BDL 2017 Week 3: Seoul Dragons @ Lousiana Jazz

[DingoLadd]

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[DingoLadd]

Seoul Dragons Lineup:

QB Matt Ryan

RB Jay Ajayi (Q)

WR AJ Green

WR TY Hilton

TE Travis Kelce

TE Jason Witten

LT Donald Penn

LG Kevin Zeitler

C Alex Mack

RG Laurent Duvernay-Tardiff

RT Ronnie Stanley

 

Bench RB Isaiah Crowell

Bench RB Kenyan Drake

Backup FB Patrick DiMarco

Backup WR Tyrell Williams

Bench WR Chris Hogan (Q)

Bench TE Gerald Everett

Bench OL Rodger Saffold

Bench OL Matt Paradis

 

LE Jason Pierre-Paul

DT Gerald McCoy (Q)

DT Geno Atkins

RE Melvin Ingram

LB Ryan Shazier

CB Darius Slay

CB Byron Maxwell

CB Kendall Fuller

SS Derrick Kindred

FS Marcus Williams

SS Mike Adams

 

Bench Edge Robert Ayers

Bench Edge Anthony Zettel

Bench Int Allen Bailey

Bench Int Stacy McGee

Bench LB Jordan Hicks

Bench LB Demario Davis

Bench CB EJ Gaines

Bench CB Robert Alford

Lousiana Jazz lineup:

Offense:

QB: Tom Brady
RB1: Ezekiel Elliott
WR1: Jordy Nelson
WR2: Michael Thomas
TE1: Zach Ertz
TE2: Eric Ebron
LT: Laremy Tunsil
LG: Shawn Lauvao
C: Travis Frederick
RG: Trai Turner
RT: Menelik Watson

RB2: Bilal Powell
RB3: Darren Sproles
WR3: Doug Baldwin
WR4: Emmanuel Sanders
WR5: Torrey Smith
TE3: Dion Sims
OL6: Cody Whitehair
OL7: JR Sweezy

Defense:

DE: Chris Jones
NT: Damon Harrison
DT: Jurrell Casey
Edge: Brian Orakpo
LB: Lorenzo Alexander
LB/S: Reshad Jones
SS: Eric Weddle
CB: Chris Harris Jr
CB: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
CB: Logan Ryan
FS: Reggie Nelson

DT3: Chris Jones
DT4: Adam Gotsis
DE3: Cameron Wake
DE4: Alvin Dupree
LB3: Todd Davis
CB4: Orlando Scandrick
CB5: Corn Elder
DB: Jimmie Ward

 

[DingoLadd]

Seoul Gameplan:

 

Motivation

 

Louisiana has been the talk of the offseason and they’re considered as the favorite for this year Bizz Bowl. We’re going on the road to prove that we’re not done yet and that, if the Jazz want to be the champs, they got to beat the champs first.

 

Offense

 

We plan on running a ball-control offense this week, taking advantage of favorable matchups against Louisiana front 6 and open up the passing game later in the game.

Lousiana has a very deep defensive line. However, that DL is somewhat weak against the run. Cam Wake has never really been a force against the run, Orakpo is playing very poorly right now, Casey is injured and Chris Jones is more of a pass-rusher than a run stiffer. We’re gonna use that to our advantage. At the second level, due to injuries and suspensions, Louisiana will be forced to start either Craig Robertson or a third safety which is also good news for our running game.

We will do our best to avoid Damon Harrison in this game. When we run inside at Casey or Jones, we will use Alex Mack to double team him with one of our guards. But we will mostly target Orakpo and Wake when they’re on the field. We can run either behind one of our tackles or behind Kelce who’s a great run blocker. We’ll also pull traps to run behind one of our athletic guards outside. Finally, we have prepared some draws and counters to attack the outside rushers if they’re caught being a bit over-aggressive in pass rush.

Jason Witten will be split out wide fairly often to lighten the box a little bit, and that will create a mismatch in the passing game which we will come back to. 

