BDL 2022 Week 6 - Cuba Smugglers @ Berlin Blitzkrieg

[RedGold]

BDL 2022 Week 6

Match:  Cuba Smugglers @ Berlin Blitzkrieg

 Away Owner:  @MD4L

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

[RedGold]

Cuba

QB: Tom Brady
RB: Dalvin Cook 
WR: Justin Jefferson
WR: Mike Williams 
WR: Rondale Moore
TE: Mo Alie-Cox
LT: Donovan Smith
LG: Elgton Jenkins 
C - Connor Williams
RG: Ezra Cleveland 
RT: Lane Johnson

RB: Travis Etienne 
RB: Jamaal Williams 
WR: Tyquan Thorton
TE: Jelani Woods
OL: Brian O’Neill
OL: Charles Cross
OL: Cole Strange

Edge: Rashan Gary 
DT: Zach Sieler
DT: Zach Allen
Edge: Maxx Crosby 
WLB: Jerome Baker
MLB: Eric Kendricks 
RCB: Rasul Douglas
NCB: Kenny Moore
FS: Justin Reid
SS: Derwin James
LCB: Shaquill Griffin

Edge: Haason Riddick
Edge: Alex Highsmith
DE: Rashad Weaver
DT: Leki Fotu
ILB: Kyle Van Noy
CB: Kader Kohou
CB: Martin Emerson 
S: LaMarcus Joyner 

 

 

 

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

RB – Michael Carter
RB – Isiah Pacheco
TE – Hunter Henry
WR – Romeo Doubs
WR – Allen Robinson
OL – Spencer Burford
OL – Robert Hainsey

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

Edge – Baron Browning
Edge – Trevis Gipson
INT – Harrison Phillips
INT – Ta’Quon Graham
LB – Jordyn Brooks
CB – Christian Benford
CB – Amik Robertson
S – Camryn Bynum

Edited October 16, 2022 by RedGold

[RedGold]

Cuba 

Intro 

We had a big win on our bye week against Gotham. It was a good win and possible momentum swing as guys continue to get healthy. The defending champions deserve our best effort as Ragnarok always brings a competitive effort.

 

Offense

We have a slight favor to our passing attack this week. Tom Brady won’t have to deal with Justin Jefferson being shadowed on non Stokes coverage assignments so we feel comfortable getting Jefferson involved on back shoulders, outs, and post corners from Donte Jackson side. There will be a route tree for Jefferson in the slot and we will line him up there for 30% of his snaps with a stronger target share (50% is a good approximation), so our top weapon can maximize a relatively balanced offensive approach.

Mike Williams has been consistent and productive this year so his target share remains strong. If Stokes and Donte continue playing sides, we’ll lean toward getting Williams on Donte’ side to take shots. We may incorporate a flea flicker or reverse trick pass with an objective to go deep to Williams at some point. We like the opportunity for success on stack formations where Williams goes next to Jefferson in the slot and allow Brady to manipulate the one on one coverage to target his big play weapons. If Berlin doesn’t bite or we can’t effectively get the ball to our guys, we’ll get some flood concepts in whether moving Alie-Cox to that side or still doing so with a flare from the RB hidden behind a similar play design.

Rondale Moore came around last week and continues his role as full time #3 receiver. We’ll get him on the field and occasionally get Tyquan Thorton as a WR at all 3 positions. His slot placement is a dead indication of our intention to run the ball.

Dalvin Cook and Travis Etienne will get a 50/30 time share split. We actually want both guys getting double digit carries while Cook retains the receiving role. Expect outside zone concepts for Etienne with toss plays aiming to spring him into the open field. Cook will get his patented counters with some RB stretch runs. Jamaal Williams get the last 20% and most of his assignments are pass blocking related but we will let him get some inside zones to move straight ahead as Berlin’s second level is not as intimidating as Brown/Williams at DT.

Our protection concepts are built to protect Brady against Quinnen Williams in particular. We throw in some 2 TE sets away from the redzone to run the ball and set up play action to help Donovan Smith against Trey Hendrickson.

 

Defense

Berlin talked about a two QB set this week and we don’t think their bluffing. We could/should/will see Malik Willis in some capacity, potentially as a short down yardage or redzone option and our gameplan for him is putting 7-8 people in the box. We are asking him to identify who blitzes as we get in our LeBeau presnap. We’ll put Crosby opposite Gary in 9 tech and have Baker/Kendricks in the double A gap look. Derwin James will be 5 yards off the LOS and we’re turning up the pressure. Berlin protects well so instead we’ll bring more guys then they can block and in hopes Willis aims to beat us with his athletic ability.

