BDL 2020 Week 1 - Gotham Gashslayers @ Cuba Smugglers

[rackcs]

BDL 2020 Week 1

Match:  Gotham Gashslayers @ Cuba Smugglers

Away Owner: @pheltzbahr

Home Owner: @MD4L

   

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

Edited September 13, 2020 by rackcs

[rackcs]

Gotham Gashslayers

OFFENSE

QB - Carson Wentz

RB - Josh Jacobs

WR - Tyreek Hill

WR - Jarvis Landry

WR- Devante Parker

TE - Eric Ebron

LT - Jake Matthews

LG - Laken Tomlinson

C - Maurkice Pouncey

RG - Shaq Mason

RT - Mike McGlinchey

 

RB - Kerryon Johnson

RB - Adrian Peterson

WR - Jerry Jeudy

WR - Tee Higgins

TE - Hayden Hurst

OL - Lloyd Cushenberry

OL - Xavier Su’a-Filo

OL - Kaleb McGary

 

DEFENSE

DE - JJ Watt

NT - Dontari Poe

DE/DT - Chris Jones

EDGE/SLB - Jadaveon Clowney

MLB - Benardrick McKinney

WLB - Zach Cunningham

CB - Xavien Howard

CB - Xavier Rhodes

CB - Damon Arnette

S - Minkah Fitzpatrick

S - Justin Simmons
 

EDGE - Whitney Mercilus

INT - Derek Wolfe

INT - Henry Anderson

LB - Germaine Pratt

LB - Zach Baun

CB - Vernon Hargreaves

CB - Rasul Douglas

S - Bradley McDougald

Cuba Smugglers

QB: DeShaun Watson 

RB: Dalvin Cook

WR: Julio Jones

WR: DJ Chark

WR: Marvin Jones

TE: Ian Thomas

LT: Anthony Castonzo

LG: Elgton Jenkins

C - Ryan Jansen

RG: Max Sharping

RT: Trent Brown

 

RB: Leveon Bell

RB: James Williams 

WR: Justin Jefferson

WR: Justin Watson

OW: Taysom Hill

OW: Jaylen Samuels

OL: Mekhi Becton

OL: Ezra Cleveland

 

Edge: Matt Judon

DT: Arik Armstead 

NT: Fletcher Cox

Edge: Cameron Jordan

WLB: Corey Littleton 

MLB: Eric Kendricks 

RCB: Janoris Jenkins 

FS: Tyrann Mathieu 

SS: Jimmie Ward

NCB: Kenny Moore

LCB: Richard Sherman 

 

Edge: Jerry Hughes

NT: DaQuan Jones

DT: Denico Autry 

SLB: Vince Williams 

RCB: Isaiah Oliver

LCB: Fabian Moreau

SS: Khari Willis

SS: Kenny Vaccro

[rackcs]

Gotham Gashslayers

OFFENSE - 3WR/1TE/1RB Base

We begin our quest to BDL greatness with an important divisional matchup against the always competitive Cuba Smugglers.  With a plethora of weapons and an elite line in front of Wentz, we look to keep the pressure on Cuba’s defense, keep them guessing and on their heels, never letting them feel comfortable.  We will achieve this focusing on the following elements:

• Spread It Out - We are going to run 60 - 70% shotgun, spreading out our receivers to create a lighter box, especially against nickel looks.  Wentz will have hot read audibles for screens to Tyreek/quick slants to Landry if too much cushion is given at the line of scrimmage.

• Crossing Jordan - Cam Jordan needs to be accounted for, he is a beast.  To prevent him living in the backfield against our shotgun looks, we will employ RPO plays to his side and use inside handoffs to undercut his aggression, while under center Wentz will use some play action to slow his first step as well.  We want to prevent him from pinning his ears back and staying true to his lane and edge responsibility.

• Mix It Up - Not just with formations, but with personnel as well.  We want to mix in Jerry Jeudy not only in 4 WR sets, but in 3 wide as well.  We will move Tyreek around, playing from the slot and backfield, maintaining his threat to take an end around and be accounted for.  We will also run 2 TE formations with Hurst coming in opposite Ebron, this could exploit some personnel mismatches.

• Grind The Clock - Against Cuba, having an effective offense might be the best defensive strategy against their high powered offense.  We want to sustain drives, keeping that play count rising against a top heavy D Line.  Utilizing Jacobs as our bell cow, we will ride him early and often, looking to get him at least 20 carries.

