SirA1 Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 BDL 2021 Week 1 Match: Cuba Smugglers @ Camden Hood Rats Away Owner: @MD4L Home Owner: @Jlash 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirA1 Posted September 12, 2021 Author Share Posted September 12, 2021 Cuba Smugglers QB: Derek Carr RB: Dalvin Cook WR: Justin Jefferson WR: Julio Jones WR: DJ Chark TE: Mo Alie-Cox LT: Mekhi Becton LG: Elgton Jenkins C - Ryan Jensen RG: Ezra Cleveland RT: Garrett Bolles RB: Jamaal Williams WR: Rondale Moore FB: Gabe Nabers TE: Hunter Long WR: Denzel Mims QB: Jameis Winston OL: Marcus Cannon WR: Tim Patrick Edge: Chandler Jones DT: Arik Armstead NT: Derrick Nnadi Edge: Cam Jordan WLB: Myles Jack MLB: Eric Kendricks RCB: Bryce Callahan NCB: Kenny Moore FS: Tyrann Mathieu SS: Derwin James LCB: Shaquill Griffin Edge: Rashan Gary Edge: Alex Highsmith SLB: Donta Hightower NCB: Jalen Mills SS: Kareem Jackson DT: Lawrence Guy DE: Henry Anderson SS: Khari Willis Camden Hood Rats QB- Baker Mayfield RB- Damien Harris WR- AJ Brown WR- Cooper Kupp TE- Rob Gronkowski TE- Zach Ertz LT- Taylor Lewan LG- Nate Davis C- JC Tretter RG- Kevin Zeitler RT- Orlando Brown Jr _________________________ RB- Austin Ekeler RB- Sony Michel WR- KJ Hamler WR- Terrace Marshall Jr TE- Gerald Everett OL- Cody Whitehair OL- Isaiah Wynn QB- Justin Fields DE- Josh Allen DT- DJ Reader DT- Poona Ford DE- Montez Sweat LB- Darius Leonard LB- Josh Uche CB- Denzel Ward CB- L'Jarius Sneed CB- Asante Samuel Jr S- Justin Simmons S- Justin Reid _________________________ Edge- Yannick Ngakoue Edge- Ryan Kerrigan DT- Osa Odighizuwa DT- Maliek Collins LB- Jaylon Smith CB- Greedy Williams CB- Fabian Moreau S- Amani Hooker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirA1 Posted September 12, 2021 Author Share Posted September 12, 2021 Cuba Smugglers Intro The defending champions this season so we expect to get the best teams have to offer regularly. We are starting on the road against the defending champions from two seasons ago and ready to get back on the field after an off-season unlike any other. Offense It’s the Derek Carr show now. We are not going to put total responsibility on Carr like we did with our previous QB but it’s comfortable knowing we have an accurate QB who can win in the intermediate and short area. Justin Jefferson was a sensation as a rookie and did it by being efficient in all areas of the field, particularly between the 10-20 yards range. As a result, we can pair Derek Carr’s strength with our number one receivers ability to make plays. We intend to have our receivers line up at each position so Carr will be able to target non Denzel Ward CBs to find success for our offense. Expect a heavy emphasis on trips receiver sets in the first to allow Julio Jones with Jefferson to work on flood concepts that will force the safety to pick a matchup opening easier opportunities for Carr to make safe reads. The high-lo sets will be utilized frequently in the early going as we are looking to find the isolated matchups with seam/dig route concepts. Camden has a variety of solid CBs but given our talent level we are comfortable frequently testing the CBs to give our WRs chances to make plays. Lastly, DJ Chark is utilized as the home run hitter that contrasts Derek Carr’s preference. In the second half of the game, we will begin to strive away from trip sets and utilize Chark opposite the Julio/Jefferson tandem. This will open up a couple deep routes where we can get after Greedy Williams or Snead on the boundary. Should Camden decide they want to play man based coverages (we have our doubts about that), this could lead to Chark going away from Camden’s top two CB options and a matchup that can lead to game changing plays via play action. Dalvin Cook will lead the offense in touches and his game breaking ability is an element that helps our passing offense. Dalvin Cook behind Mekhi Becton and Elgton Jenkins produced ultimate success and that continues this year. Camden possess elite pass rush options but those guys do not intimidate us as run defenders beyond Montez Sweat. Darius Leonard will certainly meet with Dalvin Cook on numerous occasions but we’re confident Cook can break a few big runs on counter plays if he gets to the second level. Expect several touches from Jamaal Williams as a spell back and Rondale Moore to receive several snaps at RB in presnap before being the recipient to screen passes. Cook will be featured on counters or inside zone runs between Jenkins and Jensen. Lastly we’re excited to use some toss plays to the right side that will allow Garrett Bolles to reach the second level on multiple occasions. Continuing with Garrett Bolles, we are excited to have him and Mekhi Becton blocking on the edges as both players bring a dynamic element to the game in the running game. Bolles was excellent in all phases of the game and will be a key component as we work to get the RG position solidified. DJ Reader is strong in the trenches but Camden is unproven next to him. We want Jensen helping the RG when we go up the middle or in pass protection against possible blitzing LBs. Defense The Cuba way has been offensively driven for the past several season. It has