside because they know Mixon is just going to try and plow into the middle of the D like he thinks he’s the Juggernaut or something. By my count Mixon has left at least 30 yards and a TD on the table so far simply by refusing to bounce runs outside. This is a full blown bad game by Mixon at this point and the crowd has turned against him. He’s being boo’d on nearly every run now because even the crowd is seeing these holes.


We’re near the goal line now and Zac for some reason decides to go away from Boyd and runs 3 straight times and we have to take a FG. This drive was ended by Zac Taylor’s calls and Mixons poor running.

Vonn Bell gets another pick and we go down and score a TD to Hurst who btw was wide open again and is only the 6th tight end target. We are now 5/6 for a TD on TE targets. The D just wasn’t guarding the TE very well all game and Zac barely took advantage of it.

Game is over.




Looking at every snap this was a way worse game than i thought.

Defense and a couple explosive plays hid what was otherwise a poor game by Burrow, Mixon, and especially La’el Collins.



A lot to work on here

[Housh]

Just so they are apart from that wall of text I’ll post again this was a horrible game by Collins, Mixon, Zac and a kinda poor game by Burrow but he once again made the throws needed to win near the end.

Too many times Zac will call runs that end drives. Some of these calls are just dumb ass calls against 8 man boxes but many are poor runs and poor blocking by Collins.

[Frank Booth]

Collins really stinks

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

The first month has looked like pre-season for the offense. I think zero game action for most of the first team was a clear detriment, though injuries were a factor for some.

FWIW, nice OP. But the penalty on Asiasi was overturned.

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

(09-30-2022, 09:32 PM)Frank Booth Wrote: Collins really stinks

At best, rusty. 

[*michaelsean*]

Burrow was definitely off target quite a few times last night.

[RegularGuy22]

Pretty good read. And that's very close to what I remember seeing without going back and looking at each play like you did. The TE's were open most of the game and when thrown to they worked. Zac, Mixon and JB many times just didn't hit the right plays. If Bell doesn't make that INT at the end and we manage to score they could have easily had another 3 and out and Mia gets the ball back with enough time.

The offense just isn't in sync yet. Some poor blocking, some poor reads by Joe, a lot of poor play calls by Zac and JB and Mixon just struggling.

[TheFan]

(09-30-2022, 09:29 PM)Housh Wrote: Too many times Zac will call runs that end drives. Some of these calls are just dumb ass calls against 8 man boxes but many are poor runs and poor blocking by Collins.

Is it not on Burrow to check out of those calls? Genuine question. I don't know how NFL play calling work so maybe it's not. From my understanding the coaches can't speak to the players once the clock gets to like 10-15 seconds. Usually the coach will call the play/plays in and then it's up to the QB to determine which he thinks will work best.  At least that's how I understood it.

[ezekiel23]

What really bothers me is that they tend to get bogged down in the red zone alot.Same thing happened last year in postseason play.Mixon,Mixon,Mixon,and more Mixon.

Defense of the opposing team knows exactly what’s coming.They watch film,and they key on Mixon.Just very predictable in the red zone.

I also agree with the analysis you gave on the TE position.I would use Hurst as the primary TE target.He’s our best TE.

[TKUHL]

Mixons stubbornness, poor vision, it just flat out shit play calling having him run up the middle in first is freakin maddening. I never liked Mixon but still respected him, but it’s tough anymore. The OP is right, I don’t think any team worries about Mixon bouncing out. This offense would be unstoppable with a dynamic scat back runner. Honestly would have kept Gio and traded Mixon.

[Housh]

(09-30-2022, 10:52 PM)TheFan Wrote: Is it not on Burrow to check out of those calls? Genuine question. I don't know how NFL play calling work so maybe it's not. From my understanding the coaches can't speak to the players once the clock gets to like 10-15 seconds. Usually the coach will call the play/plays in and then it's up to the QB to determine which he thinks will work best.  At least that's how I understood it.

Burrow doesn’t audible out of bad runs. He NEVER has. At this point I’m starting to think Zac is telling him not to change his plays because we run against 8 man boxes a lot and some of the runs just OBVIOUSLY have no shot even pre snap.

[M.W.]

If used properly a good TE can dominate a game. It has happened so many times against the Bengals but too often a double covered WR is targeted with a wide open TE wondering why he signed up for this..

[NUGDUKWE]

I think the offense is improving and hopefully they just continue to get better. I think we are way beyond no preseason snaps goodberry pointed out they would've got what 30ish preseason snaps and they had 100 offensive plays week 1. Burrow while he had some off throws I think all of them were to the safe side of the play so he might not be quite where we want right now but he's airing on the side of caution at least it appears to me. Mixon while he's not a perfect back and his struggles are troubling I think the blocking plays a big part and I think him and the oline will get there. I've mentioned 2019 a lot and in the 1st half of 2019 Mixon avg. 3.16 ypc and the 2nd half was at 4.61 ypc so we've seen big improvements from him in the past. The thing I'm more concerned about is he has 82 carries already and I would like to get Perine and Evans more touches just to try and keep him fresh and healthy.

