BDL 2023 Week 9: Rome Eternals @ Baltimore Corviknights

[RedGold]

BDL 2023 Week  9

Match:  Rome Eternals @ Baltimore Corviknights

Away Owner:   @bcb1213

Home Owner:   @yup 

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 

Slot WR Keenan Allen

WR Jaylen Waddle 

WR Amari Cooper 

TE Dalton Kincaid 

LT Terron Armstead 

LG O'Cyrus Torrence 

C Ethan Pocic 

RG Chris Lindstrom

RT Ryan Ramcyk 

 

RB Alvin Kamara 

TE Luke Musgrave 

TE Cade Otton 

WR Khalil Shakir 

WR Jonathan Mingo

OG  Michael Onwenu 

OT Bernhard Raimann 

FB Patrick Ricard 

 

Edge Jaelan Phillips 

NT Dalvin Tomlinson 

UT Denico Autry 

Edge Shaq Barrett 

LB Foye Oluokon 

LB Jordan Hicks 

CB Marlon Humphrey 

CB.DJ Reed 

CB Da'ron Bland 

S  Grant Delpit 

S Kyle Hamilton 

 

Edge George Karlaftis 

Edge Bryce Huff 

INT Andrew Billings 

INT Shelby Harris 

LB Cole Holcomb 

CB Jamel Dean 

CB Patrick Peterson 

DB Jalen Thompson 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baltimore Corgiknights
QB- Lamar Jackson
RB- Alexander Mattison
X- Mike Evans
Z- KJ Osborn
Slot- Jahan Dotson
TE- George Kittle
LT- Penei Sewell
LG- Kevin Dotson
C- Creed Humphrey
RG- Alex Cappa
RT- Luke Goedeke

RB Jaylen Warren
RB Cordarelle Patterson
WR Darnell Mooney
WR Braxton Berrios
TE Logan Thomas
TE Durham Smythe
OL Morgan Moses
OL Dan Moore

DE – Brian Burns
DT – Leonard Williams
DT – Javon Hargrave
DE – A.J. Epenesa
LB – Bobby Wagner
LB – Leo Chenal
NB – Tre Herndon
LCB – Carlton Davis
RCB – Byron Murphy
S – Xavier McKinney
S – Jevon Holland

Edge 3 – Kwity Paye
Edge 4 – Odafe Oweh
INT3 – Raekwon Davis
INT4 – Jonah Williams
LB 3 – Zaven Collins
CB 4 – Chidobe Awuzie
S3 – Xavier Woods

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by RedGold

[RedGold]

Rome

Formations /Approach 

Formations /Approach 

This week we are bringing back the air raid up tempo offense. We don't think the opposition can score with us so we are gonna press the action 

Up Front /the running game

 

Up front we like our tackles against their edges in the run game and we will likely run more at whichever side Burns is on as it will continue to tire him out with our tempo offense and he's a subpar run defender.  Now we still will run some counters off this outside running strategy to take advantage of the overagressive defense and we like our interior on qunnen doubles to move their line backwards in these situations.  We also have brought in a FB this week for some power football in short yardage and goal line situations   With only two active LB on the Baltimore roster, we feel like any bigger sets give us an advantage after we break the line of scrimmage Kamara and SwiftKey see about a 50/50 snap split .  We also plan on a couple end arounds to Waddle as he'll often be in motion anyhow

The passing game 

Baltimore has run a lot of zone the last couple of weeks and we anticipate more of the same here. We will of course incorporate the zone busting floods and seams but we also are going to run a bunch of bubble and WR screens after motioning into trips.  This should give us a numbers edge for some chick gains to Waddle and our other playmaker. Shakir will get some run in four wide to utilize the his playmaking ability as well. Kincaid gets a lot of looks up the seam and underneath as our security blanket.  Allen just does his slot moving the chains while Cooperstown runs the full route tree. We also want to hit Swift/Kamara in the flats and if we see man on wheels and dogs.  Also anticipate RB screens to the Burns side to take advantage of his aggressively play style 

The QB 

Justin Herbert has been outstanding this year and we are going to lean on him this week to make the right reads.  We obviously have a way better line than he has in real life life and when given time this year, his rocket arm has been deadly 

 

Defense 

This week we face the fighting Lamars.   We need to make Lamar beat us as a passer   We are going to play a cover 3 zone, cover one man base with a more heavy reliance on zone than normal as we don't want to turn our backs to the Lamar.  When we do play man we have a qb spy assigned.  They majority of the our blitzes will come with zone behind it.  We want to try to keep Lamar guessing 

Contain Strategy. 

