12-13-2019, 11:18 AM
(12-13-2019, 10:16 AM)Au165 Wrote: If you have the athletic this is a really interesting story.
https://theathletic.com/1456903/2019/12/12/how-the-bengals-turned-a-historically-inept-run-game-into-a-strength/
If not I'll essentially explain the overarching message. Basically the they went from being one of the worst rushing teams in the first seven games to one of the best the last six games. They are top 10 in yards per carry, total rushing, most explosive runs, and fewest negative runs in that time. The reason is they scraped the old running scheme and quit trying to be he Rams and went with a Pin and Pull concept. They also added in a toss for Mixon over handing the ball off as much.
Now what is interesting to this, and what gives me optimism about the coaching staff, is it was a group effort rebuilding the running game. Turner brought the Pin and Pull and Van Pelt threw out the idea of tosses from his time with Eddie Lacey in Green Bay. I think the fact in a week they successfully rebuilt the running game says a lot about the guys on the staff. I keep seeing people say fire Turner but Turner's new scheme essentially saved the running game, which makes the idea kind of funny.
Personally, I noticed the Pin and Pull a while back but the toss piece hadn't really hit me. It really is a good scheme to get Mixon the ball in space and then let him have more room to see lanes and accelerate.
People don't realize how difficult it is to change an entire scheme mid-season. You have some on this board asking "why did it take until the bye week?" Because there is no way you have enough hours in the day to rip up and change your run game blocking scheme and implement it with your players while also preparing for the next opponent. It's hard enough to do during a bye week. The coaching staff deserves major props for pulling it off very effectively.
