BDL 2020 Week 8 - Cuba Smugglers @ Lancaster Werewolves

[Ragnarok]

BDL 2020 Week 8

Match: Cuba Smugglers @ Lancaster Werewolves

Away Owner: @MD4L

Home Owner: @rackcs

 

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.

[Ragnarok]

CUBA

QB: DeShaun Watson
RB: Dalvin Cook
WR: Julio Jones
WR: DJ Chark 
WR: Justin Jefferson 
TE: Ian Thomas
LT: Anthony Castonzo
LG: Elgton Jenkins
C - Ryan Jensen
RG: David DeCastro
RT: Mekhi Becton 

RB: Le’Veon Bell
RB: Jamaal Williams
FB: Kyle Juszczyk
WR: Marvin Jones 
WR: Denzel Mims
TE: Mo Alie-Cox 
TE: Adam Shaheen
OL: Trent Brown

Edge: Matt Judon 
DT: Arik Armstead
NT: DaQuan Jones
Edge: Cam Jordan
WLB: Cory Littleton 
MLB: Eric Kendricks 
RCB: Kenny Moore
NCB: Jimmie Ward
FS: Tyrann Mathieu
SS: Eric Rowe
LCB: Jenoris Jenkins

Edge: Jerry Hughes 
DT: Derrick Nnadi
DT: Rakeem Nunez-Roches
OLB: Vince Williams 
NCB: Isaiah Oliver
RCB: Fabian Moreau
SS: Kenny Vacarro 
SS: Khari Willis

 

LANCASTER

QB: Russell Wilson
RB1: Alvin Kamara
WR1: Mike Evans
WR2: Emmanuel Sanders - INACTIVE
WR3: Diontae Johnson
TE: George Kittle
LT: Terron Armstead
LG: Quenton Nelson
C.: Frank Ragnow
RG: Gabe Jackson
RT: Lane Johnson - INACTIVE

RB2: Matt Breida
WR4: A.J. Green
WR5: Michael Pittman Jr.
TE2: Jonnu Smith
TE3: Logan Thomas
OL: Riley Reiff
OL: Robert Hunt
OL: Connor McGovern

DE: Joey Bosa
DT: Javon Kinlaw
DT: Kenny Clark
DE: T.J. Watt
LB: Bobby Wagner
LB: Fred Warner
CB: Jalen Ramsey
CB: Jaire Alexander
CB: Kevin King - INACTIVE
FS: Eddie Jackson (Q)
SS: Jonathan Abrams

INT: Linval Joseph
INT: Jarran Reed
EDGE: Clelin Ferrell
LB: Willie Gay Jr.
CB: Brian Poole
CB: Malcolm Butler
S: Vonn Bell
S: Taylor Rapp

[Ragnarok]

CUBA

Things change quickly. Last game against Lancaster we went against talented team with a good offense and elite defense. Now, with Russell Wilson on offense, this team has another level. We remain prepared regardless, and we expect to continue handling business.

Offense: The name of the game has to be scoring points and even with a formidable defense we want our offense to control the game. We are not vying to hit big plays but create a well balanced offense that get good yardage and minimize the long 3rd down plays where TJ Watt and Joey Bosa can strictly rush up field. We have an added benefit of Watson offering a nice scramble alternative which we intend to frequently use. The protection on the edges are Castonzo and Becton so we think the protection for Watson can be upheld which means we can have a balanced approach.

Dalvin Cook returns to give us a nice 3 headed distribution at RB. Our interior offensive line is talented across the board and we think Ryan Jensen/David DeCastro can get to the second level. DeCastro in particular leading on toss plays with Becton on the same side is probably our strongest play against Lancaster’s defense. One of our offensive lineman can get to the second level and get to Bobby Wagner should help Cook get the churning yards that keep Wilson off the field. Le’Veon Bell will spell Cook with the same type of running plays. Kyle Juszczyk immediately provided a valuable skill set in his first game. As another useful weapon we will go more traditional 21 formations to give him a chance to help get the running game going. This lets us incorporate some pistol formations and throw Moe Alie Cox on the field to get some run aggressive opportunities and formations Lancaster has not seen from us this season. We are big believers that we need to be facing 2nd and 5 down and distances so these run looks can keep the offense successful.

