BDL 2023 Week 1 - Hungary Hippos @ Berlin Blitzkrieg

[SirA1]

BDL 2023 Week 1

Match:  Hungary Hippos @ Berlin Blitzkrieg

 Away Owner: @PR

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

[SirA1]

Hungary Hippos

QB: Geno Smith
RB: Joe Mixon
WR: DK Metcalf
WR: Tyler Lockett
WR: Donovan Peoples Jones
TE: TJ Hockenson
LT: Garrett Bolles
LG: Andrus Peat
😄 Tyler Linderbaum
RG: Brandon Schereff
RT: Brian O'Neill

 

RB: Rachaad White
RB: Dalvin Cook
RB: Brian Robinson
WR: Calvin Austin
TE: Daniel Bellinger
TE: Ian Thomas
OL Duane Brown
OL Brady Christensen

Edge: Maxx Crosby
DT: Calijah Kancey
DT: Fletcher Cox
Edge: Will Anderson
LB: Shaq Thompson
LB: Logan Wilson
CB: Marcus Peters
NCB: Tre Brown
FS: Harrison Smith
SS: Donovan Wilson
CB: Kei'Trel Clark

Edge: Jadeveon Clowney
Edge: Frank Clark
DT: Larry Ogunjobi
DT: Javon Kinlaw
LB: Ivan Pace Jr.
CB: Terell Smith
CB: Roger McCreary
S: Quan Martin

 

Berlin Blitzkrieg
QB – Jordan Love
RB – Tony Pollard
WR – Drake London
WR – Garrett Wilson
Slot – Brandon Aiyuk
TE – Dallas Goedert
LT – Kolton Miller
LG – Ben Powers
C – Corey Linsley
RG – Nate Davis
RT – Tristan Wirfs

RB – Isiah Pacheco
RB – Kenneth Gainwell
RB – Deuce Vaughn
TE – Darnell Washington
WR – Jayden Reed
WR – Demario Douglas
OL – Spencer Burford
OL – Mike McGlinchey

DE – Trey Hendrickson
DT – Quinnen Williams
DT – Derrick Brown
DE – Justin Houston
LB – Jordyn Brooks
LB – Tremaine Edmunds
CB – Deonte Banks
CB – Christian Benford
NB – Benjamin St-Juste
S – Antoine Winfield Jr
S – Amani Hooker

Edge – Nik Bonitto
Edge – Zach Harrison
INT – Mazi Smith
INT – DeMarvin Leal
LB – Kyzir White
CB – D.J. Turner
S - Jammie Robinson
S – Camryn Bynum

 

[SirA1]

Hungary Hippos

Offense:  

60/40 Pass/Run ratio

Playbook: Shane Waldron's West Coast Offense

Goals for the game:

Get an early rushing game going with our extended stable of backs. Flow with the hot hand. 

Take advantage of a barebones cornerback room that is missing their first round pick with our four wideouts.

Make Berlin account for Geno as a rushing QB.

Pre-Snap: We will use a lot of motion by flexing out the TE/RB or by having a WR switch sides so we can read the defensive coverage and try to take advantage of the defense trying to adjust.

The keys to the WCO is to start with the short passing game to the RBs to spread out the defense and then go for the running game and deep routes later. Mixon, White and Cook all had over 50 targets last year in the receiving game so this is not out of the norm for our stable. We will be looking to take advantage on the one to one coverage on any given play as there will be one less LBer on the field out of the 3WR base.

In the running game, having four starting RBs on the game day roster it allows Hungary the opportunity to have different design elements with each back. If we find one back having particularly good success, we will give him a few more carries especially in short yardage situations. In addition to the RB, Geno also will have the opportunity to have designed QB runs as he had an average of 5.6 ypc last season. This will force Berlin to adapt and devote some sort of personnel towards Geno which will open up the WR/TE on future plays. We will look to pound the rock in early downs the further into the game we get.

In the passing game Berlin sports only two current starters in their four game day CBs. One being the rookie Banks, the other being Benford. In the WCO the ball is to get the ball out quickly for high accuracy short or mid range throws utilizing Quick Outs, Slants, Hitch and Cirner routes. This helps set up the Play Action and Longer runs later in the game. We will be running these CBs ragged with our speed at WR running horizontal routes. Hockenson will split time between power blocking for the running game and going out for routes. If he is one on one with a LBer he will become a focal point.

 

Defense:

Base formation: Cover 2 Shell

Goals for the game:

Get pressure on Love from all directions.

Stifle the running game of Pollard.

Well Jordan Love is starting. That's a thing. 

Our defensive line has been revamped. That's a thing too.

