He started doing that under Caldwell.
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So far I like the fact that Stafford is getting more “air yards per pass”. The guy has an arm, gotta loosen up the D with that weapon.
We are still in the honeymoon phase and teams don’t really know how to gameplan for Bevell and this team yet. The true test will be in November and December to see if he will continue to evolve the offense to stay one step ahead of the D.
Caldwell made it his mission to take the “gunslinger” in the mold of Brett Farve/John Elwayand turn him into a more finesse QB in the mold of Drew Brees/Peyton Manning.
I wonder who they tried to mold Farve, Elway, Brees, and Manning after?
How about we let Matt play to his strengths? How about letting Matt Stafford sink or swim being Matt Stafford? Cause, he’s not Brees or Manning.
Anyway, the WCO is the perfect offense for the gunslinger type. If Bev learns to trust Matt, I’m pretty sure we’ll all be rewarded, and if Matt can’t be trusted at this point in his career, he should be gone!
I really like what Bevell is doing right now. His passing is attacking all three levels of the defense. Golladay on deep routes. Hock on intermediate routes. And, Jones on the short stuff. He also hasn’t given the defense much to see. He’s incorporated the RBs into the screen game. He is definitely unassuming. The screen play where the coaches called timeout was clutch. He’s running our offense like our defense is supposed to run. Multiple. One week is run heavy. The next week, I see empty backfields. And Stafford is looking comfortable. He’s making me a believer.
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My favorite part about Bevell has been his willingness to pass on 1st down and run on 2nd.
I hated how Cooter only felt it was appropriate to run on 1st down. The utilization of play-action on 1st and 10 has yielded good results so far.
My other favorite part is that I’m not able to successfully predict their play based on down and distance. I think I was right around 75% accuracy or even higher when predicting what Cooter’s play call was. If I know what the Lions are going to do, the opposing team knows what the Lions are going to do.
Maybe it’s because he’s new and we haven’t figured him out yet. But hey, he’s new to this situation as well so he will (hopefully) improve as he goes.
So far, I’ve been excited about seeing what Bevell is doing compared to his predecessor.
And it opens up the run! The have to respect the pass on 2nd down.
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That hasn’t quite translated yet.
Love the balance so far (run/pass) , Love that Stafford leads the league in attempts of 20 + yards at 17 and completing nearly half of them , was not a fan of the the run on first and second in the 2nd half of the Arizona game putting Stafford in 3rd and long consistently . The throws Stafford has completed thus far deep have been amazing throws , gunslinger throws, the TD to Golladay was a 40 yd rope with a DB hanging on his back …The separation made by Golladay and Marvin has been dismal at best forcing throws into ridiculous tight windows , the lack of separation is concerning through 2 weeks on anything other then busted plays by the defense. This Offense really needs to feed KJ as a feature RB and give him the lopsided bulk of carries as I really think we are not yet built to have the run open the pass and it is still very much the pass that will open the run . Bevell has fooled me thus far and I hope it continues.
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I don’t think he can take that many carries. He is not built for it. That’s why they gave CJ so many carries and now are currently trying new folks at RB.
Agreed on the stance that thus far durability might be an issue or is , but by feature RB I mean feature him on passing down , and give him the bulk of the carries when the game has yet to be decided …I don’t want him used as a short yardage hammer but I want no other RB taking snaps on first or second downs in games not already decided .
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I agree with all of that.
I think the idea of a “bell cow” RB is one of the most overrated concepts in modern football. It made sense back in the day. One, because there was such a talent gap between the starting RBs and their backups…and the top RBs and the regular starters. Really sit and think about it. The second thing is, today’s RBs for the most part don’t give you the kind of effort every single play like you use to get from the bell cow backs from yesterday. Go back and watch game film and compare. If you watch a guy like Barry (or most of the others) you really can’t tell what quarter the game is in, what the situation is, how many carries the RB has had already or any of that stuff. They could go 30 carries and each one of them they would fight for yards like its their only carry of the game. Modern backs don’t do that. People can call it running smarter, or patience…but in the end the result is the same and it gets worse with more carries. A good mix of fresh backs simply gives a better result in today’s NFL.
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Yep I agree and myself using “feed” was the wrong term.
The way he was used week one is not what I want to see , the Man , or Stud RB usage is 1st Down and 2nd Down on anything more than 3 yds for the first , the best RB on the team, is on the field when the game has not been decided.
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After only two games, it’s hard to argue 1-0-1. Content for now. AZ should have been a a win and lucky to get a win vs LAC.
Plus,we’re healthy some what .
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