How will McVay avoid “tells” when he inserts Henderson and/or Everett?

[FaulkSF]

@Flint the Patriots played the same defense as the Bears did. Show 6 on the d line potentially rushing and drop 2 back, occasionally 5-6 on the blitz. Play mostly zone in the secondary. The Patriots rarely played zone and never showed the bear front in the regular season. Give the Patriots credit for having the veterans and high IQ players to pick up this scheme in 2 weeks that neutralized zone blocking.

McVay never made adjustments in the game. If he ran no huddle during drives he may have forced the Patriots to play a soft zone and no blitz. McVay never tried man on man blocking. Gurley/CJ could have rushed five per carry at least if the Rams could have id'd their assignments. Zone blocking is more difficult since you can't predict who you're going to block and potentially we were blocking air and leaving gaps open for rushers.

 

[OnceARam]

We've got to bring the screen game back.

 

[André]

We've got to bring the screen game back.

Hugely agree with this.

Gurley being injured took this aspect away from the Rams in the playoffs and it showed - to their detriment.

 

[oldnotdead]

Everyone knows the Rams like using the jet sweep motion. Well with Gurley at RB and Henderson lining up in the slot at Y then running the jet sweep motion it adds a whole new dimension to the offense. There is no question that Henderson running the sweep is far more dangerous to a defense than with a WR running that sweep. They will have to honor that sweep motion in ways they otherwise might not.

So do they fake to Henderson and give to Gurley? Do they give to Henderson? Do they fake to both RB's and play action pass? One player bringing a whole new level of threat to a staple of McVay's offense. It means that many times the Ram WR's will be left in man coverage....advantage Rams. Thats what Henderson brings. He expands the offensive threat and they are still running the same exact look as last year. Henderson timed at 4.49 but he plays much faster because of his ability to immediately accelerate.

I love it!!!

 

[LA_Rams_#29]

Might kinda tie in with the evolution from the 90% use of 11 personnel a little bit, too.

There’s no secret that McVay intends to get snaps for both guys, and probably lots of them.

So, how does McVay avoid giving away too much info to opposing D’s as he allegedly did in the SB?

I can see how 2 back sets might give D’s fits.

And 2 TE sets with an emerging Everett could also present big problems.

But will either give too much info away vs just remaining in the almost infinitely variable 11 personnel?

Gonna be interesting to see how this plays out. And I seriously doubt that McVay will give away even a hint during the preseason games.

if we diversify our sets...ie not use the same damn formation 90% of the time...then you don't have to worry about "tells" ...you have a diverse offense that uses ALL of its weapons

 

[Mackeyser]

Those “tells” can work against you in the right hands, and unfortunately Belichick is the right hands.
I forget the exact details but I remember hearing that the Pats did something they hadn’t done in any game all year in the SB, it caused confusion and uncertainty and McVay has said they didn’t adjust well.
So is Belichick establishing tendencies just so he can break them at a crucial time? You can’t put it past him.
I think Henderson and Everett will be added into the offense as another layer, if you suspect you know what’s going to happen that’s what gets you in trouble.
Jeff Fisher’s offense was predictable because there weren’t many threats, there weren’t many plays that worked well so it wasn’t hard to figure out.
The Rams offense was already explosive and now they’re adding more to it, but teams like the Bears and NE have an effective plan against it, McVay has to evolve and adapt and I think he will.

Yeah, when they lose games in the middle/late in the season, it wouldn't surprise me if Belichick and the Pats go in with a game plan that's meant as a misdirection. And if they lose or perform poorly, teams will take that as "this is how you beat them".

I hate to say it, but NO ONE in the history of the game has been better at the meta strategy game than Belichick. Not even close. I'm sure Ernie Adams is a VERY big part of it. It wouldn't surprise me to find that they have "detailed files" on every team including tendencies and that they use their season as a way to set up teams they feel that the may face in the post-season.

doesn't always work, but their success rate is pretty good.

I know when the Broncos beat them badly in the AFCCC, Wade had THREE different defensive game plans... one for the first half, one for the third quarter and another for the fourth quarter and as soon as the Pats adjusted, there'd be a new game plan inserted... was genius and you could see how frustrated Belichick was at that. Wade had never done anything like that.

That's how you have to beat them... show them something they haven't seen before.