BDL 2018 Week 1: Oklahoma City Rogues @ Sydney Dingos

[ny92mike]

BDL 2018 Week 1

Vote for who you think would win the game.

Rules:
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One vote per team involved in the match. Co-owners may vote in every match up except their own.

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Note: Players that have a (D) next to their name indicate that they are doubtful or unlikely to play. Players with (Q) are game-time decisions.

[ny92mike]

Oklahoma City EF5s

Starting Offensive Lineup 
QB: Cam Newton
RB: Joe Mixon
WR: Adam Thielen
WR: Robert Woods
WR: Michael Gallup
WR: Taywan Taylor
LT: David Bakhtiari
LG: Zach Fulton
C: Billy Price
RG: TJ Lang
RT: Morgan Moses

Offensive Bench 
QB: Josh Rosen
RB: Alex Collins
WR: DJ Moore
WR: Anthony Miller
WR: Laquon Treadwell
TE: Jared Cook
T: Jeremy Parnell
G: Jesse Davis

Starting Defensive Lineup 
OLB: Von Miller
DE: Cameron Heyward
DT: Eddie Goldman
DT: Tyeler Davison
DE: Stephon Tuitt
OLB: Ryan Kerrigan
ILB: Eric Kendricks
LB/S: Adrian Amos
CB: Patrick Peterson
CB: Shaq Griffin
FS: Malik Hooker

Defensive Bench
OLB: Nick Perry
OLB: Matt Judon
DL: Montravius Adams
DL: Carl Davis
LB: Darron Lee
CB: Trevor Williams
CB: Morris Claiborne
S: Andrew Sendejo

 

Sydney Dingos

Starting Offensive Lineup:
QB1: Ben Roethlisberger
RB1: David Johnson
WR1: Golden Tate 
WR2: Rishard Matthews
WR3: John Brown
TE: Jimmy Graham 
LT: Nate Solder
LG: Cody Whitehair
C:  Mitch Morse
RG: Brandon Brooks
RT: Joseph Barksdale

Offensive Bench:
QB2: Dak Prescott
RB2: Melvin Gordon
RB3: Javorius Allen
WR4: Mike Williams
WR5: Calvin Ridley
WR6: Kendall Wright
OL6: Mike Iupati
OL7: Chris Hubbard

Starting Defensive Lineup
LDE: Whitney Mercilus
3T:  Malik Jackson
DT:  Leonard Williams
RDE: Mario Addison
WLB: Lavonte David
MLB: Myles Jack
CB1: Marcus Peters
CB2: Byron Jones
CB3: Logan Ryan
FS:  Ricardo Allen
SS:  Reshad Jones

Defensive Bench
SLB: Shane Ray
RLB: Alec Ogletree
DE3: Noah Spence
DT3: Derek Wolfe
DT4: Brandon Mebane
CB4: Carlton Davis 
CB5: Donte Jackson
S3:  Matthias Farley
 

 

 

[ny92mike]

Oklahoma City

Game Plan delivered 9/08/2018 at 3:53 AM

@Whicker

The new season here and there is a sense of optimism about our refocused team. We may take our fair share of bumps this year, but we are young, exciting, and we are only going to get better as this season goes on.

We open the season with a roadtrip to Sydney. Sydney's biggest offseason addition was the big-time signing of David Johnson, giving them an elite pair of running backs. Because of this, our main focus this week will be shutting down their run game. 

Offense:
We are going to utilize a spread offense this week to try and take advantage of a weak secondary that will be missing Brent Grimes. Marcus Peters can play, but we believe we can create good matchups with our diverse set of receivers. All of our listed pass catchers will see snaps, and we will move them around often to try and find good matches. Peters hasn't shadowed IRL (spending 94% of his 2017 snaps on the left side according to PFF) and thus would likely get beat by Adam Thielen regularly out of the slot if Sydney were to have Peters follow him in this game. Joe Mixon will lead a 60/40 committee with Alex Collins.
We will minimize our use of extra pass protectors as we do not fear the Sydney pass rush. We have one of the better tackle pairings in the league, and we trust them to hold up against the opposing edge rushers. We will often operate out of the shotgun to lessen the impact of a stronger interior rush. We believe that the use of shotgun, Cam Newton's mobility, and good receiving matchups will neutralize Leonard Williams and Malik Jackson's effectiveness.

Defense:
Our primary defensive focus will be to shut down the Sydney run game. To accomplish this, our base defense will be a simplified 46 defense. Von Miller and Ryan Kerrigan will line up on the defensive line alongside our four big defensive linemen. These six will rush on nearly every play, collapsing the pocket, overwhelming the offensive line, and leaving no room for running backs. This will also create pressure on Ben Roethlisberger quickly, leaving slower play action passes almost entirely unusable. Adrian Amos will line up alongside Eric Kendricks at the linebacker level. Amos will be responsible for Jimmy Graham as well as using his closing speed to clean up any running plays.