Ajayi is questionable. If he can be at 100%, he’ll handle 60% of the workload, Crowell gets 35% and Drake comes in for passing downs and will get a couple of carries in the 2^nd half so we can use his speed against a tired Louisiana LB crew. If Ajayi is not 100%, Crowell gets more carries and Drake workload increases, just as it should be IRL since he’s one of Ajayi backups in Miami. DiMarco comes in for 10% of the snaps.

In the passing game, we will heavily involve our tight ends. Kelce and Witten are matchup nightmares for that Louisiana defense as none of their linebackers are suited to cover them one on one. Kelce, Witten and even Everett will receive a lot of targets in order to move the chains. If Louisiana brings its safeties in the box, while we will keep involving Kelce and Witten, we will also target AJ Green and TY Hilton down the field as we think both can beat Chris Harris (who is not used to cover physical receivers like AJ Green) and DRC.

To beat DRC, we plan on getting the WR who he is covering to the same side of the field as our other wideout to see how he handles playing inside. If necessary, we will bring out 3 and 4 WR sets and we will heavily target whoever is covered by Logan Ryan, especially if the latter covers a slot receiver.

If Lousiana plays zone defense, then we will target the middle of the field with tight ends and wide receivers as all Lousiana linebackers are bad in coverage.

Because Lousiana has a solid DL, Matt Ryan will have to throw is quickly and, if necessary depending on the play called or the situation, we will have a RB staying in pass protection and/or have a TE chipping an outside rusher before releasing to run his route

 

Defense

 

Lousiana loves to run the ball inside thanks a solid interior OL. Two bad news for them. First Josh Sitton shouldn’t play so they’ll be forced to start either Whitehair (good center, bad guard) or Lauvao (just a bad guard) inside. Second, they’ve never seen a duo as dominant as our DT duo. Both our defensive tackles should command double teams and we think we can dominate inside, leaving Zeke frustrated as he was last week against Denver.

McGee will rotate with Geno/McCoy inside and Bailey comes in sometimes for passing downs to rest them. Outside, JPP and Ingram will play most downs with Ayers rotating to keep them fresh. Bailey can come in outside on running downs giving us more power. Zettel will play some pass rushing downs. We’re confident that our outside rushers can dominate putrid tackles in addition to our inside DL being awesome.

Behind them we’re stealing a page from Bob Sutton playbook. During Week 1 and in 2014, KC used 3 safeties to beat Brady and that’s the scheme we’re running this week. This scheme allows us two things. First, it gives unpredictability in blitzes. We will blitz 20% of the time, and having 6 DBs on the field will allow us to send blitzers from anywhere without missing a beat in coverage. Second, it gives us 6 guys than can cover, either in zone or man, and that have speed to counter Lousiana dynamic receivers. Given the state of Louisiana OL, and the fact that both Ebron and Ertz are poor run blockers, we think we can do that without getting gashed in the running game.

To help against the run, we will have Mike Adams and Derrick Kindred, both good run stoppers, play in the box. They will be in charge to seal the edges while Shazier mans the middle.

In coverage, we will play predominantly man coverage with Adams on the TE, Shazier on Elliott and Kindred having zone assignments, which will rotate to keep some unpredictability. Outside, Byron Maxwell starts against Jordy Nelson as Nelson might be limited and Slay gets Thomas. If Nelson torches Maxwell, Slay gets him in the 2^nd half with Maxwell switching to Thomas. Fuller gets Baldwin/Sanders in the slot. On 4 WR sets, Gaines subs in for Kindred and covers Lousiana WR4. Marcus Williams provides deep help, mostly to Maxwell, but he will alternate to not be too predictable.

On 2TE sets, Hicks comes in for Maxwell. In that case, Hicks plays Ebron, Adams gets Ertz, Fuller gets Nelson and Slay gets Thomas, with Marcus Williams providing deep help for Fuller. 

With a dominant front 4, decent coverage and a ball-control offense, we think we can limit Brady and outscore him. 

