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If McVay and Kromer can just get some decent run blocking out of this offense, we’ll see more 100 yard games.
Howdy. Long time no see and good to see you. Join us in a game day chat this week if you can.
And in honor of your return, have some pie.
But ESPN Stats & Information says Gurley faced eight or more defenders in the box on only two of his carries
I keep seeing this, but when I look at the games is seems there are always a bunch of guys around the line of scrimmage. I will have to look for some kind of clarification of this. Last year it seemed like, even on passing formations, defenses crowded the line of scrimmage.
Agamemnonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-in-the-box_defense
Eight-in-the-box defense
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaIn American football, an eight-in-the-box defense is a defensive alignment in which 8 of the 11 defensive players are close to the line of scrimmage.
Description
The area occupied by defensive linemen and linebackers is often referred to as “the box”. The box is usually about 3-5 yards in depth and spans the offensive line in width. Normally five to seven defensive players occupy this area but frequently another player is brought into the box for run support against smashmouth-oriented offensive teams or short yardage situations.[1]
The most common occurrence of eight in the box in the NFL involves the strong safety walking down from his position (moving to within) 10-15 yards off the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped.[2] From this tightened position he can offer the aforementioned run support as well as jam WRs and TEs, blitz the QB, or provide flat coverage. Due to the superior athleticism of NFL players, it is not uncommon for the box safety to even provide deep coverage after the snap, giving the QB a pre-snap Cover 1 read but effectively transitioning into Cover 2 or another shell post snap. Often, to hold a disguised defense, the safety will not come down until the snap of the ball. While this is not the eight in the box strategy, it gives the same results without showing what your defense is before the snap of the ball.
AdvantagesObvious advantages come off the eight in the box strategy including more defenders to stop the run game of the opponent which is the main reason for this strategy. The eight in the box scheme is also often used by teams throughout the NFL as a disguise to which players will be coming after the quarterback. This creates a level of difficulty for the offensive linemen because they will not know pre-snap who they will need to block. Quick decisions will need to be made after the snap of the ball.
Disadvantages
Defenses would rather not have to go to the eight in the box strategy because it takes away from the pass coverage. However, teams that run the ball effectively force defenses to go to this strategy. Once a defense does this, the offense can run play-action passes to keep the defenders near the line of scrimmage as the receivers (usually 1 or 2 since, often, heavy packages are in the game including tight ends in place of receivers) run by them and have an entire field to run away from a cornerback, putting the defensive backs at a disadvantage. This scheme can also work against the team that is covering the run. In a base defensive set, there are 3 levels of defenders; line, linebackers, and safeties. The safeties are there to keep runners from going all the way for the score. However, when one safety creeps down toward the line of scrimmage, that leaves only one high safety to make the tackle once the runner has broken the first line of defense. AgamemnonEight-in-the-box defense
As said in this thread, there was less of that in the Colts game than last year.
I know what they say. But when I look at the game, it looks like there are always 8 or 9 in the box.
Agamemnonhttp://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/35354/will-it-get-better-for-rams-rb-todd-gurley
Will it get better for Rams RB Todd Gurley?
8:41 AM CTAlden GonzalezESPN Staff Writer
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Everything about the Los Angeles Rams’ offense looked better Sunday, in their first game under Sean McVay. Except the running game. Except Todd Gurley, who picked up only 40 rushing yards on 19 carries. Normally, amid an electrifying blowout victory to open a season, something like that wouldn’t really matter all that much.
But 2016 happened.
With just 40 yards on 19 carries, Todd Gurley’s performance was a sour note amid the Rams’ otherwise-solid Game 1 victory over the Colts. Keith Birmingham/Zuma Press/Icon SportswireGurley was one of the NFL’s least productive runners in his second season, which came on the heels of being named the 2015 Offensive Rookie of the Year. And those hopeful of a Gurley turnaround didn’t get that against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1, triggering concerns about whether his head-scratching struggles will drag into 2017. The Rams seem to believe defenses are still gearing up to stop Gurley and daring second-year quarterback Jared Goff to beat them through the air.
