Let's hope not

[Guest]

You would think that if the offense was so predictable and antiquated, they would have been easy to stop. Yet, only green bay and Kansas City averaged more yards per game.  Even top half (14) in passing yards.

If our offense would have been able to play our defense last year, our numbers would have been considerably higher.

[Guest]

@StickyBun said:

@greediron said:

@MaroonBells said:

@JimmyinSD said:

@MaroonBells said:

@JimmyinSD said:

@MaroonBells said:
I can see us passing more this year, especially on 1st down, but with Dalvin Cook and a very good run blocking line and system, this will remain a run-first team. 

It needs to be a do whatever the defense is showing a weakness for.  To many times we got predictable and couldn't move the ball,  that happens to great OL,  when the stack the box throw them out of it.

Yes, but for too many, "predictable" simply means running the ball. If it goes for 1, it's predictable. If Dalvin busts it for 60, nobody talks about how predictable it was. Thing is, even those 1 yard gains are useful. 

1 yard gains have their place,  but when we are simply trying to "impose our willingness to run on a stacked defense and end up not at least flipping field position,  then those one yard gains are futile.  It seems to often under Zimmer that our game plan is to simply run the clock on a narrow lead and they end up going 3 and out at inopportune times.

I remember a tight game last year--Titans, Cowboys, can't remember who--where all we had to do was get a first down, run off about 90 seconds and the game was ours. We went three and out and took about 20 seconds off the clock because we passed on all three of the downs. We lost. 

Why did they do this? I suspect because the defense expected them to run and stacked the box. For the most part, offenses will take what the defense gives them, but sometimes it's best to ignore that and just do what you do well, especially if the situation calls for it. 

Pretty easy to throw out a general criticism about Zimmer being to conservative.  It is just a fan thing, fans want excitement and if we lose 1 game in a boring way, the confirmation bias sets in.  All those other losses that don't confirm the bias are just losses.

Totally. Confirmation bias is STRONG with sports fans. 

Fan-actic.  It is kind of in the definition.   I know I have mine.