BDL 2022 Playoffs Week 1 - #5 Cancun Kaiju @ #4 Death Valley Nightmare

[RedGold]

BDL 2022 Playoffs Week 1

Match:  Cancun Kaiju @ Death Valley Nightmare

 Away Owner:  @Blue @MWil23

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]

Cancun
 

QB Patrick Mahomes
RB Aaron Jones
WR Chris Olave
WR Elijah Moore
WR Olamide Zacchaeus
TE Dalton Schultz
LT Yosh Nijman
LG Wyatt Teller
C Andre James
RG Zion Johnson
RT Sam Cosmi

RB2 Rhamondre Stevenson
FB Kyle Juszczyk
WR4 Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
WR5 Josh Reynolds
TE2 Kylen Granson
TE3 Will Dissly
OL6 Cordell Volson
OL7 Calvin Anderson

DE Cameron Jordan
DT Jonathan Allen
NT Tim Settle
DT/DE Greg Rousseau
DE/LB Kayvon Thibodeaux
LB Kaden Elliss
LB Ernest Jones
CB Tre'davious White
CB Steven Nelson
S Kevin Byard
S Marcus Williams

DE4 Preston Smith
DE/DT Dre'Mont Jones
DT4 Travis Jones
LB3 Elandon Roberts
CB3 Jack Jones
CB4 Michael Davis
LB/S Jalen Pitre
S4 Jalen Thompson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Death Valley
Death Valley Nightmare

Offensive Starting Lineup

QB:  Tyler Huntley
RB:  Derrick Henry
WR1: Jerry Jeudy
WR2:  Michael Gallup
WR3(Slot):  Jahan Dotson
TE: Dawson Knox
LT:  Penei Sewell
LG: Jonah Jackson
C : Creed Humphrey
RG:  Alex Cappa
RT:  Morgan Moses

Bench:

RB Cordarrelle Patterson
RB: Jaylen Warren
WR: Corey Davis
WR: Devin Duvernay
TE: Tyler Conklin
TE: Connor Heyward
OT: Andrew Wylie
OG: Kevin Dotson


Defensive Starting Lineup

DE: Calais Campbell
NT: Javon Hargrave
DE: Cam Heyward
OLB; Kwity Paye
ILB: Zaven Collins
ILB: Bobby Wagner
OLB: Brian Burns
CB1:  Carlton Davis
CB2: Darren Hall
S: Jevon Holland
S:  Jeremy Chinn

Bench:

LB: Lorenzo Carter
LB: Zaire Franklin
DL: Raekwon Davis
NCB: Cam Dantzler
CB: Darious Williams
CB: Michael Jackson
S: Jordan Whitehead
S: Vonn Bell

Edited December 11, 2022 by RedGold

[RedGold]

Cancun
 

Offense

We don’t feel the need to force things downfield early; we are going to take what the defense gives us and count on the ramshackle opposing secondary to give us openings for big plays. To that end, we are coming out with a 50/50 run-pass offense with an emphasis on the short passing game of quick, safe 5-7 yard curls, slants, and flat routes to control the ball and time of possession in the first half. We will regularly keep either a RB or TE in to block next to Yosh Nijman to help him out in pass protection. We want to move Chris Olave all over the formation and set him in motion on every play to keep Carlton Davis from pressing him at the line and hopefully get Davis in the slot, where he won’t be as effective handling the quicker Olave. Screen passes to Aaron Jones will also be a staple of our early-game offense to slow down the pass rush and force the linebackers to play less aggressively. Above all else, if Mahomes doesn’t see coverage he likes, he is going to take off and pick up yardage with his feet or throw the ball away to avoid turnovers.

Running the ball, we want to lean a bit towards going at Brian Burns, but overall we’ll mix up the directions of our run plays with both Stevenson and Jones in at tailback, so the defense can’t key in on what the play is based on which back is in. Most of our outside runs will involve a pulling guard and/or center to get favorable matchups in space against the smaller back seven of Death Valley.