Lousiana Jazz Gameplan:

For the first time in Jazz/Gladiator history, the team is a genuine Bizzbowl contender. As a result, we’re expecting a packed Superdome and a raucous Louisiana crowd for our home opener against the defending Bizzbowl champions. Our players will be ready to give 110% to cement our position among the league’s elite against the champs, who are on the road in a non-divisional match. We know this will be a tough match and think that this could be what gives us the edge.

In short a summary of what we’re planning to do is limit our mistakes on offense, run an efficient offense with consistent gains being the focus in the TE 2 set, win the TOP battle and then limit the Seoul passing attack to going deep where our defensive front should then be able to capitalise.

Offense:
 
Against one of the premier defensive fronts in the BDL, our focus early on will be to establish the running game. We’ve opted to debut our two TE set, and have included a third TE, Dion Sims in the active roster and he’ll serve as our H-back, FB and third TE on certain sets as well as rotating with the other two as required. Additionally, we’ll see Cody Whitehair come in as a 6^th OL to further add some beef to our offensive front as we look to get on the front foot in the run game. Presumably the linebacking duo will be Shazier and Hicks, and even if Davis does play, in any case we know that we’ll be able to push forward against a front-7 not built to stop the run and tire out the pass-rushers on that line.

The two-TE set’s effectiveness should extend to the passing game as well. Ebron and Ertz provide a problematic size and athleticism combination for Seoul to deal with. On passing downs in the two TE set, we’ll see Sproles and/or Powell come into the backfield which provides a dilemma for Seoul. Assuming the linebackers are tasked with Ebron and Ertz, Brady should be able to get the ball to the running backs in space and let them do their work. Alternatively, if Ertz and Ebron aren’t covered by the linebackers, this will give them an opportunity to work against Adams or Coleman and with Brady at the helm, should be favourable for us.

The two WR will operate for the majority of the match and while Nelson is listed as a starter, Sanders will play if he appears to be less than 100%. In any case, we expect a heavy rotation on the edges here as their primary role will be to work deep and ensure that the short and intermediate sections of the passing attack are opened up and this rotation should allow us to get full effort from each WR on every snap. We feel as though aiming to force the run early on as well as emphasise the RB/TE passing offense early on will provide opportunities deep as the safeties cheat forward. Sanders & Baldwin as two premier route runners will look to draw flags on deep routes, while Nelson and Thomas will be used more in jump ball situations where the intention is to throw deep and chase points.

Defense:

We’ve gone heavier on the DL but lighter in the back 7 here. Cameron Wake will come in on passing downs for Snacks or a CB depending on what alignment Seoul decides to put out and Todd Davis will replace Nelson on the more likely run downs.

Specifically, we’ll look to target the right side of Seoul’s line with presumably Ronnie Stanley playing out of position, and Duvernay-Tardiff, who’s a below average BDL guard. Our alignment should see Chris Jones at right end matching up against Penn, Harrison lining up over Zeitler and Mack, Casey on Tardiff and Orakpo on Stanley with Alexander outside him on the strongside at LB. We feel this alignment should be able to contain the run game, while not overly selling out against the pass, particularly as we predict a 2 WR and 2 TE set.  

Jones will be tasked with covering Kelce and Weddle will primarily take Witten. Ryan playing out of the nickel will be tasked with the free man, either the 3^rd WR or RB. DRC will be tasked with Hilton in the slot, while CHJ will take AJ Green. Nelson will patrol deep and should be able to help with either receiver accordingly as required.
 

[WFLukic]

hahahaha I love how we both talked about motivation at the start of the write-up. That's great. 

GL @TedLavie

[Scoundrel]

Wow two very well thought out gameplans. I loved reading this thank you both. I will make my vote tomorrow night.

[TedLavie]

6 hours ago, WFLukic said:

hahahaha I love how we both talked about motivation at the start of the write-up. That's great. 

