LaFleur in week 1

[freestater]

Gotta say, I wasn't impressed with much of his playcalling. 4th and short, and you try getting a push up the middle that you haven't gotten all game? The whole run game, for that matter seemed unimaginative. Something Gase and Gore could've constructed. He did do a little better drawing up some stuff in the passing game, but I can't help shake the shades of Schotty in our next experiment in the long line of Jets nepotism hires.

[Integrity28]

Kubiak and Shanny jr are really the only ones that run this system good wherever they coach. He’s going to have to figure things out - it’s silly to expect immediate greatness, but fair to expect steady improvement and learning.

[UnknownJetFan]

3 minutes ago, freestater said:

Gotta say, I wasn't impressed with much of his playcalling. 4th and short, and you try getting a push up the middle that you haven't gotten all game? The whole run game, for that matter seemed unimaginative. Something Gase and Gore could've constructed. He did do a little better drawing up some stuff in the passing game, but I can't help shake the shades of Schotty in our next experiment in the long line of Jets nepotism hires.

He was likely seeing if the Jets could get 1 yard on straight ahead run, but we saw in preseason we had similar plays that failed the same way and I guess he wanted to see if that would occur in a live game with all the Oline starters. With that said, I know the risk is higher, but you have to start using rollouts with Zack for a pass or QB run option for those cases especially in a game when you had such bad running averages going. Heck every run down I was seeing were 2 yards and then we were stopped. Your body is 2 yards long so just falling over the LOS should get you that. 

[FidelioJet]

He was not good. 

[Jimmy 2 Times]

It was boring, unimaginative, and disappointing.

Where were the easy completions?

Where were the screens to combat the blitzes?

Where were the draw plays?

I was screaming for play action on first down after we ran it half a dozen times for no gain.

 

He was over matched.  Hopefully he improves.

[kevinc855]

I’m praying this guy isn’t just riding a solid last name in the NFL. 
 

His play calling  was lame 

[shuler82]

If the game plan was to make Zach's life easier, he failed. The first half felt like watching 2020. Nothing came easy.  Sure, the OL played a part, but with an offense that drafted Carter and Moore, spent cash on Davis, and drafted Mims last year, how weird that most of the check downs/safety outlets seemed to be for Kroft and Griffin? 

 

[MysticalJet2]

yea, wasn't impressive considering all the praise from Saleh.  Seemed like he was too focused on outside runs, which wasn't the best choice considering the speed of Carolina's defense.

[JoJoTownsell1]

1 minute ago, Jimmy 2 Times said:

It was boring, unimaginative, and disappointing.

Where were the easy completions?

Where were the screens to combat the blitzes?

Where were the draw plays?

I was screaming for play action on first down after we ran it half a dozen times for no gain.

 

He was over matched.  Hopefully he improves.

It's much easier to call a play action off a good run. We didn't have any of those. The Defense didn't need to overreact to the run so a play action off of a bad run isn't going to be as effective.  They need to establish an EFFECTIVE run game before they can use play action to help Wilson.  

[HawkeyeJet]

I think all the staff was far too conservative and “by the book” yesterday and were not adjusting to what was happening in the first half.  

The OL issues really handcuffed them to an extent though.

Its going to be a tough job for the offensive coaches this year if the OL doesn’t get better. Every coaches job is to try and Win.  However, realistically, this team has a low ceiling in that area this year.  So nearly as important as winning is developing players, and most specifically Wilson.  There will be times this season and yesterday bordered on that, where circumstances call for the QB to carry the team, but that may not having him sit back there and get killed can be damaging to his development. Will be a fine line to walk.  The biggest thing they need to improve on is the running game.

[Grandy]

Meh 

Not very creative overall but I liked what was drawn up for the passing game a bit, mostly in the 2nd half. Some stuff was developing downfield and Wilson had the training wheels taken off clearly which was good to see.

