But... I still don't get how the offense was conservative.
Pass happy overall, pass happy in neutral situations, generally high in yards per attempt and intended air yards per attempt - none of this signals conservative play. The occasional conservative punt, maybe.
Love to see some facts here, because none of what I'm claiming above is "nonsense." Love to know what specifically, in schematic terms, was bland and/or stale. These generic criticisms don't pull much weight if we can't, on some deep level, explain what about the offense was bland and stale.
Also - what is prohibitively complex about Grubb's offense? Did Grubb not put his college quarterbacks in a position to succeed repeatedly? Was Geno not one of the most prolific passers to ever play college football?
I'd doubt Howell's ability to "get it" before I would Geno's. Geno was a much tighter pocket-based passer in college. Howell was mainly a vertical passer who'd scramble too early.
PS: On the motion point?
Yeah. I'm not sure we're grounding our criticisms or expectations in reality. That's all I'm getting at here.