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mhughes0021
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I dunno if thats good or bad...
Play calling in the NFL is one of those things that usually gets noticed on a per-call basis. You'll hear "That was a great call!" -- but then it's quickly on to the next play. From the standpoint of the guy calling the plays, it can feel like being a chess player. Sure, the checkmate was nice, but what about the sequence of moves, the pattern in the formations, the clever setup?
So although you know some of the play-calling legends, I wanted to point out some guys who are quietly doing exceptional work. What are the objectives of a good playcaller? Here are the areas the best playcallers succeed in:
1. Get your quarterback going early: This doesn't mean you come out gunning; it means build a sequence that recognizes the pulse of your quarterback and what he can do best.
2. Be aggressive without being reckless: This means that, when you throw it deep, don't leave your offensive tackle exposed on an island. It means don't target a double move without a two-move guy. Be aggressive, but limit exposure.
3. Keep them guessing -- run or pass: This starts with not giving away your intentions based on a formation and making tendencies clear.
4. Get your playmakers the ball early: And often. If you're not actively targeting your best players, you're just doing the defense a favor. Great playcallers can counter when it's clear a defense is built to stop specific players. In fact, it should be used as an advantage.
5. Focus on protection: If your offense isn't predicated on keeping your quarterback upright, all your plans won't mean anything. In Chicago, Mike Martz is one of the great offensive minds who has ever lived, but his play calling can be disastrous because the plays so consistently leave the QB exposed.
6. Go back to the well: Great playcallers don't get caught up in diverse patterns when they can dominate a certain play. They're stubborn in areas they excel at. If a team can't stop it, don't diversify just because the initial plan assumed you would have to.
7. Unequivocally trust your QB: If the quarterback doesn't have the trust and autonomy he needs when the stink is hitting the fan, and is locked into calls, you can't thrive.
With those concepts in mind, here are guys I think aren't getting enough credit for their play calling.
Greg Olson, offensive coordinator, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
A few years ago, Peyton Manning completed more than 100 passes on what is essentially the same route. Without getting out the chalkboard, the route is a double move, an adjustment off the double dig. The route isn't as important as the principle, however. Indy saw the route as unstoppable, but as teams tried to stop it, they could run variations off the route out of the same formation. This reminds me of Olson, who uses similar formations over and over, but employs new little wrinkles that make what Tampa does deceptive and difficult to prepare for.
He also has two other traits from the list above that are great. He's very QB-driven and builds great protection schemes that have helped Josh Freeman develop faster that many thought he would. He has integrated young wide receivers such as Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn quickly. Lastly, he is stubborn with the run. Even when the blocking is so-so, he got LeGarrette Blount his touches last year, and it paid off. He has continued that in 2011, and the winning drive against Minnesota last week was a classic case in point, as he pounded Blount successfully because it was working, even when you'd assume pass was the call. I love what Olson is doing.
Chan Gailey, coach, Buffalo Bills
He's known as a great smoke-and-mirrors guy, but Gailey impresses me for what he's able to get out of his quarterbacks. He spent time working with Dan Marino in Miami, but since then, he has overseen the great portion of Trent Green's career, had a stretch when he was able to get a lot out of a little-known guy such as Tyler Thigpen and is now working wonders with Ryan Fitzpatrick. The guy flat-out works to the strengths of his QBs.
Gailey is a guy who creates a lot of space in the defense. You'll hear that a lot. He'll stretch you horizontally in formations and vertically with routes. He puts defenders on islands and works the field boundary to boundary. This Buffalo team is looking dangerous under his direction.
Scott Linehan, offensive coordinator, Detroit Lions
I like Linehan because he succeeds without being overly complicated. He doesn't get overly creative in terms of personnel groups and sort of comes from the recent Colts' school of thought, where he finds successful plays, then runs plays off those plays, adding deception out of familiar setups. Defensive players will tell you, the gimmicky formations aren't as hard to deal with as teams that use the same formations to do a lot of different things. That's Linehan.
The other thing I love about what he's doing, particularly with current personnel, is that he flat-out attacks matchups. He's been doing good things in getting his backs the ball. In Detroit's win over KC, we saw him have Jahvid Best run a halfback arrow, which is where the running back fakes an angle route and essentially does a double move, beating the linebacker. Clever stuff like this out of simple formations is tough to stop. He also clearly has built trust with Matthew Stafford, a key I mentioned above. Stafford can change plays at the line into better matchups. This offense takes chunks of yards, and Stafford, with this personnel, can continue to grow under Linehan's direction. Lastly, I like how the Lions have built the run game out of the shotgun. It's another case of coaches willing to do what the young guys coming in are familiar with.
Notable
It's a play-calling tandem, but Gary Kubiak and Rick Dennison have been fantastic in Houston. This is a zone-blocking team from the Joe Gibbs and Mike Shanahan school, and these two stay true to the run, use play-action effectively and get the tight end involved. One thing you'll notice is how they do a great job of changing the launch point for Matt Schaub. What this means is that they've taken an immobile quarterback and mixed up his drops -- you see a mixture of 3-,5- and 7-step drops along with bootlegs and half roll-outs -- so defenders can't get a consistent read on him. They also do a great job with Andre Johnson. That he gets open at all, given the target on his back, is a credit to the coaches. They also use crossing routes effectively, something of a lost art in the league.