Sydney has a very underwhelming group of receivers. The good news for them, however, is that SirA recently stated that you can use returners, so Calvin Ridley may at some point be utilized in a gameplan. For the current moment, however, Golden Tate is the only worthwhile name among them. Tate will unfortunately be shadowed by Patrick Peterson in this game, rendering him useless. Shaq Griffin will draw the start opposite him. Our corners will press, disrupting timing routes. Malik Hooker will be allowed to play aggressive in the middle of the field, as we believe our rush will keep deep passes from developing.

Our nickel package will see Tyeler Davison come off the field for Trevor Williams, and Eddie Goldman will shift over to a more typical NT position to form a 3-3-5 defense with Amos still in the box. . When Sydney comes out four wide, we will keep our five man line, but we will split Amos out in man coverage on the fourth WR. Kendricks, then, will be a spy on the running back.

 

Sydney Dingos

Game Plan delivered 9/07/2108 at 5:26 PM

@DingoLadd

Motivation: This week we'll be playing the OKC Fartclouds, I expect this will be a thrilling match and we'll be bringing our all for our home and season opener.

Sydney Offensive Strategy: Get the ball in the hands of our playmakers, block well for Ben, open big running lanes for our stud RBs.

The Passing Offensive Strategy: With the departure of Bolo-tie Sydney will be starting future HOF QB Big Ben, Ben will make audibles and adjustments as is needed, Golden Tate will be our no.1 WR. On the other side of him will be Rishard Matthews, John Brown will operate out of the slot and be our deep threat we'll take at least 5+ deep shots against a suspect OKC secondary. David Johnson will be featured heavily as the bell-cow of the offense and will command at least 8+ targets in the passing game, I'd expect he'll land somewhere north of 30 touches. We're going to run the ball a ton against a OKC front seven with terrible LBs, my o-line should be able to blast open fairly decent sized holes for my RBs to get to the second level and just walk into the endzone since OKC has 2 LBs on their roster. Jimmy Graham will be featured quite a bit in the redzone and between the 20s, I'd expect he'll get 5+ targets and go out in the slot quite a bit. If Vance McDonald suits up he'll be featured quite a bit as we'll use 2 TEs on roughly 15% of the snaps to get him and Graham some good match-ups, we'll also use Gordon and Johnson on the field at the same time. Whether they're both split out wide or both in the backfield they'll both see a lot of action, If OKC wants to commit to stopping the run and puts 8 in the box we'll open up the passing game a bit more and make adjustments. We'll also make sure to go after Shaq Griffin when possible, Von Miller will be given extra blocking attention whether that's a double team or help from a RB/TE depends on the play.

The Running Offensive Strategy: With some shakeups to our offensive line from last season, I'd expect we'll still be able to run the ball as well if not better than last year. Melvin Gordon will split touches with David Johnson but I'd expect he'll get roughly 20% of the touches while Johnson gets the lion-share of them. We'll try to keep a balanced offense and we'll establish the run early and often, I'd expect we'll run the ball on 45% of plays at a minimum. Gordon+Johnson will regardless get lots of targets and touches depending on game-flow.

TDLR: Open running lanes, Get the ball in our playmakers hands, Protect Ben, go deep. 

Sydney Defensive Strategy: Man to man coverage, QB Spy on Cam, Blitz Cam, Force turnovers.

The Secondary Strategy: Marcus Peters will cover/shadow Thielen in man to man he'll occasionally have help over the top, Byron Jones will be our no.2 CB and cover whoever OKC uses as their no.2 WR more than likely (Dallas moved him to CB this off-season), Logan Ryan will man the slot and cover whoever goes there. Outside of Thielen, Woods, Moore OKC doesn't have a ton of talent at WR and while Thielen is a very good WR the rest leave a lot to be desired, not that I can judge too much. Jared Cook is a meh TE so we'll mostly ignore him, Myles Jack/Lavonte David will be tasked with spying Newton, they'll rotate between who does it but their main focus will be shutting down the run and containing Newton, Jack and David are more than capable of keeping Newton in check especially David since he does it IRL when they play. I'd expect Mixon will be featured as a pass catcher out of the backfield quite a bit to supplement OKC's Lacking weapons, we'll be ready for that. We'll also make sure to Blitz Newton quite a bit to test OKC's protection. I'd Bash on Newton but he's a solid QB when given protection, we dont' plan on letting him have any.

The Front Seven Strategy: Going with only two RBs seems like a bold strategy until you realize Newton can basically carry the running game for the RBs, OKC has a solid duo with Mixon and Collins along with of course Newton. Our main focus will be shutting down the run and forcing OKC to beat us by throwing the ball, Lavonte David will be the QB of our defense and make adjustments as he sees the need to. We'll rotate our defensive players as needed to keep them fresh, we'll focus on shutting down the run and getting tons of pressure on Newton. I'd expect we'll Blitz on roughly 23% of the snaps to test Newton and OKC's o-line. My d-line should be more than capable of shutting down the run and winning the battle at the LOS, Jack and David's athletic ability should be able to let them make plays and get turnovers on the fly.

TDLR: Dominate the LOS, Control the running game, Sack/Hit Newton, Force turnovers.