 

DEFENSE - 4-2-5 Nickel

Deshaun Watson is for real, I’m a big fan of his game.  We want to heavily pressure him, while taking away his 2 most dangerous weapons.  If we can disrupt his rhythm and prevent him from gaining momentum, we will be able to limit his effectiveness.  To that end we will emphasize these strategies:

• Exploit The Interior O Line - Stopping Cuba’s ground game and getting to Watson are the keys to our success.  With Decastro out, we expect Chris Jones to have a plus matchup and be a disruptive force.  If Jones starts getting double teamed, we will run some delayed blitzes up the gut with McKinney.  Running against our D Line is going to be a challenge for elite units, a depleted Cuba line doesn’t figure to blast many holes against our front 4.  Cunningham will have read/react duties over TE in run support/RB screens.

• Brackets - We will play primarily man in this matchup, bracketing Cuba’s dynamic WR duo.  Howard and Simmons will be charged with blanketing Julio, while Arnette and Minkah bracket Chark; they will be physical at the line, knowing they have help over the top.  Rhodes mans up Marvin Jones, while Cunningham has primary TE coverage duties.  Taking away Deshaun’s first and second reads will allow time for our pass rushers to get home.

• Monster Truck Nascar - On 3rd and passing downs Mercilus joins Watt, Jones and Clowney to pressure Watson.  Against this O Line there should be some feasting, can’t double everyone!  For extra special moments, McKinney has the green light to blitz.

Cuba Smugglers

Intro: We have a lot of respect for this talented Gotham roster. They are well rounded and well coached. This is a new test against a dynamic team.

Offense: DeShaun Watson is our spark plug to get things going for the offense. Gotham has two all pro safeties but they have CBs that can give up yardage against dynamic talent. Julio Jones will likely face Xavien Howard and we’re definitely excited to use our best vs their best. If Gotham routinely gives Julio’s assignment extra attention we just move Julio inside and run shallow crossing routes where he runs across the field and gain separation from his assignment. On the boundary we want to target multiple back shoulder fades where Julio can turn 50-50 passes into 70-30 opportunities with a QB like Watson. While we expect multiple forms of double teams, Julio will likely be able to avoid Xavien and Simmons/Fitzpatrick for most of his target share. His target total will be 15 with 8-9 of those targets being scripted throws.

Dalvin Cook is our second asset to keep involved in our gameplan. His homerun ability gives us potential scoring ability while his ball carrier vision gets him consistent yardage when he does not break explosive plays. The counter and toss plays are our favorite run designs because Cook can get to the edge and use his speed in the open field. Gotham carries two passable LBs but with a workhorse load, we want Cook to have at least 20 carries to test the top end speed of Gotham’s linebackers. Julio can also open Dalvin Cook with him taking one of Gotham’s brilliant safeties away from run defense responsibilities. While Fitzpatrick and Simmons are dynamic in the pass game, their skill sets are not tailored to stop the run. Gotham carries two bigger LBs that can plug holes so having Cook work in the receiving game is a nice compliment to keeping him involved while Watson is with the ball in hands as we want to mostly throw the ball with a strong cast of weapons.

The receiving core also features two well respected options in DJ Chark and Marvin Jones. Both guys are big, physical options that can win on the outside, hence Julio Jones  lining up in the slot on a few plays. Gotham has one very good CB in Xavien Howard but the following options on the depth chart could have problems with our 2nd and 3rd receivers in one on one coverage. Our favorite options with this formation is having a safety play into Julio in the slot and having whichever of (Marvin) Jones/Chark in isolated coverage go deep. If there is a heavy emphasis on a cover 3 scheme, we are going to instead utilize the back shoulder fades, out concepts that run to the first down marker (if the down and distance is less than 12 yards), and comeback routes to give the opposing CB reason to bite. Using this route concept enough should give an opportunity to go deep and we have three viable weapons that can consistently make these plays happen. Ian Thomas will be the check down option responsible in the middle of the field.

Our final asset is within the offensive line. The biggest objective is stopping Chris Jones. Elgton Jenkins was outstanding in pass protection last season and while he will not stop Jones in one on one opportunities, can get help from Ryan Jensen. We want to frequently keep two players attention on Jones adding the fact Watson can make plays outside the pocket. Watson can cause damage when he can break coverages down and has the athleticism to create easy yards when Gotham decides to rush 3. In the case of a possible blitz heavy scheme, the protection should be in place for Watson to find Julio. If by chance the defense is unable to reach the passer or allow Watson to break contain, they unleash his strongest asset, and that is making throws when he makes throws outside the pocket. These reads are also targets we want Watson to target Julio but has guys with the ability to make plays deep in Chark/(Marvin) Jones.