[Soonerpeace]

(09-30-2022, 10:52 PM)TheFan Wrote: Is it not on Burrow to check out of those calls? Genuine question. I don't know how NFL play calling work so maybe it's not. From my understanding the coaches can't speak to the players once the clock gets to like 10-15 seconds. Usually the coach will call the play/plays in and then it's up to the QB to determine which he thinks will work best.  At least that's how I understood it.

The offensive call sheet is a group effort. Joe is heavily involved. Joe gets 2 play calls. Zac probably gives his QB more latitude than any coach in the NFL. He was a QB and understands the QB can see it better. Collins is not practicing and didn’t much in preseason. Volson though improving is still a rookie. That’s limiting for Taylor. Then you add Jonah Williams playing awful makes it tough. At some point the OL has to win more battles.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(09-30-2022, 10:52 PM)TheFan Wrote: Is it not on Burrow to check out of those calls? Genuine question. I don't know how NFL play calling work so maybe it's not. From my understanding the coaches can't speak to the players once the clock gets to like 10-15 seconds. Usually the coach will call the play/plays in and then it's up to the QB to determine which he thinks will work best.  At least that's how I understood it.

You understand correctly. If we don't check out of a play that's called before the sidelines see the alignment, it's on the QB to audible out of unfavorable matchups. Joe is shaking off some rust, and he gets better each week. He missed some throws, but overall, I've liked what I've seen vs the first two weeks from him. He's learning to be more patient vs all of the explosive plays last year.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(10-01-2022, 11:03 AM)Soonerpeace Wrote: The offensive call sheet is a group effort. Joe is heavily involved. Joe gets 2 play calls. Zac probably gives his QB more latitude than any coach in the NFL. He was a QB and understands the QB can see it better. Collins is not practicing and didn’t much in preseason.  Volson though improving is still a rookie. That’s limiting for Taylor. Then you add Jonah Williams playing awful makes it tough. At some point the OL has to win more battles.

From what I recall, they give him two plays, and he has audibles from there.

[CarolinaBengalFanGuy]

(09-30-2022, 09:36 PM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: At best, rusty. 

How many games did he play last year? I know he missed huge chunks of time but I forget if that was last season or not.

[Dr.Z]

(09-30-2022, 09:36 PM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: At best, rusty. 

Riley Reiff rumored to be on the trade block , lol.

[Soonerpeace]

(10-01-2022, 01:42 PM)WychesWarrior Wrote: From what I recall, they give him two plays, and he has audibles from there.

That’s exactly right. They give him 2 options on I’d expect a run play and pass play. Or if it’s a for sure run play or pass play 2 to choose from. Then he can audible beyond that.

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-30-2022, 09:07 PM)Housh Wrote: Tight ends got 3 targets early. 2 to Hurst and 1 to Wilcox on that amazing run. One thing i noticed immediately was they were all wide open.


The play designs to all 3 were perfect and we got good plays out of 2/3 of those first 3 targets to TEs. Burrow throws a better pass and we probably get 3/3 catches on those targets. Dolphins very clearly didn’t care much about our TEs catching passes. The 4th target to a TE was also wide open. It was the seam to Asiasi where we got an unnecessary roughness in our favor. It was wide open but did require a very accurate pass that Burrow simply missed. So by my count unless i skipped over some plays on accident that’s 4 tight end targets that were wide open.


The run game as actually great early. Even with our formations basically giving away what we want to do Mixon was getting yardage very well. On the 4th and 1 toss, Collins blew a block and ruined the play. It was actually a good play. La’el just missed a pretty easy block and that guy forced Mixon to stop which allowed everyone to hang tackle him. If Collins gets that block he’s walking to a 1st down as long as Wilcox keeps his block which he probably would’ve because he had a great game blocking.


There was a throw to Boyd at 6:58 that Burrow missed pretty badly, then the play after Burrow missed a pretty tough throw to Tee on an out route.

Once again up until this point non of the plays were extraordinarily bad. I’d actually go as far to say that so far(6:50 2nd quarter) the playcalling has been great. The players just didn’t execute the plays correctly. This is 2 drives that were ended by Inaccurate Burrow passes and one ended by Collins missing an easy block.

At 5:43 TUA goes down.

We block the FG after Teddy B comes in cold and throws a great 16 yard pass.  

At 4:22 we get another VERY BAD missed block by La’el Collins who at this point looks slow and lost. The guy La’el missed makes the tackle on Mixon who had no chance of success one because La’el missed another block but 2 because the Dolphins had 8 in the box. That was a poor run design and should’ve been checked to a pass which is on Zac and Burrow. The next play Burrow with time decided to checkdown to Mixon very quickly. He only scanned one side of the field and it was a poor decision. Someone came through the middle but he had tons of space to scramble outside the pocket. Burrow wanted to get the ball out quickly but ended up still taking a big hit here.