Matt Ryan is the guy we expect to start this week. We will not deviate from our intent to bring pressure this week. Ryan has been sacked and fumbled more then any QB so while we do want him never getting in a rhythm can switch to our basic Cuba 4 man rushers and expect Crosby/Gary to make life difficult for the Berlin pass game.

Unlike most weeks, we’re going to play more man coverage with one safety playing deep. Our guys play sides and Moore is in the slot. We’ll have a time when Berlin aims to prepare accordingly and in those plays we’ll put some shadow responsibility. Aiyuk-Moore, Wilson-Griffin, London-Douglas. Reid-Goedert. Derwin James is the deep safety.

We do have our preferred zone cover looks still as our primary look against Ryan. Blitzing on 35% of snaps is much higher then our normal blitz output but also means we’re mostly playing our patented cover 3. CBs are in press, we want to disrupt timing and be more aggressive in the short area game as we are comfortable if Berlin decides to test us deep. 

We did not forget about the actual RB. Willis takes a big share of rush responsibility if he plays. Otherwise, we’ll lock in on Tony Pollard with Ryan under center. Zone blitz or not, the safety inbthe box to preps for run defense. If Berlin works to implement a base 12 personnel look, we’ll throw Kyle Van Noy into the base look for Kenny Moore and move Derwin James into the box for 8 man fronts on early downs. Our idea is game planning to stop the RPO, disrupt timing on quick routes, and blitz the passer. The running back is the early down key to stop in pre snap if Matt Ryan is under center.

 

 

 

 

 

Berlin 

Write-Up

 

Offense
TL;DR – Attack the inside of the defense, get our RBs outside in the pass game, be methodical.

 

In all our sets this week, the goal is to have long, methodical drives.  We will take our shots down field to keep the defense honest, but we want inside running and quick passing that chews up clock, keeps the chains moving, and keeps Brady off the field.

 

3 WR – 60% - Drake, Garrett, Aiyuk, and Goedert.  We want to attack the interior of the Cuba defense as we think we can get a consistent push up the middle.  Ingram and Bates have been very good in the run game this year, and with Linsley between them, we think we will be able to open up holes along in the inside.  We are going to give Pollard 50% of the snaps and Carter and Pacheco will get 25% each.  We will attack the edges of the defense as well to keep the linebackers from just shooting gaps, but look for more inside running. 

 

Off of this, we will use playaction with Ryan.  Once again, we want to attack the middle of the defense with crossers, in-routes, and slants from our WRs.  Look for plenty of rub action.  We will make use of the full route tree, with us giving all our WRs chances to make plays down the field, but at least two of our receivers will be working the underneath areas.

 

We are going to have our RBs attack the edges of the defense in the passing game.  We believe Pollard and Carter especially will have an advantage against the Cuba linebackers in space, so we want to have them release into a route after playaction, typically a route that goes towards the sideline.

 

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, Goedert.  Ryan will be in shotgun and this will be used mostly in hurry up/2 minute situations.  Goedert will be flexed out.

Defense
TL;DR – Get numbers against the run, defend against the deep pass, funnel guys towards the middle of the field.

 

We are going to alternate between Cover 1 man and Cover 3 zone evenly throughout the game.  This will allow us to have Winfield up in the box to help in the run game while defending against the deep ball which the Cuba WRs excel at.

 

Defensive Line
All 4 of our starters are playing at a high level so we will rely on them to reset the LOS.  Browning will rotate in with regularity and on obvious passing downs, Z will slide inside with Quinnen while Hendrickson and Browning attack from the edges.  Our DTs will rotate in as need be with Phillips getting the most of the 3^rd DT snaps.

 

Linebackers
Kyzir will have the TE in man coverage. 

 

Tremaine is going to be focused on Dalvin in the run game and sit in his middle zone in the pass game.  He will use his length to reduce passing lanes and his size to punish anyone trying to come across the middle whether we are in man or zone.

Corners
Donte and Stokes will play outside and take the WR on their side.  We are going to have them play sides to not tip coverage.  St-Juste starts in the slot.  They will play with outside leverage knowing that Tremaine and Thornhill are patrolling in the middle.

 

Benford has the 4th WR in 4 WR sets and comes in for Kyzir.

