BDL 2020 Week 7 - Ivory Coast Black Rhinos @ New Orleans Jazz

[rackcs]

BDL 2020 Week 7

Match: Ivory Coast Black Rhinos @ New Orleans Jazz

Away Owner: @RuskieTitan

Home Owner: @WFLukic

 

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

[rackcs]

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos

QB- Ryan Tannehill
RB- Wayne Gallman
WR- Terry McLaurin
WR- Robby Anderson
WR- Chase Claypool
WR- Corey Davis
LT- Trent Williams
LG- Damien Lewis
C- Jason Kelce
RG- Ricky Wagner
RT- Dennis Kelly

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RB- D’Ernest Johnson
WR- Adam Humphries
WR- Curtis Samuel
TE- Jared Cook
TE- Kyle Rudolph
OL- Billy Price
OL- Zack Martin
OL- Josh Jones

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DE- Khalil Mack
DT- Da'Ron Payne
NT- Maurice Hurst
DE- Myles Garrett
LB- Lavonte David
LB- Devin White
CB- Patrick Peterson
CB- Bradley Roby
CB- Jaylon Johnson
S- Jordan Whitehead
S- Devin McCourty

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DE- Chase Young
DT- Larry Ogunjobi
DT- Davon Godchaux
DT- Geno Atkins
LB- Patrick Queen
CB- A.J. Terrell
CB- Trevon Diggs
S- Ashtyn Davis

New Orleans Jazz

Offense:

QB: Josh Allen
RB: David Johnson
WR1: DJ Moore
WR2: DeVante Parker
OW: Deebo Samuel
TE: Tyler Higbee
LT: Taylor Decker
LG: Joel Bitonio
C.: Alex Mack
RG: Justin Pugh
RT: Jonah Williams

RB2: Melvin Gordon
RB3: Devin Singletary
RB4: Nyheim Hines
WR4: Kenny Stills
TE2/WR5: Mike Gesicki
TE3: Chris herndon
OL6: Jawaan Tayor
OL7: Austin Corbett

Defense:

RDE: Josh Allen
DT: Jeffery Simmons
DT: Christian Wilkins
LDE: Shelby Harris
LB: Alexander Johnson
LB: Shaq Thompson
CB: Stephon Gilmore
CB: James Bradberry
CB: JC Jackson
SS: Micah Hyde
FS: Kevin Byard

DE3: Justin Houston
DE4: Chase Winovich
DE5: Olivier Vernon
DT3: Dre’Mont Jones
LB3: Foye Oluokun
DB6: AJ Bouye
DB7: Kareem Jackson
DB8: Anthony Brown

[rackcs]

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos

Offense
Primary Formation: 4 Wide Air Raid- We’re not going to beat around the bush – we know we’re hurting in the running game, so we’re going to leverage our quarterback, receiving weapons, and offensive line to adjust and implement a variation of the air raid attack. We’ll go with 4 wide receivers the majority of the game, with most of the snaps coming out of shotgun.

Running Game Focus- With 4 wide receivers, we expect to not see loaded boxes, and will take advantage of being spread out to pick and choose when we attack with the run. We’ll sprinkle in RPO with Tannehill adding an element with his own legs. We understand that the Jazz have a strong defensive line, and we’re missing Zack Martin for this one*, so we’re going to use misdirection and motion to create running lanes. We’ll have one of the receivers moving across the line most plays, which allows us for the following variations in the run game: 1. Potential for direct snap to the receiver; 2. Snap to Tannehill and jet pass to the receiver in motion; 3. Jet sweep handoff to motion receiver; 4. Fake to the receiver, RPO with Tannehill and the running back; 5. Handoff to the running back; 6. Bubble screen pass to the motion man. In essence, we’re going to leverage a short passing game to boost our running game. Ideally, we’re looking at about 10-15 ‘true’ running plays (QB receives snap, hands ball off to HB / WR) and then sprinkling in jet passes / bubble screens and quick throws as well.

*If Martin passes concussion protocol and plays, we are playing him.

