BDL 2020 Divisional Round - #6 Ivory Coast Black Rhinos @ #3 Williamsport Soul Reavers

[Ragnarok]

BDL 2020 Divisional Round

Match: #6 Ivory Coast Black Rhinos @ #3 Williamsport Soul Reavers

Away Owner: @RuskieTitan

Home Owner: @wwhickok

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]

Ivory Coast

QB- Ryan Tannehill
RB- Nick Chubb
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- Austin Ekeler
RB- Ezekiel Elliott
RB- Chase Edmonds
RB- Wayne Gallman
TE- Jared Cook
TE- Kyle Rudolph
OL- Billy Price
OL- Josh Jones

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

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DE- Chase Young
DT- Charles Omenihu
DT- Geno Atkins
LB- Patrick Queen
LB- Sione Takitaki
CB- A.J. Terrell
CB- Darnay Holmes
S- Andrew Sendejo

 

Williamsport

Offense

QB: Ben Roethlisberger
RB1: Derrick Henry
X: Calvin Ridley
Z: Allen Lazard
Slot: Michael Gallup
TE: Dallas Goedert
LT: Dion Dawkins
LG: Cesar Ruiz
C : J.C. Tretter
RG: Mike Glowinski
RT: Austin Jackson 

Bench

RB2: Ronald Jones
WR4: Jalen Reagor
WR6: Jalen Guyton
TE2: Robert Tonyan
TE3: Vance McDonald
OG: Kevin Dotson
OT: Charles Leno
OT: DJ Humphries 

Defense

LDE: Javon Hargrave
NT: Tyson Alualu
RDE: Cam Heyward
LOLB: Brian Burns
LILB: Jordyn Brooks
RILB: Kwon Alexander 
ROLB: Shaquille Barrett
CB1: Darius Slay
CB2: Carlton Davis
FS: Quandre Diggs
SS: Adrian Phillips

Bench

INT: Raekwon Davis
INT: Leonard Williams
OLB: Kyler Fackrell
ILB: Jerome Baker
Dimebacker: Jeremy Chinn
NCB: Mike Hilton
CB4: Trayvon Mullen
CB5: Cam Sutton

[Ragnarok]

Ivory Coast

Offense
Primary Formation: 10 Personnel Single Back- We’re coming out with a single back set, Tannehill splitting time under center, in shotgun, and in pistol. We’ll have four receivers as our primary set, running approximately 45%. We’ll go with 3 receivers and tight end (Cook/Rudolph) on 30%, and the remaining 25% will be a mixture of short yardage (two TEs) and other sets (two HBs; empty backfield). We’ll leverage (one) Ekeler (as well as Edmonds and Gallman if needed) out wide as a receiving target on some plays to give the receivers breathers, and take a shot if a favorable matchup shows against a linebacker, but we feel confident that the four starters we have can handle 85-90% of the offensive snaps. Similarly, Cook will be used as a split receiver at times. On short yardage and goal line situations, we’ll bring in Jared Cook as well as Kyle Rudolph and rotate receivers off. We plan on ending the game with a balance between the run and the pass, but we intend on jumping out to an early lead with our aerial attack and leveraging (two) Chubb to work the clock and secure the victory.

Running Game Focus- Zack Martin continues to be a little witch when it comes to needing him in the BDL playoffs, but we’ll continue to adapt without him. Ricky Wagner remains the fill-in at right guard, and we will again do what we can to mask his limitations. He’ll be assisted with double team blocks with both Kelce and Kelly chipping in at times, but like the previous week, we will be placing more emphasis on running behind the left side of the line (Williams-Lewis-Kelce) through the A, B, and C gaps. With going 4 wide, we hope to limit the number of defenders in the box, and allow Chubb to feast. Even when we go with 3 wide and Cook, we’ll still split Cook out wide / motion him outside. We plan on having some jet sweeps sprinkled in and end-arounds if we see that the defense is reacting aggressively; if we’re seeing that the defense is staying home more due to zones we’ll avoid those playcalls. We’re going to lean heavily on Chubb, looking to give him approximately 75% of the snaps. The remaining snaps will be split between Ekeler and Elliott; if one of those two backs starts to have some success they’ll gain additional touches. In shorter yardage and goal line we’ll bring in Kyle Rudolph as a potential blocker, and use him coming out of the backfield as an H-back or lead blocker. Our goal is to leverage (three) Chubb on the road to deny the Soul Reavers as many possessions as possible.