The running game was painful. I feel he clung to "ground & pound" too long, finally adapting when it was too late. Though I'll give credit to him, he did certainly adapt which I'm not used to. I feel that he may need to accept that with our current situation, the running fundamentals of the system need to be greatly sparked by some creativity or shelved.

[Warfish]

10 minutes ago, Integrity28 said:

He’s going to have to figure things out - it’s silly to expect immediate greatness, but fair to expect steady improvement and learning.

This.

It's one week.  LaFleur's first game as an O-Co too.

Lets see how week 2 goes.

My mantra this year:  Evaluate the Year as a Whole.  Not one early game alone.  Only way to do it IMO with as many rookies (players and coaches) as we have in 2021.

[MysticalJet2]

Just now, Grandy said:

Meh 

Not very creative overall but I liked what was drawn up for the passing game a bit. Some stuff was developing downfield and Wilson had the training wheels taken off clearly.

The running game was painful. I feel he clung to "ground & pound" too long, finally adapting when it was too late. Though I'll give credit to him, he did certainly adapt which I'm not used to. I feel that he may need to accept that with our current situation, the running fundamentals of the system need to be greatly sparked by some creativity or shelved.

Let's face it, teams will probably load the box all year with a rookie QB until he proves otherwise.  The run game will be tough sledding unless they let Wilson go downfield a bit more early on in the games.  But yes the OL needs to hold up for a 5 - 7 step drop and allow this to happen.  Catch 22 

[Rhg1084]

Get Moore involved, get Mims in there. Pepper Corey with targets. Easier said than done I guess 

[Augustiniak]

10 minutes ago, JoJoTownsell1 said:

It's much easier to call a play action off a good run. We didn't have any of those. The Defense didn't need to overreact to the run so a play action off of a bad run isn't going to be as effective.  They need to establish an EFFECTIVE run game before they can use play action to help Wilson.  

I thought the game plan in the first half was the prior 49ers staff forcing a strategy when they didn’t have the personnel or experience to execute it.  They should have known that teams would take away the run first and make the rookie qb throw to his young wrs and rbs.  The offense only got going when wilson does what he does best, throw on the run.  

I hope they use more roll outs and quick slants and screens to get wilson out of the pocket where he’s so much more of a target.  Ideally they want to use the run to set up play action but i think they’re going to have to come out slinging it and prove to NE they can beat them with the pass, and then the running lanes will open up more.  Use what you got, and wilson seems one of the best players on this team already.

[rex-n-effect]

I also wasn't enthusiastic about the offensive plan, especially in the first half. It was his first game as OC with a rookie QB and several other brand new players. It was conservative but a reasonable argument can be made for giving the offense an opportunity to get basic plays down before opening up the playbook completely. The second half looked better and it was nice to see Wilson have some opportunities to make deep passes. He deserves the same opportunity as everybody else on the team that is new to learn, make mistakes and develop over the season. If we see the same gameplan in week twelve we have problems.

[munchmemory]

One thing that really stood out was again our inability to get a yard or two on fourth down.  It seems like this has been a problem the last few years with us getting stuffed for loses.  Anyone ever compile a stat on our lack of success on fourth? 

[Jimmy 2 Times]

15 minutes ago, JoJoTownsell1 said:

It's much easier to call a play action off a good run. We didn't have any of those. The Defense didn't need to overreact to the run so a play action off of a bad run isn't going to be as effective.  They need to establish an EFFECTIVE run game before they can use play action to help Wilson.  

WRONG

 

When you run on first down every series after the fifth or sixth time play action will work regardless of the results.  The Panthers were crashing the line expecting the run.  Play action might’ve slowed them down a bit.

[JustInFudge]

While I question some of the game plan; Coleman up the middle like a traditional runner, lack of targets to pass catching RB's, lack of creativity with playmakers, etc.  I also understand that this was his first game as a play caller and he had a rookie QB who didnt even play an entire half in the preseason.  It's ok that he didnt seem like a nuanced play caller in the NFL.  The other factor you have to consider as well is that his team is dog sh*t.  So, it's hard to look good as a play caller when you put all those things together. 