Passing Game Focus- As mentioned, we’re going to spread out, and use our wide receivers to the maximum. Ryan Tannehill will operate primarily out of shotgun, which should help negate the interior rush slightly and let him maneuver as needed. We’re going to leverage Jared Cook as essentially a wide receiver this game, and if the Jazz put a linebacker on him, that is a mismatch we can exploit. We’re going to use a lot of motion this game, moving one of the receivers across to the other side. This will be for part of the running game (explained above) as well as to display zone / man tendencies, and enable us to perform some quick passes into the flats and bubble screens (if two WRs on either side, one coming across has two blockers). We’ll also have longer developing routes included, trying to see if one of our receivers can get open for a big play downfield. The running back will primarily be used as an additional blocker, to pick up a blitzer or assist someone, but we’ll also leverage him as a checkdown option if the line is holding up.

X-Factor on Offense: Ryan Tannehill- This offensive gameplan is centered around Ryan Tannehill making the passes we need him to make. We feel confident that he’ll be able to handle the offense, and provide the leadership and passing ability to put up enough points on offense to help us win the game.

Defense
Defensive Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel Defense- We prepare for the Jazz to come in with 3 receivers as their primary formation, so we combat with a 4-2-5 nickel package. If the Jazz have 2 or fewer receivers, Jaylon Johnson will come off and Patrick Queen will come onto the field in the middle. When the Jazz go 4 wide receivers, Devin White will come off and A.J. Terrell will come on.

Secondary Coverage: 50-50 Man-Zone Scheme- For this matchup, we’re going to be mixing up our coverages with a balance of zone and man coverages. We want to confuse Josh Allen on what he’s seeing, and then drop back into coverage and make turnovers off poor passes. With him needing to take additional time to process and not get into a rhythm, our defensive line should be able to get pressure on him and further disrupt his timing with the receivers. For man coverage we’ll have Lavonte David taking on the primary tight end, with Devin White focused on the primary back. We’re not going to rely on specific shadowing this game, so we won’t tip our hand to whether it’s zone or man. We’ll rely on a variety of deep coverages, cover 1-2-3-4 all will be seeing time, though for cover 1 that will be exclusively with man underneath. There will be some jamming at times, but not overly much. Being balanced with zone will also enable our secondary to more quickly react if Josh Allen tries (lol) to escape our defensive line out of the pocket.

Defensive Box- We’re going to come into this game with our interior defensive line focused on penetrating and getting into Josh Allen’s face, primarily from one gapping. We’ll also throw in a few twists and stunts to generate pressure, and we’re willing to send in a safety or linebacker in both zone coverage as well as man. If Allen starts to create some opportunities with his legs, we’ll have Devin White switching off the primary back and spying on Allen, with one of the safeties covering the back if man, and zone handling otherwise. If we’re in dime, that tactic (spying) applies to David, and when in 4-3 Queen will be the spy. Our edge rushers will focus on coming after the quarterback, they are elite enough to also maintain the edges against runs, but we want to try and focus on collapsing the pocket and making Allen step into the interior rush.

X-Factor on Defense: Lavonte David- David has been having one of the best seasons of his career, and we expect him to be able to make a number of impact plays during this game, both in pass coverage as well as stopping the run, and getting Allen on the ground.

New Orleans Jazz

Offense:

1RB-3WR-1TE Base (55% Pass – 45% Run):

We will predominantly run 11 personnel as our base offense, with Higbee coming in for Ertz. This was a planned move despite Ertz’s injury, mainly because of Higbee’s blocking prowess and to help us deal with the best defensive end duo (and frankly trio) in the BDL.  

In the backfield we’re planning to split snaps pretty evenly with each of Johnson, Gordon and Singletary getting carries to keep them fresh against a great defensive front.

On the outside, both Parker and Moore will run full route trees with Parker acting as more of a deep threat while Moore will often work in tandem with Samuel on slants and crossing routes for YAC opportunities. Samuel will be lined up all over the field as our joker, with the plan on getting his hands on the ball as many as 10 times both as a runner or receiver, on both conventional and trick plays.

