BDL 2019 Week 2 - Ivory Coast Black Rhinos @ Berlin Blitzkrieg

[Whicker]

BDL 2019 Week 2

Match:  Ivory Coast Black Rhinos @ Berlin Blitzkrieg

Away Owner: @RuskieTitan

Home Owner: @Ragnarok

Vote for who you think would win the game.

Rules:
One vote per person, duplicate accounts will be banned and action taken against those attempting to rig the results.

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

For members, who have been following along, and wish to vote.  Please join the conversation and maybe give a reason you voted as you did. This will alleviate any suspicions of unusual voting and will promote discussion.

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.

Good luck to you both

[Whicker]

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos Lineup:

QB- Matt Ryan
RB- Nick Chubb
WR- Alshon Jeffery
WR- DeSean Jackson
WR- Curtis Samuel
TE- Jared Cook
LT- Dennis Kelly
LG- Kyle Long
C- Jason Kelce
RG- Zack Martin
RT- Rick Wagner

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QB- Marcus Mariota
RB- Austin Ekeler
TE- Vernon Davis
WR- Adam Humphries
WR- Robby Anderson
WR- Terry McLaurin
OL- Trent Williams
OL- Andre Smith

 

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DE- Khalil Mack
DT- Da'Ron Payne
NT- Larry Ogunjobi
DE- Myles Garrett
LB- Devin White
LB- Jerome Baker
CB- Tre'Davious White
CB- Adoree' Jackson
CB- Malcolm Butler
FS- Earl Thomas
SS- Devin McCourty

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DE- Shilique Calhoun
DE- Jordan Willis
DT- Maurice Hurst
LB- Wesley Woodyard
CB- Camerson Sutton
CB- Brandon Carr
CB- Ross Cockrell
S- Eric Reid

 

 

Berlin Blitzkrieg

Offense
QB - Tom Brady
RB - Aaron Jones
Slot - Chris Godwin
WR - Kenny Golladay
WR - Will Fuller
Slot - Marquise Brown
LT - Kolton Miller
LG - Ron Leary
C - Corey Linsley
RG - Alex Cappa
RT - Taylor Moton

RB - Justin Jackson
WR - MVS
TE - Irv Smith Jr.
OT - Eric Fisher
OC - Ryan Kalil

Defense
DE - Justin Houston
DT - Mike Daniels
DT - Brandon Williams
DE - Demarcus Lawrence
LB - Tremaine Edmunds
LB - Rashaan Evans
CB - Gareon Conley
CB - Byron Murphy
NB/S - Damontae Kazee
NB/S - Lamarcus Joyner
S - Juan Thornhill

DE - Deatrich Wise *INACTIVE*
DE - Lorenzo Carter
DE - Za’Darius Smith
DE - Trey Hendrickson
INT - Taven Bryan
LB - Ja’whaun Bentley
CB - Deandre Baker
CB - Mike Hilton

Edited September 15, 2019 by Whicker

[Whicker]

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos Gameplan:

Offense
Primary Formation: 3 Wide "11" Personnel- We'll spend most of the game in the traditional 11 personnel formation, though we'll also sprinkle some 4 wide looks as well. We will have a good mixture of plays under center as well as shotgun.

Running Game Focus- Nick Chubb and Austin Ekeler will each get double digit touches this game, with a healthy balance of inside and outside runs. We'll trust our offensive line to do their jobs and win their matchups, with double teams in the middle opening up holes before Kelce / one of the guards move up to the linebacker level. 

Passing Game Focus- We're going to utilize most of the receivers that we bring into the game, and constantly send someone deep to test their secondary and wear them down. We'll use motion to determine whether they are in man or zone, and at times shift Samuel into the backfield as a potential runner / receiver out of the backfield. We'll run crossing patterns to allow our speed to get open, and if we see they are running a lot of zone, we'll implement flood routes out of bunch formations. Our Tight Ends will chip at times to slow down the pass rush before running routes, while other times they will stay in to block. Ekeler and Chubb will run routes out of the backfield, but will also stay in to block; between the tight ends and the running backs we want to have at least one additional blocker to assist our offensive line.

X-Factor on Offense: Deep Shots- We've got speed with our receivers, and we're going to exploit our depth to send receivers deep to keep their defense honest. If we get a good matchup, Matt Ryan will take the shot, but even without throwing it should open up the routes underneath to sustain drives.