I'd say lets give it some time, maybe?  It's Week 1 and it was the first game of his career. 

 

[rangerous]

15 minutes ago, Rhg1084 said:

Get Moore involved, get Mims in there. Pepper Corey with targets. Easier said than done I guess 

it's tough to get these guys involved if wilson doesn't have enough time to even go through his progressions.  things will be much better once the oline starts plaing as a unit.

[Barton]

You kidding me? He was f'ing awful. And he looked like a deer in the headlights on the sidelines. 

[UntouchableCrew]

I thought he was stubborn in adhering to the game-plan. Seemed like they were really trying to establish the run (stretch zone) on the early downs which was very predictable and we just couldn't get it going which stuck Zach in 2nd and 3rd and long.

Really seemed like he should have manufactured some easy throws on early downs -- quick WR screens, rollout bootlegs, etc. to change things up, give Zach a little confidence and maybe gotten the screen game going to take advantage of how aggressive they were.

Overall it was rocky first week for him although he was better in the 2nd half and at the end of the day the players need to execute too. 

It's a situation to monitor.

[JohnnyLV]

If I have said it once I have said it a thousand times...running the majority of the time on first down does NOT protect a rookie QB..all it does is wind up putting the the young QB in obvious passing situations which is bad...if you want to protect a young QB you need to be way more balanced on first and second down to open up the run...Mahomes and Rodgers and those guys can run to set up the run because the opposing team already respects the pass threat.

[Ken Schroy]

46 minutes ago, freestater said:

Gotta say, I wasn't impressed with much of his playcalling. 4th and short, and you try getting a push up the middle that you haven't gotten all game? The whole run game, for that matter seemed unimaginative. Something Gase and Gore could've constructed. He did do a little better drawing up some stuff in the passing game, but I can't help shake the shades of Schotty in our next experiment in the long line of Jets nepotism hires.

OL couldn't run block or pass block, so there's that. 

[ryu79]

It was his first game calling plays. Its going to take a minute. 

there was weird stuff:

- Fant at RT despite huge struggles immediately in 1Q. (when his hand was forced by Becton's injury overall line performed better with Moses in there at RT)

- Mims minutes. Don't get it. 

- Didn't stick to run. 

some promise though:

- Zack got better as the game progressed and he was clearly engaged with Lafleur constantly on the sideline. weve been looking for that to develop between a young qb and a coordinator for AGES. 

- Adjustments were late, but they did happen. 

[jbt]

fire him now. 

 

[Grandy]

32 minutes ago, MysticalJet2 said:

Let's face it, teams will probably load the box all year with a rookie QB until he proves otherwise.  The run game will be tough sledding unless they let Wilson go downfield a bit more early on in the games.  But yes the OL needs to hold up for a 5 - 7 step drop and allow this to happen.  Catch 22 

This is likely going to be the case, especially next week. We need some downfield establishment. Lord only knows how much the game changes if Moore makes that one catch. We also cannot hope to survive if protection is that bad, we obviously need the time for those deep plays to develop. Though I do like that straight out the gate Wilson was trusted to just sling it; I remember the whole training wheels thing being a huge argument and point of contention in the Darnold years.

[CTJetsFan]

The one thing I remember thinking yesterday (and I deleted the game so can't rewatch it) was that there seemed to be a lack of crossing patterns in what they were running. When they did have them, they seemed to work (minus the INT). Am I mistaken?

The inability to execute running plays in short yardage was evident in the preseason. Having Josh Adams, who is probably our biggest and strongest back, inactive when we have this problem is/was puzzling.

[Augustiniak]

24 minutes ago, UntouchableCrew said:

I thought he was stubborn in adhering to the game-plan. Seemed like they were really trying to establish the run (stretch zone) on the early downs which was very predictable and we just couldn't get it going which stuck Zach in 2nd and 3rd and long.

