BDL 2022 Week 6 - Death Valley Nightmare @ Anchorage Trappers

[RedGold]

BDL 2022 Week 6

Match:  Death Valley Nightmare @ Anchorage Trappers

 Away Owner:  @wwhickok

Home Owner:   @Scoundrel

 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]

Death Valley

Offensive Starting Lineup

QB: Lamar Jackson
RB:  Derrick Henry
WR1: Darnell Mooney
WR2:  Michael Gallup
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
WR: Corey Davis
WR: Jerry Jeudy
WR: KJ Osborn
TE: Dawson Knox
TE: Zach Gentry
OL: Conner McGovern


Defensive Starting Lineup

LE: Calais Campbell
NT: Javon Hargrave
RE: Cam Heyward
LOLB: Lorenzo Carter
ILB: Zaven Collins
ILB: Jordan Hicks
ROLB: Brian Burns
CB1:  Chidobe Awuzie
CB2: Carlton Davis
FS: Xavier McKinney
SS:  Jevon Holland

Bench:

DE: Leonard Williams
NT: Raekwon Davis
Edge: Malik Reed

CB: Anthony Brown
CB Darious Williams (NB if Murphy is ouy; will rotate if Murphy plays)
NB:  Byron Murphy
CB: Cam Dantzler
S: Vonn Bell

**If Leonard Williams is active, he is my starter, Campbell is my backup.

 

 

 

 

Anchorage 

Offense:

QB- Joe Burrow

RB- JK Dobbins

X- Ja’Marr Chase

Z- Brandin Cooks

Slot- Hollywood Brown

TE- Kyle Pitts 

LT- Andrew Thomas 

LG- Dalton Risner 

C- Erik McCoy

RG- Austin Corbett

RT- Terence Steele

Bench:

RB- Eno Benjamin 

RB- Mark Ingram

WR- Zay Jones

WR- Donovan Peoples-Jones

TE- Isaiah Likely

TE- Tommy Tremble

T- DJ Humphries 

G- Jon Runyan Jr

 

Defense:

LE- Sam Hubbard

UT- Jordan Davis

NT- Vita Vea

RE- Bradley Chubb

MLB- Micah Parsons 

SLB- Isaiah Simmons 

CB- Patrick Surtain ll

CB- Jaylon Johnson

Nickel- Budda Baker

FS- Jessie Bates lll

SS- Talanoa Hufanga 

Bench:

Edge- Aidan Hutchinson  

Edge- Leonard Floyd

INT- Greg Gaines

INT- DaQuan Jones

INT- Ed Oliver

LB- Cole Holcomb

CB- Kristian Fulton

CB- Derek Stingley Jr

Edited October 16, 2022 by RedGold

[RedGold]

Death Valley

Offense

This week Anchorage is down a pair of CBs, I want to try to take advantage of that.

I intend to use several 5 WR sets, splitting Breece Hall out wide along with Gallup, Jeudy, Mooney and Boyd (Davis will be rotated in at various spots to give other receivers break). Ill also occassionally rotate Conklin into the 5 WR sets in the slot to try to create mismatches with seam routes.

Im also going to use 4 wide receiver single back, 4 wide receiver empty with a pass pro tight end.  2 running backsets with 3 wide receivers

Single back sets with 3 wide receivers in one tight end, And 2 Tight sets, some with 2 WRs and 1 RB, some with 3 WRs and no RB.

I intend to include several RPO plays in this game as well.

I want to throw a lot of different looks at this defense.  I am not screwing around with the no huddle this week, It's going to be loud in this stadium I want to huddle and take our time and be methodical. I will still try to control the clock.

In the running game I plan to use Breece Hall it's whole running to the outside (and occassionally inside to keep the defense honest). Derrick Henry is going to be utilized heavily running up the gut but ill also use him on counter and power runs to the outside of the tackles.

Running backs will be utilized in the passing game, i wanna use them in the flat, angle routes, wheel routes, and occasionally i want to send Hall up the seam to see if I can get a mismatch.

Zach Gentry is going to see more time in this game. Not more time than Conklin just more time than he has. Gentry is a very good blocker, In 2 Tight end sets he will be on the field (the majoirty of the 2 TE sets) to help block Micah Parsons.

Im going to use Conklin when on the field primarily as a receiver on post, slant, and seam routes. I will utilize Dawson Knox in rotation with Conklin dependent upon health.