Julio Jones isn’t forgotten and his general impact is already significant because Ramsey will receive some occasional help. Ramsey has been extremely aggressive to bite on intermediate routes and that’s our approach to target Julio. The target share will be around 8-10 but if we’re going attack Ramsey we are doing it in the deeper portions of the field. Justin Jefferson and DJ Chark are both viable to get covered by Jaire Alexander but we’ve got a matchup we aim to exploit frequently since Kevin King will not play. Malcolm Butler, Brian Poole, & DJ Hayden will get the 2nd most targets as we think that matchup can reap benefits from play action and on plays Watson drops back and can evade Watt or Bosa pinning their ears back. If Lancaster is aiming to play a pass heavy scheme to protect that matchup, we see it as a victory for us because we can continue to run the ball. We can likely get Fred Warner off the field with 4 WR sets and remain confident in running the ball to take advantage of the extra DB Lancaster places into the game. The 4 WR sets would also give an opportunity to insert Denzel Mims or Marvin Jones and give us a target we aim to exploit in the intermediate portions of the field.

Defense

Russell Wilson is an obvious difference maker in this matchup and against this offense. This matchup has to revolve around Kittle or Kamara. We are going to utilize a heavy amount of zone blitzes in the early going to take advantage of the one area we saw Russell have some troubles in his real life performance. 

We have a good amount of different DBs and guys that are interchangeable at safety and NCB. Jimmie Ward is one example as we will line him at safety when we move to man coverage to play on top of George Kittle’s assignment. There is zero way to erase Kittle but we can put lots of different and looks hoping to put our guys in situations where they have help and play to their strengths. Eric Kendricks is the primary defender and one of our safeties coming down to help against Kamara is also a plan to prepare for quick targets where Kittle can generate YAC. In man coverage against 11 personnel, Eric Rowe will be the first person assigned to him and Kendricks being responsible for the intermediate level. if we are in true passing downs, Rowe replaces Littleton with Jimmie Ward on top as the SS. 

Jenoris Jenkins will be the assignment for Evans and we want him to avoid back shoulder fades and deep balls. Tyrann Mathieu will be the help deep for our receivers in man coverage. In zone coverage, with our safeties coming down and guys being able to overload on sides and try blitzes behind Cam Jordan to allow one our DBs to match the speed Russell Wilson presents. Ultimately, this plan will not erase Wilson by any means but this should help get cheap stops and force a turnover or 2. That suffices what we want to accomplish.

Kamara is the lesser of two dangers with Kittle but correctly accounting for him is equally important. Our interior defensive line will deal with some issues against Nelson but bringing the safety down is our best to account for how talented this offensive line is across the board. We will undoubtedly sell out on a couple occasions with some cover 0 blitzes if Lancaster plans to utilize a run heavy approach. This is definitely living on the edge but we think it’s a useful to strategy to slow Kamara down as a runner. His receiver ability is documented and we’re effective built for handling him on a traditional route tree. His screen game ability is equally impressive so that one area will probably be the one where we cease some damage and understand how much talent Lancaster possess.

 

LANCASTER

Lancaster Offensive Strategy: This week we have a new wrinkle to the offense in Russell Wilson and we want to get Russ cooking. Two weeks ago, we got dinged for not attacking Cuba’s secondary more. Cuba’s secondary looks better than it did then but that’s still their weakest point on defense. We’re going to let Russ spread the ball around and attack their defense through the air this game. We want to put up plenty of points quickly also to help neutralize Cuba’s run game.

The Passing Strategy: What we want to do this week is spread the ball around and use all of our offensive weapons in a variety of ways to keep the defense constantly guessing and never able to key in on anyone in particular. We’ll be using Evans at all levels of the field including some deep shots. We’ll be using Emmanuel Sanders as a possession guy, having him operate mainly in the intermediate and short areas of the field where he can use his route running to gain separation and catch the ball. We want to especially focus on using Diontae Johnson more this week by getting him the ball quick on screens or slants so that he has room to make guys miss and get YAC. Kittle of course will also be operating at all levels of the field but particularly we’ll be looking to target him at the intermediate level whether he lines up on the line or splits out wide. Kamara will also be used in many ways: as an option out of the backfield, in the screen game, and by being split out wide. We want to make it impossible for Cuba to key in on any one guy to shut down our whole offense.

The Running Strategy: Our passing game is the focus for this week’s game plan but we want to go a little more run heavy if we can get out to a lead to eat the clock and will of course use it a decent amount before then as well. We want to, as usual, hit Kamara with some tosses and pitches to get him on the outside where he operates best. It also allows us to have blockers pull in front of him. When we run inside we’re also planning on having guys pull by going with trap or counter runs. We’re also going to sprinkle in a couple of read option plays for Wilson to let him use his legs a little bit.

Lancaster Defensive Strategy: We had a couple of advantages on defense a few weeks ago as Cuba was hurting at RB and DJ Chark overslept and missed the game. We doubt they’ll be leaving any guys on the tarmac this week so we expect we’re going up against a fully manned Cuba squad. Like with us, it’s pretty impossible to stop all of Cuba’s weapons so are plan this week is to disrupt the passing game. We want to put pressure on Watson and disrupt his receivers at the line. We hope to put up enough points on offense that Cuba can’t lean on the run game.