Passing Game Focus- We’re going to be spreading out the Williamsport defense as much as possible, and leverage (four) our receiving playmakers hauling in passes from one of the best quarterbacks in the league. We’ll go pass heavy on early downs early in the game, taking advantage of Williamsport respecting Chubb and Tannehill’s elite early passing down EPA. We’ll leverage (five) bootlegs and playaction passes off fakes to Chubb, and get Tannehill out in space several times. We will be aggressive with our downfield passing early and often, and we will continue to keep pressing the gas down all game long – even if we achieve our goal by jumping out to an early lead and using Chubb to work the clock, we’ll still keep looking for a deep shot to catch the defense off-guard. Depending on the primary coverage we encounter, we’ll focus more heavily on flood concepts against zone, and rub routes with slants against man. We’ll have our receivers set up the defense with some early hooks and comeback routes, then using stutter go to take deep shots. We’ll keep our starting four receivers rotating heavily to keep everyone fresh, and feel that they will be able to handle the majority of the snaps needed. Kyle Rudolph will be leveraged (six) in the red zone as an additional receiving option out of the backfield at times. We’ll want to use motion heavily, particularly pre-snap in order to force the defense to shift as well as try and identify man or zone coverage.

X-Factor on Offense: Ryan Tannehill- We will unleash the TanneGAWD upon the Soul Reavers, and take their souls. As of the start of December, Tannehill was third in EPA behind only Mahomes and Rodgers, and was first in EPA on passing first and second downs. He’s top five in completed air yards while also leading the league in air yard differential. This is on top of putting up impressive stats (26:5 TD:INT; 65% completion, 106.5). Thus, we are going to leverage (seven) Tannehill’s early passing down abilities to try and jump out to an early lead on Williamsport. We have a strong running back to share time with him in the backfield, we have a stout offensive line to buy him time, and we’ve got the receiving options, and we’re going to leverage (eight) all those tools with him at the helm to come out and win on the road.

 

Defense
Defensive Formation: 5-2 Defense- In facing Derrick Henry, we will come out in a 5-2 alignment when we face two receivers or fewer, placing an emphasis on putting more bodies at the line and trusting our defensive linemen to win their matchups. When Williamsport runs three receivers, we’ll transition to a 4-2-5 defense with a corner (Terrell) coming on for one of the interior linemen. Facing four or more receivers, we’ll shift to a 4-1-6 with four cornerbacks (Holmes) and taking a linebacker out. If Holmes is unavailable, we will instead use a third safety in Sandejo and run a cover 3 zone, with the outside corners taking the deep thirds along with McCourty in the middle. When facing 3^rd and long (7+), we’ll shift over to a 4-3 look (if 2 receivers or less).

Secondary Coverage: Cover-1 Man-Under Scheme- We’ll have our corners play up tighter at the line against their receivers, focusing on eliminating quick releasing by leveraging (nine) bump and run. We want to force Big Ben to hold onto the football longer, resulting in our edges getting home, and frustrating the receivers. Devin McCourty will be the primary safety providing a safety blanket over the top, although he will at times rotate that duty with Whitehead. Meanwhile, Whitehead will be focused on covering Derrick Henry – this means he’s going to primarily key in on the run, given that Henry is little to no threat as a receiver. Patrick Peterson will primarily get Calvin Ridley, with the other corners having no specific assignments. Lavonte David will take the primary tight end (or HB, in the absence of a TE), with Devin White handling the other tight end / running back.

Defensive Box- We’re going to line up with five defensive linemen against two receivers or less, and see how much success Williamsport thinks they will have running into a brick wall. Our interior defensive tackles will be focused on stuffing the run, and preventing Big Ben from scrambling up the middle to avoid our edge rush. They’ll also make sure to keep our linebackers clean and flowing sideline to sideline. We like the individual matchups on our defensive line against their offensive line, and we think that this disparity could prove to be the decisive factor for the game in both the running and passing game. Our edge players dominate against both the run and the pass, so they’ll be playing the run on the way to the quarterback. When Williamsport is forced into long passing distances on third downs, we’ll come out with four down linemen (even if just 2 receivers) and have our trio of Mack / Garrett / Young out on the field to get after the quarterback. Devin White and Lavonte David will be tasked with running down anything that tries to stretch to the edges, and Jordan Whitehead (primarily, rotating some with McCourty) will be matched up on Henry, providing an additional 8^th man that moves into the box right after the snap. If we are able to jump out to an early lead thanks to the offense, we believe that our edge players will get home as Ben tries to make plays happen.