Then we have the Tee bomb which is a rousing success. The Fins for some dumbass reason put 2 safeties on the right to double Chase and Boyd and left Tee 1 on 1. Tee destroys Xavien Howard.

At 12:15 left in the 3rd we have a run where Mixon only gets like 4 yards but if he bounces it outside he’s only got 1 guy that can stop him from getting a huge gain. Number 40 possibly makes a play on it but Mixon doesn’t even try and he gets 4 yards up the middle but at this point Mixon is running right into the defense and is showing no creativity or vision on his runs. The very next play Burrow checks down very quickly to Mixon and the crowd hates that play. It was Uber conservative and Burrow didn’t even go thru reads.  He checks down to Mixon the second his 1st read isn’t open. He doesn’t even look anywhere else even tho he had time. He gets sacked the next play. Crowd is pissed. At this point not only is Birrow not going thru progressions but Zac is running against formations where the Dolphins have literally the whole team in the box. This is dumbass playcalling and bad play by both Burrow and Mixon now.

On 3rd down at 10:59 left in the 3rd we run a pick play with Tee and Hirst meant to go to Tee but Hurst and Tee literally run into each other like dumbasses and Burrow eats a sack. Another drive ended by BOTH bad playcalling and poor player execution.

At 6:40 left we take a deep shot to Chase who once again just doesn’t track the ball correctly and it’s incomplete. Burrow throws a high IQ ball because the defender isn’t looking back at the ball. A veteran WR likely draws a flag here but Chase should’ve caught it. Idk what happened here. Ball was also under thrown. The very next play we take a decent shot to Chris Evans and once again a receiver fails to track the ball and he drops a pretty solid pass. Another drive ended by poor execution. Whenever we’ve gone to anyone but Tee at this point it’s ended the drive.

The next drive we target Hurst in the seam who’d arches a great pass but La’el once again sucks and gets a hold call. That was the 5th target to a TE btw and would’ve been the 4th great play out of 5 attempts if La’el didn’t hold. At this point it’s 2:36 left in the 3rd and for some reason unbeknownst to me we went a whole quarter PLUS without even targeting a tight end.

At 1:32 left in the 3rd we call what i can only describe as a dumbass call and a dumbass decision by Perine.. Not only did we run with 8 men hugging the LOS, Perine plows into the defense with room outside. When i say room I’m talking possibly 20+ yards if he bounces out.

It becomes the Tyler Boyd show as Boyd catches 3 passes and throws the me great one to Chase.


At 14:19 left in the 4th we see maybe the worst run by Mixon because it was a wide open TD if he bounces outside, but he runs right into the defense AGAIN, and when i say this one was BAD, it was BAD. This is just a bad run. At this point i honestly think we’re getting stuffed so badly becaus the Dolphins are PURPOSELY not guarding the outside because they know Mixon is just going to try and plow into the middle of the D like he thinks he’s the Juggernaut or something. By my count Mixon has left at least 30 yards and a TD on the table so far simply by refusing to bounce runs outside. This is a full blown bad game by Mixon at this point and the crowd has turned against him. He’s being boo’d on nearly every run now because even the crowd is seeing these holes.


We’re near the goal line now and Zac for some reason decides to go away from Boyd and runs 3 straight times and we have to take a FG. This drive was ended by Zac Taylor’s calls and Mixons poor running.

Vonn Bell gets another pick and we go down and score a TD to Hurst who btw was wide open again and is only the 6th tight end target. We are now 5/6 for a TD on TE targets. The D just wasn’t guarding the TE very well all game and Zac barely took advantage of it.

Game is over.




Looking at every snap this was a way worse game than i thought.

Defense and a couple explosive plays hid what was otherwise a poor game by Burrow, Mixon, and especially La’el Collins.



A lot to work on here

Good stuff.  I have been way behind on my re-watches, but one thing I will say about those potentially big outside runs as opposed to cutting outside, that is something Evans was heavily criticized for in the preseason as it led to some holding calls because of changed assignments in blocking.  Yet, he had HUGE runs.  Mixon may not have the speed right now for some reason.  I suspect he is nursing something that is affecting his ability to cut without breaking down.  Can't be sure.

Some of those outside rushes might look wide open, but with the offensive lineman blocking an inside rush, there is no way based on body position to effectively seal the edge for the RB.  That defender can break to his left and the tackle can't stop him because he isn't squared up that way, but he is facing him, and probably already trying to steer him outside.  

There are a lot of things that go in to these runs and it isn't always as easy as it seems.

It DOES seem that across the league that teams are not running the ball very effectively and only the worst defenses are giving up tons through the air.  That nerdy coach (although I really liked his offensive designs) was the run game coordinator for the 49ers and that is supposed to be one of his strengths.  The Bengals held them to 85 rushing yards.  

My hope is the line continues to get their feel and synergy of working together.  I think they will.  But I sincerely believe that more Chris Evans snaps will not only open up the offense, but get more out of Mixon.