The Pass Defense Strategy: This game all starts with pressure up front. Cuba has a solid OL but it’s certainly beatable, especially with a DL like ours. We want to put the heat on and hit them with stunts and other tricky things to hopefully throw them off their game. We’re not going to get to him all of the time but the goal is to create pressure and get him throwing on the run. We’re also going to bring extra pressure from some blitzes that will be detailed in the next paragraph. Having blitzers allows us more opportunities to do tricky things.

In coverage, we’re going to be playing a lot of press to disrupt the timing of the receivers and throw them off of their routes. Jalen Ramsey will obviously take Julio Jones, Kevin King will take on Chark, and Jaire Alexander will cover Justin Jefferson. These are all tough matchups where I expect to see plenty of success on both sides. Eddie Jackson (or Rapp) will be playing a deep zone in case any of my guys get beat over the top. Abrams, Warner, and Wagner will be splitting the duties of covering the TE and the RB out of the backfield. The third man at any given time will either be playing a middle of the field zone to disrupt passes there or will blitz to create extra pressure.

The Run Defense Strategy: After a few weeks of having some RB injuries and other struggles, Cuba now has Cook back and Bell in an actually good offensive situation. We’re going to hopefully force Cuba into passing the ball by taking an early lead but to stop the run we’re going to have an extra man (Abrams) in the box to give the RB less room to run

[MD4L]

Emmanuel Sanders and Kevin King are out.

[rackcs]

2 hours ago, MD4L said:

Emmanuel Sanders and Kevin King are out.

Man what the hell. Neither King or Sanders were on the injury list. That's annoying.

[bcb1213]

3 hours ago, rackcs said:

Man what the hell. Neither King or Sanders were on the injury list. That's annoying.

I mean Sanders was declared out Friday so that one's kinda on u 

[rackcs]

3 hours ago, bcb1213 said:

I mean Sanders was declared out Friday so that one's kinda on u 

I haven't really had the time to follow along with pretty much anything these past two weeks (hopefully changing soon) so I missed that. Been relying entirely on the injury list. Just annoyed that if he was ruled out Friday that he wasn't on the injury list.

Edited November 2, 2020 by rackcs

[VigilantZombie]

This is tough. I read through the gameplans hours ago and I'm still torn.

[VigilantZombie]

This game is so tough for me to call. I do think it'll be high scoring both of these teams have good defenses and good offenses. As good as Russell is, given the BDL make up of Cuba's offense i feel like it evens the QB position a little more and makes it that much harder to decide.

I'm going to give a slight edge to Cuba with Julio, Cook .and Chark here. I think late in the game these guys can come up with a late score against Lancaster's defense to take back the lead in the final moments.

35-31 Cuba

[Jlash]

Lane Johnson also didn't play in this game.

[rackcs]

3 hours ago, Jlash said:

Lane Johnson also didn't play in this game.

I seriously don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do when literally all three of my inactive players were not on the injury list. What the ****.

[Jlash]

Just now, rackcs said:

I seriously don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do when literally all three of my inactive players were not on the injury list. What the ****.

Yea that ones tough, he was a toss up all week, since he's been dinged up the past few weeks they just held him out. Not a whole lot you could've done.

[bcb1213]

2 hours ago, rackcs said:

I seriously don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do when literally all three of my inactive players were not on the injury list. What the ****.

Sanders got on covid list so technically he wasn't injured if that helps explain that one. Regardless green is not a downgrade 

I think Poole is actually an upgrade in the slot from king but I don't think he'd he'd matchup with Chark well at all with the height problem 

Johnson loss stings a bit but Reiff isn't a turnstile at least 

 

In the end the inactives cost Lancaster here as the guys missing were a pretty significant part of what they want to do and Cuba scores enough to win 

Cuba 34-30

[rackcs]

1 hour ago, bcb1213 said:

Sanders got on covid list so technically he wasn't injured if that helps explain that one. Regardless green is not a downgrade 

I think Poole is actually an upgrade in the slot from king but I don't think he'd he'd matchup with Chark well at all with the height problem 

Johnson loss stings a bit but Reiff isn't a turnstile at least 

 

In the end the inactives cost Lancaster here as the guys missing were a pretty significant part of what they want to do and Cuba scores enough to win 

Cuba 34-30

King wouldn't really be playing in the slot since I think Cuba has Jefferson playing there so Alexander would be in the slot. But yes the size disadvantage is there.

[Jlash]

This is the 2nd of two games I've been going back and forth on for days. I'm going Cuba. He's finally healthy and the roster is nice. Lancaster with just a handful of injuries to very important players in this match up, costs them.