New Coach Thread 2: Electric Boogaloo

[frankw]

16 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

The Pittsburgh game was the worst

They hyped it up all week long, “protect the bank” etc., playoff talk and then they came out and proceeded to allow Pittsburgh walk the ball down their throats. 

Pittsburgh had some ridiculously long drives that game. It was truly painful to watch. Pickett had got hurt the week prior and they had to stick Trubisky back in there and Wilks had no answer for what seemed like an obvious game plan 

Yeah the protect the bank talk and all the being from Charlotte talk is just fluff at the end of the day. Nothing wrong with that when you're trying to give your fanbase hope. But we have heard it before and the results thereafter are all that matters. Hopefully the powers that be hire the coach with the best offensive plan.

[Ricky Spanish]

6 minutes ago, TheCasillas said:

This line for some reason stuck out to me.... at what point is there a line to outcoached and outplayed.  One is about decision making at the highest level of the roster while the other is the talent on the field isnt doing their job. Of course you can blame the latter on the coach as well, but how much of it is really in the coaches hands?

For instance, a QB throwing a pick .... is that the coach's fault? or The Steelers game where Chinn had his worst half of the season by constantly being out of position or not setting the edge when tasked as the OLB on the Najee Harris TD run...

 

You chose those games above... and outcoached doesnt really stick out to me.... We went into those games with a gameplan and if it was executed we would have won (except for Bengals... we got punched in the. mouth). 

 

Steelers game.. both teams had identical gameplans... but the talent gap on the field was apparent.

Baltimore game... we were in it the entire way... but Baker just couldnt see over the LOS

Bengals game..... we had PJ starting and he gave up the ball twice in our own territory...I will give it outcoached though.... 

Bucs 2.... we werent outcoached.... we were pathetic on the outside perimeter against Evans. The rest of the game we played the football we wanted to play.

 

To me... outcoached is when the opposing team introduces a gameplan that you can't counter because you werent ready for it. Talent gap plays a huge role in this... 3 of those games... the opposing teams didnt do anything special to beat us... in the end we beat ourselves (irony) with dumb turnovers and less than ideal play by our corners.

 

Just my two cents.

 

Counter Argument:

Steelers: They had their backup in Trubisky starting and we let them methodically march down the field letting them do whatever they wanted multiple times. Wasn't so much the team wasn't executing, that to me says the gameplan was weak.

Baltimore: Sure, that was a close one and we just didn't have the gas in the tank in terms of talent to take us home. Defense played really well that game.

Bengals: Woof

Bucs: 3 times we let Mike Evans score long TDs on the right side of the field while one on one with no help over the top. If that doesn't scream inability to adapt, I don't know what does. 

[ForJimmy]

57 minutes ago, ladypanther said:

 

For the last 2 years the Dallas offense has made major mistakes in the last  2 min that ended their playoff games. They seemed not prepared ill prepared.  Is that on McCarthy or Moore? There are some criticisms in this Athletic article. https://theathletic.com/4118977/2023/01/23/dallas-cowboys-season-playoffs/

Reminder...last year, final play:

With 14 seconds left in their 2022 wild-card matchup, the Cowboys called a quarterback draw that Dak Prescott took too far, and then the quarterback and the entire offensive line collectively forgot that they cannot spot the ball themselves. The clock expired as the umpire tried to fight his way through the line to spot the ball himself. Everyone was stunned. 

Football 101.

 

Then on Sunday in their NFC divisional round matchup, with 76 yards to go and time for likely only one snap, McCarthy called a gadget play with running back Ezekiel Elliott alone at center with no supporting linemen near him and Prescott in shotgun behind him. As soon as Elliott got off the very slow snap, he was pancaked, and then Niners cornerback Jimmie Ward immediately blew up Prescott’s pass to receiver Kavontae Turpin. Game over. 

Last season at least the plays leading up to the game-ending disaster were smart calls that took the Cowboys receivers immediately out of bounds to stop the clock. This season, the entire final drive was a mess, and by my own generous count Dallas wasted 23 seconds from their final punt and their final drive, enough time for about four more plays. 