 

Defense
Defensive Formation: 4-2-5 Defense- We're going to come out in a standard nickel defense against a 3 receiver look; if they go a heavier offensive set we will counter by bringing in Wesley Woodyard onto the field and taking Malcolm Butler off. We'll use Jackson's athleticism in the slot when we have our base defense.

Secondary Coverage: Cover-2 Man-Under- With us facing Tom Brady, we cannot play zones all day long or he'll shred us. We're going to us a heavy dose of man coverage underneath, with the safeties playing a cover 2 shell over the top in order to prevent anything deep. Our cornerbacks will often use press coverage to delay the quick hitting routes and give the defensive line more time to get to the quarterback. We won't send many blitzes, as Tom will take advantage of it. At times we'll mix the safeties into a cover 1 over the top, using the other one to either man up on the tight end or play zone in the middle to disrupt seam routes and crossing patterns. Devin White and Jerome Baker have the speed to keep up with Irv Smith or any running back.

Defensive Box- With Derrius Guice out with injury, Berlin will likely turn to Aaron Jones for their running game. We're going to have our defensive line focus on 1 gap responsibilities, relying on penetration to disrupt the run as well as produce pressure against Brady. With Myles Garrett and Khalil Mack on the edges, we don't think they'll be able to get outside of the box, and trust those two to get home against Brady multiple times, as one or the other should be seeing 1 on 1 opportunities barring max protection, in which case we feel we'll have enough in the secondary to prevent anyone from coming open. We'll send an occasional blitz from one of the linebackers or safeties, but overall we'll rely on our defensive line to dominate the game.

X-Factor on Defense: Press Coverage- We want to disrupt the timing of the routes between Brady and his receivers, and the best way to do so is to press coverage against the receivers. With our defensive line, it's just a matter of time for them to get home, and we have the luxury of being able to have two of the game's elites at the edges to rush. Khalil Mack and Myles Garrett against Kolton Miller and Taylor Moton? I almost feel bad.

 

Summary:
Offensively, we come in with a balanced attack, utilizing 11 personnel to spread out the field a bit. We'll take advantage of our speed and depth at receiver to send routes deep, providing us opportunities to take deep shots or hit the routes underneath.

Defensively, we come out with a 4-2-5 look that is ready to adapt to what Berlin comes out in, with a focus on man coverage underneath, pressing their receivers to disrupt routes, and trusting our defensive line to get home and hit Brady.

 

 

 

Berlin Bltizkrieg

Offense
4 WR - We are going to spread out the defense and let Brady do his thing.  We will be in shotgun for the majority of the night, but go under center a fair bit.  Almost every play will involve some run action to hold the linebackers for an extra second or two.  We will also incorporate draws and screens to keep the IC pass rush from being able to just run at Brady.  We will give the ball to the RB enough to keep the defense honest.  We want our RBs to each get at least 10 carries and 5 pass targets.  The more the better.

That said, we will go 4 wide and see what IC can bring to the party.  We will typically put Godwin and Hollywood in the slot so they get a free release, but we are going to move all 4 WRs around.  We will put them in motion and in bunches so that IC can’t just put CBs on them.  This will also tip Brady off about the defense and let him find the right matchup and get the ball out quickly.

We will use Fuller to take the top off the defense, Godwin to get the easy underneath yards, Golladay for everything, and Marquise for a mix of deep shots and shallow, easy throws for Marquise to break for long gains.  But these roles will also get rotated to throw the defense off.  MVS will rotate in to help keep guys fresh.

We will target all their CBs equally as we trust Brady to get the ball to the best spot.  If they have a LB on our RB, we will get the ball to get ASAP to test the rookie White in pass coverage.

We will bring Irv Smith in for one of our WRs to serve his swiss army knife role.  Brady will move him whenever is best and see if he can get some favorable matchups as a blocker or pass catcher.

Defense -
We are going to aim for a bend but don’t break defense.  We will force IC to kick field goals if and when they get into our territory.  Brady will get TDs, so if we hold them to FGs, we will win.

Lawrence is going to be across from Andre Smith for as many snaps as possible, because that will be a bloodbath if they don’t help out Andre every snap.  Houston challenges Wagner and we think can win that matchup.  Due to some injuries at DT, look for us to rotate Za’Darius/Wise/Trey in at DT on passing downs as well as spelling our edge rushers if they need a few reps off.   But Lawrence and Houston will play every snap if they can.