Special Teams: Enunwa will return kicks and Punts.
 

 

[DingoLadd]

This would be a defensive slugfest... 

[Whicker]

1 hour ago, DingoLadd said:

This would be a defensive slugfest... 

Which QB do you want in a defensive struggle? The one who can create something out of nothing with his mobility or the one who turns it over six times?

[ny92mike]

OKC Vs. Sydney

In this matchup, the starting lineup at receiver and cornerback for both teams imo is a wash.  I think both teams match up evenly therefore, I don’t favor one over the other.   So for me, the difference maker is going to be the running game.  OKC plans to run Mixon and Collins 60/40 which I think is a solid balance.  Sydney is leaning on Johnson over Gordon in an 80/20 split.  I believe that Sydney isn’t balanced enough on their split at tailback and with OKC’s commitment to stuff the run in a 46 defense, he’ll tire leading to turnovers.  However, OKC’s game plan is to run a spread offense, minimizing their strength, which is the run game.  I do agree with OKC in that Sydney’s pass rush could be better but what concerned me most was that Sydney isn’t concerned with the linebackers Von Miller, Ryan Kerrigan, Eric Kendrick and LB/S hybrid Amos.  Overlooking these guys in the run game is a mistake imo.    

I'm taking OKC in this matchup. 

[TedLavie]

OKC 46 defense is innovative but very risky with David Johnson in the backfield. I think DJ score a couple of long TD receptions here. But Ben will turn it over too. As for their offense, well OKC has very mediocre weapons. I don't think their gameplan fits their team the best. Sydney 17-6

[DingoLadd]

18 hours ago, Whicker said:

Which QB do you want in a defensive struggle? The one who can create something out of nothing with his mobility or the one who turns it over six times?

I mean half of the turnovers were because of the monsoon Ben played in on the road, He's at home here in neutral weather (I assume we use neutral weather for BDL?) 

I'll take a turnover prone Ben over an inaccurate Newton who is your entire offense since I'll basically be able to shut down your RBs. 

[DingoLadd]

Oh boy I'm glad Jared Cook wasn't mentioned as a heavy focus in your game-plan Whicker, he would've probably been the weapon Cam needed to throw to actually score points instead of the shutout I think we'll have. Plus the fact I said I'd ignore him doesn't help...

Good luck to you. 

[bcb1213]

yea, not involving cook literally at all is gonna be the downfall here.  While i understand the four wide idea against a thin corner group, i can only judge on what these guys have done so far and not on talent with little to no track record.  I think your 3-6 receivers got 50 combined yards, maybe?

On the flip side, not accounting for David Johnson out of the backfield will probably lead to just enough big plays to get the couple extra field goals needed here

Cam by himself normally is good for a TD but thats about it here, 

Sydney 13-7

[Whicker]

"All of our listed pass catchers will see snaps." "Our main focus will be to shut down Sydney run game." " We open the season with a roadtrip to Sydney. Sydney's biggest offseason addition was the big-time signing of David Johnson, giving them an elite pair of running backs. Because of this, our main focus this week will be shutting down their run game.  "

I'll guess I'll be more specific in the future.

[Xmad]

Sydney's offense had a good week for players on the bench , sadly it featured the wrong players on offense and Ben had 6 turnovers. OKC on the road on a last minute TD run by Cam in the 4th to seal it, both defenses keep it close and Sydney's is probably the most balanced in the league but Miller should make a massive impact against Sydney's RT and harass ben.

Also note to Whicker, Cook could've easily won this game or at least made it much easier for you but you didn't mention him by name in your writeup, I'd suggest being a bit more involved with your TEs and RBs in the passing game. I'm sure he'd be involved but I have no idea if he plays 20 snaps or all the snaps here. 

[Jlash]

OKC's defensive game plan focuses heavily on stopping the run, and Sydney's game plan is to run right into that. I don't think Whicker not expressly stating "I'm going to eliminate DJ in the passing game" means he won't ever be assigned to anyone in coverage. I think OKC can take this game closely.

[MD4L]

This is an interesting game. Dingo has an unimpressive receiver group this week, but Tate will have better games (RL #3 as a 1 is tough), but Mike Williams should probably start or be a highly rotated role player. The Thielen v Peters point Whicker makes has a ton of merit, but the double coverage and the fact Peters had a pick 6 from covering a route in the slot nulls that point.

I really dislike the 4-6 idea but Whicker makes a good point about his CBs and Hooker helping Griffin seems like a worthwhile idea. If Johnson breaks through the first level even three times, I think he can run wild. This is a good learning experience for a team that def had guys on both sides go off on their bench.

Ultimately, I’m going to pick Sydney as I think Whicker gave a bit too much attention toward one area and never moves from the 5 man fronts. When Mike Williams and John Brown touch the ball, I think they can make some plays.

Whacky, 27-20 victory for Sydney.

[SirA1]

Performance - OKC, Game Plan - Sydney, Matchup - OKC

OKC's players had a good week, the 46 was a bit out there though. However I like their defensive matchup against that Dingo OL.