Slow Start Identity

[GreenCornBengal]

People always want an offense to have an “identity” which generally describes how they play. We have an unfortunate one developing as slow starters. I’m not exactly sure why it is the case, but one consistent theme through this year is a very slow start with pretty good gameplay in the second half.

What can we do to change this? Is it a ZT thing? Is it a Burrow thing? LSU showed the same identity in the NCAA championship vs Clemson. Slow start with an explosive finish.

I don’t think this will be going away anytime soon…

[Roland]

I can't help but think that it shows that ZT sucks at game planning and JB is just adjusting as the game goes on.

I also think they've developed some confidence that they're going to be able to adjust and pull things out and that backfired on them Sunday. There wasn't enough urgency around the fact that they were letting that team hang around and giving up too many yards and points.

[Interceptor]

(11-01-2021, 02:12 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: People always want an offense to have an “identity” which generally describes how they play. We have an unfortunate one developing as slow starters. I’m not exactly sure why it is the case, but one consistent theme through this year is a very slow start with pretty good gameplay in the second half.

What can we do to change this? Is it a ZT thing? Is it a Burrow thing? LSU showed the same identity in the NCAA championship vs Clemson. Slow start with an explosive finish.

I don’t think this will be going away anytime soon…

That moniker belongs to the Brady Patriots.

[GreenCornBengal]

(11-01-2021, 02:17 PM)Roland Wrote: I can't help but think that it shows that ZT sucks at game planning and JB is just adjusting as the game goes on.

I also think they've developed some confidence that they're going to be able to adjust and pull things out and that backfired on them Sunday. There wasn't enough urgency around the fact that they were letting that team hang around and giving up too many yards and points.

I don’t know if any teams do this, but is it viable to not have a script to start the game? If we do our best when running off-script in the 2nd half, why not just start the game that way?

I do think part of scripting is doing things to “figure out” how the defense has adjusted compared to the previous week… I just don’t know if it’s poor planning or poor execution.

[Fan_in_Kettering]

(11-01-2021, 02:26 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: I don’t know if any teams do this, but is it viable to not have a script to start the game? If we do our best when running off-script in the 2nd half, why not just start the game that way?

On certain occasions Sam Wyche would start the Bengals off in two minute drill mode in their first offensive possession.

[KillerGoose]

It's pretty bad. The Bengals are 31st in the league in first quarter EPA per play. They are 7th in the NFL in second quarter EPA per play, #1(!!!) in third quarter EPA per play and 17th in the 4th quarter. So, the Bengals are really, really bad in the first quarter, great in the second, ELITE in the third and average to finish the game. If they can just get to average to start the game, they would be doing very well.

To add onto this, Burrow is one of the worst 1st and 4th quarter QBs in the entire league. He is great in the middle of the game, awful to start and end. This is based off of EPA per attempt

[GreenCornBengal]

(11-01-2021, 03:32 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: It's pretty bad. The Bengals are 31st in the league in first quarter EPA per play. They are 7th in the NFL in second quarter EPA per play, #1(!!!) in third quarter EPA per play and 17th in the 4th quarter. So, the Bengals are really, really bad in the first quarter, great in the second, ELITE in the third and average to finish the game. If they can just get to average to start the game, they would be doing very well.

To add onto this, Burrow is one of the worst 1st and 4th quarter QBs in the entire league. He is great in the middle of the game, awful to start and end. This is based off of EPA per attempt

Much of what you said relates to the other thread about Burrows ints. The 4th quarter woes are troubling, but to me, wouldn’t be as impactful if it wasn’t for the horrid starts to games. I can’t point a finger at anything specifically since I don’t know the details of what is called and why. It’s been too many games to not consider it a trend though.

One thing we haven’t done is take a shot right out of the gate. I say we do that, can’t be much worse than what’s been going on…

[KillerGoose]

(11-01-2021, 05:20 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: Much of what you said relates to the other thread about Burrows ints. The 4th quarter woes are troubling, but to me, wouldn’t be as impactful if it wasn’t for the horrid starts to games. I can’t point a finger at anything specifically since I don’t know the details of what is called and why. It’s been too many games to not consider it a trend though.

One thing we haven’t done is take a shot right out of the gate. I say we do that, can’t be much worse than what’s been going on…

I have to agree. If the Bengals can start games better, it would do wonders for the team success. They really, really hit their groove in the middle of the game. This suggests to me that the coaching staff and players make good adjustments throughout the game, but the opening plan may not be the greatest.

[*Go Cards*]

Think it will change as season wears on and even itself out