In the passing game I am going to stick with the quick passing game.

Well I will definitely throw deep a few of times in this game (Fly, Streak type routes) To try to make a big play as well as Make the defense have to respect the deep ball, Much of my passing game is going short and intermediate quick routes;
Slant, Comeback, Curl, Flat, Out, Angle, Dig, Drag, Z routes, but also mixing in some Corner, Post, Wheel, and Sluggo routes.

We are going to run a lot of combinations within each play, In other words obviously each receiving option will be running a different route,  I'm going to specifically put in some Switch and Mill concepts as well.

I ancitipate passing a bit more than running because of the lack of CB depth this week for Anchorage but i still want to be fairly balanced; 60/40 Pass/Run.

As per usual, I will rotate guys in at each position (based on my bench obviously)  To give other guys opportunities to impact the game as well as keep guys fresh throughout the game. ( This will be true for both sides of the ball)

Also as per usual Lamar Jackson will have free reign  To run when there is an opening and more so when it is necessary. If he is able to use the running game to avoid getting hit we want him to do that if he is able to pick up Positive yardage.

But we also do not want him to be afraid to get out of the Pocket and throw the ball away if there's not a positive result option (we dont want him throwing picks).

All of these guys on all fans will be getting coached all week about keeping 2 hands on the football, We do not want fumbles either.

If Dawson Knox is active I will rotate him into the game with Tyler Conklin,  Sometimes in place of Conklin,  Sometimes in place of Gentry to give our offense to receiving options at tight end (primarily the former).  The amount of his usage will  depend on his overall health and effectiveness.  If he is not not being effective active we will stop rotating him in.

Haskins will also see some snaps in 2 RB sets to help with pass pro.

Defense

This week Anchorage could go either way with their offense though we expect them to pass more. It looks like Pitts & Taylor will be back but they also habe good players at each position behind thpse guys.

I am going to run primarily zone defense in this game, I do not like the idea of trying to man up against the weapons and speed that Anchorage has on offense. So we are going to go a lot of different zone coverages. I am once again going to keep Xavier McKinney deep for over the top coverage, Cooks and Chase are legitimate deep threats.

Javon Holland will be used both in coverage and against the run depending on down and distance.  On earlier downs with shorter yardage to go I will have him lined up in a more intermediate distance with the ability to drop back into coverage or pursue the running back in run support.

I am going to be dialing up more blitzing in this game. Anchorage has a very good offensive line we're not ignoring that bring that but Joe Burrow struggles under pressure.  We will mix up where the blitzes are coming from between corners, Javon Holland (SS position), ILBs, OLBs, DL).  I planned to rush 4 at all times, As many as 5 at varying times.

Our goal is to keep their offense off balance.

I want my defense to maintain gap integrity, and I want my secondary to be keeping everything in front of them.

I'm not gonna have any shadows against the receivers I want everyone take responsibility for their zones. I am going to run a lot of cover  2, Cover 3, and Cover 4.  I will not be running cover 0.  I want our ILB(s) in the middle playing against whomever comes across the middle in addition with our NB when theyre not blitizing

Against the run, We are going to stray more toward our base defense with the linebacker group at full strength.  Anchorage is capable of running up the middle and to the outside, I do expect more outside runs how however, As long as my defense keeps gap integrity I should be able to attack the running game regardless of whether he is running inside or outside and at least limit the success.

More on the Pass 😧 Against the pass and in obvious passing situations of course, I want our secondary to be keeping everything in front of them.  My biggest goal is to limit the running game enough that it makes them have to pass more. What this would accomplish for us is to be able to blitz more up front as well as have more subpackages with more coverage personnell on the field.

I will attempt to make in-game adjustments based on the flow of their offense and what they are actually doing.

I intend to rotate my defense consistently to keep them fresh in this game.

Kyle Pitts could be slowed by a lingering hamstring issue, we however will play our defense against him as if he were completely healthy.

 

 

 

Anchorage

 

Overview:  

We welcome a hungry Death Valley team to Anchorage. No matter what shenanigans they are pulling off this week, rebranding for a game, threat of moving locations for the last time, or their Owner suiting up in the team uniform, we won’t be having any of that noise. We are going to be laser focused and prepared. Our team won’t be falling asleep against the Nightmare.
 