We can’t discuss Dallas’s final play yet because we need to talk about another waste of time on the Cowboys’ final drive. On third-and-1 at their own 15 yard line, Prescott passed to tight end Dalton Schultz, who was hit by Niners cornerback Charvarius Ward as he went out of bounds. The contact made Schultz take a step backward along the sideline. The clock didn’t stop in this situation because the officials determined he wasn’t moving forward when going out of bounds, which is required to stop the clock. Fox Sports color analyst Greg Olsen said, “You have to be going forwards if you are contacted going out of bounds. You have to fight through that contact!”

 

“Charvarius Ward,” Olsen said. “He knows the rule, they coach that, you’ve got to turn up and be physical into contact and get that official to stop the clock.”

To be fair to Schultz, he’d played an entire game up to this point and was likely exhausted, and his hustle back to the near hash after going out of bounds suggests both that he knew this rule and he knew the officials kept the clock running. But the Niners’ awareness in this situation and Schultz’ lack of pushback is an example of the importance of coaching up the tiny details that matter in two-minute situations.  

Schultz’ lack of awareness here points to bad coaching. The best teams want to make sure their players know every rule that relates to the game clock and remind them of the rules frequently, because that knowledge is crucial for success in any two-minute drill.

 

This year, final play:

 

“It appears that Zeke is going to go to center,” Olsen said as Dallas sent its offensive linemen out wide for what would be the Cowboys’ last shot in this game. “This looks like my flag football team. Obviously Mike McCarthy has been working on his end of game scenario, and let’s see what he’s got!” 

As soon Olsen spoke that last line, you and I both knew there was no way this was going to end well. After seeing the strange look from Dallas, the Niners immediately called their final timeout to get their defense in position. This is typically where a functional offense would change up the play to catch the defense off guard. There are obviously only so many third-and-10 plays for a team to have a chance to score from its own 24-yard-line with six seconds left, but Dallas went back into the exact same look it had already given the Niners, with Elliott at center, totally alone, and the linemen out wide. 

Has anyone ever seen a play like this before? 
“Never,” texted one former head coach and offensive coordinator when I sent him that question with the video clip.

 

TLDR:

Cowboys seem poorly coached.  How much is on McCarthy, how much is Moore?

Well then I stand corrected. Hopefully we stay away from Moore… McCarthy didn’t have these issues at GB so that leaves Moore as the possible issue.

[Bear Hands]

Just now, *FreeFua* said:

At this point I think it’s Denver or back to Fox. If he was wanting Carolina it would’ve been done by now

It’s really going to come down to Steichen or Wilks for us. 

I can see that happening and he comes back into the cycle next year when LAC, DAL, & WAS (w/new ownership) have openings.  

This Quinn/Bevell reuniting is shaping up to be AZ or DEN.  Might as well get Gus Bradley in there too and they've got all of the old SEA crew for Wilson lol.  

Arizona is such a toss up.  

[carpanfan96]

1 minute ago, Ricky Spanish said:

Counter Argument:

Steelers: They had their backup in Trubisky starting and we let them methodically march down the field letting them do whatever they wanted multiple times. Wasn't so much the team wasn't executing, that to me says the gameplan was weak.

Baltimore: Sure, that was a close one and we just didn't have the gas in the tank in terms of talent to take us home. Defense played really well that game.

Bengals: Woof

Bucs: 3 times we let Mike Evans score long TDs on the right side of the field while one on one with no help over the top. If that doesn't scream inability to adapt, I don't know what does. 

The bucs game is still misrepresented,  two of the covers should've had some semblance of help, while one of them should have had direct help over the top because the call was cover 2 and the safety missed badly. 

[ladypanther]

1 minute ago, ForJimmy said:

Well then I stand corrected. Hopefully we stay away from Moore… McCarthy didn’t have these issues at GB so that leaves Moore as the possible issue.