Yes we will take some deep shots, especially once we’ve established the short passing game and running game.

Running Game:

As alluded to above, we’re going to rotate our backs heavily in the running game and will have a focus on running them up the middle where Ivory Coast still boasts a strong interior unit, but not quite at the devastating level of their edge rushers. When we do run to the edges, we’ll weave in a number of option plays and often use motion, with Samuel or Moore coming across the formation and Allen receiving the hand-off leaving the defense to contend with 3 potential runners of the ball on any snap, or 4 where we enter split back formations.

We’re also planning to weave in a fair amount of the Ravens 2TE-2RB split-back and pistol formations. Higbee will take the Boyle blocking TE Role, Gesicki the Andrews receiving TE role, Parker on the outside and Moore or Samuel being the 2^nd back, occasionally getting motioned wide. Again we’re doing this with the intention of creating confusion for the defensive front, allowing Allen to get into situations where he can avoid the rush and potentially hit on big plays downfield where the defence bites on play action or miss an outside runner at the line.

Last we plan for about 3 or 4 designed running plays for Allen, be it draws up the middle where he pushes the pile a few yards and in the multiple back formations, QB keepers to the outside where hopefully the OT and TE can chip Mack/Garrett Young and one of the RBs clip the oncoming LB allowing Allen to get 1 on 1 with DBs and truck them.

Short Passing Game:

We also plan to run a number of screens early on, especially RB  screens out of split back formations to neutralise the IC rush. We’ll also have a number of quick tosses to the outside and shovel passes to Higbee which should net consistent positive yardage.

We’ll introduce the Jet Sweeps and bubble screens to Moore/Samuel to keep the defence on its toes, while there’ll be a number of quick tosses dig routes and hitch routes to the back shoulder which although ordinarily would be interception risks, with Allen’s arm will generally be in a place where defenders won’t have the time to make a break on the ball.

Once IC commit to the LOS, we’ll have our WRs run deeper every now and again with the aim of getting them to bite on play action and Allen heaving one down field in a one on one matchup.  

No Huddle with Samuel/Moore filling in at RB (Parker – Moore – Higbee – Samuel – Gesicki Grouping)

Yeah we’re gonna keep going with this no huddle stuff too. Gesicki can cause matchup issues and Samuel’s versatility will make it difficult to for the defense to adjust on the fly, especially as we weave in shovel passes and screens to the TEs and get Allen moving out into space with heavier sets on either side of the line.

Defense:

Ivory Coast brings some dynamic outside playmakers into this match-up along with a dinged up OL missing Martin and an underwhelming RB group. While the running game may not post its usual threat, we’re not underestimating arguably the form QB of the league in Tannehill and will accordingly be ready for Ivory Coast’s deep passing attack.

We’re keeping Shelby Harris in the starting line-up on early downs as he is still a fantastic pass-rusher with the ability to deflect passes, while providing additional steel against the run which we want to entirely eliminate. However as usual, heavy rotations will form part of the gameplan with all our defensive players to continue to rotate – including Harris sliding inside on passing downs and Houston/Allen/Winovich rotating at edge.

An additional wrinkle we’re going to throw in is Josh Allen will see a few snaps as LEO (alongside a 4 man defensive front with Harris on the edge) replacing Thompson. Allen will then overload one side and either act as a 5^th rusher, or drop into coverage in the flats and Hyde will lean towards the other side at the intermediate level n these snaps.

Modified 2-Man Under Defense:

We’re also retaining our modified 2-Man Under defense from last week. While Hyde will start closer to the line of scrimmage and occasionally blitz, he will generally drop back to the intermediate level (10-15 yards from LOS) while Byard will remain deep as a center-fielder against the deep ball. While Hyde will primarily be in coverage, he will act as a deeper spy for Tannehill if he leaves the pocket.

