Does having a bad line handicap what Grubb can do? Absolutely. That's true.
Here is where the problem comes for me. First, last year, we had a very bad offensive line. We were still the #11 team in the league by offensive efficiency. Geno was still the QB. Our skill players were still mostly the same. Our run game was also mostly absent. So, what's the big change that brings us from a near top 10 offense to a near bottom 10 offense?
The problem with saying 'Well Geno gets this as an excuse' is that Geno led our team to a top 10/near top 10 offense for two seasons straight now. Grubb hasn't.
Second, Grubb's job is to scheme an offense knowing he has a bad offensive line. He hasn't. If anything, he's schemed an offense that's leaving those guys out to dry.
When your OL is overmatched physically, what can you do to help them scheme wise? Make the defense have to think, get that extra moment of hesitation.
In both our run game and passing game, we don't do that. I think everyone is aware how often our run plays just go right up the gut. But it's actually just as bad in the passing game.
We are running near league high from shotgun and running near league lows in play action. You put those two things together and we have the most stationary pocket in the entire league. Defenders don't need to guess where Geno's going to be when the ball is snapped, we are putting him in the exact same spot every time.
Grubb is running a very college style offense. He is scheming routes to beat the guys in the second and third levels. And, hey, we are leading the league in passing yards. His routes, when we have the time to hit them, work!
But you can't ignore the front 4 of the defense like he has been. That works in college when you've got the best offensive line, but in the NFL, every team has at least one pass rush guy that will win his matchup if he never has to think about rushing to any other place on the field and doubly so when you've got a team that's regularly putting their 4th string RT out on the field.
I am not down on Grubb yet, though. It takes time and a lot of self-awareness to figure out that what has worked for you in the past may not work for you in a new situation. How we look coming out of this bye week is going to very telling.