GL @TedLavie

Yeah I'm really excited about this matchup. GL to you too

[Scoundrel]

I gave this game a lot of thought. With how Ajayi played you can tell he was hurting. Also with two safeties supposed to help the run in that situation I don't really see them stopping Zeke. Not with Shazier being be only LB even with the interior defensive tackles of Seoul (although McCoy looked hobbled too). I have to go Jazz on this one although it was very close.Yes Hilton and Green had huge games (against two of the worst corner groups around imo) but I don't see them doing it against this secondary. This game would be decided by a field goal or less imo but Seoul has some injuries that would have played into the Jazz' favor. 

[DingoLadd]

I think Seoul wins in an offensive shootout, despite Lousiana having a great game from Brady and a great defense. I think Seoul is able to score enough to keep Pace with brady and bring enough pass rush to slow them down and keep the running game from screwing them.

[bcb1213]

This is a really awesome battle with both teams equally matched.  The difference maker for me is I think Llouisiana messed up its corner assignments.  Harris could have wiped out Hilton but I doubt he can cover Green who is a physical freak and has literally half a foot height advantage on him.  

 

In the end, Matty Ice makes a big play to AJ at the  end to win it  Seoul  31-24

[WFLukic]

Chris Harris has always done a solid job on AJ. Pretty sure Green has even said Harris is one of the toughest corners he's faced. Height isn't that big a deal. Revis was 5'11 and routinely shut down big guys - no-one ever knocked his height. Whether a CB is 5'10 or 6'1 if they are covering tight and are in the right spot they'll make the play.

 

[Jlash]

On 9/23/2017 at 4:00 PM, DingoLadd said:

Behind them we’re stealing a page from Bob Sutton playbook. During Week 1 and in 2014, KC used 3 safeties to beat Brady and that’s the scheme we’re running this week.

Heyooooo this was my strategy against you last year in the Bizz Bowl to combat Kelce.

[Jlash]

Somehow Lukic managed to counter Ted's major focal points defensively perfectly in his game plan. That's pretty impressive. Coming out with variations of heavy sets to get Zeke going, against a defense geared to have 6 DB's on the field the majority of the game. I think that really opens some things up for Brady.

 

With Ajayi at less than full strength, and Ted seemingly looking to make this a grind it out ball control game, I don't think he'll be able to do it as well as Lukic this time around.

I'm going with the Jazz Cabbage. Really fun match up to read and think about though.

 

[bcb1213]

33 minutes ago, WFLukic said:

Chris Harris has always done a solid job on AJ. Pretty sure Green has even said Harris is one of the toughest corners he's faced. Height isn't that big a deal. Revis was 5'11 and routinely shut down big guys - no-one ever knocked his height. Whether a CB is 5'10 or 6'1 if they are covering tight and are in the right spot they'll make the play.

 

actually, looking at what harris has said, you were pretty screwed regardless...lol

 

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/top-5-nfl-receivers-chris-harris-jr/

 

but it appears green has said harris is one of the smartest corners he has everfaced

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/aj-green-5-best-cornerbacks-nfl/

[Ragnarok]

Great write ups from both sides.  Very very close, but I think the Jazz schemed this just a bit better and are able to have a more balanced offensive attack.

[TedLavie]

1 hour ago, Jlash said:

Somehow Lukic managed to counter Ted's major focal points defensively perfectly in his game plan. That's pretty impressive. Coming out with variations of heavy sets to get Zeke going, against a defense geared to have 6 DB's on the field the majority of the game. I think that really opens some things up for Brady.

 

With Ajayi at less than full strength, and Ted seemingly looking to make this a grind it out ball control game, I don't think he'll be able to do it as well as Lukic this time around.

I'm going with the Jazz Cabbage. Really fun match up to read and think about though.

 

You do realize that, on heavy sets, as stated in my gameplan, I have 4 DL, 2 LBs (with Hicks subbing in for BMax) and 2 safeties in the box? My point is/was, given his OL trouble, my DL is solid enough to stop the run without the help of big LBs but, given he decided to put Ertz and Ebron, both poor run blockers btw, on the field, that put an additional LB on the field.