The coverage assignments will be:

Gilmore - McLaurin
Bradberry - Claypool
JC Jackson - Anderson
Thompson – Cook
Johnson – Running Back

Bouye will come in for 4WR sets, while heavier sets will see us revert to a 3-4 look with Simmons, Wilkins and Harris on the DL and an edge defender coming in for the 3^rd CB. In these looks we’ll have either 5 rush the passer of Allen drop into coverage.

Keep Tannehill in the Pocket:

Part of playing Harris on the edge is our plan to keep Tannehill in the pocket. He’s at his best when outside the pocket and throwing on the run, so being able rush from the outside with power will help limit the risk of Tannehill sneaking through holes or escaping to the outside to extend plays. While he throws a great deep ball nonetheless, we’re happy to have him take some shots against our CB group and Byard as the deep safety because we know we can win more than we’ll lose.

[VigilantZombie]

So when I look at both of these offenses, there's one thing that sticks out. Neither one has a consistent running game.  Gallman showed an ability to run well and be a receiver and behind a better OL I think he does just that. 

Gordon, Singletary, and Johnson all put together make for an okay but otherwise unimpressive backfield. Mixon being out is a huge downgrade 

NOLA should get decent production from Deebo Samuel in the passing game as well as DJ Moore, however Parker has been fairly quiet rhe last couple weeks. No Zach Ertz is also a big loss because Higbee and Gesicki combined don't equal half of an Ertz.

With the WR corps that ICBR has they should have no issue moving the ball on a secondary that is going to have to do all the work due to mediocre LBs and a defensive front that is struggling to get pass rush this season. Simmons will succeed in limiting the opposing run game with Wilkins but let's be honest, it was not a great weekend for Patriots defenders, especially DBs.

 

I think this game is very close but let's be honest, in the end perhaps it comes down to the QBs and...we have already seen this play out.

ICBR gets the win here 21-17

[SirA1]

Tyler Higbee Inactive.

[WFLukic]

Ugh when the hell did that happen?

Gesicki in to dive at Garrett/Mack's knees I guess, Herndon to exist on the field too in some capacity later on. No huddle happens with a RB instead of Higbee and Gesicki at TE.

Edited October 27, 2020 by WFLukic

[Jlash]

I was really into the idea of using some of the Greg Roman running concepts with the blocking TE in the backfield, added in with option plays to run against a good, aggressive DL but when you lose that crucial blocking TE that kills the whole theory. 

On the other hand, while Derrick Henry certainly hasn't carried the whole load for Tennessee, Tannehill has benefited from defenses having to account for Henry, imo. And while I don't mind the 4 wide sets, forcing Tannehill to just chuck it all game against THIS secondary, isn't going to be wildly successful I think. 

This game is crazy close. I can't even vote on it yet.

[Pickle Rick]

IC takes this one in a close one.  Ultimately to many injuries and inactives hurt NO. 

[Scoundrel]

Wayne Gallman isn’t doing anything against that Dline but I really like the IC receiving weapons. Hmmm

[Blue]

These are two phenomenal defenses for the most part, although the Ivory Coast secondary leaves something to be desired along with the Jazz outside rush. End of the day, I'm putting my faith in Tannehill over Allen here by the tiniest of margins.

[Jlash]

1 hour ago, Blue said:

These are two phenomenal defenses for the most part, although the Ivory Coast secondary leaves something to be desired along with the Jazz outside rush. End of the day, I'm putting my faith in Tannehill over Allen here by the tiniest of margins.

I'm going to second this. I think the IC pass rush will force Allen into a bad spot in a big game at the end.

[SirA1]

10 hours ago, Pickle Rick said:

IC takes this one in a close one.  Ultimately to many injuries and inactives hurt NO. 

Ditto.

[VigilantZombie]

Congrats @RuskieTitan

[MD4L]

I think the edge rush even though well planned for cause enough attention that David or White make a play against one of those sweeps that gives the road team an advantage. Tannehill should be his effective self though Gilmore and Co. will make some plays in a close win for the road team.

[Ragnarok]

In a defensive brawl like this, I trust the team that can be more balanced.  And I think a minimal run game will hurt Tannehill's effectiveness.

I actually like NO here.