BDL 2022 Week 4- Death Valley Nightmare @ Berlin Blitzkrieg

[Scoundrel]

BDL 2022 Week 4

Match:  Death Valley Nightmare @ Berlin Blitzkrieg

 Away Owner: @wwhickok

Home Owner:  @Ragnarok

 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

[Scoundrel]

Death Valley

Offensive Starting Lineup

QB: Lamar Jackson
RB:  Derrick Henry
WR1: Darnell Mooney
WR2:  Jerry Jeudy
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 Cordarrelle Patterson
WR: Jahan Dotson
WR: Michael Gallup
WR: Corey Davis
TE: Zach Gentry
TE: Dawson Knox


Defensive Starting Lineup

LE: Calais Camobrll
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:

NT: Raekwon Davis
Edge: Randy Gregory
Edge: Malik Reed
LB: Jordan Hicks
CB: Anthony Brown
CB Darious Williams
NB:  Byron Murphy
S: Xavier Woods

 

Berlin Blitzkrieg
QB – Matt Ryan
RB – Tony Pollard
WR – Brandon Aiyuk
WR – Drake London
WR – Garrett Wilson
TE – Dallas Goedert
LT – Kolton Miller
LG – Nate Davis
C – Corey Linsley
RG – Spencer Burford
RT – Tristan Wirfs

RB – Michael Carter
RB – Kenneth Gainwell
TE – Hunter Henry
WR – Romeo Doubs
WR – Allen Robinson
OL – Royce Newman
OL – Robert Hainsey

DE – Trey Hendrickson
DT – Quinnen Williams
DT – Derrick Brown
DE – Za’Darius Smith
LB – Tremaine Edmunds
LB – Jordyn Brooks
CB – Donte Jackson
CB – Eric Stokes
NB – Benjamin St-Juste
S - Antoine Winfield Jr
S - Juan Thornhill

Edge – Baron Browning
Edge – Trevis Gipson
Edge D.J. Wonnum
INT – Harrison Phillips
INT – Ta’Quon Graham
LB – Kyzir White
CB – Amik Robertson
S – Camryn Bynum

[Scoundrel]

Death Valley

Motivation: 

The motivation this week is pretty simple. Nobody believed in my team last year during the championship. Berlin has been riding around on his high horse, Now Death Valley is out for blood. 


OFFENSE

I am going back to the well.  I'm going to start this game by power by pounding the rock both on the inside of the defensive line and on the outside. While it may be challenging to run on this D Line, I have some very good runnung backs with the ability to be physical and quick in the receiving game.  In the 1st half of this game I am going to be running a lot of 2RB Formations & 2TE formations.  I will mix in some 3 and 4 wide receiver looks. Our goal here is to pass and run out of these tighter formations  in an effort to further exhaust the Berlin defense by having more obstacles in their path using TEs & RBs via 2RB sets to block (not exclusively),  but also using these guys in the flat and on short to intermediate routes behind the DL and with the intent to get the defense to cheat up toward the line.


I am also going to utilize the pass this week in similar ways as we did against Flint. While not listed as one thing week, I will use Patterson a couple times as a receiver.

Patterson will rejoin Henry as a heavy running threat this week. 

I ntend to use Patterson, Henry, and Hall as well as receivers out of the backfield.

In the 2nd half I am going to come out with a more aggressive passing offense, using 4 Wide, 2 TE, 3 Wide, and more deep passes as well as more 'deep-intermediate' passes, spreading the defense out. I am going to show 2 RB looks and split Patterson or Hall out wide to accomplish our 4 WR sets at times to keep their dline on the field expecting run. I am going to keep the quick passing game going. 

  As per usual Lamar Jackson will have free reign to run when there is an opening. 

The idea here is to keep the game close but to wear down their defensive line in the 1st half, Then in the 2nd half when they make adjustments to what I was doing the first half, they'll be attacked with a signifcantly different offensive approach. 

For the entirety of the game once again I will be working with some no huddle offense and morso time of possession control. 

I am going to use double moves against Ahkello Witherspoon when he is on the field who has a tendency to be lax in coverage and find himself behind a step or two. 

If Cordarrelle Patterson does not play Brrrce Hall will gill his role

Defense

I think my defense matches up really well with Berlins offense. 

Their running game is not particularly strong so I definitely feel like they're going to have to make an emphasis on the passing game in order to beat Death Valley.  

