BDL 2021 Week 7 - Camden Hood Rats @ Rome Eternals

[Whicker]

BDL 2021 Week 7

Match:  Camden Hood Rats @ Rome Eternals 

Away Owner:  @Jlash

Home Owner:  @bcb1213

Vote for who you think would win the game.

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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

[Whicker]

QB- Sam Darnold
RB- Austin Ekeler
WR- Mike Evans
WR- AJ Brown
Slot- Cooper Kupp
TE- Zach Ertz
LT- Isaiah Wynn
LG- Cody Whitehair
C- JC Tretter
RG- Kevin Zeitler
RT- Orlando Brown Jr
_______________________
WR- Tyler Boyd
WR- Nico Collins
RB- Damien Harris
TE- Gerald Everett
TE- Harrison Bryant
OL- Nate Davis
OL- George Fant
QB- Justin Fields

DE- Josh Allen
DT- DJ Reader
DT- Poona Ford
DE- Montez Sweat
LB- Darius Leonard
LB- Quincy Williams
CB- Denzel Ward
CB- Asante Samuel
CB- L' Jarius Sneed
S- Justin Simmons
S- Justin Reid
_______________________
DE- Yannick Ngakoue
LB/DE- Josh Uche
DL- Osa Odighizuwa
DL- Maliek Collins
LB- Keanu Neal
CB- Greedy Williams
CB- CJ Henderson
S- Amani Hooker

 

 

 

QB Justin Herbert

 

RB Najee Harris

 

H-Back CJ Uzomah

 

WR Amari Cooper

 

WR Jaylen Waddle

 

TE OJ Howard

 

LT Tyron Smith

 

G Michael Onwenu 

 

C Max Garcia 

 

RG Chris Lindstom

 

RT Ryan Ramcyk

 

 

 

RB DeAndre Swift

 

RB Phillip Lindsey

 

WR Hunter Renfrow

 

WR Devin Devurnay

 

WR Randall Cobb 

 

TE Dan Arnold

 

OT Donovan Smith

 

C/G Justin Britt

 

DE Marcus Davenport 

UT Dalvin Tomlinson

DT Malik McDowell 

DE Justin Houston

LB Matt Milano

LB Devondre Campbell 

CB Marlon Humphrey

CB Jamel Dean 

CB Michael Carter Ii

S Eddie Jackson

S Duron Harmon

 

Edge Carlos Dunlap 

Edge Takk McKinley 

INT Michael Brockers 

INT Ross Blacklock

LB Leighton Vander Esch 

S Grant Delpit

CB Jackrabbit Jenkins 

CB Josh Norman

 

[Whicker]

Offense
This week we take on the ever puzzling defense of Rome, where they can do things that are seemingly impossible like double cover 2 WR's on 'every play' while also running multiple coverage schemes at the same time. So to say we have a test ahead of us is an understatement. With our starter at QB out this week we'll have to rely on our skill players to carry us here.

Keep it simple- We have the skill players to make a difference here, the goal is to just get the ball in their hands. Short passes, bubble screens, tunnel screens and bunch sets to get players open quickly are all going to be in play here. Rome has big solid corners, but we think our guys are difference makers in that respect. Expect Kupp on lots of crossing and option routes, with he and Evans working next to each other a lot with Brown on the opposite side. Ekeler will be involved in the passing game as well, running angle routes and wheel routes out of the backfield. If they want to run 2 deep a lot, we'll sneak Ertz up the seam to bust that shell open. 

Lure them in- With working lots of simple quick passes today, Rome will undoubtedly look to suck in their defenders to combat this. What we can do is work our receivers on double moves and pump fakes to get behind the defense. We should have the time to do this today because the DE's of Rome are either old and/or slow, we don't see a ton of natural pressure being brought on. If Rome decides to go blitz heavy, we'll keep Ekeler in more often to help defend that. 

Put the DE's in conflict- As we mentioned before, we think the Rome DE's are actually a liability for them in this game, and we'll put them in conflict in the run game as often as possible. We'll run to the outside a lot in this one on traditional plays, to force them to run laterally as much as possible, but when Fields is in the game (15-20 plays) and we run RPO's we think Dunlap and Houston will be negative assets for our opponents. Dunlap is basically just a run stopping DE at this point, but we have the speed to make him pay greatly if he over commits to the RB in these instances. 

