Best offense has looked in a long time

[mistaowen]

Pre-snap motion, moving the pocket, play action early and often, and Penny looking like Shaun Alexander with better 2nd level burst. Clear effort to feature DK today (weird how it worked well, coaching staff) and almost every single series had plus early down plays. Could have easily put up 60 if they kept the pedal down at the end of the game.

Russ looked like Russ of old - decisive, locked in, perfect passes both intermediate and deep. If Dee knew how to use the sideline correctly he had another TD pass there (Lockett and DK bring that pass in for a TD). No idea why he completely distorted his body and gave up outside leverage, ball was perfect to the front pylon. Hopefully it's something he works on.

Curhan looks like a legit RT. Mauler in the run game and has been more than serviceable in pass pro. Something to actually be excited about on the OL.

Weird that featuring an absolute mammoth of a human being at WR works out well. Easy pitch-and-catch gains over the middle using his body like a TE and then hit them deep 1v1 when safeties have to come up. Should be a no brainer going to him anytime he gets single coverage. Pretty strange it took until final week of the season to do this.

Penny decision will be interesting. His big knock obviously is injuries and inability to run between the tackles. He's been a superstar to end the season, getting massive gains up the middle. He has that same silky glide running motion Shaun Alexander had except his second level burst is on another level. He has homerun ability anytime he touches the ball. Can he be trusted to a big contract though? Can he be your #1 all season? Lot for the FO to think about with him.

Liked the use of TE's today. Everett is athletic, using him across the middle should be an easy move the chains go-to for the offense.

 

[cymatica]

Bittersweat victory that kind of pisses me off. They waited until the seasons over to play like they should have most the season.

 

[mistaowen]

Bittersweat victory that kind of pisses me off. They waited until the seasons over to play like they should have most the season.

Agree - the quick stuff in space was something I was so excited to bring in from the Rams. Only really saw it week 1. Should have been using DK across the middle all year, let him use his size to easily win position and get some easy yards.

 

[olyfan63]

Loved the Cover-Zero blitz beater to DK for the TD. Kudos to both and Waldron as well!

Also loved the Tyler Locket jet sweep for a TD. Again, kudos to Waldron seem to be in order!

Pete allowed the offense to score early and often this game. Kudos to Pete!

 

[justafan]

This is what happens when you run teams out of playing 2 deep. This happens when Wilson and Penny are healthy.

 

[jammerhawk]

Where has this O been hiding?

Looked as if this team was a playoff quality team yesterday. It was their best offensive performance of the season, and it looked like the O we had hoped would be delivered by Waldron as the year started. In fact the scheme looked like the same one used in game 1, then lost until yesterday. Most everything worked and Wilson’s accuracy seemed the be back, though he did miss a few very makable throws. That said he made some absolutely perfect passes demonstrating his great talent. For me it seemed as if he was truly back from his injury. I liked the short passes and the running game ended the standard two deep S defensive shells the O has faced all season.

Penny does have talent and perhaps needed a mentor like AP to get it. Penny actually looked like he was worth a 1st round draft pick, and I have been reluctant to believe as much since he joined the team. Still I want to see more. He does have what seems to be an extra gear once he finds a hole to bust through and that burst is impressive.

I still am concerned about the team’s 3rd down D and wonder at times why a LB is tasked with covering the opponents top WR over the middle, which seems to me a recipe for failure. The Lions have been coming on lately and are a better team that their 2 Ws say they are but they still are the Lions and giving up 29 points to them was somewhat disappointing. In the end winning by 22 points was still pretty convincing.

More please!!!

 

[Appyhawk]

People aren't giving Detroit the credit they deserve. They have posted some high quality games over the course of this season. Example VS Green Bay. Detroit had that game in the bag but made a couple poor decision with just barely enough time for GB to take advantage and escape with the win. They beat a handicapped Zona team. They've been close to winning several other games. IF it weren't for bad luck the Lions wouldn't have had any luck at all!