Given that, I plan to run several blesses in this game this game especially with interior guys with interior guys at their guards. If Ryan cant stand, he cant throw. If he cant breath, he cant throw, and if he cant see he cant throw, I want guys in his face all day.   I am not ignoring the run we will play the run in a disciplined fashion with gap control and outside contain with use of both the dline and linebackers.

I am never going to rush less than 4. I will blitz from the OLB, CB, ILB, and occassionally the safety position. Theyve got an alright trio of WRs and capable TEs as well as RBs who can receive out of the backfield but with our safety and CB group, it should not be an issue. I will 9nce again run more Zone in this game, mixing in cover 2, 3. & 4. I'll include disguised defensive coverages again. I dont want the offense to ever get in rythym so that even if they try to go hurry up/no huddle offense, it will be short lived and they'll find themselves going 3 and out.

 

Berlin

Write-Up
Just before kick-off, a large red, black, and white banner unfurls from the ceiling.

“2021 BDL Champions”

Offense
TL;DR – Stretch out the defense, use playaction, target the linebackers in coverage.

3 WR – 60% - Drake, Garrett, Aiyuk, and Goedert.  DVN loves their base defense and has some very good INT, so we want to keep one of them off the field and make the others run back and forth.  

This week we want to attack the edges of the DVN defense.  We think our OTs have a decided advantage against the edge players of DVN, so we want to run a lot of stretch plays that allow our backs to get to the edge, use their elusiveness, and make use of cutback lanes.  We are going to challenge their linebackers to be disciplined and fill the correct gap.  We will run inside just enough to keep their defense honest as our IOL is playing very well right now, especially with Linsley back.

We will use playaction off of this stretch action to attack the secondary of DVN.  Drake is going to play a fair amount of slot this week as we love his size matchup against Byron.  We will also target the outside CBs without hesitation as all 3 WRs will run a full route tree.

We also want to attack the linebackers of DVN in coverage against Goedert and the RB.  If they have either LB in solo coverage against Goedert, we will target that match up all day.  We will flex Goedert out with semi-regularity to tip coverage and lighten the box.  Look for WR screens to Goedert’s side to get a blocker in front of the WR.  

Pollard/Carter against either LB is another matchup we want to exploit, so look for some flares and option routes from the RBs.  Off our run action, the RB will serve as an underneath/check-down option.

4 WR – 20% - Aiyuk, Drake, Garrett, and Doubs.  Ryan will be in shotgun.  Our run game will be mostly draws with some screens mixed in to keep the pass rush honest, but we will be more pass heavy here.  Look for bunch sets with Drake, Aiyuk, and Garrett in the bunch with Doubs solo on the other side with the 4^thCB.  If it’s a one-on-one, we will give Doubs a chance to make a big play against their 4th WR.  We are going to use the bunch for both WR screens as well as allowing for free releases.

2 TE – 10% - Henry comes in to give us more blocking and a safety net for Ryan.  We will use this on short yardage, goalline, or anytime we want to be more physical up front.

2 RB – 5% - We want to get both Pollard and Carter on the field at the same time to use their explosiveness and ability in the passing game to isolate a linebacker in coverage.  One of them will typically go in motion, moving in or out of the backfield, to tip coverage and force a linebacker to cover the slot.  We will run from here on a regular basis as well with the RB remaining in the backfield getting the carry.  

5 WR – 5% - Aiyuk, Drake, Garrett, Doubs, ARob.  Ryan will be in shotgun and this will be used mostly in hurry up/2 minute situations.

Defense
TL;DR – Limit the run game, erase the explosive play, make Lamar string together completions.

There are two main goals this week.  Limit the run game and take away the deep ball.  To accomplish this, we are going to play a lot of Cover 3 Zone.  This will allow Winfield to line up close to the line to give us numbers against the run game while protecting against the deep ball.  We will run some Cover 1 Man as it looks similar pre-snap, but we will use more zone as it allows eyes to be aimed at Lamar.

Defensive Line
We are going to lean on our defensive line this week as all 4 guys are playing at a high level to start the season.  While we will rotate guys as necessary, we think our starters can control the LOS and keep Henry from getting up a head of steam or Lamar from dancing around.

Linebackers
Jordyn will have the TE in man and his normal zone in cover 3, but we are counting on him helping limit Henry.

