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CAN
MILLER BEAT PORCHER? Guarded optimism here! Here is my take on Miller. I
see a big, tough, strong guy who works very hard and has just average quickness. Kearse was a nightmare matchup for him. Kearse brought lightening speed to the right side of the OL. A rarity---usually a Kearse-type is on the left side. (I do know this BTW: when Kearse went against Pace, Pace ate him alive. No contest. Pace is just as quick and strong enough to just toy with Kearse. So they tried him there a little, then sent him back to Miller. Unfortunately.) Porcher is not as lightening-fast as Kearse and that is the what really bothered Miller. That plus the crowd noise created an unstable situation that broke down. Yet the situation was not as bad as it appeared. As some people have noted, Miller DID block Kearse effectively much of the time. AND, the officials really made the situation impossible when they allowed Kearse to get away with encroachment. This messed up his entire sense of timing. Porcher brings a different package---a good one, but far less of a nightmare for Miller. Porcher has very good speed, but the speed gap with Miller is much, much less wide than with Kearse. Porcher is much stronger, but Miller can handle strength. I think Miller will be able to compete productively with Porcher. He may lose him a few times, and he may give up half to a full second of protection in general. But he will be able to work within parameters that allow us to execute our O. One other point about Miller. During the game, I wondered about the mental effect on the guy of a game that bad. The reports have been very reassuring. 1st, the team and coaches have surrounded him with complete support. This is something about our team we can really be proud of. They have drawn together over this thing rather than fragmenting into finger-pointing. 2nd, I have read articles about Miller's OWN response that are reassuring. He faced the press like a man who can deal with it. Yesterday, the PD had a great article about him getting home and being greeted by a tackling Mastiff and a loving but constructively critical wife. She apparently had a list of criticisms--and his favorite meal waiting for him. From what I read, he has a great attitude: tough, resilient, responsible, but capable of some ironic humor. He explained wrily that when he arrived early at a Bible study with team members, Warner joshed him: "I figured you'd get here early tonight!" I just get a very strong sense of a healthy, healing atmosphere there. I think he will come back strong--as strong as he can. The team is practicing against noise this week (as they should have done this last week). And Martz will certainly factor all this in and have a game plan that takes this factor into account. Can I guarantee this? Nope. But I am pretty optimistic. THE 90 FLIP. Many have pointed out the fallacy that what we are doing is throwing deep all the time. We haven't thrown deep in weeks. It is very important to see that Martz is evolving an O that has some highly sophisticated ways to attack a D. One of the primary weapons is "power" running. But in this case, the "power" is not necessarily the type you think of when you imagine Bettis or Davis hammering inside. The "power" has to do with overloads and mismatches that Martz creates to attack the D. And what is fascinating is the fact that he uses "power" concepts to get people open in the passing game, too. They are in the I a lot, but they shift and move so much that you never know how to set. There is always a power zone, and almost always some sort of counter action, but you never know which side of the field that will come on---away from or back to the power zone. Example from the Browns game. 2nd Down 5. I set, slot right, Bruce in slot. I assume Proehl is at the bottom. Bruce goes in motion to reverse the polarity of the play, with Holt and Bruce both attacking the left side with speed. Pass left or power right, eh? No. Try 90 flip! If you aren't clear on this, it is the new play the Rams use so brilliantly. Holc starts right and gets a fake. Holt and Bruce release upfield, and Faulk runs what appears to be a swing rout left. The fake to Holc is minimal--I think for a reason. The play seems to be a play action pass. Instead, KW flips a pitch to Faulk racing outside AWAY from all the power blocking. It's a kind of anti-power---overloading the left side with speed rather than muscle. The 90 Flip is a new play but it is spreading like wild fire. The Browns used it against US! It is really a variant of the counter-option that is used in HAS and college Os. You start a lot of motion one way, then have the QB and a TB bootleg back the other way. In this NFL case, though, it isn't a true option because the QB is NOT going to be running. Also, the flip is done FAST, without the QB doing any serious bootlegging. It's all about the TB being able to use speed around the corner--and trying to punish the D for over-pursuing. In other ways, it is like a quick pitch, which was always designed to get speed outside. It is a great play--at least initially. Its value for us will gradually be less about gaining 40 (though you never know when Marshall will do that) and more about keep the pursuit honest. Martz is very committed to constantly punishing a D for over-pursuing. Note: we also run many end-around--and FAKE end arounds! Martz wants the D to feel equally threatened ALL OVER THE FIELD at every moment! One further note on the 90 flip: On his radio show several weeks ago, Vermeil said they ran the play a couple of times last year. Now I don't remember it, but that's what he said. His next comment may explain why we don't remember it: "Of course last year, we didn't have Marshall Faulk running it!" |
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WEEK 9 OBSERVATIONS---(1) MILLER, & (2) THE
90 FLIP