Defense (2 deep w/ pattern matching base)
Rome brings a plethora of young weapons to the field, and a QB that has the ability to beat you multiple ways. We've been working on a defense for quite a while and practicing in hopes to unveil it when we needed it and we think this is a good week.

'Cover 5'- This is essentially a 2 deep shell with 5 defenders patrolling the middle/intermediate part of the field. With Cooper and Waddle both having the ability to get deep, we feel this is our best bet to cover everything. Here is how the base looks:

Nothing exotic, except we'll run pattern matching concepts to force Herbert into making difficult throws outside the hash marks towards the sideline. Pattern matching has the DB's maintaining leverage to the outside of when their help is inside. If Rome's outside WR's break in, our DB's maintain outside leverage because there is plenty of help in the middle. If Rome's WR's stay outside, our DB's maintain an inside position to squeeze the WR's against the sideline. This forces Herbert to either try to make throws into inside help, or make big plays up against the sideline.

Cougar looks- Not that kind of Cougar, though those are still cool. This look will allow us to possibly trick Herbert a little bit, as Rome likes to run combo routes and curls and such. In this look that we'll mix in often, our outside CB's will break off their man if an inside receiver of Rome breaks to the outside. This creates some conflict because at first Herbert thinks that area is wide open, but right after the inside WR/TE breaks to the outside, that outside CB is rolling back down towards him and that outside WR is now bracketed by the safety over the top and the inside WR/TE's original defender peeling underneath. This is how that looks in action:

Run game- With all the attention paid to Herbert and his WR's, we know Rome has two very good young RB's as well. We feel our defensive line is pretty strong against the run to begin with, but Darius Leonard will be joined by Quincy Williams this week for when Rome goes run heavy. Williams will be tasked with RB duty in this one and Leonard in TE duty. Should Rome go 4 wide, Williams will be the first off the field for a DB. Both these LB's are adept at forcing turnovers so we're hoping to do that here today.

 

 

 

 

Offense

 

.Strategy 

 

This week we are going smash mouth football, controlling the clock and running at a non existing lb group. Shorten the game, tire out the defense and move the chains football. Run-Pass 70-30

 

Running game. 

 

Camden has some major personel issues headed into this week with one actual healthy legit LB.  The other options are a nickelbacker/safety, an rush backer, and a special teamer with one snap this season.  

With one of BDL premier lines we are just going to go right at this defense in the run game.  While the front four has some solid players we love our blocking and are gonna run Power o and zone plays to use our lines athleticism to outnumber the d line and get to the second level from our base formation. 

 We also plan on bringing in Arnold for Waddle a good amount as well to bring more beef to get solid run plays    For these formations we'll line all three TE on one side of the line and use pitches and off tackle plays.  Once they over commit we will run some counters and naked boots to the vacant side .  Harris - Swift 70-25,.   Lindsey gets a handful of snaps on long downs and distances 

Passing game 

Most of the early down passing is going to come off play action.  With the defense looking into the backfield, we feel we can hit Waddle for one or two deep balls, even if the corners are good, he is hard to keep up with.  Cooper maintains as the underneath guy with crossing routes, slants, and drags off play action to get him the ball.  We will occasionally roll out to give herbert a run or pass option.  Also we will occasionally put Uzomah in motion as we can still either run or throw depending on what Herbert sees.  We’ll make sure to give Howard and Arnold go routes. opportunity as we don’t think Camden will bother much with him. We will target whoever quincy Williams is on early and often as he's a rush lb who has looked hopelessly lost in coverage. 

In longer downs and distances we'll go trips four wide. We'll run combo routes with Renfrow, Waddle and Cooper with Devurnay being the lone wr on the short side of the field.  We'll generally motion Waddle into the trips from the far side to check for man or zone.    In zone we'll hit seams floods and wr screens 

RPO 

With the linebackers needing to worry about the stretch runs it can lead them to abandoning their zones.  If Herbert sees this we have slants ready to go on the back end of the play or even a quick throw to the WR if the corners are playing way off to get our playmakers a chance to make a big play.