We are going to have our edges play more contain this week as we want to keep Lamar in the pocket    When we get blitz it will be from Lamars right as he loves too rolls left and throw against his body across the field for reasons no one understands 

Up front 

Autry and Karlaftis get short yardage and early down work at edge with Billings playing inside.   Harris comes on for Tomlinson in obvious passing downs with Autry back inside, Phillips and Shaq at the edge. Huff serves as depth at edge    As mentioned earlier we want to funnel everything into the middle of the field including their run game 

Back 7 in man 

Humphrey gets Evans while Reed Gets Dotson Bland gets Osborn. Dean gets any fourth WR  while Hamilton gets Kittle while playing in the box.  Hicks gets the RB. Foye will be our underneath man /Lamar spy but he will also cover the TE when we blitz Hamilton as well. Delpit has CF in our man coverage. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baltimore

Offense:

 

3WR/1RB/1TE: 60% 

 

2WR/1RB/2TE: 40%

 

Aside from goal line formations our offense is going to feature two prominent formations in which we can create different looks out of them through motions and varied alignment before the snap. We will motion our RB out if we want an empty set, or a TE out for a 3 wide variance out of the 2TE personnel, or moving a TE to a H-Back role as well.  This variance allows us to limit Rome’s substitution packages as we hurry to the line but still eat up clock. Winning the Time of possession with a ball control offense is how we will win this game.

 

Running Game/Run Blocking:

 

We will have a 55/45 pass to run ratio in this one with 10% of our runs coming off of designed QB runs/RPOs. We will run a man blocking scheme and look to utilize our strengths in the run game. We will use Kittle on Sewell’s side at times creating a power edge to allow us opportunities to gain chunk yardage off the left side. Other plays he is lined up on Goedeke’s side to provide an extra push. We will run behind Humphrey often as well as he can handle his man up front. Controlling the clock along the way and setting up play action off of this run game is key. Mattison is the featured back with Warren getting around 40% of the RB share.  Lamar will have the ability to take off on pass plays when needed which will increase the run play percentage even though it’s a pass play call. We entrust him to read the defense and make the plays needed to at the right times with his legs.

 

Passing Game:

 

We will heavily feature Kittle as Lamar loves his TE’s. Kittle will attack all over and be used as a split out option as a big slot also. Play actions will see some crossers for Kittle. Evans is the feature outside receiver and we will use his size and down field ability to take advantage. Combo routing allow us to attack all depths of the defense is key. Dotson will use his separation quickness to run a full route tree. Osborn is our third receiver in 3 wide and often will be a later progression on pass plays but we expect him to get open as more coverage is focused elsewhere and Lamar will pick his shots. Logan Thomas provides us with a nice second TE option and we will utilize he in Kittle in tandem to attack various depths of the defense. RPOs will give Lamar some quick hitter passing options as well. 

 

Pass Blocking: 

 

Sewell we know can handle any Rome edge on his own, so as we see needed we will provide chipping on the other side. If they overload Sewell however we will adjust accordingly. We believe our oline can hold its assignments against the Rome Dline and if anyone on the interior needs assistance it will be Dotson and we will shift our center protection to assist him when we can leaving Cappa isolated in matchups we believe he can win. Constant communication and picking up stunts and twists were our practice focal points this week we expect to translate over to the game. 

 

Defense
TL;DR – No explosive plays, force Herbert to stay patient, rotate DL to keep them fresh.

 

We are going to use a mix of Cover 3 and 6 with some Cover 1 man used primarily on 3^rd down to force their offense off the field.  This will allow us to bring McKinney up into the box to help defend against the run while limiting the explosive play, which Herbert relies on.