We will use some press man coverage on early downs with Gareon playing LCB, Byron playing RCB, either Joyner or Kazee taking the slot and the other taking the TE.  Thornhill will play deep middle.  The Linebackers will alternate RB duties.  One will take the RB in coverage and the other will sit in a shallow middle zone.  This coverage will be used to challenge the WRs and force incompletions on early downs, give us a favorable down and distance, so we can go zone on a later down and tackle them short of the first down.

We are going to use mostly zone this week.  We will rotate between standard cover 2 and standard cover 3 for the most part, with our safeties playing deep halves in cover two, and Thornhill and our two outside CBs taking the deep thirds in cover three.   Kazee and Joyner will switch between NB and S to add in an extra wrinkle.  IC may get a couple first downs on a few drives, but when the field gets condensed, their QBs won’t be able to get the ball into the end zone.

4 WR - Evans comes off the field and Hilton goes into the slot, but the strategy stays the same.

Other - If they go with a heavy set with 2 TEs, we will bring in Bentley to play MLB.  If they go two WRs, we will stay in nickel.

 

[Whicker]

Deatrich Wise was inactive

[VigilantZombie]

I really like Tom Brady and Kenny Gollodays ability to hook up here early and often. Both have a good defense but I just cant bet against Brady early in the season.

Berlin 31-17

[RuskieTitan]

19 hours ago, Whicker said:

Deatrich Wise was inactive

Ez win now gg thx.

[TedLavie]

I messed up and wanted to vote for the home team and wrongfully assumed it was IC. So Berlin in a close one. 

I wish IC would run a little bit more than they plan to. They have a good OL and a good matchup with Berlin going with 3 safeties. I think they're successful on the ground but could have really done more to keep the clock moving. It's good that they provide additional help for Matt Ryan with chips and a RB staying in pass pro when needed cause I think both Berlin ends can beat IC tackles constantly. I think pressure still gets to Ryan and he has some trouble picking apart Berlin very suspect secondary. 

On the other hand I really like what Rags did on offense. Sell out the pass to run will work fine and they do it in the right proportion too. I think Aaron Jones and Justin Jackson have a bit more success than I planned originally. As for the passing game it will struggle because I just don't see Berlin OL holding up against IC monster DL. It's a big mismatch. Still it's Brady so he will get some quick passes going to score some points. 

I think this was super close. And I think it ends up being a 20-20 game with the away team getting the ball with like 3 minutes to play and a crowd on their feet. One sack, a 3 and out, decent field position and the home team gets 20 yards to set up a 45 yds field goal.

23 20 Berlin

[RuskieTitan]

8 minutes ago, TedLavie said:

I messed up and wanted to vote for the home team and wrongfully assumed it was IC. So Berlin in a close one. 

I wish IC would run a little bit more than they plan to. They have a good OL and a good matchup with Berlin going with 3 safeties. I think they're successful on the ground but could have really done more to keep the clock moving. It's good that they provide additional help for Matt Ryan with chips and a RB staying in pass pro when needed cause I think both Berlin ends can beat IC tackles constantly. I think pressure still gets to Ryan and he has some trouble picking apart Berlin very suspect secondary. 

On the other hand I really like what Rags did on offense. Sell out the pass to run will work fine and they do it in the right proportion too. I think Aaron Jones and Justin Jackson have a bit more success than I planned originally. As for the passing game it will struggle because I just don't see Berlin OL holding up against IC monster DL. It's a big mismatch. Still it's Brady so he will get some quick passes going to score some points. 

I think this was super close. And I think it ends up being a 20-20 game with the away team getting the ball with like 3 minutes to play and a crowd on their feet. One sack, a 3 and out, decent field position and the home team gets 20 yards to set up a 45 yds field goal.

23 20 Berlin

[TedLavie]

55 minutes ago, RuskieTitan said:

Believe me, voting against Matt Ryan broke by heart.

[Jlash]

While Dennis Kelly is going to be a liability against Demarcus Lawrence, I think Kolton Miller and Taylor Moton are going to have an equally hard time protecting Tom Brady in a 4 wide offense.

I think going 4 wide, with only 1 back up WR active and 1 TE active total, battling press coverage from a good secondary and a killer pass rush is going to put grandpa Brady in a bad spot more often than Berlin would like. I'm going to take IC in an upset.