Play calling in the NFL is one of those things that usually gets noticed on a per-call basis. You'll hear "That was a great call!" -- but then it's quickly on to the next play. From the standpoint of the guy calling the plays, it can feel like being a chess player. Sure, the checkmate was nice, but what about the sequence of moves, the pattern in the formations, the clever setup?
So although you know some of the play-calling legends, I wanted to point out some guys who are quietly doing exceptional work. What are the objectives of a good playcaller? Here are the areas the best playcallers succeed in:
1. Get your quarterback going early: This doesn't mean you come out gunning; it means build a sequence that recognizes the pulse of your quarterback and what he can do best.
2. Be aggressive without being reckless: This means that, when you throw it deep, don't leave your offensive tackle exposed on an island. It means don't target a double move without a two-move guy. Be aggressive, but limit exposure.
3. Keep them guessing -- run or pass: This starts with not giving away your intentions based on a formation and making tendencies clear.
4. Get your playmakers the ball early: And often. If you're not actively targeting your best players, you're just doing the defense a favor. Great playcallers can counter when it's clear a defense is built to stop specific players. In fact, it should be used as an advantage.
5. Focus on protection: If your offense isn't predicated on keeping your quarterback upright, all your plans won't mean anything. In Chicago, Mike Martz is one of the great offensive minds who has ever lived, but his play calling can be disastrous because the plays so consistently leave the QB exposed.
6. Go back to the well: Great playcallers don't get caught up in diverse patterns when they can dominate a certain play. They're stubborn in areas they excel at. If a team can't stop it, don't diversify just because the initial plan assumed you would have to.
7. Unequivocally trust your QB: If the quarterback doesn't have the trust and autonomy he needs when the stink is hitting the fan, and is locked into calls, you can't thrive.
With those concepts in mind, here are guys I think aren't getting enough credit for their play calling.
Greg Olson, offensive coordinator, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
A few years ago, Peyton Manning completed more than 100 passes on what is essentially the same route. Without getting out the chalkboard, the route is a double move, an adjustment off the double dig. The route isn't as important as the principle, however. Indy saw the route as unstoppable, but as teams tried to stop it, they could run variations off the route out of the same formation. This reminds me of Olson, who uses similar formations over and over, but employs new little wrinkles that make what Tampa does deceptive and difficult to prepare for.
He also has two other traits from the list above that are great. He's very QB-driven and builds great protection schemes that have helped Josh Freeman develop faster that many thought he would. He has integrated young wide receivers such as Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn quickly. Lastly, he is stubborn with the run. Even when the blocking is so-so, he got LeGarrette Blount his touches last year, and it paid off. He has continued that in 2011, and the winning drive against Minnesota last week was a classic case in point, as he pounded Blount successfully because it was working, even when you'd assume pass was the call. I love what Olson is doing.
Chan Gailey, coach, Buffalo Bills
He's known as a great smoke-and-mirrors guy, but Gailey impresses me for what he's able to get out of his quarterbacks. He spent time working with Dan Marino in Miami, but since then, he has overseen the great portion of Trent Green's career, had a stretch when he was able to get a lot out of a little-known guy such as Tyler Thigpen and is now working wonders with Ryan Fitzpatrick. The guy flat-out works to the strengths of his QBs.
Gailey is a guy who creates a lot of space in the defense. You'll hear that a lot. He'll stretch you horizontally in formations and vertically with routes. He puts defenders on islands and works the field boundary to boundary. This Buffalo team is looking dangerous under his direction.
Scott Linehan, offensive coordinator, Detroit Lions
I like Linehan because he succeeds without being overly complicated. He doesn't get overly creative in terms of personnel groups and sort of comes from the recent Colts' school of thought, where he finds successful plays, then runs plays off those plays, adding deception out of familiar setups. Defensive players will tell you, the gimmicky formations aren't as hard to deal with as teams that use the same formations to do a lot of different things. That's Linehan.
The other thing I love about what he's doing, particularly with current personnel, is that he flat-out attacks matchups. He's been doing good things in getting his backs the ball. In Detroit's win over KC, we saw him have Jahvid Best run a halfback arrow, which is where the running back fakes an angle route and essentially does a double move, beating the linebacker. Clever stuff like this out of simple formations is tough to stop. He also clearly has built trust with Matthew Stafford, a key I mentioned above. Stafford can change plays at the line into better matchups. This offense takes chunks of yards, and Stafford, with this personnel, can continue to grow under Linehan's direction. Lastly, I like how the Lions have built the run game out of the shotgun. It's another case of coaches willing to do what the young guys coming in are familiar with.
Notable
It's a play-calling tandem, but Gary Kubiak and Rick Dennison have been fantastic in Houston. This is a zone-blocking team from the Joe Gibbs and Mike Shanahan school, and these two stay true to the run, use play-action effectively and get the tight end involved. One thing you'll notice is how they do a great job of changing the launch point for Matt Schaub. What this means is that they've taken an immobile quarterback and mixed up his drops -- you see a mixture of 3-,5- and 7-step drops along with bootlegs and half roll-outs -- so defenders can't get a consistent read on him. They also do a great job with Andre Johnson. That he gets open at all, given the target on his back, is a credit to the coaches. They also use crossing routes effectively, something of a lost art in the league.
