Originally posted by Bluefalcon61:Originally posted by Baldie:
Everybody is going to focus on Gore, thats a given thats we are a running first team. Let the Bucs plan for that. They went deep early and were successful. No one expects that from the niners. I think we should pass early to open up the running lanes for Gore. Troy has speed so he can be rolled out to see the field better. They can also throw screens in the short game.
Ummm...everything you said makes sense, however our offense already had that gameplan in the last game and as such, the Bucs will be preparing to counter them (early downfield passes, Troy Smith roll-outs) too. We may well come up with the same basic gameplan again for next week's game but I hope its something that is modified to be one step ahead of the Buc's D.
I don't think they heavily play against the run either way. Their run Defense is horrible but their pass defense is in the top 10. To add, they haven't really lost games due to the run defense.
They will force us to run the ball and they will stay patient waiting for the key passes as we all know, running doesn't score points. It gets you in a lot of 3rd and shorts or 3rd and manageable but it doesn't move the chains. Unless we start gashing them for 6 per carry getting first downs every 2 carries, I don't think they will be afraid of the run beating them.
Their Defense is all about minimizing big plays, YAC, and forcing the opponent to over use the run. We can spread their LB's thin but need to be precise if we want to break them for some YAC. Our main plan during this game is to not make that costly mistake or try to force things.
With 5 legit weapons on the field (Crabs, Morgan, Vernon, Walker, Gore) we can force their zone to get spread out.