Weird things to ponder about the design of the offense...

[*SHRacerX*]

(12-19-2021, 01:06 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Let me put it this was.

I am not an engineer, but if I see a new bridge collapse I know something went wrong.  That is kind of the way I am with football at the NFL level.  I just have to make a lot of judgments about our offense based on results and what I see with my own eyes.

What I see this year is a passing game that is greatly improved over last year.  Last year our QB was either dinking and dunking short passes or scrambling to avoid a rush.  This year I see a lot more downfield connections and it sure seems like Burrow has more time to throw those passes.  Last year we were 29th in yards per completion.  This year we are 3rd.

Last year we were dead last in the league (32nd) in converting 3rd and long (6+ yds).  This year we are 7th.

Last year we were 25th in passer rating and 27th in passing yards.  This year we are 7th in pass efficiency (despite Burrow leading the league in interceptions) and 11th in pass yards.

So if you want to argue that we accomplished these improvements with improvement from the O-line then I say the O-line does not even matter. 

I read this a number of times and it never made sense to me.  I think the problem is you are working so hard to interpret what I have said as a slight to someone or something that can be debated with some statistic.  I have been praising the offense, and ZT, for much of this season.  The post that seemed to have started this entire debate was my suggestion that the Bengals use Chase on some very short, quick-uncovering routes on third and 5.  Not every third down, but just 3rd and middling.  If Burrow has time to hold it and wait for something to uncover downfield, great.  My point was that many teams (I listed the Pats with Brady and all his quick checkdowns, Mahommes did the same thing the other night) have success using their best weapon as a quick checkdown option to move the chains and get another set of downs.

I don't recall ever crediting just the offensive line, a single receiving weapon, the QB, or just a coach as being the reason for these improvements, but it is a combination of all those things.

My goal in designing that quick checkdown with Chase is to help the offense maintain more possessions on a down and distance that seems to lead to a lot of sacks or at the very least, hits on Burrow.  It wasn't an attack on the coaches.