 

Defense

Gotham has an explosive offense by all measures. This offense is too capable to not put points up but we can make life hard for some quality players and win in the situational aspect of the game, which includes red zone defense and getting off the field on 3rd downs. The player we are game-planning to stop is Tyreek Hill. He has game breaking ability that is complimented with Wentz’s ability to throw deep. The reliability of our safeties will make a huge difference in this regard with Tyrann Mathieu and Jimmie Ward sharing responsibility of playing deep. We are going to play predominantly zone based defense with multiple looks to wrinkle some zone blitzes with Kenny Moore to counter Wentz breaking the pocket and extending the play. Moore in particular will have a heavy task of objectives because he’s also the best man coverage player in the slot for our team. When Tyreek Hill is in the slot our plays will be tailored more to man coverage. Richard Sherman would get occasional help against DeVante Parker but his main responsibility is protecting the deep ball. We are going to let Sherman play more cover shallow zones in cover 6 to align him in run defense with Jacobs posing as a strong threat. Janoris Jenkins will be responsible for not giving up the deep ball more than Sherman as his responsibility is completely coverage based. Jerry Jeudy will be a dynamic player but we have three plus CBs in coverage and trust and Jenkins in that matchup to challenge the rookie. 

Josh Jacobs is the second player we intend to focus on because his dynamic ability in the running game. Our defensive line is built on players that set the edge in the running game to pair with Fletcher Cox. He and Shaq Mason will be a highly competitive battle and we will rotate DaQuan Jones inside on early downs to compliment the interior pass rush Arik Armstead should provide. Cam Jordan and Matt Judon, with the latter occasionally replaced by Arik Armstead who plays both inside and outside. When he lines up inside we can focus predominantly in the pass game and have more pass friendly rush groups including moving Jordan inside and letting Hughes/Judon surround the edges on 3rd and obvious situations. We have bodies to handle the uptempo scheme Gotham tries to run at us and a group electric enough to generate pressure with just four players. There will be sub packages instance where we can run with a combination of three defensive lineman (Jordan/Armstead/Cox or Autry) with 8 players in coverage with hopes of still generating pressure.

The LBs matchup well with Gotham because the receivers are strong in the middle of the field. Littleton is more of a cover savy player and gives us an individual who can take handle responsibility 15-20 yards off the ball and pairing him with Eric Kendricks gives us two valuable coverage players considering our intent to remain in a zone based defense. While Jacobs stands to have a solid performance as a runner Kendricks in particular can clean up in one on one opportunities with Cox/Jones occupying blockers. This defense should also be able to contain Eric Ebron’s presence with our edge rushers providing plus ability in the running game. We can add Vince Williams as a 3rd LB or include him as a replacement for Littleton on obvious run situations. Jarvis Landry is arguably the best receiver in the slot at winning in the middle so we think being able to control that area and focus on Tyreek Hill is a strategy that can be well executed.  

We are going to extend the responsibility to getting pressure on Wentz with our secondary by utilizing a routine dose of different zone blitzes. Kenny Moore is an excellent blitz option while Jimmie Ward and Tyrann Mathieu are excellent manipulators at disguising coverages to handle this receiving core. As it stands we do not have a realistic chance to contain all four of Gotham’s weapons on every play. However we can have Ward or Mathieu alternative deep and put our trust that Wentz isn’t able to routinely test our secondary with deep throws, arguably his strongest asset. A Ward will move into the slot position when Gotham runs 4 WRs. His utility lets use disguise on some occasional blitz opportunities. We’re going to give him traditional strong safety responsibilities. Richard Sherman will run a mix of cover 3 on pass plays and cover 6 to give another good tackler against Jacobs in the run. Tyrann Mathieu will serve as the last line of defense. If we do not overload his responsibility, we think he can have a performance where we avoid any of the big plays deep with his coverage as the primary defender. Jerry Jeudy, Tyreek Hill, and Parker is an excellent group of WRs and having to account for Tyreek Hill is our main one point of emphasis. as the last line of defense will help contain this offense. The responsibility of Tyrann Mathieu will be a bit more detailed because he’s our chess piece option. His main role in our cover 3 is coming down and being assigned to helping the run defense against Jacobs. Mathieu will lineup near the LOS, come down and play man coverage on cover 1 reads and blitz on occasion when we run some zone blitz reads.

