FanHouse Offense

Offensive gurus don't take kindly to head coaches out-and-out shelving of their precious schemes. So it comes as no surprise that when queried about the difference from last year at Arkansas to this one, new Tulsa offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn snippily states the obvious:

I think the biggest difference is that we're going to run the spread, no-huddle offense. Coach [Todd] Graham is 100 percent behind that philosophy and I am too," Malzahn said. "I think that's the biggest difference.

Here's looking at you, Houston Nutt.

Malzahn - at least publicly - has been classy about his tenure at and departure from Arkansas, but the fangs came out a little this week. Until now he's been deferential about Arkansas' reversion from his offense to a heavy ground attack, but safely ensconced in Tulsa with a friend as his boss, Malzahn has finally given some light to the philosophical disagreement between himself and coach Nutt. He later added "this is who I am as a coach."

Oddly, new Tulsa coach Todd Graham also subtly snipes at Major Applewhite, his offensive coordinator last year at Rice.

"I like going into meetings and there's no arguments over philosophy," Graham said. "We philosophically believe the same thing."

Graham was a little put off in the offseason, telling reporters:

If (Applewhite) chooses to leave our offense doesn't leave with him," Graham said. "We run Rice's offense not Major Applewhite's offense

Anyway, it's good to see both coaches working their complexes off.

Previously at FanHouse:
Mess at Arkansas Continues with Malzahn Departure and Mustain Rumors
David Lee Hired to Replace Gus Malzahn as Arkansas Offensive Coordinator
What's Going Down in Arkansas

I have been one of Herm Edwards' biggest supporters. This has been no secret. Here's the main reason why: I don't approve of Herm's offensive gameplanning. I also agree that he is too stubborn at time. I also believe that he inherited a limping team and he took them far deeper than expected. Folks, I know we want to compare the Chiefs' offense to the explosive aerial offense that Vermeil and Saunders featured. We have to face facts that this ship has sailed. Joe Posnanski wrote an article in the Kansas City Star that speaks to this same issue. If you haven't read it, I implore you to read it now. I sat in my chair nodding my head at every single point Posnanski made in this article.

The reason I have been so defensive of Herm Edwards is that he was forced to run an offense last year that he was not comfortable with. The media and the fans are largely to blame for that. There were so many people that insisted that Herm not change the offense. Herm Edwards has never been comfortable with a vertical passing game. He wants to feature a ball-control offense, and you can't accomplish that if you're gaining 20 yards on first down or your quarterback gets sacked on first down forcing a 2nd down and 20. Before we accuse Herm Edwards of being a doofus on offense, let's give him a chance to get his own players and his own offensive scheme first, shall we? I don't support Herm's offensive gameplan, but I'm willing to wait one more season to see what he can do when he's given license to run his own offense with his own scheme with his own coaches and players.

More importantly, Vermeil and Saunders' offense revolved around the offensive line. News flash: those dominant years are over. Willie Roaf: gone. Will Shields: rapid decline. Casey Wiegmann: declining. Whoever is at right tackle: ineffective. The Chiefs can't go vertical because their offensive line isn't good enough to protect that long. Even Dick Vermeil couldn't have gotten much effectiveness out of this unit.

Last week after the Pittsburgh game, I said that the Broncos needed to continue their streak of strong offensive performances - but more importantly, resist the tendancy this team has had in the first half of the season to play down (or up) to the level of their opponent. If you look at it (and you throw out that first awful game), you see a team that has played just well enough to win every game they've won. Well, the streak didn't continue. Once again, the Broncos squeaked by against Oakland, barely edging out their seventh victory against one of the league's worst teams.

Why do they do this? It's often hard to say. You'd like to see the Broncos beat the good teams like they've been doing, and change things around a bit by steamrolling the bad - but instead, the Broncos have consistantly not risen above their worst opponents. Look at it this way: So far, the Broncos have played 5 games against teams with records below .500, and they're 4-1 in those games. But, the Broncos have won those games by an average of just 8.75 points. Their average margin of victory against over-.500 teams is 7.66, just about one point lower.