Coming out of halftime, we’re going to start aggressively utilizing play action to take shots downfield. All three of our starting receivers can get open and make plays downfield, especially against the Death Valley CBs who aren’t really equipped to handle speed on both the sidelines and in the slot. We will also start pulling out four wide receiver sets and motioning Aaron Jones into the slot to spread out the defense and give Mahomes an easier time reading the coverage, especially with Olave going in motion pre-snap regularly. Our running game will follow a similar philosophy to the first half, with the primary difference being a higher emphasis of pass plays to runs, along a 65-35 pass-run ratio. Mahomes brought us this far, and we’re going to trust him with the offense in the second half to bring us to the next stage of the playoffs.

Defense

This week, we enter a new season, winner moves on, and the loser goes home. We've been eagerly awaiting this opportunity after a long drought that has included rebuilding, roster overhaul, and building through the draft, starting with gaining momentum the last 3 weeks of the 2021 season. After a close tie and then a humiliating blowout loss at home, Death Valley's owner has given us some nice bulletin board material going into this week:

  Quote

...this time, I intend to put my stamp on the division and remind Cancun that they're still the little brother and a few big names won't save them from that reality. 

All week, our defense was given "little brother" T-Shirts to practice in as a nice reminder of the lack of respect that Death Valley has for our team as a whole.

As a defensive unit, he had the following to say:

  Quote

Cancun has a respectable defense of the line but I don't believe it's an elite defensive line.  They have a sub apart linebacker group even though they believe otherwise...

...For a defensive line that's supposed to be elite??? 

...they are not guys who are going to get to the QB and average corners when Tre White is not on the field.

After winning our last matchup, coach @Blue gave the team the Monday off to rest, but the entire defensive unit came in early Monday morning to get after it in the weightroom, digest the game-plan, and watch film, as Coach @MWil23 readied the defensive unit with motivation throughout the locker room, challenging the DL and LB with a "Subpar" heading at the top of the gameplan sheet for the linebackers and "Overrated" for the defensive line.

Tre'Davious White decided to personally hand out "average" helmet stickers to the CB group for this week's practice.

Somehow Death Valley managed to claw their way to a division title this year, despite subpar quarterback play and next to no weapons at the outside skill positions. In his last 4 games, Derrick Henry has 75 Rushes for 208 yards and a lone TD, with a high of 87 yards coming three weeks ago, for an extremely unimpressive 2.77 YPC. On the season, he's at 4.2 YPC, which is below the league average for RB who are averaging 4.4 YPC this season:

https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/league-average-yards-per-carry-2022-by-year-by-running-backs

With an injured Lamar Jackson, who has been subpar even when healthy for most of the year, we expect them to turn to either Tyler Huntley or Brock Purdy at QB, since Zach Wilson is completely unplayable. In either case, we expect them to try to establish the running game and limit asking their QB to have to win the game with his arm. Huntley has some ability to run, so if he's in, we will load the box and have to account for him as a runner, but he can't do much with his arm either, but we will be fitting on him in the event that he decides to utilize a read option look or scrambles if plays break down.

To combat this, we will be going with 5 down linemen and a BEAR front if DV decides to utilize 2-3 TE sets, and a base 4-3 package in 21 personnel.

If he decides to go with 11 personnel, we will go Big Nickel with a caveat:

We will rotate the S (Byard) in the box to the TE to sink, and set the EDGE reading run/pass, with the TE side DE (Rousseau) playing a JAM/7 Technique on the TE. He will be an unblocked defender with the SAM backer plugging the B gap and the nose occupying the A gap as a 1 Tech. If the RB flares out of the backfield, Byard will take him.

Similarly, we will be exploiting the weak right side of pass pro for Death Valley, overloading that side and bumping the WLB out of the box, with options to do twists, stunts, or overload blitzes. 

From a coverage standpoint, Tre'Davious White will play man on Jerry Jeudy on the outside when he's the lone receiver, completely taking him out of the game, and daring Michael Gallup and a subpar Devin Duvernay to beat us or the young Jahan Dotson. We assume that one of them will be playing in the slot against us with Gallup out wide. We will have the option to play Cover 3, and Cover 3 Match, staying in a single high shell for most of the game to take away the running game and running backs in the passing game. 

