BDL 2022 Week 3 - Flint Tropics @ Death Valley Nightmare

[RedGold]

BDL 2022 Week 3

Match:  Flint Tropics @ Death Valley Nightmare

 Away Owner: @RTTRUTH @LAOJoe

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

[RedGold]

Flint

QB: Josh Allen
RB: Alvin Kamara
WR: Deebo Samuel
WR: D.J. Moore
WR: Allen Lazard
TE: George Kittle
LT: Terron Armstead
LG: Joel Bitonio
OC: David Andrews
RG: Mark Glowinski
RT: Taylor Decker

RB: James Conner
RB: Devin Singletary
WR: Russell Gage
WR: Kenny Golladay
TE: Austin Hooper
TE: Hayden Hurst
OT: Jonah Williams
OG: A.J. Cann

DE: Nick Bosa
DT: Jeffery Simmons
DT: Grady Jarrett
DE: Deatrich Wise
LB: Josey Jewell
LB: Anthony Walker
CB: James Bradberry
CB: Adoree' Jackson
NB: Mike Hilton
FS: Tyrann Mathieu
SS: Adrian Amos

DE: Dominique Robinson
DE: Jerry Hughes
DT: Christian Wilkins
LB: Azeez Al-Shaair
LB: Christian Kirksey
DB: Rashad Fenton
DB: Julian Love
DB: Nick Scott

 

 

 

Death Valley

Offensive Starting Lineup

QB: Lamar Jackson
RB:  Derrick Henry
WR1: Darnell Mooney
WR2:  Jahan Dotson
WR3(Slot):  Tyler Boyd
TE: Tyler Conklin
LT:  Penei Sewell
LG: Kevin Dotson
C : Creed Humphrey
RG:  Alex Cappa
RT:  Andrew Wylie

Bench:

RB: Breece Hall
RB: Hasaan Haskins
RB/WR: Cordarrelle Patterson
WR: Michael Gallup
WR: Corey Davis
TE: Zach Gentry
TE: Dawson Knox
OG: Brandon Schreff


Defensive Starting Lineup

LE: Calais Campbell
NT: Javon Hargrave
RE: Cam Heyward
WLB: Kwity Paye 
LILB: Jeremy Chinn
RILB:  Zaven Collins 
SLB: Brian Burns
CB1:  Chidobe Awuzie
CB2: Carlton Davis
FS: Xavier McKinney
SS:  Jevon Holland

Bench:
Edge: Randy Gregory
Edge: Lorenzo Carter
LB: Cody Barton

LB: Jordan Hicks
CB: Anthony Brown
CB Darious Williams
NB:  Byron Murphy

S: Xavier Woods

Edited September 25, 2022 by RedGold

[RedGold]

Flint

Offense:

This week we are going to play to our strengths. Formations this week will breakdown as follows: 40% 11 personnel / 35% 12 personnel / 20% 4-5WR / a few plays left over with 6 O-linemen. Kittle will act as a WR in 4 and 5 WR sets. In 6OL formation, Jonah Williams is inside with Decker acting as the 6th on the end. He will report as eligible on these plays.

We will respect the strength of DVN's defense, the 5-techs in Heyward and Leonard Williams by frequently running double teams at them. We will try to put some wear and tear on them in the first quarter by running some power pulls and traps right at them, as well as a few tosses outside featuring Kamara and Singletary with Kittle helping to seal the edge while the Tackles reach block to get some shots on them early and get their legs burning. We will also feature a couple screens early, again with the goal of tiring out the DE's, and also because we believe getting Kamara or Singletary out in space favors us in this matchup. Lots of 11 and 12 personnel early, and a couple plays with 6OLs, likely power leads with Conner (Penny if he can't go) or Kamara. 

After getting their DB's sneaking up towards the L.O.S. with our attention to the ground/screen game early on, and putting a little wear and tear on the DL, we will open up the offense in the 2nd quarter. This week we're going to use pre-snap motion to get our players in a good position to succeed. We will motion Deebo from the Z receiver towards the backfield frequently. On some plays he will continue behind the OL at the snap and play a distraction as the pulling LG comes out to the right and we smash that side with Bitonio, Kittle, and our formidable right side in the run game. Other plays he will motion similarly, but head out on intermediate crossing routes with DJ Moore crossing back from the left. Kittle will stay in to block and buy time for Allen to make proper reads. Lazard will run an intermediate out from the slot if it's man defense, or a short curl to find the soft spot in zone. The RB will help chip off the left, then sit as a safety valve 2-3 past the L.O.S. I also have a beautiful play design out of 11 personnel that will start similarly. Deebo motions from far right again, continues at the snap behind the line of scrimmage. Meanwhile Allen bootlegs back to the right, Hooper slides out form left to right short to get eyes moving up. And Kittle will run a deep corner and actually play the primary target. All the motion should get eyes following others, but if Kittle has an appropriate cover, Allen can either take the short pass to Hooper, or take off running with his instincts. 