TL/DR- control the line of scrimmage. Hit the edges in the run game, safety in the box doesn’t matter with bad LB. Move the chains passing game 

 

Defense

For the first time in recent memory, Rome is going with a majority zone defense.  With Mayfield out, Camden is stuck using Ghost seeing Sam Darnold or rookie Justin Fields. Neither have shown the propensity to beat different zone looks and often can be confused easily and throw directly at a defender 

The zone defense allows us to maintain two LB on the field against four wide to help with the run game Camden is sure to lean on 

Up front we are playing contain defense and forcing everything inside to the meat wall and our pff top two rates lb pairing.  We won't get super fancy this week and we're gonna keep those qb in the pocket and force them to beat us reading defenses from the pocket. We have the type of edges that can get this done.  Our majority zone defense will also allow us tp keep eyes in the backfield. 

On the back end we will be mixing every zone imaginable, cover 2, regular and sink.  Cover three regular, flats and cloud, cover six and even cover four for longer downs and distances. We are going to force Camden to go on long drives and get consistent qb play for four quarters. We'll also allow a corner or lb to bring a zone blitz on occasion to make sure the qb isn't getting comfortable seeing base zones all day 

We rotate up front consistently with our solid depth. Dunlap gets more early down work with Takk subbing in when needed on third down. Blacklock replaces McDowell on long distances and we'll even rotate Dunlap inside on occasion in obvious passing downs 

If Camden goes three or less wide is when we will show some man with Carter getting safety help on one side, Humphrey on an island on the other.  Dean in the slot with Campbell on the TE and Milano on the RB. Other safety will be single high.  Dean is the number two corner if they run bass with LVE coming in for Carter.  Continue majority zone but when in man LVE would get TE 2 or RB 2.  If for some reason its five wide, Jenkins replaces Campbell for more zone speed 

TL/DR: Keep the qb in the pocket. Mixture of zones to confuse and not allowing them to spread us out to use run game. .  Make them get consistent qb play on long drives and keep the runnjng game on lock down

[SirA1]

[MD4L]

I don’t see Camden’s QBs face planting as they did on Sunday but it is hard to see them leading long drives and making it happen in the redzone. Conversely, Rome’s gameplan to run the ball catches Camden by surprise. Give me Rome.

[VigilantZombie]

I like both teams, both gameplans. But in what I think could be an interesting game for both defenses, I think Romes offense will perform just enough better than Camdens in a close and low scoring matchup. 

14--10 Rome

[Pickle Rick]

Like the gameplans here.  I think the run game from Rome executes more and controls things.  Rome by 10 

[RedGold]

I think Rome actually went a little too heavy on the Run Game,  but it doesn't stop them from getting the W.    

[Scoundrel]

This one is tough for Camden because of Darnold. But with these weapons I think he could put up more of a fight than some might think. Especially with going some man against he 3 wide and these weapons. Yes Rome is going majority zone but there will still be some places they get beat even there. However Herbert is the difference maker here and does enough to out duel the Camden offense. 
This made me laugh

“This week we take on the ever puzzling defense of Rome, where they can do things that are seemingly impossible like double cover 2 WR's on 'every play' while also running multiple coverage schemes at the same time.“

[RuskieTitan]

21 hours ago, MD4L said:

I don’t see Camden’s QBs face planting as they did on Sunday but it is hard to see them leading long drives and making it happen in the redzone. Conversely, Rome’s gameplan to run the ball catches Camden by surprise. Give me Rome.

The problem for Camden isn't just this past Sunday's performance, Darnold looked different at the start of the season. But the past month he's reverted back to Jets-Bust-Darnold, and that's what is crippling. It's a consistent pattern now.

Rome, MD summarized it well.

[Ragnarok]

While Rome may have won the matchup, Camden won the battle of wit.

[PR]

As a Panthers fan I can honestly tell you that darnold is a victim of his receivers. They have dropped so many passes it's ridiculous.

[pheltzbahr]

On 10/26/2021 at 8:17 PM, SirA1 said:

This sums it up nicely for me.

[WFLukic]

Thrse two brought it. Love it.

Obviously Darnold doesn't have the same caliber of weapon (outside of Moore) IRL as he does on this pretty stacked Camden offense, but I do think it's tough to see sustained success in any regard, due to that Rome back 7 even if they don't bring a great pass-rush.

Rome's offense should have some success given it's overall a very solid unit, but Camden's young D is developing by the week and I think can play both the pass and run well. On reflection, and in particular having seen how well Allen and Reader are playing, my concerns about Camden's pass-rush were misguided.

I think its a close battle, Leonard makes a play to give Camden a chance to win it but Darnold isn't able to take advantage as Rome's secondary holds on.