This allows us to play man to the single WR with zone to the trips and/or field side, and we have the option to send pressure with the MLB or SS depending on whether or not the RB goes out for a pass. 

Death Valley does have a decent offensive line, as Sewell is relatively solid, with good interior play from Jonah Jackson and Creed Humphrey, but Alex Cappa and Morgan Moses are major liabilities in pass pro, having given up 7 sacks between them.

As a result, we will be utilizing an overload front on 3rd and 4th downs (should they decide to go for it):

Again, we will have the option to play Cover 3 or Cover 3 Match. If White is to the single WR side, he will play MAN, with Match to the 2+ WR side. We also have the option of NOT blitzing the SAM LB and/or the APEX, and the Apex instead can play BANG/BUMP to the Z WR with Safety help over top, or we can blitz one of those 2.

Regardless, we plan on keying on the RB out of the backfield, to make sure they don’t try to gouge us with the screen game. Our gameplan is simple overall:

Don’t let Henry or Patterson beat us running the ball or in the passing game, and very simply put, the outside weapons aren’t good enough against our secondary with a healthy White locking down Jeudy. 

If they decide to go no huddle, that doesn’t scare us at all whatsoever, given they’ll be off the field a lot on 3^rd Down, making substitutions irrelevant and giving the ball back to Patrick Mahomes, which is a major advantage for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Death Valley
Motivation: 

The motivation for this game runs deep, But perhaps not in the way that you might initially think. For me this game is about me not the opponents not the bulletin board material, not a division title, Not the Is banter of rivallry.

For me this game is about the continuation of accomplishment, the belief in myself that I can do something that many people probably believe I cannot. Winning a game in which I am the clear underdog, continuing to prove yet again that I as an owner and as a team incapable of greater things. IIm coming into this game with my best available roster and the best game plan That I have in my arsenal And when the death settles I will not have gone silent into the night.,



Offense

• Establish the running game
• Control the clock
• High % Throws in passing game
• Protect Huntley


We will be using a lot of No huddle in this game.

While the loss of Lamar Jackson is unfortunate, Our team is completely behind Tyler Huntley who despite the IRLL injury plagued Baltimore Ravens team last season Played Relatively relatively well in multiple games so thered a track record of talent.

In this game I want set the tone in the game with the run as per our norm. Running the ball up the gut with Henry, occasionally to the outside to keep the defense honest.

I will use Patterson both on the inside and on outside runs (primarily the latter) I will occassionally split Patterson out wide in this game as a receiver.  I want to run a more balamced offense in this game with a slight edge toward running. I will use Huntley on some designed runs and RPOs.

In the passing game I am not just going to target one area of the field, I am going to mix it up, use all the receivers, TEs, and RBs in the receiving game. Over the middle, to the outside short, intermediate, and deep. All routes are on the table.

If they want to load the box to stop the run we will use quick exterior passing to get the ball behind the defense.

If in long distance situations we will keep a TE back to help protect the QB, however we believe our offensive line matches up well with this defensive line.



Defense


• Contain Patrick Mahomes
• Limit the running game
• Don't let the RBs go wild in the receiving game
• Don't get beat deep


First of all, without David Bakhtiari out there, its gonna be a little 'iffy' at OT for Cancun, I intend to run some ovetload blitzes at P right tackle spot to overwhelm the OL.  With Sutton out this week, it helps allevitate some of the pressure against our pass defense.  I intend to use Jeremy Chinn in a Robber role to help disguise the defense.

We are going to run a very disguised defense, mostly zone, mixing up coverage looks (for example, Cover 3 on one side, quarters in the other and at the snap, running something completely different from the same set up, such as a Cover 2)

Bobby Wagner is gonna play the shallow to intermediate zone the middle of the field, he, Imo, especially matches up well with Schultz over the middle.  Kwity Payes job will be limiting Aaron Jones (or Stevenson if a 1RB formation) , and when theyre running 2 RBs  Wagner will maintain intrgerity for middle runs while Collins will spy Mahomes.