All of this says that this team, for whatever reason, isn't bringing the same quality of play every weekend. Most of this is probably the offense, which for various reasons this year hasn't been able to play as well against bad teams as they have against good teams. But it also speaks to the glaringly easy schedule the Broncos have had so far. Of the nine teams they've faced, five have been against teams with records below .500. They have yet to play San Diego, Cincinatti, Seattle, and their second game against Kansas City - so the fact that they are 7-2 given their often uneasy play is a testament to the ability of the defense and coaching to overcome the offense's shortcomings against bad teams.

But that's exactly it - next weekend, the Broncos will play the highest-scoring offense in the NFL in San Diego, which means that if we want to win, our offense will have to match theirs like we were able to do against the Colts. But the good thing about the offense this year is that so far we haven't had a let-down against good teams - and I believe that Jake and the rest of the unit will come out on Sunday with the intensity they need to put up a lot of points. But one of these days, you know this trend of playing to the level of opponents is going to come back to haunt us. When you basically get a bye week against an easy team, you don't want to make it close, because unless you take care of business, you're eventually going to lose one of them. And in a tight division like this, who knows how costly that could be?

When the blocking breaks down for a team, the first instinct a football fan has is to immediately blame the offensive line.

The offensive line was not the offensive part of Sunday's ordeal against the Bengals. Amazingly, it was not the defense either. It was the Chiefs' offensive playcalling.

What was most baffling about the Chiefs' offensive gameplan on Sunday against the Bengals was that it was so contrary to the philosophy that everyone imagined the Chiefs would adopt. Herm Edwards came in as a "Marty ball" coach, known for favoring the run over the pass. Mike Solari came in as the offensive coordinator; the Chiefs' former offensive line coach; the architect of the Chiefs' running game. Most people expected the Chiefs to run LJ 30 to 40 times, if they could somehow squeeze that many plays into one game. The way some people were talking, you almost expected LJ to average 100 carries a game.

For some reason, the Chiefs completely abandoned the run on Sunday. They did a great job of mixing up their playcalling to begin the game and it worked. While they only managed to muster up 3 points, they kept the ball out of Carson Palmer's hands, ate up a lot of clock, and moved the ball downfield. Most importantly, the pass protection was solid too.

For some odd reason, the Chiefs decided to follow up with a series of plays that featured 2 runs versus 16 passes. When you have an incredible tackle like Willie Roaf to keep the pass rush out of the quarterback's face, you can sometimes afford the luxury of passing on 100 straight downs if you want to. However, most offensive lines get progressively worse as the playcalling becomes more predictable. It's no coincidence that as the Chiefs' playcalling became more predictable, their protection got progressively worse.

Furthermore, I was disappointed that Solari's offense resorted to a more vanilla offense. The Chiefs started the game out well, shuffling players around like musical chairs, shifting players to different spots, etc.... It reminded me so much of the Al Saunders offense I grew to know and love. For some odd reason, the Chiefs stopped doing it. They basically had an offense that was moving the ball well down the field, and tore it apart as the game went along.

Phil had mentioned that Mike Solari would likely have a learning curve ahead of him. He certainly learned a lot of lessons on Sunday. For the Chiefs' sake, let's hope that he doesn't take those lessons for granted.

Much has been made about the return of ACC Freshman of the Year, James Davis, the arrival of future superstar C.J. Spiller, and their potential impact on the Clemson ground game this season.

Davis rolled up 94 yards on 14 carries Saturday -- Spiller 18 yards on six carries.

But, as I mentioned earlier, you must not forget about Reggie. Reggie Merriweather, in his typical fashion, scooted his way to 76 yards on nine carries. Let's all do the math together ... that's 8.3 yards-per-carry. Outstanding. Did I mention he had a touchdown as well?

