Red Zone Woes

[wolfkaosaun]

(09-30-2016, 05:24 PM)PlayerFormerlyKnownAsMousecop Wrote: Okay, it's not like the defense can just key in on Hill and triple team AJ. Oh, wait...

The reason we haven't been throwing those fades to AJ is because they haven't been there. We don't have the weapons at the moment to execute in the red zone as an elite offense.

However, once Eifert is back, even if he's only used as a decoy at first, the whole dynamic of our redzone offense changes. Teams cannot account for Green, Hill, and Eifert in the redzone. That's why our redzone offense was so successful last year.

I'd even go as far to say that the lack of running game stems from our lack of weapons on the offensive side. Teams know we're basically going to do two things to get big plays: Hand the ball to Hill, or throw the ball to Green.

One thing I am worried about, though, is the O-line play. They need to be able to give Dalton more space in the pocket. He looks like he's being swallowed up every play back there.

The fact Dalton has performed as well as he has with the O-line being as bad as it has been is nothing short of MVP play. Palmer never would have been able to do that.

Green is left one on one right here.

And I understand Eifert has been a great red zone target, but they've tried to put Uzomah in his place. Uzomah is the most targeted receiver in the red zone inside the 10. So it's not like they havent been doing plays like they would to Eifert.

They need to give their other players chances as well. The Bengals have been predictable inside the red zone, especially inside the 10. EVERY single one of the runs inside the 10 have been with 6 offensive lineman. And they've done multiple goal-line looks as well.

They aren't giving the defenses much confusion. 2 of Dalton's 6 throws inside the 10 have the same personnel. Only 4 other times have they actually gone with at least a two WR set. That's far too predictable.

Sure, the offensive line hasn't done well, but it's not like we don't have weapons. Last year, Marvin Jones had 10 receptions for 165 yards and 2 TDs. Meanwhile LaFell has 208 yards on 13 receptions, but no TDs.

Let's then go to Sanu. He had 9 receptions for 161 yards with 0 TDs. Boyd has 12 receptions for 130 yards, 0 TDs.

One can say the difference is Eifert, but there's been a SIGNIFICANT drop in red zone production that can't just be "Eifert is out".

You have Gio. You have Hill. You have Green. You have LaFell. You have Boyd.

There's weapons. Boyd is an upgrade over Sanu (even looking at this year's production Boyd is doing basically just as good).

It's the play calling. Defenses know once you're in a 6 or more offensive lineman formation, it's a run and to keep a safety over the tight end. There's no confusion or adjustments.