In the second half we will find more balance, but we think this week's matchups favor us in three areas; short-intermediate over the middle so we will work Kittle on options and WRs on crossers/drags, in the space/screen game so we'll have a couple RB and WR screens to Kamara/Deebo, and after keeping them honest, deep middle so we will set up some Play Action, then kill the DB's with some deeper shots, trusting Allen's instincts to either pick a deep shot on some 4wide sets (with the RB in to help block) or to take off running and use his legs to gain what he can if the DB's all stay home. Especially later in the game, I trust Allen's instincts and athleticism can mitigate the respect we have for Heyward. On one key 3rd/4th & short in the second half, we will have a 6OL play we like where we actually target Decker short if a deeper Kittle shot doesn't present open.

 

Defense:

Against D.V.N. there are two main threats in our assessment; Lamar Jackson and their RB's. I mean this much more as a compliment to our DB's than as a shot at DVN's WRs, but I think our group matches up well against what they bring at WR. We will not seek any particular WR-CB matchups this week. They all have talent, but none are elite. Our DB's are up to the task.

We are going to substitute at a higher rate this week than we would some weeks. We want our front 7 fresh when chasing Lamar or going head-up with Derrick Henry in the hole. Also to rest some legs in case they decide to go no-huddle later on. Nick Bosa, Jeffrey Simmons, and Tyrann Mathieu will be the 3 key guys who play more than most. With that in mind, we will probably play lots of nickel this week, or 4-2-5. It leaves speed on the field if they go heavy 3-5 WR, which we expect. But it leaves enough meat on the bone to honor what their franchise RB can do in the middle. 

In regards to blitzing we are going to be pretty conservative this week. The reason is two-fold. First because we like our DBs vs their receiving group we feel we can let our guys do their thing. The second reason is to honor what Lamar can do with his legs if we over-pursue around the edges. So we will rush with our front 4 most of the game. Guys will honor their gap assignments and stay respectful of Lamar. We will only blitz once in the first quarter, if at all. We will blitz at most twice per quarter the rest of the game. When we do blitz, our goal is to try and overwhelm the A or B gap beside Alex Cappa. We think that is where we can exploit some weakness. We will also run a few stunts along that right side even when bringing four. We will play more man than zone this week. Lots of Cover-2 Man. We will occasionally mix in some Quarters coverage out of nickel or dime. We will also run a bit of Cover-1 or Cover-2 Contain.

In these looks we will let Amos play the deep role over the top. Mathieu will lurk from the other position more often this week, to help spy Lamar or keep his eyes out for Cordarrelle Patterson swinging out of the backfield. If Patterson is on the field that becomes Mathieu's primary focus, and Jewell or Walker become the spy for Lamar, depending on the play call. But that is essentially our plan this week. Honor Lamar's legs. Respect the RB's out of the backfield. Let our talent outshine their talent in the DB v WR matchups. Disrupt up front without committing more than our front four.

If Jewell can't go, Christian Kirksey will take his place. And Al-Shaair is the first guy off the bench to give guys a rest or cover any injuries. 

 

 

 

Death Valley

 Motivation:

First of all, i need to get out of the habit of saying "we" when im the only one running DVN. Secondly we are coming into this game with a chip on our shoulder. I  am moving full steam ahead an unfortunately for Flint, theyre standing the tracks and the Nightmare Train is coming through.

Although I am feel8ng Blue about having to face the best WR Group in the league.

 

 

OFFENSE

So far what I have tried to do has not worked, its resulted in two losses. So I am changing gears.  I believe Flint will expect us to keep our run heavy ways. Assuming I am right, we are about to disappoint them.