It was awesome to hear the chants of "Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!" come down from the stands. He's a fan favorite, there can be no doubt. It was even better, though, to watch James Davis jump with excitement after Merriweather's one-yard touchdown run. The boys in the backfield are clearly in this thing together.

Listen to Reggie's postgame comments at Tigernet.com.

Here it goes...

Offense: Nothing much has changed here Manning is still leading the offense which should finish ranked top 5 in the league. The receiving core in Indy is deadly. Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne are both coming off 1000+ yard seasons. Brandon Stokley has recently returned to practice and should be ready to go for the regular season. The running game is still in question, however. Dominic Rhodes will see the bulk of the carries until Joseph Addai can prove himself as a starting back. To be honest, the run game has shown us nothing during the preseason. Also, The offensive line is mediocre at best. We all know what happened between them and Peyton after the Pittsburgh game last year. However, they always seem to find a way in protecting Peyton and expect that to stay the same. As for run blocking, we'll have to see.

Defense: The entire defensive line returns for the 2006 campaign. Robert Mathis signed a large contract in the off-season. Expect to see a big year out of him. Dwight Freeney is once again the anchor of the line and will compete for being a top defensive end in the league. After this, the rotation style line kicks in. Look for Simon, Brock, and Reagor to all get a good amount of playing time on the line. Corey Simon looks like a more determined player in this years camp. He dropped a lot of weight in the off-season and I think he will be a huge asset to the run stopping defense. Gary Brackett returns as the anchor of the LB's, but there is still a question of how the open OLB position will fill in. The Colts defense is ranked around 5th in most fantasy leagues and I would say that is about right. I'd maybe put them at 6 or 7. My prediction for this years surprise on defense is Antoine Bethea.

Special Teams: The biggest change this off-season to the Colts special teams was the acquisition of kicker Adam Vinatieri. Despite claims that his ankle is broken, Vinatieri looks to be ready to go for the season opener versus the Giants. Adding Vinatieri gives the Colts new confidence when it comes down to clutch playoff kicks. Another addition to the special teams was the drafting of T.J. Rushing. Rushing has looked great on returns in the preseason and I expect him to take over the job very soon. The return game in the past has been downright brutal.

Prediction: I feel that the Colts will finish 13-3, winning the AFC South by 2 games over the Jags. I also feel that they will make it to the Super Bowl. However, I don't think they have what it takes to win the big game...yet. If the running game can prove me wrong, then I think they can, and will, win the Super Bowl. But until then, I don't see it happening.

Are you ready for some football?!

Not since Shaun Alexander left The Capstone has the Tide had a solid offense capable, week-in and week-out, of putting up enough points to win ball games. In recent years, the team has counted on a stingy defense to keep opponents out of the end-zone and allow games to be decided by just a few points. This year, however, is filling the shoes of seven starters -- over half of the defense -- and if Alabama wants to win 10 ball games this year, they're going to have to improve on their average of 22 points a game from last season.

The success of this year's season rests squarely on the shoulders of these guys:

The Tigers return all five starting offensive lineman this year making the hogs in orange the most experienced line in the ACC. Many also consider them the best line in the ACC, but I'll hold off on that assumption until midway through the season.

Dustin Fry anchors the staff at center and will be responsible for organizing the Tigers zone blocking scheme this fall. He may be the best in the league at his position. Roman Fry (no, they're not related) looks to build on his second-team All-ACC honors from last season at left guard. Nathan Bennett will round out the middle three at right guard. He has 30 starts to his credit.

Protecting Will Proctor's blind side will be the 6-foot-7 monster better known as Barry Richardson. Richardson proved his worth last season against the Wolfpack when he held future NFL first round draft pick, Mario Williams, to just two tackles. Getting the nod on the right side at the tackle position will be senior Marion Dukes.

Look for the Tiger ground game to roll up some serious yardage behind these guys as the season progresses. In particular, pay attention to the way the o-line wears down opposing defenses into the 4th quarter. It should be nasty. It will be beautiful.

Spot the damn ball!