[VigilantZombie]

First of all I really gotta put some thought into this after reading through it all. You both did an awesome job on your game plans. Very detailed and you guys have really learned each other’s tendencies that much is clear. Together both game plans were “Punch, Counter Punch”. 

[VigilantZombie]

I’ve thought a lot about this and i really think both teams came up with excellent game plans. The one thought I cannot shake is one that I finally admitted to even myself yesterday. Carson Wentz struggles to get passed his first read and too often stares down his receivers. I think this matchup is extremely well balanced but the thing that separates the two teams is the abilities of the quarterbacks and I simply trust Watson to deliver more. This isn’t anything new with Carson but irl yesterday it was on full display. I’m not even sure how much longer he will be on the team that actually drafted him.

I like Cuba in an extremely close 24-20 victory.

[pheltzbahr]

19 hours ago, wwhickok said:

I’ve thought a lot about this and i really think both teams came up with excellent game plans. The one thought I cannot shake is one that I finally admitted to even myself yesterday. Carson Wentz struggles to get passed his first read and too often stares down his receivers. I think this matchup is extremely well balanced but the thing that separates the two teams is the abilities of the quarterbacks and I simply trust Watson to deliver more. This isn’t anything new with Carson but irl yesterday it was on full display. I’m not even sure how much longer he will be on the team that actually drafted him.

I like Cuba in an extremely close 24-20 victory.

You're entitled to your opinion about Wentz, but the bold is just absurd.  

[PR]

I think Gotham takes this one for two reasons. Gotham planned interior blitzes when Jones is doubled. Cuba's response to blitz is to quickly find Julio who Gotham also covered which then forces Watson to scramble which is easier with the blitz from the outside than the pocket on the inside.

[bcb1213]

Gotham plan of quick screens and slant should work against off man coverage.  I might have switched if Cuba had involved cook more in the passing game but there's no mention of it. With Gotham doubling and taking out Julio, most of what I read from Cuba goes out the window.  Jones will hit a big play or tap but I think Gotham grinds out a won 17-14

[MD4L]

1 hour ago, bcb1213 said:

Gotham plan of quick screens and slant should work against off man coverage.  I might have switched if Cuba had involved cook more in the passing game but there's no mention of it. With Gotham doubling and taking out Julio, most of what I read from Cuba goes out the window.  Jones will hit a big play or tap but I think Gotham grinds out a won 17-14

He’s committed to a two man under scheme with Cook getting 20 carries. Marvin Jones is facing Damon Arnette one on one for the entire game.

[bcb1213]

1 minute ago, MD4L said:

He’s committed to a two man under scheme with Cook getting 20 carries. Marvin Jones is facing Damon Arnette one on one for the entire game.

I did literally say Jones will hit a big gain (should be or two, not tap) 

[pheltzbahr]

9 minutes ago, MD4L said:

He’s committed to a two man under scheme with Cook getting 20 carries. Marvin Jones is facing Damon Arnette one on one for the entire game.

 Cook getting 20 carries behind your line against my front 4 is prob about 50 yds if you're lucky.

[MD4L]

6 minutes ago, pheltzbahr said:

 Cook getting 20 carries behind your line against my front 4 is prob about 50 yds if you're lucky.

He could have something like 18 carries for 50 yards and break one for 60 to make the stat sheet look good. Committing both your safeties to coverage was a respectable move, but does open his home run threat.

[pheltzbahr]

If he's that ineffective, he prob doesn't get that many carries, but we're diving into the deep end of the hypothetical pool.

[Scoundrel]

Give me Cuba and their weapons. On paper Gotham has great safeties but both of those dudes played average to bad this week. Watt was meh. Xavier Rhodes player poorly. Cameron Jordan whoops on McGlinchey who gave up plenty of pressure this week. Jacobs was very good and keeps Gotham respectable here. Trent brown played only three snaps but he counts as playing but if he reinsured an injury which I am not sure of his replacement Becton played really well for the Jets. 

[MD4L]

1 hour ago, pheltzbahr said:

If he's that ineffective, he prob doesn't get that many carries, but we're diving into the deep end of the hypothetical pool.

We made no mention of any other running back on purpose. It’s his show today.

I do agree about the hypotheticals. Thin line between bribing for votes and suggesting reasonable outcomes from writeups.