First of all I am going to use Cordarrelle Patterson as a Wide Receiver this week, he will still see snaps in the backfield but this week due to personnel adjustments, his primary role will be receiver. I will accomplish this by occasionally putting him out as a wide receiver in a 4 WR formation, putting him in the slot in 3 man WR formations, and putting him at RB then sending him in motion to the slot.  We also welcome Mooney to the team, who we plan to target a lot in this game.

I am keeping Knox available on the bench should he be active but because of the injury, Conklin gets the start this week. We will rotate Knox in, if active, in a limited basis.

I plan to run and pass out of a few 2TE sets but for the most part, we are going to use 4 Wide out of the shotgun with a no huddle offense (running the clock to 1 second every time) to keep the defense from subbing. I dont have a great deal of necessitated bench guys this week so substitutions wont be as crucial for the offense. i want to control the clock and time of possession via the no huddle attack. The best defense is long drives and keeping Josh Allen watching with the clipboard.

I am going to use some deep routes and a lot of quick release routes to the sidelines and across the middle. I want to use some combination routes to hopefully help create cushions for moving the chains.

When throwing to the Tight Ends I use them on quick out routes, Z routes, and mesh routes.  If the defense starts to cheat up to rhe line of scrimmage or if they start the game with a heavy box I plan to attempt to blow the lid off with a deep route out of the gate.

I want to spread out their defense to make it harder for them to control the game with their defensive line.

Now when it comes to the running game Derrick Henry will still start, and we are allowing Jackson to run when he has a good opening to get big chunks of yardage.  I want Derrick Henry pounding the middle of the defense to wear them down but i also want him running some off tackle and power runs to the outside.

I am going to sprinkle in Haskins and Hall, Both as runners and receivers. I'm going to allow them to run up the middle but also use some misdirection and counter runs to try to catch the defense off guard.

One last note on the passing game  I will also sprinkle in some play action to to keep the defense on their toes and hopefully catch them over reacting for big plays downfield.

Pass/ Run Ratio this week will be 60/40.


Defense

I plan to use a lot of disguised coverages this week.  I'm going to show different  Zone looks when we are using man coverage and show some man coverages when using zones. For the purpose of not falling into a pattern I am not exclusively going to disguise our coverages, But I am going to do it enough to wear the offense can never get a feel for what I am actually doing, at least thats the goal.

I do not plan to have any specific corner shadow any specific receiver I am very comfortable with the quality of our corners to cover whichever receiver they are matched up against. Byron Murphy will be in the slot when in nickel, When in dime Jeremy chin will fly back to the dime background position.

When it comes to the run 1st of all I acknowledge the individuals they plan to use at running back can also be receivers including being split out wide. But in stopping the run, The number one thing I'm saying I am preaching this week is gap control gap control and not over pursuing. I want our linebackers maintaining their lanes and gaps to make sure that Samuel, Kamara, or whoever else is running never has a clear path.

  I plan to blitz occasionally perhaps about 25% of the time, The blitz will be coming from various looks, sending CBs, Safeties, Linebackers, etc.

I want our guys to show blitz even if they are not blitzing occasionally to try to get Josh Allen to throw the ball quicker than he would prefer and force mistakes. I will constantly rush will 4 to create pressure, not necessarily a designed blitz as much as having the Dline crash on the pocket and sending a LB in to try to disrupt the offensive timing (or get a sack.

In the passing game we intend to use more zone coverages uncoverages as to avoid getting best deep, however closer to the line of scrimmage we will use man coverage.

I am going to have Javon Holland occasionally cheat up to help with the run but with the option of dropping back into coverage because I believe he has a speed to do so.

Last but not least we need to account for Josh Allen's ability to run the ball. Hence the reason we are using more zone covered this week. Well we won't our corners is to protect against the deep ball with safety over the top, we also want them ready engage quickly should Allen decide to run.  I view Allen as as a significant threat in this regard and as such, Jeremy Chinn will have a spy on him from the ILB position.

The other part of this is the possibility of Read Option plays which is why gap integrity is so important. I want our defense to be able to read and react quickly, but I dont want that reactiom to be an overreaction, I will be drilling disciplined decision making this week in practice.

Edited September 25, 2022 by RedGold

[LAOJoe]

"First of all, i need to get out of the habit of saying "we" when im the only one running DVN. Secondly we are coming into this game with a chip on our shoulder."

 

Lol

[Scoundrel]

37 minutes ago, LAOJoe said:

"First of all, i need to get out of the habit of saying "we" when im the only one running DVN. Secondly we are coming into this game with a chip on our shoulder."

