11-01-2018, 06:57 AM
Interesting stats indeed. Forcing 3rd downs is good, but there are so many play calls where it seems as though they just give up 1st down yardage unless the receiver drops it. Perhaps the critical chink in the armor is covering the "gutter" routes and trusting they guys to follow through should the QB have a little bit of time?
Back when they had Reggie Nelson in his prime, I remember some of that scheming fondly. They would cover a 3rd and short very tight but would trust Reggie to clean up the play should the other team convert it. Being able to trust your backend to tackle and prevent the TD on 3rd and short is huge imo. Bates has looked impressive so far, but Austin doesn't seem to be comfortable having him play the super deep and conservative safety while clamping down with most everyone else. Maybe a cover 1 sort of deal with Evans in the middle with Bates super deep would be the way to go on 3rd?
Back when they had Reggie Nelson in his prime, I remember some of that scheming fondly. They would cover a 3rd and short very tight but would trust Reggie to clean up the play should the other team convert it. Being able to trust your backend to tackle and prevent the TD on 3rd and short is huge imo. Bates has looked impressive so far, but Austin doesn't seem to be comfortable having him play the super deep and conservative safety while clamping down with most everyone else. Maybe a cover 1 sort of deal with Evans in the middle with Bates super deep would be the way to go on 3rd?