[Ragnarok]

25 minutes ago, Jlash said:

While Dennis Kelly is going to be a liability against Demarcus Lawrence, I think Kolton Miller and Taylor Moton are going to have an equally hard time protecting Tom Brady in a 4 wide offense.

I think going 4 wide, with only 1 back up WR active and 1 TE active total, battling press coverage from a good secondary and a killer pass rush is going to put grandpa Brady in a bad spot more often than Berlin would like. I'm going to take IC in an upset.

Kolton Miller has shut down Von and Frank Clark in the first two weeks and Moton is a legit top 5 RT.  Part of why I went with this offense is because of how excellent they've been so far this years.  And I did focus a lot of scheming on not letting them just sprint to Brady.

Godwin played 95% of his snaps, Golladay played 92%, Fuller 91%, and Hollywood 65%.  MVS played 88% of snaps.  So I'm not asking them to do more than they normally do.  And yes, I have one active TE who played 42% of his team's snaps, which might be more than we would here.  So, I'm not sure why that was relevant.  

I also specifically mentioned motions and bunches to avoid press.  

[Jlash]

17 minutes ago, Ragnarok said:

Kolton Miller has shut down Von and Frank Clark in the first two weeks and Moton is a legit top 5 RT.  Part of why I went with this offense is because of how excellent they've been so far this years.  And I did focus a lot of scheming on not letting them just sprint to Brady.

Godwin played 95% of his snaps, Golladay played 92%, Fuller 91%, and Hollywood 65%.  MVS played 88% of snaps.  So I'm not asking them to do more than they normally do.  And yes, I have one active TE who played 42% of his team's snaps, which might be more than we would here.  So, I'm not sure why that was relevant.  

I also specifically mentioned motions and bunches to avoid press.  

Von Miller hasn't sniffed a sack this season, even going against Bobbie Massie so I don't know how much he even has left at this point. Miller also most likely faced Chubb more than Von either way. To me, Mack and Garrett going against a 4 wide offense with barely a semblance of TE play or mention of RB help is asking for your QB to get beat up. Brady isn't that kind of QB anymore.

Also:

 "Mostly under shotgun....but also under center a fair bit"

"Gonna spread the field out and let Brady do his thing. Gonna give each RB at least 15 touches, the more the better"

Variation in the write up is good, but the contradictions muddle the game plan (to me, I know I'm slower than most) so I'm just going by what your starting lineup supports more in your game plan. 

[Ragnarok]

17 minutes ago, Jlash said:

Von Miller hasn't sniffed a sack this season, even going against Bobbie Massie so I don't know how much he even has left at this point. Miller also most likely faced Chubb more than Von either way. To me, Mack and Garrett going against a 4 wide offense with barely a semblance of TE play or mention of RB help is asking for your QB to get beat up. Brady isn't that kind of QB anymore.

Also:

 "Mostly under shotgun....but also under center a fair bit"

"Gonna spread the field out and let Brady do his thing. Gonna give each RB at least 15 touches, the more the better"

Variation in the write up is good, but the contradictions muddle the game plan (to me, I know I'm slower than most) so I'm just going by what your starting lineup supports more in your game plan. 

Now that is fair.  I knew it was a risk, but I think they'll hold up.  And I double checked and he did face Chubb more than Von, but still shut him down as well.  I do disagree in Brady not being that kind of QB anymore.  Put him in shotgun, let him read the D, and get the ball out quick.  Not like he was ever mobile.  

Ok, to me, mostly under shotgun but under center a fair bit means like a 70-30 split.  Mostly in shotgun, but we aren't ignoring under center.  Not a contradiction per se, but I could do better in explaining that.

Yes, we are gonna let Brady get the ball out of his hand quickly to lots of WRs.  I said that I wanted each RB to get at least 10 carries and 5 catches.  Let's say an offense runs 60 plays, then I am running 1/3rd of the time.  So both can work, but once again, I should have explained it a bit better.  

That's not on you being slow, but me not explaining as clearly as I should have.

[DingoLadd]

The Blitz get rained down upon but somehow come away with a close win, If it was any other QB (or a mobile one) I'd say they were screwed against that pass rush but Brady is excellent at beating pass rushers from the pocket. 

[TedLavie]

11 hours ago, Ragnarok said:

Kolton Miller has shut down Von and Frank Clark in the first two weeks. 

Raiders are going with a gimmick offense asking Carr to throw under 3 seconds. I'm not saying it's Miller fault but it's hard to judge a lineman with that kind of offense.