Safeties
Thornhill is going to play deep middle all game.  Sometimes he will shade to one side or the other, but typically he will stay middle to help out on any deep shots.

 

Winfield will be up in the box to give us numbers against the run and will have Dalvin in man coverage.

Edited October 16, 2022 by RedGold

[Ragnarok]

Sadly no Linsley this game.  Hainsey steps in.

[VigilantZombie]

It'll be a minute before I decide on any games but my compliments gentlemen are very good game plans

[Jlash]

@MD4L what does this mean?

Quote

Tom Brady won’t have to deal with Justin Jefferson being shadowed on non Stokes coverage assignments so we feel comfortable getting Jefferson involved on back shoulders, outs, and post corners from Donte Jackson side.

Does this mean you're only lining him up where Jackson is?

[VigilantZombie]

3 minutes ago, Jlash said:

@MD4L what does this mean?

Does this mean you're only lining him up where Jackson is?

 Good question because that is the way I took it

[MD4L]

19 minutes ago, Jlash said:

@MD4L what does this mean?

Does this mean you're only lining him up where Jackson is?

We will avoid targeting him when Stokes is in coverage. We don’t expect Jackson to be in the slot.

[Jlash]

3 minutes ago, MD4L said:

We will avoid targeting him when Stokes is in coverage. We don’t expect Jackson to be in the slot.

Ok

[Jlash]

Foolish to avoid one of the best receivers in the league no matter who is on him, but you've got options I guess and he doesn't seem to have any particular player on player assignments in that regard.

[MD4L]

14 minutes ago, Jlash said:

Foolish to avoid one of the best receivers in the league no matter who is on him, but you've got options I guess and he doesn't seem to have any particular player on player assignments in that regard.

We’re targeting him enough to feel comfortable with that gameplan. Donte Jackson gets a lot of targets and of course we’ll get other players involved.

[Jlash]

6 minutes ago, MD4L said:

We’re targeting him enough to feel comfortable with that gameplan. Donte Jackson gets a lot of targets and of course we’ll get other players involved.

Alright. Had he decided to shadow him with Stokes you would've been boned though by avoiding him altogether though. 

Doesn't matter now in reality though. Just clarifying because I didn't understand initially.

[MD4L]

11 minutes ago, Jlash said:

Alright. Had he decided to shadow him with Stokes you would've been boned though by avoiding him altogether though. 

Doesn't matter now in reality though. Just clarifying because I didn't understand initially.

Yes, we know they don’t shadow. We targeted Surtain, that speaks for itself.

[Jlash]

34 minutes ago, MD4L said:

We targeted Surtain, that speaks for itself.

I'll let you elaborate later, I don't wanna gum up the game thread for you.

[VigilantZombie]

So 1st of all I mentioned earlier I like both game plans overall, I also like both offenses overall.

 I think one big criticism recently of Berlin has been the running back group, But I also feel like some of that criticism has been a little over the top, I think that we have seen enough from those guys when they have been featured backs to know that they are capable of doing the things in his offense that he wants them to do.

 The question is can they do it against Cuba.

 For Cuba there is no doubt in my mind the dolphin cook Jefferson and Williams are really good players, The biggest question is can they do enough with the pressure that Berlin is capable of bringing against a non mobile quarterback.

I think it was a really big mistake to put Jefferson on Dante Jackson and not on Eric Stokes. I'm not going to sit here and pretend like Dante Jackson is some superstar corner but but this season he has actually been better than Eric Stokes. 

I think the 1st half of football here could be a shootout, But in the 2nd half I feel like one team might pull away might pull away and that is highly because of both their philosophy on offense and the quality of their defense.

 For me that team is Berlin. I think their defense is good enough to really limit what Cuba wants to do on the ground and make them one dimensional, But I'm not sure that I'm confident enough to say say that Cuba's front 7 is good enough to lock dowho locked down Berlin with consistent pressure.

 On top of that, Everybody has been hammering Matt Ryan waiting for him to be the guy that Berlin that Berlin has been hoping he had signed. Tom Brady is automatically in a sense expecting expected to be great and to be able to pull anybody through to a victory.

 Unfortunately for Cuba Tom Brady did not have his best week this week, And honestly lately lately has not necessarily looked like the Tom Brady of old, But Matt Ryan despite everything hes done prior to this week I did to this week looked like the guy Berlin had hoped they did sign. I'm not typically a guy that votes on Individual game performances but I cannot overlook that reality.

 

I'm taking Berlin 24- 17