BDL 2023 Week 1 - Rome Eternals @ Ivory Coast Black Rhinos

[RedGold]

BDL 2023 Week 1

Match:  Rome Eternals @ Ivory Coast Black Rhinos

 Away Owner:   @bcb1213

Home Owner:    @RuskieTitan

 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]

Rome

QB Justin Herbert

RB D’Andre Swift 

WR Amari Cooper 

WR Jaylen Waddle

WR Keenan Allen

TE Zack Ertz

LT Tyron Smith 

LG Michael Onwenu

C Ethan Pocic 

RG Chris Lindstrom

RT Ryan Ramcyk 

 

RB Najee Harris

TE Dalton Kincaid  

TE Luke Musgrave

WR Juju Smith Shuster

WR Jonathan Mingo

OG O’Cyrus Tirrence

OT Bernhard Raimann

TE Cade Otton

 

Edge Matt Judon

NT Dalvin Tomlinson 

UT Denico Autry 

Edge Jaelan Phillips

LB Matt Milano

LB Nick Bolton 

CB Jamel Dean

CB Patrick Peterson

CB DJ Reed

S  Kyle Hamilton 

S Andre Cisco 

 

Edge Shaq Barrett

Edge  George Karlafitis 

INT Andrew Billings

INT Shelby Harris 

LB Foye Oluokon 

CB Michael Carte

CB Daron Blandr

S Grant Delpit

 

 

 

 

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos

Ivory Coast Offense

QB - Aaron Rodgers

RB - Nick Chubb

WR - Terry McLaurin

WR - Amon-Ra St. Brown
WR - Jordan Addison

TE - Evan Engram

LT - Trent Williams

LG - Damien Lewis

OC - Josh Myers

RG - Zack Martin

RT - Chukwuma Okorafor

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RB - Miles Sanders

RB - Antonio Gibson

FB - Khari Blasingame

WR - Jalin Hyatt

WR - Chase Claypool

TE - Albert Okwuegbunam

OL - Josh Jones

OL - Quinn Meinerz

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Ivory Coast Defense

DE - Myles Garrett

NT - Teair Tart

DT - Da'Ron Payne

DE - Khalil Mack

MLB - Devin White

OLB - Alex Anzalone

CB - Greg Newsome II

CB - AJ Terrell

NCB - Trevon Diggs

S - Jordan Fuller

S - Kyle Dugger

------------------------------------

DE - Chase Young

DE - Will McDonald IV

NT - Christian Barmore

DT - Devonte Wyatt

DT - Keondre Coburn

LB - Patrick Queen

CB - Samuel Womack

S - Jordan Whitehead

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by RedGold

[RedGold]

Rome

Formations /Approach 

With a full and healthy roster, we currently are able to use multiple formations including what we have listed as well as 4 WR, 5 WR, 2 TE and even a jumbo 3 TE set

 

Passing game

Per usual in Rome we are looking to open up the air and let Herbery and company eat.. Ivory Coast has done a solid job of adding some more talent to their secondary in the past season but we think our weapons still have an advantage if they are playing man. Up front, we believe we can neutralize their biggest defensive strength in their edge rushers with our Smith and Ramcyk tandem. Our back will generally help chip on the Smith side to help him if needed. We have the best interior and football and should be able to stop the Ivory interior

On the outside, adding Keenan Allen will be huge to this offense in the slot and he will be a heavy target for Herbert this week.  Even saying so, we have confidence in all of our WR to operate in all three levels of the field and will allow Herbert to throw to the open man.  We are going to incorporate much more two TE this year and get those guys involved.  Moreso than normal this week with a lackluster LB team in Ivory Coast.  

Per usual, we have our zone busting flood zones and spread plays ready in case of a majorirty zone defense.  

