Questioning the O-line shuffle

[SFVikingFan]

Now that I am coming back down to earth, I wanted to bring up something I was thinking yesterday during the game before the Minnesota Miracle.

I was questioning the wisdom of completely shuffling our offensive line in the playoffs to a lineup that we hadn't used all year.  Case was under pressure almost immediately and constantly during the second half, especially in the 4th quarter when it mattered the most.  There were flashbacks to our offensive line last year at times for me honestly.  And yet Brees was the one standing back with almost no pressure in his face when the game mattered most in the 4th quarter.

I believe it was Reiff, Remmers (moved to LG from RT), Elflein, Berger, and Hill.

What do you guys think?

[Guest]

Was going to bring this exact thing up as well. 

I liked it to start because Hill is probably the better pass blocker on most days. But he got worked yesterday.  And we didn't seem to run that well either.  Easton is turning out to be a bigger loss than expected.

[Guest]

I understand in theory, but on the other hand, why change players at two positions, when you are only missing one player from the line that blocked so well, earlier this year? I don't think they were terrible, but Hill got worked over pretty good.
Gonna need better line play against Philly, on both sides of the ball.

[Guest]

I think Remmers is a better run blocker at RT. 
I don't understand why they didn't give Hill more help. 
I would just as soon see the OL in their normal positions.

And why are we still trying to pound the ball up the middle on first down?
It's not fooling anyone, and to me it is wasted down and usually a loss.

[Guest]

I thought there was a lot of pressure up the middle, especially in the second half when the Saints increased their stunts that we seemed to struggle with. Case had difficulty stepping up in the pocket and finding space to move around like he usually does. You have to give the Saints D Coordinator a lot of credit for changing things up. 

[Guest]

Remmers stunk in the second half. So did Hill. And they will face better players in Philadelphia.

[Guest]

I’d probably have moved Berger to LG, as you know he’s competent
at all the interior spots, and then I’d move Hill to RG which is the easiest
spot to fill usually.

[Guest]

It'll be interesting to see what they do this week, but I hope they don't keep the same lineup that they tried yesterday.  Plus as FSU mentioned, Philly has a better defensive line than the Saints, especially in the middle.

[Guest]

Was shocked they didn't give Hill more help, Jordan is an All Pro.  Guess they felt Remmers was a better option than Sirles, wonder why they didn't move Berger to LG and Remmers to RG.  The OL definitely struggled in the 2nd half, big concern going forward.