When you have pressure all across your defensive line not every guy can be double teamed. There will be cracks along Berlin's offensive line. We will aim to keep the pass rush steading throughout the game by keeping a frequent rotation going to keep the dline fresh. Our main goal is to make sure Love doesn't have time to get the ball to his receivers.

Two safeties will play deep taking away the deep pass. The corners will be mixing zone, press and off man coverage throughout the game so if Berlin tries to key on the base defense, we can turn it into some timely turnovers. Berlin has a litany of up and coming receivers, but no one that is dominant. We will trust our dline to hit home with a four man rush 

Our linebackers will be playing underneath to stop the run and to engage with the RB and TE that try to go out for routes. Both Wilson and Thompson have sideline to sideline athleticism to be able to cover the width if the field against Pollard. 

If Berlin goes 4+WR we can jump into Cover 4. 

 

Berlin Blitzkrieg

Offense
Hungary has made a concerted effort to revamp their defense this offseason.  They have added a number of talented individuals, however, we feel that we have a distinct advantage against their secondary.  Also, we trust our OL to keep Love very clean in his first BDL start.

Running Game
We want to attack the interior of their DL as Kancey and Ogunjobi have been limited in practice this week, Kinlaw has shown nothing, and Cox is getting old.  Look for us to pound the inside early behind Powers, Linsley, and Davis then attack the edges once their defense starts sucking up. 

We want Pollard to get roughly 20 touches between the run and pass game.  Pacheco and Gainwill will each get 8-10 touches.  All 3 can catch, so we will use all three in both facets.  That said, we want to stay balanced on offense, so we want to hit that 30 rushes total between all three backs.  Vaughn will only be used on one package, but we plan on giving him a couple of chances to make something happen.

3 WR – 65% - Garrett/Aiyuk/Drake/Goedert/RB – Our base offense.  Garrett and Drake will be outside running every route.  Aiyuk will be in the slot running every route.  He will go in motion frequently and will be used as a blocker on run plays.  Goedert will do his thing and be a security blanket for Love.

We will use a fair amount of playaction and rollouts as we want to force the defense of Hungary to wait, watch, read, and have to defend for longer.  That will expose their secondary even more.

2 TE – 10% - Garrett/Drake/Goedert/Darnell/RB – This will be used in short yardage and goalline situations.  We will make use of Darnell’s size in the red zone to score TDs and blocking abilities in short yardage to move the chains.  Between Drake, Goedert, and Darnell, we feel confident about winning a jump ball.

After a couple short yardage runs in this set, we will run fake and take a deep shot.

2 RB – 10% - Garrett/Aiyuk/Goedert/Vaughn/Pollard – This is the Vaughn package.  We want to get him and Pollard on the field at the same time and dare Hungary’s back 7 to navigate that explosiveness.  One or both will move in and out of the backfield and line up anywhere on the field.

We will simply take advantage of matchups from there especially going after their 3rd LB or S.

4 WR – 15% - Garrett/Aiyuk/Drake/Reed/RB – Spread offense for hurry up and 2 minute drill.  Jayden goes into the other slot.  We trust our OL to keep Love upright and give him time to read the field.

Defense
TL;DR – Attack the guards, take away the deep ball, limit the run game, make Geno beat us in the intermediary.

We will most typically use either Cover 3 Zone or Cover 1 Man with Cover 3 Zone being our most common scheme.  They look similar pre-and-post-snap and will allow us to limit the deep ball.  We want to eliminate chunk plays, especially with these WRs.  We will incorporate some Cover 2, both zone and man, to switch things up a bit.

Defensive Line
Hungary has a number of good OTs and a very promising young C, but their guards are either unproven, bad, or injury-prone.  We are going to go after those guards.  We will lean on Quinnen and Derrick to blow up everything along the interior and make Geno’s life suck.  Our defensive ends will look to contain runs to the outside and keep Geno in the pocket on their way to the QB.  We will make use of inside loops to bring an edge rusher up the middle and see how their interior defends against it.

If they go with a heavy set, Mazi will come in to play NT and we will run a 4-3 under.

MLB
Tremaine will do what he does best – defend against the run and work a middle zone to use his wingspan to limit passing lanes.  He will have the RB in man coverage in Cover 2 man. 

WLB/SS
Jordyn will slide into his zone when in zone.

Hooker will almost always be closer to the LOS pre-snap to give us numbers against the run.  He will slide into his zone when we are in zone. 

In man coverage, Jordyn and Hooker will take the RB or TE that is on their side of the field.  If Jordyn is to the left and the TE is on that side, he will have the TE.  If both TE and RB are to one side, the defender on that side has the player who releases first.  If either the TE or RB stays in to block, the corresponding defender will come on a delayed blitz. 

