Thread: Offensive Play-calling: off or not ?!

Obviously I can't prove this, and people will disagree with me, but I just have this feeling that our offensive playcalling is way off. We for instance are very predictable. For instance, how many times have we run "off tackle" on first down ?

Maybe it is not about Tarvaris. Maybe it is about the offensive coordinator.

We seem to not surprise teams the way some teams do. We don't stretch the defense early with long throws. This results in the defense constantly moving up and the safeties end up right next to the linebackers by the 3rd quarter.

No play action.

The ideal "west coast offense" is that the pass sets up the run. We APPEAR to be attempting this. And yet, it is not working.

What I would do: throw deep early to let the defense know they can't stack the box. Tarvaris has the arm. Let him air it out deep (what is the worst thing that can happen, he puts it in the end zone ??).

Throw on first down. Throw slants. Run reverses. Run option passes.

We are WAY too predictable. We need to run play action much more to set up the pass.

Tear up the "West Coast Offense" playbook. Run what works.

personally id rather run the ball every down

Well, I want a toilet made of gold, but that also isn't in the cards, is it ?
: :'(

Isn't the offensive coordinator like the college football best friend of Childress ? I am starting to have some serious DOUBTS about that.

Alot of last week's game was based off of really bad play calling, starting with the 3rd&2 early in the game where we passed the ball. The whole drive leading up to that point was basicly Peterson. You got a loaded left side they do a good job run blocking RUN THE BALL!!! Peterson's average is gotta be somewhere in the 5's.

We also made the mistake of running a reverse at the 10 yard line in the red zone. Horrible call where the defense is so crammed in a small area and having no respect for the deep ball.

We have got to be able to pound the football, i thought we went away from it way to early in the Lions game and it was all down hill from that point. Last year we dominated the lions running the football just like we started out the Sundays game, but last year we ran all game right at them cause they couldn't stop it. Childress decided he wanted to win throwing the ball and we hardly played from behind. I think Tavaris through the ball 33 times, we could have easily shaved that down to 13 more carries for Peterson. He's yet to turn the ball over.

I think if we pound the football and use the play action we can beat the Chiefs, but we must get the playaction effective and use S. Rice for crying out load. Rice is dangerous and we have yet to see him catch a deep ball but he's the biggest threat we have at WR. He's gonna make some mistakes but he doesn't drop the football.

Something tells me we're in for a long season if things continue the Brad Childress way, not alot has improved at all, Peterson was a gift and did we need it but we need to use him.

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of the Childress scheme.
I have stated repeatedly that I think Bevell got the job because Childress knew that he (Bevell) wouldn't buck him, not on any actual OC merits he (Bevell) may or may not possess.


That said, I think that the play calling is indicative of the depth of the scheme Childress has created.
It's shallow.
There are a handful of variations of certain plays, but they all boil down the same.
The rule of thumb appears to be "Throw short and pray".


Of course, to me this is just one of many elements of the Brad Childress Reign that I am less than thrilled with.
When the owner of your franchise opens his wallet and says, "Hey, go get ANYONE you want as a coach", the common response is to go get the very best guys out there.
He dropped the ball on the OC spot...primarily, I believe, because HE wasnted to run the show and call the plays.
After 18 games of dismal offense (We've scored 20+ points in only 7 games since Childress took over...I haven't looked to see how many times the OFFENSE scored 20+ yet...likely fewer than 7), I'm left wondering how much longer he's going to keep this up.


Until the Offense comes on line, we're going to have an uphill fight every week.
And, honestly, I'm viewing Childress much like I did Ted Cottrell - a guy who can take decent talent and turn it to on-field crud.

Caine

"Caine" wrote:

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of the Childress scheme.
I have stated repeatedly that I think Bevell got the job because Childress knew that he (Bevell) wouldn't buck him, not on any actual OC merits he (Bevell) may or may not possess.


That said, I think that the play calling is indicative of the depth of the scheme Childress has created.
It's shallow.
There are a handful of variations of certain plays, but they all boil down the same.
The rule of thumb appears to be "Throw short and pray".


Of course, to me this is just one of many elements of the Brad Childress Reign that I am less than thrilled with.
When the owner of your franchise opens his wallet and says, "Hey, go get ANYONE you want as a coach", the common response is to go get the very best guys out there.
He dropped the ball on the OC spot...primarily, I believe, because HE wasnted to run the show and call the plays.
After 18 games of dismal offense (We've scored 20+ points in only 7 games since Childress took over...I haven't looked to see how many times the OFFENSE scored 20+ yet...likely fewer than 7), I'm left wondering how much longer he's going to keep this up.


Until the Offense comes on line, we're going to have an uphill fight every week.
And, honestly, I'm viewing Childress much like I did Ted Cottrell - a guy who can take decent talent and turn it to on-field crud.

Caine

Lest we not forget, which people tend to forget, prior to coming to the Vikings, Bevell was not an OC. He was a QB coach for the Packers. So he came here with zero experience as an offensive coordinator.

It's always bothered me that a lot of coaches Childress hired, were either friends of his or people that coached with him.

Were they really the best person for the job or was he giving away favors to his friends?

Computers compile tendancies, taking into account down and distance, field position, the score, and what qtr/half it is. We are just so unimaginative, that teams know what we are going to do. We have to break some trends. That said, a WCO needs time to come together as it's based on timing and quick precision. We are still a work in process and will get better as the season progresses. We need to run draws and screens, get a tight end involved. Haven't seen hardley any play-action either. Shake it up Bevell.

The play calling was terrible last week.