Holland will be our over the top Protection when in base  ( or non-DB heavy) formations

When we use a 4-2-5 or 3-2-6 defense heres what changes:

4-2-5

DE: Brian Burns
NT: Javon Hargrave
DT: Cam Heyward
DE: Kwity Paye
LB: Zaven Collins
LB: Bobby Wagner
CB1:  Carlton Davis
CB2: Darren Hall

S: Jevon Holland
S:  Jeremy Chinn
S: Jordan Whitehead

3-2-6

DE: Calais Campbell
NT: Javon Hargrave
DE: Cam Heyward

LB: Zaven Collins
LB: Bobby Wagner
CB1:  Carlton Davis
CB2: Darren Hall
CB3: Cam Dantzler

S: Jevon Holland
S:  Jeremy Chinn
S: Jordan Whitehead


In both of these formations, Whithead will be our deep safery, Holland will come into the Robber role.

In the 4-2-5 Chinn will help in the middle of the field, when there is a nickel corner on the field, Chinn or Holland will become a Blitzer, the other will maintain the robber role. The Dline will be the other rushers and we will occasionally send a LB for a 5th rusher.

Edited December 11, 2022 by RedGold

[bcb1213]

Who knew Brock Purdy would have been the better call

 

Huntley is what he is which is a limited passer who is a dink and dunk specialist.  Gettin Patterson involved is smart as he can be a mismatch when he gets man coverage from a LB.  Overall though I don't see a lot of great happening

 

On the other side i think Cancun is going to move the ball pretty consistently with Mahomes just doing what the plan calls for against a heavy zone defense and taking what the defense gives him.  

 

Cancun likely gets off to an early lead and DV just can't play catchup with their passer

 

Cancun 28-16

[Jlash]

Pretty brutal for a team to come all this way and then just be completely neutered offensively when it counts the most.

Sucks, but Huntley isn't a functional passer right now and even in his limited action shows a propensity to turn the ball over.  Cancun expected a no huddle run heavy game plan and is prepared to stop it. Awful break for DV.

[VigilantZombie]

Congrats @MWil23 @Blue

[ny92mike]

Cancun's game plan is solid I also enjoyed the defenses motivation section of the plan...Revenge is always fun...haha.

Death's game plan of going out in a blaze of glory didn't move the needle for me, but I get it.  When your starting QB goes down without a big enough name behind him, it kinda sucks going into the postseason.  Better luck next year man.

[rackcs]

It's shame for a talented team live DV to go out this way but I just don't see Huntley being able to keep up offensively, especially with Cancun correctly identifying DV's gameplan and planning for it.

[Ragnarok]

21 hours ago, Jlash said:

Pretty brutal for a team to come all this way and then just be completely neutered offensively when it counts the most.

Sucks, but Huntley isn't a functional passer right now and even in his limited action shows a propensity to turn the ball over.  Cancun expected a no huddle run heavy game plan and is prepared to stop it. Awful break for DV.

 

3 hours ago, rackcs said:

It's shame for a talented team live DV to go out this way but I just don't see Huntley being able to keep up offensively, especially with Cancun correctly identifying DV's gameplan and planning for it.

These two posts nail it on the head. 

[The Orca]

Cancun, 62-10 Bloodbath 

[LAOJoe]

Just an unfortunate time for such a key injury. Cancun is good enough that it matters.

[Scoundrel]

Huntley won’t completely flop this game. He was playing solid before he was hurt and he looked good in preseason still not a big sample size though. Mahomes had some struggles this week against the Broncos defense but he also made some big plays. I think the passing strategy for Cancun is solid in this one. I liked that DV wanted to play balanced as Cancun loaded up to stop the run as expected.  Should be a better game than some people expect but in the end Cancun gets the win.

[Pickle Rick]

DV loses in a blow out