Offensive Plan of Attack:

We will run predominantly 3 wide and 2 TE sets this week to attack DV in multiple ways. Our 3 wide will have 4 wide capabilities by splitting out our TE and we will incorporate bunch formations out of this. We will use all of these formations but how heavy we use them will depend on what the defense is showing us either by their front or their coverage scheme. 

If we are seeing this 3 man dline with 1 or 2 backers and a bunch of dbs we are going to run a lot of 2 TE and use the second TE in a variety of roles (in-line/H Back/FB). Chase will play X and Hollywood the Z. Dobbins/Benjamin will share a 55/45 snap rotation this week. We will look for a 50/50 Pass/Run share out of this formation. We will have a power run game take over including pulls and traps with more play action and boots with a focus on quick passes setting up some deep shots when their dbs have to cheat down to help a light box. 

If we are seeing four or five man dline formations or a typical 3-4 alignment we are going to use more 3 wide and use motions to distinguish coverage and to give us 4 wide looks to spread out the D. We will run combo routes and more of a zone based rushing attack using some zone stretch and then an emphasis on inside zone as the defense spreads out. We will use rub routes and zone flooding out of bunch. We will look for a 60/40 Pass/Run share out of this formation. 

We are going to heavily attack any linebackers on the field in coverage in all formations. In our 3 Wide we will rotate Chase, Cooks, and Hollywood through the X,Z,Slot to give us a variance of attack and let Burrow target ideal matchups. We start Terence Steele this week who has given up just 5 pressures and 0 sacks in five games this season and is a plus run blocker. We will use our backs to chip and release into shallow routes. We trust Andrew Thomas on an island against anyone so most of our chips will be to help our new starter on the right side but if they overload blitz on our left side we will use our backs to help there. 

If we do see the doubling of receivers we will run primarily our 3/4 wide against any front, and combat the double teams in three ways. 1. Run off double coverage outside, opening up the middle and shallow to intermediate field on both sides. 2. Rub route after motioning so that two doubled receivers are together outside on the boundary side of the field freeing those receivers up and still having options in the middle and wide side of the field. 3. Align a doubled receiver in the slot and pull coverage deep to the middle of the field running the doubled receiver deep at the single high safety pulling three defenders with him, opening up the underneath and shallow to deep sidelines. By doing this and varying how we will counter their double teams it will give us ideal matchups in larger portions of the field and let us still have multiple options in our passing and rushing attack. 

 

Defensive Plan of Attack:

Almost all zone coverages mixed between 2/3/6 and then a sprinkle of Single High Man against 2 Wide. Load up the box and play with our heavy 4 man Dline Chubb, Vea, Davis, Hubbard against all formations. We will play disciplined gap responsibilities against the run. We will rotate our dline just enough to keep players fresh. We respect the DV passing game but their run game is the real venom and we will make sure we are fitting all gaps and containing outside to funnel everything back inside while getting as many tacklers on their rushers as possible. 

Against any 2 Wide, we will run a 4-4-3 with Isaiah Simmons, Micah Parsons, and Cole Holcomb at LBer and using our SS Hufanga in the box as #4 at the second level. Against 2TE, DT’s two gap an A and B gap each, Ends have outside contain and Holcomb and Simmons have C gaps. Hufanga is gap free and will use his exceptional instincts to key on the RB and make big plays. If they go 2 RB our Dline has the same gap responsibilities except our weak side end will have C gap/outside contain since they won’t have a TE on their side. This frees up Holcomb to track Henry while Hufanga is our Breece stopper and keys him in the run game while following him everywhere pre snap as we shift zones accordingly. When we do sprinkle in our single high man, Holcomb has TE2, Hufanga has RB, and Simmons has TE1. If they do a 2RB/1 TE set Hufanga has Breece, Holcomb has Henry and Simmons has TE. 

Against the run Parsons’ focus is to hunt Lamar. Parsons will come up to meet Lamar on any RPO action or designed QB runs. Every pass play Parsons is spying Jackson to keep him from taking off on unscripted run plays, this turns into a delayed blitz to keep Lamar uncomfortable in the pocket and rack up sacks and rushed throws as he is hunted by the Lion all game. On clear passing downs we will mix in some stunts and twists so Lamar doesn’t know where Micah is coming from creating confusion for the DV offense and big plays for our defense.