If Goff continues to perform like he did Sunday — 21-of-29 for 306 yards and zero turnovers — they think more running lanes will open up for Gurley.
“I think definitely they’re going to try to challenge us and make us show that we can do it through the air,” offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur said as the Rams prepared to host the Washington Redskins in Week 2. “But to their credit, they had some big stop guys inside. It’s never an excuse, but any time you have a couple plays called back, it’s always going to kind of set you back in that area.”
With less than four minutes left in the first quarter, Gurley sprinted up the right side and picked up 14 yards. But the play was called back on a hold by right tackle Rob Havenstein, who wasn’t even involved in the play. Early in the fourth quarter, Gurley reversed his field, found an opening down the left sideline and picked up 12 yards, but tight end Tyler Higbee was called for a hold. If those penalties hadn’t taken place, Gurley would’ve rushed for 66 yards on 21 carries, which looks a little bit better.
Still, not great.
“We’ve just got to be more physical, whether me, just everybody,” Gurley said. “We’ve just all got to do our job and just go out there and execute. At the end of the day, I’ve got to win my one-on-ones, receivers got to win their one-on-ones, linemen got to win their one-on-ones, tight ends got to win their one-on-ones.”
Gurley averaged only 0.84 yards before first contact, ranked 37th among 41 running backs in Week 1. It’s a sign defenses were getting to him quickly. But ESPN Stats & Information says Gurley faced eight or more defenders in the box on only two of his carries, and that 12 others throughout the league — including Gurley’s backup, Malcolm Brown — faced more in their season openers. The offensive line also appeared to have a good day, at least with regard to pass-blocking.
On film, though, it didn’t seem as though the holes were there. Not for long, at least.
“It’s hard to run in there,” Rams left guard Rodger Saffold said, adding that the Colts were operating mostly out of eight-man boxes. “And plus, it’s still Week 1. We still have to get a feel for everything. It’s a new team, a new line, a new organization. So we have to all kind of get into the groove of things.”
Saffold thinks they were running mostly 8 man boxes. 😉Gurley gained only 885 rushing yards last season, the fewest ever for someone with at least 275 carries. But he made up for it somewhat through the air, while catching 43 passes for 327 yards. He did that Sunday, too, with five grabs — a lot of them screens — for 56 yards. He likes doing that.
“It’s always better when you can avoid one or two guys instead of 11 guys,” Gurley said, laughing. “It definitely doesn’t get much better than that.”
AgamemnonBut 2016 happened.
yeah. normally you wouldn’t worry. bell and johnson, maybe the 2 best backs in the game, had atrocious game ones. but they didn’t have the kind of season gurley did last year.
as herzog mentioned before, bettis is an example of a guy who showed promise as a rookie but then struggled early on in his career. and then came out gangbusters his fourth year on his way to hall of fame career. interestingly… the two years he struggled also came as his team was making a transition to a new city…
his first three years (41 games started). 3.9 ypc. 3091 yards. 13 tds.
the next three years (42 games started). 4.2 ypc. 4281 yards. 21 tds.
ok. a little better.
todd gurley through 2 years and 1 game (29 games started). 3.9 ypc. 2031 yards. 17 tds.
he still has most of his third season left to play… i guess we’ll see.
interestingly. another former ram… marshall faulk.
his first three years (45 games started) he had 3.7 ypc. 2947 yards. 29 tds. he struggled through foot injuries though which obviously had to affect his production.
his next three years (47 game started). 4.5 ypc. 3754 yards. 20 tds.
i should also say those second three years doesn’t include a couple of the best years of his career.
seventh and eight years (28 games started). 5.3 ypc. 2741 yards. 30 tds.
ummm… so i guess there’s a small chance he can still turn this around.
a big game from him today and a win would make a big announcement to the rest of the league.
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