have been the subject of NFL headlines since Doug Pederson and
the Philadelphia Eagles rode them all the way to a Super Bowl victory last year.
Though Pederson’s offense was mocked by NFL players as “High School
Offense
Greg Joseph Jersey Elite ,” no one could stop them. Not even when starter Carson Wentz went down with an injury and Nick Foles stepped in. Not even
defensive genius Bill Bellichick on the biggest stage of them all.Though they
are derided by some as “gimmicky,” or a “phase,” I believe that RPOs are here to
stay. Unlike the Wildcat (which was a fad and relied on an unprepared defense),
defenses can’t tell what is coming based on the formation. And unlike the brief
stint of QB runs and read option we’ve seen in the NFL, RPOs typically don’t put
the franchise player in harm’s way. This is fundamentally sound football, and it
works. And RPOs have a history of success in the NFL dating back to at least the
Brett Favre New York Jets days, why would they suddenly stop working now?RPOs
give the quarterback literally that; an option between handing the ball off on a
run play, or passing the ball to an eligible receiver. The offensive line blocks
for the running play immediately on the snap, and the back assumes he is getting
the ball. Any receivers involved in the pass option run their routes like they
normally would on a called pass. The quarterback chooses which play is best for
the offense (usually by making a simple read of one or two defenders), and
delivers the ball. It’s practice-efficient football, because neither the line
nor the receivers are doing something new.A taste of their own medicineAgainst
Pederson’s Eagles OC Todd Haley wasted no time introducing some RPOs of his own,
calling for one on the very first play of the game:From a 2x2 Pistol formation,
the Browns sent Jarvis Landry in motion to ID the coverage. As he saw the CB
follow Landry, QB Tyrod Taylor could assume man to man coverage.The Eagles are
in a single high safety look, which means they have an extra safety in the box
to stop the run. The weakness of this defensive look is that with only one
safety deep the Eagles’ corners are either going to play off coverage or they
are going to really risk getting beat deep.Before the snap you can see the CB
playing off of Landry
http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/greg-joseph-jersey , which is when Taylor makes his read. The ball is going outside.On the snap the
line blocks for the outside zone running play to the left, as RB Carlos Hyde
anticipates getting the handoff. Having made his read, Taylor delivers the ball
to Landry, who runs a 1-step “stay” route.The ball gets to Landry for only a 1
yard gain, but with the corner closing hard and a shifty receiver like Landry in
space, good things are bound to happen for the Browns.Landry makes a nice move
and picks up 11 on the play. Getting the ball to playmakers in space like this
is something any good offense does. With this type of RPO, you can ensure your
playmakers are put in favorable positions when they get touches.Picking up where
he left off in collegeLater in the game, Baker Mayfield got in on the action.
Facing a 2nd and 10, Mayfield could be seen making a signal to WR Jeff Janis. He
likely saw that the Eagles had stacked the box with 10(!) defenders, making it
almost impossible to run the ball. Sure enough, on the snap, the line and RB
Nick Chubb are running inside zone to the right, as Mayfield throws a quick
slant to Janis.This is a safe and relatively easy way to pick up 5 yards on 2nd
and 10. Throwing this type of quick pass is probably a lot more reliable than
running into a 10 man box, and if Janis is able to break a tackle he could
legitimately take this in for a touchdown.Drew tooNot to be left out, QB Drew
Stanton also threw to the pass option off of this look in the 4th quarter.
Facing an 8 man front
Authentic Greg Joseph Jersey , Stanton knew that the Browns’ 7 available blockers likely would not get the job done in the running game. After sending WR
Da’Mari Scott in motion across the formation, Stanton saw the same off coverage
on WR Jeff Janis that the Browns had been seeing all night. On the snap RB Nick
Chubb and the offensive line are still running the inside zone play, but Stanton
fires the ball to Janis.Unfortunately on this play, Janis drops the ball despite
it hitting him right in the gut. Running the ball is all about arithmetic. If
you don’t have enough people to block all of the defenders on a given play,
running the ball typically won’t work. When called intelligently and executed
well, RPOs ensure that offenses have favorable numbers in the box for their
runs. If they don’t, the quarterback simply goes elsewhere with the ball. And
“going where the defense is not” is what good offense is all about.I counted no
less than 7 of these RPOs in the Browns’ Week 3 preseason game. Not all of them
worked as intended, but between Todd Haley’s use of tempo and these RPOs it will
be very interesting to see how the offense coalesces in the regular season.
Though this isn’t saying much, the 2018 Browns’ offense might be the most
advanced and intelligent the franchise has seen since the return.Cleveland
Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: Week 1 TV Listings The Week 1 game between the
Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers will air on CBS at 1:00 PM ET. The
game will be called by Greg Gumbel and Trent Green, which is kind of funny
because they had the same call for these two teams last year to open the season.
There is a new element this year — Bruce Arians, who is now retired from
coaching, joins them as part of a three-man booth. He should have plenty of
stories to tell about his time with both organizations.Note: Coverage areas are
subject to change. The map is from 506sports.com; click here to see all of their
NFL coverage maps this week.WEEK 1 NFL GAMES AIRING NATIONALLY OR IN
CLEVELANDThursday - 8:20 PM ET: Atlanta Falcons vs. Philadelphia Eagles
(NBC)Sunday - 1:00 PM ET: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns (CBS)Sunday -
4:25 PM ET: Dallas Cowboys vs. Carolina Panthers (FOX)Sunday - 8:20 PM ET:
Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers (NBC)Monday - 7:10 PM ET: New York Jets vs.
Detroit Lions (ESPN)Monday - 10:20 PM ET: Oakland Raiders vs. Los Angeles
Chargers (ESPN)We will have open threads on DBN for all Browns and prime time
games.