X-Factor on Defense: Maintain Discipline- Big Ben will take what the defense gives him, and Henry will punish a defense that is lax in their approach. We will maintain dialed in focus and play good fundamentally sound football with an emphasis on maintaining proper gap responsibility against the run, and avoid biting on play action passes.

 

Williamsport

OFFENSE 

This week we are facing a stout defense, their front seven is absolutely designed to get after the quarterback. 

Ben has been very effective at getting the ball out quickly and making people miss. We will rely on him to continue to get the ball out quickly in this game. We will attack the LBs with quick slants to Gallup and Goedert over the middle where we believe we can create some mismatches with the LBs. Lazard has been an efficient chain mover, especially on 3rd down, he will serve as a primary first read on 3rd down in passing situations. 

We are also going to use Ronald Jones and Derrick Henry in the passing game out of the backfield on screen passes and angle routes to try to ice some of the pass rush from this defensive line.

In the run, Ronald Jones will serve as a sub to Henry, although we will be bringing back 2 RB formations this week. We want to use the Run/Pass capability out of the backfield to keep the defense guessing because both of our backs are good receivers and runners. That brings me to Derrick Henry, the bell cow who's job is going to be to wear down the defensive line. We plan to get him the ball at least 30 times in this game. 

We are going to use a lot of 3WR, 2 TE sets when passing, Tonyan and Goedert will be our receiving TEs in these situations, though McDonald will be sprinkled in to avoid a tell. 

In bunch formation running plays, Tonyan and McDonald will help on the edges as blockers. 

When we see the defense bringing in extra guys to the line, we will use either an extra blocker (TE or Leno) or one of the 2 RBs to chip the rusher at the line (solely dependent upon the formation we have chosen on a given down). If adjusting blocking assignments requires it we will have Ben audible the play at the line.

Offensively our goal is to use the middle of the field to chip away and rely on YAC to move the ball down the field. On the edges, we will rely on Ridley and Lazard to make catches and gain YAC. (They will be used on deeper slants, Corner, Post, and Levels routes as well previously mentioned usage) 

Reagor will rotate occasionally with Lazard & Gallup and be used the same way  

Defense 

First and foremost, I'm just going to get this out of the way now...

We acknowledge the existence of Gallman, Edmunds, and Johnson on their roster at RB, as well as Newton and Daniel Jones.. we just don't care, the likelihood any of those guys have a major impact is slim, so we aren't dictating our gameplan specifically for any of those guys. 

Now moving on to what we do care about. Nick Chubb, Ezekiel Elliot, and Austin Eckler.  We are going to run a significant amount of Nickel in this game because of their WR depth. Hilton will be the nickel CB and while we have Brooks listed as our other ILB, we are actually going to use Jeremy Chinn as an offset backer in Nickel to spy the RB; the mentality here is that Chinn is quicker, more athletic, which could result in more TFL plays but more than that he doubles as a DB which can significantly help against a RB group that is very capable in the passing game.

Chinn won't be used in this role every down however, in bunch formations and short yardage (1 yard or less situations) Brooks will be at ILB, as he is the bigger bodied more physical player. 

Mike Hilton will spy Chase Claypool for the sake of Jet sweeps, if the play is clearly not a jet sweep after the snap he will avert his attention to the center of the field and smashing anything in Rhino gray that comes near him.  Carlton Davis will deal with Robby Anderson  or Corey Davis, whomever their #2 WR is (unless its Claypool, then Carlton Davis will take the 3rd WR)

Quandre Diggs will help provide deep safety coverage for Terry McLaurin 

In the event they run 4 WR Sets we will have Cameron Sutton come on the field, he has been very good in coverage, he will cover the #4 WR.

IF they run an empty set, we will have the following players on the field:

Jeremy Chinn (S), Quandre Diggs (S), CB Slay, CB Davis, CB Hilton, CB Mullen, CB Sutton LB Kwon Alexander, DE Heymaker, NT "Undertaker" (Alualu) , DE Gravedigger

Our expectations in this game is for ICBR to attack the edges with the RBs, deep with McLaurin/Claypool, and underneath with their TEs and other WRs, possibly with some RPOs in there with Tannehils scrambling ability.

While we are going to play somewhat conservative defensively to protect from giving up big plays, we are also going to dial up a 33% blitz rate where we send at least 4 but no more than 6. While sacks are great, our goal will be to disrupt the offense.