changed this year and our defense will lead the way this season. We are impressed with Camden’s OT play but our pass rush is improved across the board with Chandler Jones in the fold. He and Cameron Jordan collapse the pocket extremely well but it’s their run defense that will set the tone in his game. Camden is balanced and has multiple personnel they can utilize for their offensive success. We envision a fair amount of two TEs can make life difficult with a QB like Mayfield. We’ve built a team prepared to stop teams from targeting the middle of the field. Derwin James and Eric Kendricks patrol the middle of the field is our best bet to control Everrett and Gronkowski. Camden brings an imposing run game and we are amped to have our remodeled front 7 show off their ability. Expect a variety of 4-3 and 3-4 looks featuring Chandler Jones as OLB with Cam Jordan moving to the 5T position. This is also a clever design to get the two players next to each other and create opportunities to get a pass rush without blitzing. In the secondary, matching up with AJ Brown is by far our hardest task as the dynamic receiver will make life difficult for any one player. Tyrann Mathieu and Derwin James alternate the responsibility for providing deep help and on passing downs where we move Derwin James closer to the LOS, we will have Kareem Jackson playing deep. Shaq Griffin gets the challenge but we’re playing a primarily based zone defense. The objective is then to utilize cover 3 and 4 to always have help coverage with the boundary CB already providing deep help. Beyond AJ Brown, we see some competitive matchups across the board and particularly Kupp in the slot with Kenny Moore. We’re going use man coverage on about 10-15 snaps and primarily late in the game if it’s imperative we get stops. The zone coverage we intend to use primarily are cover 3 & 4. The safety coming down between Mathieu and James will alternate but we figure that individual can help against a nice assortment of TEs and RB. Nnadi and Armstead will provide run support in the trenches. On passing situations we will pair Jones & Jordan on the same side with Rashan Gary serving as the opposite edge. There will be a few instances of zone blitzes and on passing sets we’ll feature 3 DL with Hightower at LB on top of the center to potentially confuse Baker. With Moore, James, and Mathieu capable of impacting the game as pass rushers, there will be instances where one of those guys abandon pass coverage responsibility to pressure Baker Mayfield. Camden Hood Rats Offense (2 TE base 60/40) We get to start off 2021 against one of our very best league friends and toughest teams in the league in Cuba. We think our strengths on offense match up really well with some things they may be lacking on defense and here are the keys to what we will look to exploit. Physical passing attack: I think it's rare when an offense can be described as a "physical passing attack" but I think that's what we bring to the table against Cuba. Our strength is in our pass catchers, but they're all big physical bodies that can punish defenders time and time again. Cuba's corners lack some size and physicality and we think getting the ball into AJ Brown and Cooper Kupp's hands quickly on slants, drags and screens could create opportunities for YAC in this game. When the LB's and safeties start floating into those quick passing lanes, that's when our TE's begin to threaten the seams and counter strike against an aggressive Cuba defense. Play action passing: While we own some dangerous pass catchers we have strong runners too, and that's what Baker Mayfield thrives on. Cuba has an excellent run defense, but our OL is and strong at the POA as well which means we simply cannot shy away from the run game because it opens some beautiful play action opportunities against this D. Expect Harris and Co. to be involved all game long on power runs to draw these big aggressive Cuba defenders in, only to attack a bunch of intermediate targets to get the ball out and make Cuba pay for over pursuit. Take deep shots: As we always love to do, we want to work in some deep plays for guys like KJ Hamler and Terrace Marshall Jr in this one. Hamler and Marshall are two very different kind of deep ball players, Hamler being blinding speed and Marshall being a nice blend of size, power and deceptive deep speed. Playing off double moves from our quick passing game and safeties biting on our PA passing we're take a handful of shots to these two looking to do some serious damage. We think the cumulative effect of our first two keys can really open this one up for us. Defense (4-2-5 Cover 3 base) Cuba has perennially brought a fantastic offense to this league and this year is no different. They always force us to get creative and that's what we'll have to do today. Even without their sexual deviant dynamo playing QB, they still have too many weapons to take lightly. Here are the keys we'll focus on slow them down. Cover 3 base: With Jones, Jefferson, Chark and to a lesser extent Rondale Moore Cuba can get the ball moving in a hurry. So we'll deploy a cover 3 shell to force Cuba to keep everything short/intermediate. Conservative gameplans rarely win in this