It seemed to me Russ's game yesterday was his BEST EVER at hitting the underneath and across the middle stuff. He was on time and on target. Kudos to Russ for doing what needs to be done to open up the longer routes for big plays.
Penny was awesome. He was doing what he was supposed to be doing all along. Everett did a lot of what we were expecting him to do all along. I hope whatever they fed these guys for breakfast was legal!

 

[jammerhawk]

Must admit that if we can see more of this Penny and he can find a way to stay healthy the team drafted a good player.

His track record health wise hasn't been that great, so proof from him will need to be seen. I think it's interesting how much the arrival of AP has light a fire under Penny though in a great way.

Appy I agree about Detroit but the caveat of it was the just Lions needed to be mentioned. Frankly they were playing hard and have some fine young players they will be a stronger team next year.

 

[chris98251]

Well it was the Lions,

Ok that is out of the way, what doesn't matter is the O line execution good or bad they have to execute and run block to get the offense started.

So if by some bad / Good luck depending on which side of the fence you are on this team stays as is with Wilson. Pete, John at the helm I would think we go all in on O line in the draft and FA to get a top 10 O line built if they want the offense to click. Thats the 5 starters and not just guys in the depth department that can play all the positions and TE.

 

[sutz]

Those talking about Detroit scoring 29 against us should keep in mind the box score.

Q1 - 0
Q2 - 7
Q3 - 15
Q4 - 7

The scoring "explosion" in the 3rd was based on recovering an onside kick and a short field TD drive plus a 2 pt conversion. Meanwhile, our O scored 31 in the first half and padded the lead in the 3rd after the Int in their end of the field. Most of the Detroit points happened in essentially garbage time.

:shrug:

 

[AgentDib]

Clear effort to feature DK today (weird how it worked well, coaching staff) ... Russ looked like Russ of old ... Pretty strange it took until final week of the season to do this.

We just haven't been able to force teams away from playing two deep against us. Russ has always looked good against single high safety and cover zero. There's a big difference between forcing it to DK when he's being triple covered and throwing a cover zero alley oop to him over the CB.

The offense also looked good against the Colts and Titans with a healthy Chris Carson. This offense just needs an effective running game to enable the passing game rather than vice versa.

 

[Fade]

It was like week 1.

Going into this game Seattle ranked bottom 3 in the league in pre-snap motion. Which shows they really deviated most of the year from the offense they ran week 1.

It was all back. Pre snap motion, outside zone, boot action. Attacking all levels of the field. Getting d-lineman going sideways rather than pinning their ears back.

Maddening. WTF, Pete! You could've been running this the whole year. Playing the Lions made it look even better, but still.

 

[John63]

It was like week 1.

Going into this game Seattle ranked bottom 3 in the league in pre-snap motion. Which shows they really deviated most of the year from the offense they ran week 1.

It was all back. Pre snap motion, outside zone, boot action. Attacking all levels of the field. Getting d-lineman going sideways rather than pinning their ears back.

Maddening. WTF, Pete! You could've been running this the whole year. Playing the Lions made it look even better, but still.

^^^THIS

 

[justafan]

It was like week 1.

Going into this game Seattle ranked bottom 3 in the league in pre-snap motion. Which shows they really deviated most of the year from the offense they ran week 1.

It was all back. Pre snap motion, outside zone, boot action. Attacking all levels of the field. Getting d-lineman going sideways rather than pinning their ears back.

Maddening. WTF, Pete! You could've been running this the whole year. Playing the Lions made it look even better, but still.

^^^THIS

IMO Our offense looked great because the D got 3 interceptions, Russ being healthy and on his game, we had a run game that scared them, and the Detroit Lions.

I know Pete is the target and everyone wants to blame him for the offense but there are bigger problems on this team. There have been several games with a healthy Wilson where we score 24 to 30 points and get smoked on TOP. When we are healthy we can score points. Many of those game we scored over a point per min of TOP. I am all for a offense with all the motion, bells and whistles but I don't believe ranking last in motion is a huge problem for us. Or at the least not in the top 10 that I can think of.