We will use a mixture of all 3 DL, up to 2 LBs, and Hilton on blitzes.

[VigilantZombie]

Kyle Rudolph did not play today due to injury.

[RuskieTitan]

1 hour ago, wwhickok said:

Kyle Rudolph did not play today due to injury.

What a bum, am I right?

[Scoundrel]

Young played great today Henry played great fun match up 

[RuskieTitan]

Big Ben with his second touchdown throw before halftime.

[MWil23]

Just a tough matchup for the WSR here. That Front 7 and LB corps really neutralizes one of the best rushing attacks in this league, and the very good offense of Ivory Coast keeps them off balance, leading them to the win. 

[Whicker]

Congratulations to both of these teams for making the playoffs.

I'm a little confused at the coverage scheme for Williamsport. According to the writeup, Mike Hilton will spy Chase Claypool unless it is not a jet sweep. If it's not a jet sweep, then Hilton plays what appears to be a robber type role. Who does this leave to cover Claypool? From the writeup, it seems as though it is either Adrian Phillips or Jeremy Chinn against 5 WR sets. I know this isn't an every down thing, but I certainly could see it having an affect in a couple of big spots.

I do believe that Williamsport needed to find a way to mitigate the Ivory Coast pass rush, but I am personally not a fan of trying to utilize Derrick Henry and Ronald Jones as receivers, as this really doesn't play to either player's strength. I also think they made the correct move in utilizing a quick hitting passing game, and I believe they will have some success even despite Ivory Coast playing bump and run.

I'm a general fan of what Ivory Coast is trying to accomplish on both sides of the ball. I think their defensive strategy, especially, lines up well in this matchup with their focus on crowding the line. They get my vote today.

[VigilantZombie]

GG @RuskieTitan

[VigilantZombie]

50 minutes ago, Whicker said:

Congratulations to both of these teams for making the playoffs.

I'm a little confused at the coverage scheme for Williamsport. According to the writeup, Mike Hilton will spy Chase Claypool unless it is not a jet sweep. If it's not a jet sweep, then Hilton plays what appears to be a robber type role. Who does this leave to cover Claypool? From the writeup, it seems as though it is either Adrian Phillips or Jeremy Chinn against 5 WR sets. I know this isn't an every down thing, but I certainly could see it having an affect in a couple of big spots.

I do believe that Williamsport needed to find a way to mitigate the Ivory Coast pass rush, but I am personally not a fan of trying to utilize Derrick Henry and Ronald Jones as receivers, as this really doesn't play to either player's strength. I also think they made the correct move in utilizing a quick hitting passing game, and I believe they will have some success even despite Ivory Coast playing bump and run.

I'm a general fan of what Ivory Coast is trying to accomplish on both sides of the ball. I think their defensive strategy, especially, lines up well in this matchup with their focus on crowding the line. They get my vote today.

Sorry. Hilton will be on Claypool no matter what. I just don't want him reaction to a forward moving route immediately until the Jet sweep isn't an option. 

[SirA1]

I do like both teams but I went with Ivory Coast because I think they have the better offensive receiving weapons.

Performance wise Tannehill was better this week and the RB's are fairly even so the Receiving corps tips it in ICBR's favor.

ICBR 28 - WSR 17

 

[bcb1213]

I think both offenses are on the struggle bus here.   Leaving Jackson one on one with a those edges with no help is a disaster while on the other side Ricky Wagner still hasn't played guard in his life but at least Ic addresses this dilemma.  Surprisingly had Williamsport gone four wide they would have had an easier time as Ben would pick apart a cover three with the dink and dunk offense but unfortunately there's no mention of one.   I think getting tannehill on the move leads to a one or two big plays which makes the difference 

 

Ic 17-13

[VigilantZombie]

Congrats @RuskieTitan you absolutely earned this. I dont want away without disappointment but I'm also thrilled to have done so well this season.

You've done a great job improving your team and getting the Rhino's to this point. Keep up the great work and good luck in R2

[RuskieTitan]

40 minutes ago, wwhickok said:

Congrats @RuskieTitan you absolutely earned this. I dont want away without disappointment but I'm also thrilled to have done so well this season.

You've done a great job improving your team and getting the Rhino's to this point. Keep up the great work and good luck in R2

I'm not counting you out until that deadline hits, but I appreciate the praise, and you've put together a strong season and a good squad as well.