Halftime Defensive Adjustments

[Fan_in_Kettering]

NEVER have I seen such magnificent defensive adjustments at halftime from the Cincinnati Bengals. Holding the high flying Chiefs’ offense to only three points in the second half was a herculean effort.

WHO DEY? LOU DEY!

[*Go Cards*]

(01-03-2022, 11:43 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: NEVER have I seen such magnificent defensive adjustments at halftime from the Cincinnati Bengals.  Holding the high flying Chiefs’ offense to only three points in the second half was a herculean effort.

WHO DEY?  LOU DEY!

Would not have won if not doing so either. 

Happy Lou Year !!!

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

Pfffttt "journalistic jargons".

[WeezyBengal]

Were any adjustments actually made or did the defense just play better?

Honestly, the defense didn't play terrible in the first half, they just kept giving up big third down and long plays. They cleaned that up in the second half for sure.

[higgy100]

(01-04-2022, 10:29 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Were any adjustments actually made or did the defense just play better?

Honestly, the defense didn't play terrible in the first half, they just kept giving up big third down and long plays. They cleaned that up in the second half for sure.

While most teams that keep giving up big third down and long plays would be considered terrible D, Mahomes simply kept alluding our pressure and either stepping up or rolling out to make those big plays. Absolutely impossible to stay with any WR let alone their speedy ones for that long.

And, yes, there were adjustments made at HT by Lou.

[WeezyBengal]

(01-04-2022, 11:21 AM)higgy100 Wrote: While most teams that keep giving up big third down and long plays would be considered terrible D, Mahomes simply kept alluding our pressure and either stepping up or rolling out to make those big plays. Absolutely impossible to stay with any WR let alone their speedy ones for that long.

And, yes, there were adjustments made at HT by Lou.

100% - this is what makes KC so hard to play against. I would absolutely hate to be a corner or safety going against Mahomes. It's almost an impossible task. 

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(01-04-2022, 10:29 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Were any adjustments actually made or did the defense just play better?

Honestly, the defense didn't play terrible in the first half, they just kept giving up big third down and long plays. They cleaned that up in the second half for sure.

Hendrickson wouldn't give up the details, but he mentioned a couple of things they changed up for the 2nd half in his post game interview.

[higgy100]

(01-04-2022, 10:29 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Were any adjustments actually made or did the defense just play better?

Honestly, the defense didn't play terrible in the first half, they just kept giving up big third down and long plays. They cleaned that up in the second half for sure.

While most teams that keep giving up big third down and long plays would be considered terrible D, Mahomes simply kept alluding our pressure and either stepping up or rolling out to make those big plays. Absolutely impossible to stay with any WR let alone their speedy ones for that long.

And, yes, there were adjustments made at HT by Lou.

[KillerGoose]

(01-04-2022, 10:29 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Were any adjustments actually made or did the defense just play better?

Honestly, the defense didn't play terrible in the first half, they just kept giving up big third down and long plays. They cleaned that up in the second half for sure.

I've been told that halftime is usually too short to make any significant adjustments by a couple of coaches that I know. To my understanding, there are some minor adjustments made at halftime and then adjustments made throughout the game. There is also these quotes by NFL coaches...

"It's the same way with people saying these teams make these brilliant halftime adjustments. I've never seen it. I've seen people make adjustments during the course of the game. I've seen people adjust during the second half. But I've never heard of anybody at halftime getting this flash of divine inspiration: 'Oh, let's do this!' " - Brian Billick


"Halftime is about 7 ½ minutes so you’re in (the locker room) and guys are getting something to drink, going to the bathroom and we talk amongst the coaches on a few things we want to hit on. There may be a couple of important things, maybe not. - Sean Payton"


And then this beautiful quote lol


"Jason Pierre-Paul, did you guys make any halftime adjustments for the zone-read? "I don't know. I was in the bathroom." 6:38 PM - 9 Nov 2014



When I played football, I remember some quick check-ins with positional coaches but we never did much. We also sucked and this was just HS, so pretty worthless anecdotal evidence. Largely, I think HT adjustments are overstated by fans. They happen, but are just a continuation of adjustments and corrections made throughout the game.

[WeezyBengal]

(01-04-2022, 12:25 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: I've been told that halftime is usually too short to make any significant adjustments by a couple of coaches that I know. To my understanding, there are some minor adjustments made at halftime and then adjustments made throughout the game. There is also these quotes by NFL coaches...

"It's the same way with people saying these teams make these brilliant halftime adjustments. I've never seen it. I've seen people make adjustments during the course of the game. I've seen people adjust during the second half. But I've never heard of anybody at halftime getting this flash of divine inspiration: 'Oh, let's do this!' " - Brian Billick


"Halftime is about 7 ½ minutes so you’re in (the locker room) and guys are getting something to drink, going to the bathroom and we talk amongst the coaches on a few things we want to hit on. There may be a couple of important things, maybe not. - Sean Payton"


And then this beautiful quote lol


"Jason Pierre-Paul, did you guys make any halftime adjustments for the zone-read? "I don't know. I was in the bathroom." 6:38 PM - 9 Nov 2014



When I played football, I remember some quick check-ins with positional coaches but we never did much. We also sucked and this was just HS, so pretty worthless anecdotal evidence. Largely, I think HT adjustments are overstated by fans. They happen, but are just a continuation of adjustments and corrections made throughout the game.

lol this is kind of what I mean. I think our defense just got off the field on third down and made some plays. I'm really not sure anything looked drastically different. 

We did blitz Mahomes on the third down in the red zone that lead to a field goal. That was a big play call. 

