Congrats! I like our new OC better… Nothing against your pick! It’s just that everyone is running out to get the hot young Shanahan and McVey assistants for OC and even head coach… This is having a few weird effects.
The more teams that run McVey/Shanahan schemes, the more DCs will focus on them and find the appropriate counters…
These systems require very specific types of skill position players and linemen. A Julian Edelman will be an all pro in these systems, Terrell Owens would not… So now you have more teams fishing in the same small pool of available players. The pickings will get slim…
Arthur Smith’s concepts are to pound the ball. He relies a bit too heavily in the outside zone for my tastes, I would prefer more gap schemes or duos for Najee, but I think we can pull it off. He uses the running game to set up the passing game. As the defense reacts to pounding the rock, they start slipping a safety into the box, opening them up over top. I think that will be a winning formula. It is also a very effective ball control offense, keeping the defense on the sidelines staying rested.
Pittsburgh’s defense essentially played an extra game before the bye week because of our lousy time of possession and the number of snaps… The more snaps you take, the more injured you become… We lost our top 3 ILBs AND our top 4 Safeties at the same time this season, and over the last 6 weeks. We had 2-3 guys starting that were on the couch just a few weeks before…