If they use a 2 TE or 2 RB set, Kyzir will come in for St-Juste and have the other RB or TE.

Defensive Backs
Donte and Stokes will play outside and have the deep 3rds on their respective sides as we believe their speed will be a big help in limiting those big plays.  St-Juste makes his starting debut in the slot this week.

Amik Robertson has the 4th WR in 4 WR sets.

Thornhill will be playing deep middle all game with an eye towards Boyd streaking down the field.

We are going to keep it relatively simple with these guys in terms of where they line up.  This will allow us to switch between zone and man without tipping the defense beforehand.

Tremaine and Antoine
These two guys are paramount to our defensive gameplan and chances to limit DVN offensively.  Winfield will be up in the box as he and Tremaine will have the two middle zones in Cover 3 but will both be more keyed into the backfield than anything else.  If Henry releases from the backfield and we are in man, whichever of Antoine or Tremaine is to that side will have him in coverage and the other will stay to spy Lamar.  If Lamar escapes the pocket and we are in zone, whichever of Antoine or Tremaine is to his side will pursue him as a spy while the other trails in their zone.  After our DL, they are the guys most responsible for limiting Henry and keeping Lamar in the pocket.

 

[MWil23]

Both teams had solid gameplans. One of these rosters right now just has too much talent. Death Valley ruins ring celebration day in Berlin with their ground and pound attack.

[Jlash]

I love how both these guys start off right away going at each other about the Bizz Bowl.

I think DVN has the better overall roster and a good plan but Berlin's gameplan is very concise, and his specific plan for Lamar/Henry is solid. I gotta re read this one after I get around to some others.

 

[bcb1213]

Berlin has some success in the screen game and for the most part the 8 in the box should limit Henry.  I think the Berlin LB are still a pretty large weak spot against the run so they won't completely mitigate Derrick.  I think the stretch running was a good idea as I've seen Wirfs run over Burns before in the run game.  However the stretch play action against a team blitzing is gonna lead to one of two big hits for Matt Ryan whose ball security, needless to say, hasn't been great.  Both teams are playing zone, which I think gives Ryan a bit of an edge experience wise as he can dink and dunk against a zone blitz while Rags is almost forced to play it with the CB trio and the old two TE may have been better as the three wide likely gets Zaven Collins off the field for Anthony Brown which is a coverage plus for DV.  In the end, despite my brain getting an anyeurism from reading the DV write up, I think Lamar just makes one of those scramble plays against a spread out zones and it's just hard for me to back Ryan right now, even if some of it is irl o line issues he won't face as much here.  

DV in a defensive Slug fest  16-13

[EaglesPeteC]

Game plans pretty even but DVN has the superior roster

[Blue]

I'm taking the revenge game narrative as well as the change in quarterbacks playing a big role. Don't understand why DVN is playing Darnell Mooney over Jahan Dotson at this point, and the DVN offensive line needs some help outside of center and left tackle, especially facing a strong defensive line like Berlin's.

[Ragnarok]

3 hours ago, bcb1213 said:

Matt Ryan whose ball security, needless to say, hasn't been great. 

He's only on track to break the NFL record for fumbles from a QB by 15.

Not THAT big a deal.

[LAOJoe]

Berlin has a hangover. 3 backup running backs and Matt Ryan aren't going to help enough vs Death Valley. I like that Berlin went heavy on the pass but Matt Ryan hasn't proven he could do anything in a while to get them the ball enough to win.

[VigilantZombie]

1 hour ago, Ragnarok said:

He's only on track to break the NFL record for fumbles from a QB by 15.

Not THAT big a deal.

 You're right it isn't that big of a deal I mean if it were 16 now we'd have a discussion lol im dead 🤣🤣🤣

[RuskieTitan]

Leaning towards DVN for this one. I think a couple of turnovers allow DV to take the lead and keep it through the second half.

[rackcs]

Yeah, sorry to Berlin but Matt Ryan is just not playing very well right now. I think he's got a better group here and won't look quite as cooked but it won't be enough for this Death Valley squad.

[Jlash]

Gameplans being close to equal, slight edge to Berlin in my mind, DVN with the better overall talent on the roster and more dynamic players. I'm gonna give the tie to the better rosters, with the skill guys who are playing better IRL.

[MD4L]

Better week will come @Ragnarok