This probably on McCarthy (from the same article):

Why was the punt team not ready? Or, why not go for it?
On third and 10, Prescott was sacked with 2:45 on the clock. Dallas was down seven points, yet for some reason, it took McCarthy 10 seconds to motion the offense off the field with all of the urgency of a DMV employee who hates his job. That hesitation on punting or going for it (and he should have gone for it) was costly, and judging by the time it took to switch units, it doesn’t seem like anything was communicated to players before the third down play.

The punt unit was finally in position by 2:20, and took another eight seconds to get the snap off at 2:12 (The Niners were also slow in organizing their players for the punt, which meant it took even longer for the officials to allow Dallas to punt). The Niners fair caught the punt at 2:05. That’s 40 seconds to complete a punt in a situation when Dallas needed to preserve as much time as possible, what NFL teams call a quick punt scenario.

After asking a few people around the league today, I’ve learned that an offense and special teams that regularly practice these quick punt situations would aim to do this exchange in the mid-20-second range, and the best teams could do it in as quick as 22 seconds. At best, the Cowboys wasted 10 seconds on indecision and poor organization and at worst, 15 seconds, and if you figure five seconds per play, that’s at least two more offensive plays. 

[ForJimmy]

3 minutes ago, Bear Hands said:

I can see that happening and he comes back into the cycle next year when LAC, DAL, & WAS (w/new ownership) have openings.  

This Quinn/Bevell reuniting is shaping up to be AZ or DEN.  Might as well get Gus Bradley in there too and they've got all of the old SEA crew for Wilson lol.  

Arizona is such a toss up.  

When is his contract up? If he waits another year do the Saints no longer have rights? If so it will be a lot easier for him to land a job.

[kungfoodude]

3 minutes ago, ForJimmy said:

Well then I stand corrected. Hopefully we stay away from Moore… McCarthy didn’t have these issues at GB so that leaves Moore as the possible issue.

McCarthy also had far better QB's playing for him. He also was often criticized as the Packers coach for not meeting expectations(fairly or unfairly). 

Not sure I would necessarily pin the Dallas issue on a specific person.

[TLGPanthersFan]

4 minutes ago, frankw said:

Yeah the protect the bank talk and all the being from Charlotte talk is just fluff at the end of the day. Nothing wrong with that when you're trying to give your fanbase hope. But we have heard it before and the results thereafter are all that matters. Hopefully the powers that be hire the coach with the best offensive plan.

Rivera tried to do the same thing. Remember in 2019 when we had a 5 percent chance to make the playoffs and Ron was hyping it up with his 5% Chance t-shirt?

Protect the Bank is just as cringe. 

[carpanfan96]

7 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

At this point I think it’s Denver or back to Fox. If he was wanting Carolina it would’ve been done by now

It’s really going to come down to Steichen or Wilks for us. 

He isn't done with round 1 interviews and we know at least one team wants to bring him in for round 2. The Panthers also haven't finished round 1 interviews yet, and may want him in to have a round 2 with Tepper as well. 

[therealmjl]

8 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

At this point I think it’s Denver or back to Fox. If he was wanting Carolina it would’ve been done by now

It’s really going to come down to Steichen or Wilks for us. 

If it's Wilks then we'll be in position to land him again next year and it won't require a trade.

[carpanfan96]

2 minutes ago, ForJimmy said:

When is his contract up? If he waits another year do the Saints no longer have rights? If so it will be a lot easier for him to land a job.

Runs through the 2024 season

[t96]

2 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

At this point I think it’s Denver or back to Fox. If he was wanting Carolina it would’ve been done by now

It’s really going to come down to Steichen or Wilks for us. 

I don't think anyone really knows what's going on with Payton. Tepper and Payton could have in theory both agreed to wanting to make it work and now it's a matter of hammering out trade details. Completely conceivable that it wouldn't get leaked. 

[carpanfan96]

1 minute ago, therealmjl said:

If it's Wilks then we'll be in position to land him again next year and it won't require a trade.

Payton contract runs through 2024, it would be a trade next season as well.