Our running game will concentrate mainly on the interior behind our guards.  We want to get into the second level with some power foorball using two TE.  One going in motion and acting as a defacto full back.  We will run power Os, traps, counters, and dives this week in an effort to wear down the defense.  We will work in a couple deep shots to Waddle off of playaction rollout in this formation

We also plan on incorporating the screen game to act as an added aspect of our run game.  Expect RB screens which should also help slow down their pass rushers.  Also a few quick bubble screens for when they play off coverage early.  If we are seeing a lot of zone, we will flex out the TE and really flood a zone

 

Defense

With Aaron Rodgers coming into town, the name of the game is getting after him and not allowing quick hitters.  We plan on pressing the WR and  bringing the pressure mostly to Aarons right side and forcing him left and throwing off his body.  In his younger days Aaron could do that, but he doesn't like to do it as much these days

We have Peterson and Reed on the outside with Dean on the interior.  They will just play their positions and mirror whatever comes against them..  We will play a mix of cover three zone and cover two zone behind it.  When we blitz off the right side we will generally play a zone behind it, when we don't we will have a cover one high shading towards McLaurin.  Our zones will be majorities cover three with a cover two rarely used but we want to show it to keep Rodgers honest

Nick Chubb is an awesome weapon but we trust our front to be able to gang tackle him quickly if he gets past the line.

Billings will rotate for Autry on short  yardage while Judon slides inside with Barrett coming outside on obvious passing downs.  Karlafitis and Harris are there for when a lineman needs a break.  Hamilton has the TE in coverage when not in zone

 

 

 

 

Ivory Coast

Motivation: Kick the season off right against Rome.

Offense

Primary Formation: 11 & 12 (Single Back, Shotgun and Bunch formations)

Running Game Focus:

Nick Chubb is our primary back, but we now also field a more balanced backfield, with Miles Sanders and Antonio Gibson providing Chubb with some breathers and spilling him on third and long. We moved on at center from Jason Kelce, but welcome Josh Myers and slide him between our returning Guards Martin and Lewis who will help get him acclimated quickly. We brought in Khari Blasingame to operate as our fullback when we feel the need to pound the rock for short yardage as well as I-formation looks, and Josh Jones will provide the 6^th OL support in goal line situations.

·         Establish the run early and often, setting up the play action pass

·         Leverage double team inside blocks to support the center and get to the second level (linebackers)

·         Use delays and counters to catch the defense off-balance

·         Feed the Chubb, then fleece the defense with Sanders and Gibson

Passing Game Focus:

We’re going to use pre-snap motion to allow Rodgers to read the defense and make adjustments at the line. We’re going to focus on keeping Rodgers upright, featuring chips and blocks by our tight ends and backs, primarily on the right side. Our receivers are fast and quick, and we plan on allowing Rodgers to dissect the defense, as we feel confident someone will be winning their route on every play.

·         Protect Aaron Rodgers

·         Utilize the play action pass established from the running game

·         Focus on short and intermediate routes, leveraging crossing routes to allow for our quick receivers to separate and create space

·         Take advantage of our athletic tight ends and shift them out for mismatch opportunities

·         Have a receiver threaten deep regularly (Hyatt) and take the shot when the defense allows; otherwise keep one route deep to stretch and let us operate underneath

·         Against Zone we’ll utilize flood concepts against one side of the field

·         Against Man we’ll feature slants, rub routes, and stop-and-go routes

Defense

Defensive Formation:

The 4-2-5 alignment will be the primary alignment against three receiver sets. Payne and Tart will man the middle, Tart handling more of the nose duties with Barmore supporting him. Garrett and Mack start on the edges, with rotations to keep them fresh all game long. Devin White and Alex Anzalone are the off-ball linebackers, with White being the primary linebacker stepping up to the line. Our trio of cornerbacks will be Greg Newsome II, Trevon Diggs, and AJ Terrell. We plan to use Newsome II and Terrell as our boundary corners, with Diggs manning the slot and providing him with more playmaking opportunities. When Rome goes with 2 receivers or fewer, Diggs will come out, and Patrick Queen will come on to take the weak-side linebacker spot, with Alex Anzalone taking the strong side and Devin White holding the middle. Fuller and Dugger will operate at the safety spots, rotating the primary deep safety in cover-1 to avoid tipping anything pre-snap. If and when Rome uses 4 receivers, we’ll counter by having Okereke come out and bring in Samuel Womack as the dime back. If they ever go 5 wide, we’ll play a mixture of zone coverages with 4-1-6 personnel. 