Against 3 wide we are only running our zones and will play Budda at nickel for extra run defense as well as Hufanga at the top of the box giving us coverage versatility while also allowing Hufanga the ability to scream down against the run. If they motion Breece out Hufanga will follow him. We will use Fulton at Dime against traditional 4 wide giving us a zone capable defender that is a plus run defender replacing Hufanga. Simmons is keying on the RB. Outside corners will not follow any particular receiver pre snap this game and always remain on their original side to disguise coverage. We play gap disciplined assignments against the run and Parsons has his same role as the Lamar Hunter against all formations. 

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by RedGold

[Scoundrel]

@wwhickok which pair of corners am I down this week? Denzel Ward and who?

[VigilantZombie]

1 hour ago, Scoundrel said:

@wwhickok which pair of corners am I down this week? Denzel Ward and who?

Bunting, i  Did not know if you were going to use him,  He is irrelevant though because you did not use him

Edited October 16, 2022 by wwhickok

[Scoundrel]

2 minutes ago, wwhickok said:

Bunting, i  Did not know if you were going to use him,  He is irrelevant though because you did not use him

Yeah I knew both those guys would be out. Bunting doesn’t get in games for me though so I was double checking one of my healthy corners wasn’t surprisingly missing the game on me haha

[bcb1213]

Getting Hufanga off the field for the majority of the game is a huge win for DV as he's been Anchorage's best safety.  I'm going to have to come back to this one.  Both teams want to run majority zone, although DV itrying to tlel me they are blitzing a lot by sending four guys is pretty LOL.  That also leads me to believe that Burns or Carter are gonna have to drop off into coverage

[LAOJoe]

Deleted. Read something wrong on my phone.

 

Scrolling up and down between gameplans sometimes makes me read the wrong one. So I'll double check on a computer again when I have time so I don't make a mistake.

Edited October 18, 2022 by LAOJoe

[VigilantZombie]

@EaglesPeteC  I reserve the right to demand an explanation for your vote if you're gonna vote provide a reason for it.

[EaglesPeteC]

1 minute ago, wwhickok said:

@EaglesPeteC  I reserve the right to demand an explanation for your vote if you're gonna vote provide a reason for it.

His team is better than yours 

[VigilantZombie]

2 minutes ago, EaglesPeteC said:

His team is better than yours 

 It took you a hard minute to think that 1 up huh. 

I mean at least it's an explanation, I appreciate it

[Blue]

Dobbins and Benjamin in a running back rotation ain't it. I know that's not Anchorage's preferred backfield but I don't think power running  game was the way to go even against a light DVN box.

On the other side of the ball, Lamar Jackson continues to struggle passing and DVN confusingly continues to play Gallup and Mooney over Jerry Jeudy. The Anchorage defense is scary good and might be the best defense in BDL. I think the Trappers win a brawler of a game.

[VigilantZombie]

6 hours ago, Blue said:

Dobbins and Benjamin in a running back rotation ain't it. I know that's not Anchorage's preferred backfield but I don't think power running  game was the way to go even against a light DVN box.

On the other side of the ball, Lamar Jackson continues to struggle passing and DVN confusingly continues to play Gallup and Mooney over Jerry Jeudy. The Anchorage defense is scary good and might be the best defense in BDL. I think the Trappers win a brawler of a game.

I meant to put Jeudy back in over Gallup but i fprgot...smh (at myself lol)

Edited October 19, 2022 by wwhickok

[LAOJoe]

I think this is a very balanced game. Both offenses should move the ball. The defenses are both pretty solid. DV will move the ball slowly but surely most of the game IMO with his short passes and getting the RBs involved in the pass game but he's also inviting Hufanga into the box often to be in the neighborhood of other defenders with many quick passes, since he is shadowing the RB.

 

While Anchorage on the other hand has is playing vs a defense that is playing not to give up anything big. I think Anchorage will be able to make use of that cushion to do similarly what DV will do and March slowly but surely. The difference to me is that I do think Anchorage is more likely to bust out some deep plays with some personnel matchups easier than DV and get a few more deep completions to break the stalemate. Had DV maybe tried a few deeper shots than trying to usually go quick this would have been even tougher to pick.

Anchorage 26 - Death Valley 22

Edited October 19, 2022 by LAOJoe

[bcb1213]

Both teams want to dink and dunk their way down the field and it should work for both sides with majority zone coverage being played by both teams.  So this game comes down to which team will be more effective in the red zone.  I believe DV has the advantage here with a stronger running game and Vita, surprisingly, really struggling this year in Tampa