Cornerbacks
We have a young cornerback group.  They are all very athletic.  So we will put them in positions where they can think less and react more.  We will have them stay on particular sides to not tip coverages.  St-Juste will start in the slot, but we think all 3 of our CBs can play inside or outside, so we will have them follow the man that lines up across from them.

If they go with a 4 WR set, Turner will come in for Brooks and take the other slot.

FS
Winfield is going to be playing the deep safety role to allow him to help our young CBs, act as our last line of defense, and go after the ball.

[Ragnarok]

Donovan Wilson out for Hungary.

[Ragnarok]

Also, St-Juste starts for Washington and moves to the nickel in 3 WR sets.

And Turner split snaps with Awuzie.

Not as dire as you want to make it seem.

[Scoundrel]

On 9/10/2023 at 10:19 AM, SirA1 said:

Well Jordan Love is starting. That's a thing. 

This made me laugh considering the performances of the two QBs week 1 and their offensive production. Love does need to get that completion percentage up though. 

[PR]

8 minutes ago, Scoundrel said:

This made me laugh considering the performances of the two QBs week 1 and their offensive production. Love does need to get that completion percentage up though. 

Geno's was a factor because both of his starting OTs were injured by half time.

[Scoundrel]

8 minutes ago, PR said:

Geno's was a factor because both of his starting OTs were injured by half time.

Ok… I’m just pointing out the attempted shot at Love and how he played well

[SirA1]

Going with the home team. I think Geno is pressured constantly with the dominate DL of Berlin.

I don't see much of a running game getting started.

Berlin 21 - Hungary 10

[TedLavie]

Hungary O vs Berlin D

I do worry about Berlin DL depth, but I think they dominate inside. Contrary to Rags, I'm actually not a fan of Linderbaum in pass protection and I think Hungary guards and center will have hard time containing Quinnen and Brown. I do like Hungary matchups outside the numbers, but I've always thought you win or lose in the trenches, and I think Geno getting pressured in his face a lot won't help him. Don't love Hungary running backs either and Berlin DL is pretty stout, so I don't love Hungary running game either.

Berlin O vs Hungary D

With Wilson out this week and Smith and Martin playing ST only for their NFL debut, McCreary is basically the only body to play 5th DB. Not unlike the matchup on the other side, I think Hungary DL is pretty good and could do some damage. But not to the same extent as I rate Berlin OL higher than Hungary's and I think they have more of an advantage in the WR/DB department. I also think Berlin running game could work well enough.

 

Berlin 24 - Hungary 7

[RedGold]

Berlin wins in a squeaker.  27-24.

Really liked both teams gameplans,  both have, more than, solid squads throughout with some obvious holes that need patched.   

 

[Whicker]

Reading through Hungary’s gameplan first I felt like I was going to vote for them to win. I appreciate the desire to best Berlin’s underwhelming CBs and wished they’d just gone 4 WR base and beat up on the Berlin secondary. But then I looked at their WRs and I don’t even know who two of them are so I question right away if they could consistently beat the Berlin corners that I also don’t know. 
On the other side I think Hungary’s secondary is equally lacking as I don’t know hardly anyone including the guy who’s out so his back up is probably even worse. Berlin’s WR talent and Jordan Love thus far showing competency is able to take advantage of this poor secondary rather than the opposite. 

[Scoundrel]

Hungary came with a good plan but so did Berlin. And I just feel Berlin is the more well rounded team right now.

[Blue]

I think Hungary had a fine gameplan for this, they just don't have the talent to carry it out on offense or the depth to keep it up on defense. How much do I really need to say about Geno Smith playing with the same receivers he had IRL this week? Nobody believes these are world-beater corners for Berlin, but they're not worse than what the Rams have IRL and still limited Geno--and personally, the idea of using Geno Smith as a rusher just isn't a real threat. I think Quinnen Williams has himself a game against the Hungary interior as well, which is a problem when their running back group just isn't very good.

The defensive line doesn't have much pass rush juice past the starting four, and Kancey only played 11 snaps. Berlin's plan to pound the ball with 30+ touches to the backs is going to wear down the defensive line early. Then it becomes a problem that this is a really, really ugly cornerback group for Hungary going up against Garrett Wilson and Brandon Aiyuk this week.

I don't believe this is a blowout by any means, but I don't see Hungary pulling out a win here. Maybe it's a different story if these teams meet later in the season or in the playoffs.

[rackcs]

Blue pretty much nailed most of my thoughts here. This Hungary offense just isn't super potent right now with a mediocre run game and Geno Smith running the show. Jordan Love was ok this week, not great, but he doesn't need to play lights out with the weapons he has on offense here. On top of that, despite Hungary pointing fingers at Berlin's secondary, their corners are in worse shape imo.