 

Lol

Lol he did call it a habit 

[VigilantZombie]

Michael Gallup is out for this game. Not a big deal, i knew it was a possibility.

[bcb1213]

I'm trying to figure out how one of Flint's big play designs is supposed to be 11 personnel but has is focusing on two TE

[LAOJoe]

1 hour ago, bcb1213 said:

I'm trying to figure out how one of Flint's big play designs is supposed to be 11 personnel but has is focusing on two TE

"plan to run and pass out of a few 2TE sets", Key word few. 35% is 12 personnel. It isn't an insignificant amount that it shouldn't be talked about but I don't think it was the main focus at all.

[bcb1213]

3 minutes ago, LAOJoe said:

"plan to run and pass out of a few 2TE sets", Key word few. 35% is 12 personnel. It isn't an insignificant amount that it shouldn't be talked about but I don't think it was the main focus at all.

" I also have a beautiful play design out of 11 personnel that will start similarly. Deebo motions from far right again, continues at the snap behind the line of scrimmage. Meanwhile Allen bootlegs back to the right, Hooper slides out form left to right short to get eyes moving up. And Kittle will run a deep corner and actually play the primary target. All the motion should get eyes following others, but if Kittle has an appropriate cover, Allen can either take the short pass to Hooper, or take off running with his instincts. "  again, 11 personnel and 2 TE?

[RTTRUTH]

8 minutes ago, bcb1213 said:

" I also have a beautiful play design out of 11 personnel that will start similarly. Deebo motions from far right again, continues at the snap behind the line of scrimmage. Meanwhile Allen bootlegs back to the right, Hooper slides out form left to right short to get eyes moving up. And Kittle will run a deep corner and actually play the primary target. All the motion should get eyes following others, but if Kittle has an appropriate cover, Allen can either take the short pass to Hooper, or take off running with his instincts. "  again, 11 personnel and 2 TE?

Simple typo, meant 12 personnel.

See @LAOJoe people know what it means…

[RTTRUTH]

1 hour ago, bcb1213 said:

I'm trying to figure out how one of Flint's big play designs is supposed to be 11 personnel but has is focusing on two TE

Typo people.

Can’t be the first. Won’t be the last

[EaglesPeteC]

Tough call here. Probably coming back to this one 

[MWil23]

Really tough call here, but I think Death Valley wins an absolute shootout. Boyd balled out while the other two did next to nothing, but Lamar, Patterson, and Henry were basically unstoppable this week...but he's not using Patterson as a RB, which is a shame considering what he did this week running the ball. However, IRL players had the better week in Death Valley and they make adjustments in the second half, get smarter, and run the football.

[VigilantZombie]

8 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

Really tough call here, but I think Death Valley wins an absolute shootout. Boyd balled out while the other two did next to nothing, but Lamar, Patterson, and Henry were basically unstoppable this week...but he's not using Patterson as a RB, which is a shame considering what he did this week running the ball. However, IRL players had the better week in Death Valley and they make adjustments in the second half, get smarter, and run the football.

 Just for clarity sake I am a little bit, Not as much as Atlanta did. But I do have him listed as a running back as well and I thought that I said I said I would be using him out of the back field also. I mean if I didn't say that I didn't say it.

[MWil23]

On 9/25/2022 at 1:22 PM, RedGold said:

First of all I am going to use Cordarrelle Patterson as a Wide Receiver this week, he will still see snaps in the backfield but this week due to personnel adjustments, his primary role will be receiver. I will accomplish this by occasionally putting him out as a wide receiver in a 4 WR formation, putting him in the slot in 3 man WR formations, and putting him at RB then sending him in motion to the slot. 

 

8 minutes ago, wwhickok said:

 Just for clarity sake I am a little bit, Not as much as Atlanta did. But I do have him listed as a running back as well and I thought that I said I said I would be using him out of the back field also. I mean if I didn't say that I didn't say it.

You did say you'd be using him out of the backfield, but primarily as a receiver. You don't make any mention of him getting any carries, but do mention motioning him and using him as a fourth receiver or in 3 man formations. To me, that's a tell that you never intended to use or feature him as a rusher, so I can't give you credit for his on field success since he isn't being utilized in that manner. That said, Henry and Lamar still combined for 200+ rush yards and 2 TD, so it's not relevant to the outcome.