Indy game we scored 28 pnts in 25 mins
Titans game we scored 30 in 23 min OT
Minn 17 pnts in 24 min
SF 28 in 29 min
SF 30 in 33
Hous 33 in 27
Chi 24 in 22
Det 51 in 33

5-3 With a healthy Wilson and RBs. We only won the TOP 3 times. Overall we scored 30 Ppg.

I wasnt just cherry picking games to fit my narrative. GB, both LA game ,and Card games it might not make a difference they are just better than us, but I dont think Wilson was healthy yet.

Maybe we lose the NO,Pitt, and WFT with a healthy Wilson and RBs but I think we win all those games.


We aren't as good as the Rams or Cards but we are better on O than people are saying and it wasnt just the Indy game. That's a just narrative that grabs peoples attention. Maybe Pete clamps down. I dont believe it but it makes a good story and ignores that the Wilson,Carson and Penny injuries were the biggest issue on O. The other was our D couldnt get off the field or create turnovers.

Our D is last in TOP, we were, 3rd from last in forcing TOs before the Detroit game, bottom 3 in YPG and bottom 5 sacks. Those are the stats that lose games. Those are the stats that mattered this season.

The only thing that saved this D from a worse PPG stat and TOP stat was the fields only a hundred yds long and endzone is only 10 yrds deep.

 

[9er4life]

It was the 2 win Lions playing their 3rd string QB.

 

[LTH]

When this O is clicking there isn't a team in the league that can stop them... thats just the truth.


LTH

 

[Jville]

Clear effort to feature DK today (weird how it worked well, coaching staff) ... Russ looked like Russ of old ... Pretty strange it took until final week of the season to do this.

We just haven't been able to force teams away from playing two deep against us. Russ has always looked good against single high safety and cover zero. There's a big difference between forcing it to DK when he's being triple covered and throwing a cover zero alley oop to him over the CB.

The offense also looked good against the Colts and Titans with a healthy Chris Carson. This offense just needs an effective running game to enable the passing game rather than vice versa.

Well said. The entire offense is at its best with a healthy roster and with Russ exploiting the opponent by orchestrating a strong play action game. The prerequisite to an overwhelming offense is a credible running game. The offensive line loves to attack. Aggressive Team Blocking builds team chemistry and game momentum. And when the entire play book can be aggressively exploited, the team's offense can overwhelm an opponent.

 

[pittpnthrs]

It was like week 1.

Going into this game Seattle ranked bottom 3 in the league in pre-snap motion. Which shows they really deviated most of the year from the offense they ran week 1.

It was all back. Pre snap motion, outside zone, boot action. Attacking all levels of the field. Getting d-lineman going sideways rather than pinning their ears back.

Maddening. WTF, Pete! You could've been running this the whole year. Playing the Lions made it look even better, but still.

Not just a narrative, but the truth. All you had to do was watch the games to see this.

 

[Jville]

It was like week 1.

Going into this game Seattle ranked bottom 3 in the league in pre-snap motion. Which shows they really deviated most of the year from the offense they ran week 1.

It was all back. Pre snap motion, outside zone, boot action. Attacking all levels of the field. Getting d-lineman going sideways rather than pinning their ears back.

Maddening. WTF, Pete! You could've been running this the whole year. Playing the Lions made it look even better, but still.

Not just a narrative, but the truth. All you had to do was watch the games to see this.

:34853_doh: Ya got to pay attention to injuries and roster churn and the week to week differences in the strengths and weaknesses of opponents. It's not a board game. Real live match ups are always changing.

Pay Attention

 

[Cyrus12]

I wonder if they could carry over this trend to an opponent who is not terrible. History this season has shown this is not been the case. People already thinking itll be magically fixed for next year based on games vs the Lions and Texans need to open their eyes.