Against the Pass:

We’re going to have our defensive interior focused on penetration and eliminating room to step up in the pocket. We’re confident our edges will collapse the pocket around Herbert, and prevent him from being able to slide out of the pocket. We’ll sprinkle some wide 9 alignments with our edges on obvious passing downs, as well as throw our pass rushers on the field together. We’ll primarily use man coverage to play tighter to the receivers, trusting our defensive line to make quick work of their offensive line, and we will keep eyes on anyone trying to come out of the backfield

·         Pressure Herbert up the middle

·         Utilize A-gap blitzes with linebackers (Not blitzing often)

·         Always keep at least one safety over the top

·         Play tighter to the receiver, but not focused on jamming necessarily – we want to force contested catches throughout the routes

·         Use the wide nine alignment on third and longs (8+ yards)

·         Use Mack and Garrett inside on certain third and long packages

Against the Run:

We want to limit the damage done by their backfield, and will have the defense swarm to the football. If needed, one of the safeties will drop into the box for additional support, regardless of cover 1 or cover 2 post-snap. Kamara may be suspended, but they’ve still got a potent backfield that will command respect

·         Swarm to the ball carrier and secure tackles

·         Once ball carrier is secured, take opportunities to try and force fumbles

·         Utilize a safety in the box pre-snap to provide additional support against the run if needed

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by RedGold

[RuskieTitan]

Clarification:

Quote

If and when Rome uses 4 receivers, we’ll counter by having Okereke come out and bring in Samuel Womack as the dime back.

Should be having Anzalone come out; White would be LB1. Realized after the fact that I didn't have that edit in the copy I submitted to RG.

[RuskieTitan]

Good luck BCB!

[bcb1213]

Chase young inactive

Also Gl to you too Ruskie

[RuskieTitan]

[SirA1]

No Comment.

R.E.L.A.X.

Edited September 12, 2023 by SirA1

[TedLavie]

Rome O vs Ivory Coast D

Really good matchup. I'm really fond of IC secondary and I'll likely put more respect on those safeties that the average voter. With that being said, I don't think they have the depth upfront to hold off Rome for the entirety of the game. Rome's offense is quite impressive, and while I still have some questions regarding Tyron Smith play, the rest of the offense is complete and deep. Garrett and Payne are formidable, but I think they run out of gas at some point.

Ivory Coast O vs Rome D

I again love this matchup. Overall this is the probably the best game this week. I think Chubb gets it done here as I like IC interior OL over Rome DL. Ivory Coast commitment to the run is important here and will help slow down Rome aggressiveness on D. I don't love Chuks and I do think Rome has a massive advantage on the right side, but that pressing coverage can be dangerous and I think IC weapons have the quality to separate and get in space.

 

Really good game overall. Went with the homefield advantage. Rome 28 - Ivory Coast 30

[Blue]

Rome catches a huge break with Rodgers getting hurt early and no other QB on the gameday roster.

[RedGold]

I think IC creates quite a bit of pressure on the outside and forces Herbert into some risky throws.   

Rome does a great job of plugging up the run game, and as much as I like the weapons for IC..  I do think Rome manages to shut them down enough to come out with the W this week.

21-17 Rome

 

[Scoundrel]

I went IC at home in a close game. I don’t see Rome establishing a running game here and while Herbert has some nice weapons I think Chubb can churn this game out on the ground.

[RuskieTitan]

1 hour ago, Blue said:

Rome catches a huge break with Rodgers getting hurt early and no other QB on the gameday roster.

I thought injuries were only factored when they were pre-existing coming into the game?

[Whicker]

Countering Blue’s vote here. That’s now how BDL is supposed to work

[Whicker]

Rodgers was finally happy and motivated on a team that was actually well built and ready for playoff success. If it weren’t for injury he would have completely dominated the nfl this year and reset the standard for quarterbacking. He’s able to do that in this game as Ivory Coast dominates Rome here