 

Defensive Line
Rome has a very good offensive line, but their LT will either be subpar or banged up.  So Burns will be across from the LT all game.  The DE across from Ramczyk has the goals of defending the run and keeping contain on that side.  Hargrave and Williams should be able to win more often than not on the inside.  We will be rotating guys regularly to keep them fresh so they can be the most effective.  Burns and Hargrave will rotate out less frequently than everyone else as we need them on the field.

 

LB/SS – Wagner will have the green dot to make sure the defense is in order and will be able to change the call if he sees fit.  He will almost always be in a middle zone to patrol for crossers and watch Herbert's eyes.  Chenal will play the other LB spot and will have the TE in man coverage. 

 

McKinney will typically be up closer to the LOS and will have the RB in man coverage as both their RBs can catch and we want to limit that damage.

 

CB – We are going to keep our guys on their sides to not tip coverages pre-snap.  They’ll take the guy across from them in man and drop into their respective areas in zone.

 

If they go with a 4 WR set, Chenal will come off for Awuzie.

 

FS – Holland will always be deep and his primary focus is defending against the deep ball.

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by RedGold

[TedLavie]

I really like both offenses here. Both defenses going zone but I think they have trouble applying continuous pressure so I expect Herbert and Lamar to have success, especially with both running games going. I think Rome has better weapons and they make a couple of plays more than Baltimore, but it's close. 28-27 Rome

[MikeT14]

I like the strategy against Lamar, but like mentioned, it's contain, not stop. Herbert is going to have to match score. Would be interesting to see how that goes. 

[Blue]

I'm voting Rome anyways because I don't think Baltimore can stop the passing game here, but stuff like this drives me nuts:

Quote

If they overload Sewell however we will adjust accordingly.

Okay cool what does that mean? What do you, as the gameplanner, think is "accordingly" in this situation? Are you keeping a back in to block? Tight end chipping before he goes on his route? Bringing over the left guard to cover the inside shoulder while the tackle makes sure nobody goes around him? Roll out the QB to his right? What are you actually going to do?

I know this is other people making a gameplan for an abandoned team, but I see this in other games too. It doesn't mean anything to me, and it's the kind of "covering everything my opponent might possibly do" phony gameplanning that makes writeups a pain to read.

[Scoundrel]

2 hours ago, Blue said:

I'm voting Rome anyways because I don't think Baltimore can stop the passing game here, but stuff like this drives me nuts:

Okay cool what does that mean? What do you, as the gameplanner, think is "accordingly" in this situation? Are you keeping a back in to block? Tight end chipping before he goes on his route? Bringing over the left guard to cover the inside shoulder while the tackle makes sure nobody goes around him? Roll out the QB to his right? What are you actually going to do?

I know this is other people making a gameplan for an abandoned team, but I see this in other games too. It doesn't mean anything to me, and it's the kind of "covering everything my opponent might possibly do" phony gameplanning that makes writeups a pain to read.

It’s not covering everything… it is one thing called overloading the side with an extra blitzer we shift back protection there. I could have been more specific yes. Next time I will be

[Blue]

2 hours ago, Scoundrel said:

It’s not covering everything… it is one thing called overloading the side with an extra blitzer we shift back protection there.

Yeah I get that. What does that protection look like? Are you keeping a back in to block? Tight end chipping before he goes on his route? Bringing over the left guard to cover the inside shoulder while the tackle makes sure nobody goes around him? Roll out the QB to his right? What are you actually going to do?

[SirA1]

[MD4L]

Fun game. Think both offenses have more success than the opposing defensive plans.

Before I vote, I have a question.

@bcb1213 in man you mentioned a spy on Lamar. Who exactly is the spy?

[bcb1213]

1 minute ago, MD4L said:

Fun game. Think both offenses have more success than the opposing defensive plans.

Before I vote, I have a question.

@bcb1213 in man you mentioned a spy on Lamar. Who exactly is the spy?

"Foye will be our underneath man /Lamar spy"