Really seemed like he should have manufactured some easy throws on early downs -- quick WR screens, rollout bootlegs, etc. to change things up, give Zach a little confidence and maybe gotten the screen game going to take advantage of how aggressive they were.

Overall it was rocky first week for him although he was better in the 2nd half and at the end of the day the players need to execute too. 

It's a situation to monitor.

Stubborn is a good word to describe it.  They were trying to be 49ers east without the line or the rbs.  They need to use what they have.

[Maynard13]

56 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

I think all the staff was far too conservative and “by the book” yesterday and were not adjusting to what was happening in the first half.  

The OL issues really handcuffed them to an extent though.

Its going to be a tough job for the offensive coaches this year if the OL doesn’t get better. Every coaches job is to try and Win.  However, realistically, this team has a low ceiling in that area this year.  So nearly as important as winning is developing players, and most specifically Wilson.  There will be times this season and yesterday bordered on that, where circumstances call for the QB to carry the team, but that may not having him sit back there and get killed can be damaging to his development. Will be a fine line to walk.  The biggest thing they need to improve on is the running game.

That’s what really really sucked. Inability to protect Wilson and inability to establish a run game. They go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. They’re going to have to have a TE on the line and double that up with Wesco in the backfield or they’re going to get Wilson trampled. Screw the score, the record etc. keep this kid safe and sound this year. Open it up when the OL plays better and the run game clicks. 

[Icer]

First time play caller with an Oline that couldn't run or pass block, I'm surprised we scored 2 TDs even

 

Would like to see some screens to combat the constant blitz next time out

[JETSALLDAY24X]

1 hour ago, freestater said:

Gotta say, I wasn't impressed with much of his playcalling. 4th and short, and you try getting a push up the middle that you haven't gotten all game? The whole run game, for that matter seemed unimaginative. Something Gase and Gore could've constructed. He did do a little better drawing up some stuff in the passing game, but I can't help shake the shades of Schotty in our next experiment in the long line of Jets nepotism hires.

Im just wondering how many threads you need to start to get your point across? 

[TheNuuFaaolaExperience]

My one game career grade for LaFleur is D-.

 

[Sonny Werblin]

1 hour ago, freestater said:

Gotta say, I wasn't impressed with much of his playcalling. 4th and short, and you try getting a push up the middle that you haven't gotten all game? The whole run game, for that matter seemed unimaginative. Something Gase and Gore could've constructed. He did do a little better drawing up some stuff in the passing game, but I can't help shake the shades of Schotty in our next experiment in the long line of Jets nepotism hires.

The short yardage runs into the middle were very frustrating. The 2 point conversion call was more like it. When your QB has legs, you use them. Fake the dive, Roll the QB right, have the TE or FB run a shallow cross to the sideline right in front of the QB and a WR on a deep sideline pattern. I've seen West Coast O QBs run that play a million times and it seems to work like 95% of the time. Montana lived off that play. Why fix something that isn't broken.  ---- I would note that Lefleur ran this once, it didn't work (exactly) and Wilson threw a short pass across his body to a TE for the first down.  It was poorly executed.

As I typed that, it occurred to me that "execution" is likely the big issue for the offense. The playbook is new, there are a lot of moving parts and you need everyone moving at top speed to beat the D. I think is is very possible that too many players are hesitant because the plays are not yet second nature. Slow developing O plays are doomed for failure.

[shawn306]

1 hour ago, freestater said:

Gotta say, I wasn't impressed with much of his playcalling. 4th and short, and you try getting a push up the middle that you haven't gotten all game? The whole run game, for that matter seemed unimaginative. Something Gase and Gore could've constructed. He did do a little better drawing up some stuff in the passing game, but I can't help shake the shades of Schotty in our next experiment in the long line of Jets nepotism hires.

Bad OL play can make a lot of people look bad