league and that's the hand we want to force on Cuba. We'll alternate our high safety between Simmons and Reid because both players are capable of playing the deep middle or collapsing towards the LOS like the following image depicts: Contain Dalvin: Cook can be the engine of that offense and that's how Carr is going to find success in the air. Our cover 3 base shell actually aids us in this. It allows our LB's to stay home but also brings a safety closer to the LOS as well. And with our defensive line already being very stout against the run, we think we've found a fantastic solution to keeping big passing plays down while also allowing us to keep another defender near the LOS to battle the force that is Dalvin Cook. Throw in exotic blitzes: We think with our new DE Josh Allen having the ability to attack the passer while being athletic enough to drop into coverage and having a similar player in Josh Uche playing standup LB we can really move some pieces around and send some blitzes at Derek Carr. With Darius Leonard also being an excellent blitzer, here are some blitzes we want to work in with the Allen/Uche/Leonard combo: Most times the 3rd LB in these scenarios would be our NB, but you get the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlash Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 Mathieu out this week because he's an anti-vaxxer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VigilantZombie Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 Both teams came with excellent gameplans. Both teams are going to find Both struggles and successes offensively but that Cuba Pass rush is insane imo. I think that's the difference in this game this week. I see it as a very back and forth, low scoring affair. 21-20 Cuba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickle Rick Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 (edited) Top notch gameplans here. Cuba has the better goods to execute though Cuba in a nailbiter Edited September 14, 2021 by Pickle Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoundrel Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 I’m surprised more didn’t vote for Camden here as I think they execute their gameplan very well against Cuba. However I see that Chandler Jones is going against Lewan and we saw that real matchup so yeah... I was also more impressed by Carr as the night went on last night and think he keeps Cuba competitive this season. But I really like the blitz packages of Camden and their plan for Dalvin. Going zone was smart with this corner group, because outside of Callahan who is a stud, Griffin gave up almost 100 yards receiving and Moore had a perfect passer rating against and gave up a score, so going to a zone combined with the rush of Cuba will help them keep some points off the board. With some of the Cuba weapons kind of behind duds this week and Baker likely getting sacked multiple times this is a low scoring game that Camden just ekes out. Gronk Jump ball TD is the difference here on a scramble by Baker that he just gets the ball off before being pummeled by Chandler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirA1 Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 Both RBs had good game but costly mistakes that cost their teams games this week so that is a wash. Baker and Carr both played lights out but Carr willed his team to a victory. I think I see something similar happening here. Chandler Jones owned Lewan's soul this week and I think that will be the difference maker. Going to go Cuba 33-28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcb1213 Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 Yea unfortunately the Jones vs lewan matchup we just saw playout in real life is too hard to ignore. It is fun to see how these teams built their d in similar fashions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnarok Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 Excellent gameplans as usual from these two, the Cuba pass rush makes the difference here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuskieTitan Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Lewan < Jones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WFLukic Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Going to have to agree with most here and I think with how brutal the Jones v Lewan matchup was, it makes life hard for Mayfield and Cuba is ultimately able to stop Brown and co. From doing too much damage On the other side of the ball, I do like Camden's plan but Carr's experience and ability to execute while getting the most out his talent on offense allows Cuba to pinch a win on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rackcs Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Really nice game planning by both teams but yeah, after seeing Jones demolish Lewan in real life this week, it's hard to see him not doing it again here in this matchup. And a dominant performance like that is one that can really turn the tide of a game. If it weren't for that, I might very well have gone Camden. Either way it's a very close matchup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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