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(01-04-2022, 12:25 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: I've been told that halftime is usually too short to make any significant adjustments by a couple of coaches that I know. To my understanding, there are some minor adjustments made at halftime and then adjustments made throughout the game. There is also these quotes by NFL coaches...

"It's the same way with people saying these teams make these brilliant halftime adjustments. I've never seen it. I've seen people make adjustments during the course of the game. I've seen people adjust during the second half. But I've never heard of anybody at halftime getting this flash of divine inspiration: 'Oh, let's do this!' " - Brian Billick


"Halftime is about 7 ½ minutes so you’re in (the locker room) and guys are getting something to drink, going to the bathroom and we talk amongst the coaches on a few things we want to hit on. There may be a couple of important things, maybe not. - Sean Payton"


And then this beautiful quote lol


"Jason Pierre-Paul, did you guys make any halftime adjustments for the zone-read? "I don't know. I was in the bathroom." 6:38 PM - 9 Nov 2014



When I played football, I remember some quick check-ins with positional coaches but we never did much. We also sucked and this was just HS, so pretty worthless anecdotal evidence. Largely, I think HT adjustments are overstated by fans. They happen, but are just a continuation of adjustments and corrections made throughout the game.

(01-04-2022, 12:48 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: lol this is kind of what I mean. I think our defense just got off the field on third down and made some plays. I'm really not sure anything looked drastically different. 

We did blitz Mahomes on the third down in the red zone that lead to a field goal. That was a big play call. 

Guys, it's right on the team's website....lol.

From Trey Hendrickson:

"We have a lot of faith in Joe (Burrow) and knew we needed to get him the ball back. All of the coaches implemented some great adjustments up front. We had to stop the run and pressure the quarterback. Making those halftime adjustments are what it is to be a professional, and I think we did it well."



Now, yes, it's not like you install a new defense, or make radical changes, but during the half (used to be whiteboard and pictures if you were lucky), you get a chance with your position coaches to look at some tape, and show the players what they need to do differently, and what the opponent is doing to you. Players adjust accordingly. Coaches may add a simple wrinkle, and change small things. The position coaches have received instruction from the coordinator during the game on things they need to be looking at. Sometimes you have time to do some of these adjustments in the sidelines, sometimes you have to wait until the half, and sometimes the adjustments are figured out right before the half, so you go in and implement them.

[KillerGoose]

(01-04-2022, 12:57 PM)WychesWarrior Wrote: Guys, it's right on the team's website....lol.

From Trey Hendrickson:

"We have a lot of faith in Joe (Burrow) and knew we needed to get him the ball back. All of the coaches implemented some great adjustments up front. We had to stop the run and pressure the quarterback. Making those halftime adjustments are what it is to be a professional, and I think we did it well."



Now, yes, it's not like you install a new defense, or make radical changes, but during the half (used to be whiteboard and pictures if you were lucky), you get a chance with your position coaches to look at some tape, and show the players what they need to do differently, and what the opponent is doing to you. Players adjust accordingly. Coaches may add a simple wrinkle, and change small things. The position coaches have received instruction from the coordinator during the game on things they need to be looking at. Sometimes you have time to do some of these adjustments in the sidelines, sometimes you have to wait until the half, and sometimes the adjustments are figured out right before the half, so you go in and implement them.

Yeah, I’m not saying HT adjustments are fake. I’m saying they are mostly overstated by fans. There generally isn’t going to be drastic changes and they aren’t always going to happen. I wasn’t specifically speaking about this game, I was speaking about the concept in general.

[Earendil]

"Halftime adjustments" probably mean different plays being called, not changes to schemes.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(01-04-2022, 01:16 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: Yeah, I’m not saying HT adjustments are fake. I’m saying they are mostly overstated by fans. There generally isn’t going to be drastic changes and they aren’t always going to happen. I wasn’t specifically speaking about this game, I was speaking about the concept in general.

I gotcha....yeah, I guess I got confused because our former HC said they were fake, and some guys agree with that. That's not entirely true. I think you and I are on the same page there, just a matter of semantics.

(01-04-2022, 02:37 PM)Earendil Wrote: "Halftime adjustments" probably mean different plays being called, not changes to schemes.

Right, and sometimes shifts in alignment.

[fredtoast]

(01-04-2022, 02:46 PM)Wyche Wrote: I gotcha....yeah, I guess I got confused because our former HC said they were fake, and some guys agree with that.

Correct.  Super Bowl winning head coaches Brian Billick and Sean Payton agree with Super Bowl winning defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis.

But what do they know, right?

[*michaelsean*]

I always figured adjustments are made as the game goes. Pretty stupid to wait until halftime. And I don’t think they create something new. Maybe instruct a guy to stay at home longer or something like that.

[*michaelsean*]

(01-04-2022, 09:25 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Correct.  Super Bowl winning head coaches Brian Billick and Sean Payton agree with Super Bowl winning defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis.

But what do they know, right?

The guy who was playing in the game Sunday?

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(01-04-2022, 09:25 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Correct.  Super Bowl winning head coaches Brian Billick and Sean Payton agree with Super Bowl winning defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis.

But what do they know, right?

Not as much as Trey Hendrickson?


Hard to believe the Mediocre Merv Militia is still a thing, yet here we are.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(01-04-2022, 09:37 PM)michaelsean Wrote: The guy who was playing in the game Sunday?

Uh, exactly.....

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(01-04-2022, 09:36 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I always figured adjustments are made as the game goes. Pretty stupid to wait until halftime. And I don’t think they create something new. Maybe instruct a guy to stay at home longer or something like that.

Exactly right again....they have the tech now to show you tells that your opponent is giving away, etc.