Obviously, there is a theme over the last week and throughout the whole season. The theme is that the offense sucks and many people still think Nick Caley needs to be shown the door. I came out a little over a week ago and argued that Caley should stay even though I had been banging the drum the loudest to get him out of town earlier in the season. I’m certainly not going to throw any pity parties if he does get canned because he does more than enough to be relieved of his duties. However, I think it is important to make the case for him staying because that is the most likely result.
Simply put, Caley is running the offense that DeMeco Ryans wants him to run. Ryans wants to run a smash mouth offense and that is what Caley is doing. What we see is an offense that doesn’t match what the team is built to do. Some of that is by design and some of that is because of unforeseen events. Either way, at a certain point you need to either lean into what you are trying to do or you need to look at what you actually have and run the offense in a way that maximizes your talent.
The funny thing is that we were sold on Caley because we were told he would do that when he was hired. We were told that Bobby Slowik had not done that and that the biggest difference was that Caley would ask players to do what they were capable of doing. The only difference is that Caley is more conservative than Slowik was, so they get sacked less often, turn the ball over less, and are slightly more efficient passing the ball. Those are good things. The offense just looks clunky at times and it is always good to look at why.
It starts up front. Nick Caserio drafted only one lineman even though they jettisoned three starters from the 2024 offensive line. Granted, two of them were terrible. So, one could predict you would be better there by sheer accident and I suppose that has partially been true. Ed Ingram has been much better than Shaq Mason. Unfortunately, they probably whiffed at center and whiffed at left guard. It should be noted that they have been whiffing at left guard and center for several seasons now.
It continues with what I sometimes lovingly call the one footed Joe Mixon. No one knows what happened to him and it somehow took the entire organization by surprise. I find that very hard to believe. At any rate, they had designed an offense where Mixon would take a bulk of the carries, Nick Chubb would spell him and gain more tough yards, and then Woody Marks would develop into a change of pace back that could help out in the passing game.
Two of those three actually developed into what they were supposed to. Chubb was never going to be the 1400 yard back he was in Cleveland, but for a guy that was supposed to average between five and ten carries a game he hasn’t been terrible. Marks has turned out to be better than expected. However, neither is really a featured back in an offense that is supposed to be a run first offensive attack.
Like I said, I have to assume that they knew that Mixon was likely out long before we knew. If they didn’t know then that’s a serious problem. However, the bigger problem is not that Mixon was lost to them. I get the fact that if they found out in August or September then their options were severely limited in what they could do to compensate. However, one of those things you can do is alter the offense to become what your personnel says you are. Your personnel did not say you were a smash mouth football team. It said you were a pass first offense with a diverse group of receivers, tight ends, and running backs that could all contribute in the passing game.
So, it becomes important to realize what we are watching and why we have to watch it. We are watching an offense that is literally fighting with itself. It is fighting its own nature and its own identity. When you try to be something you aren’t you are going to struggle at times. When you try to be something you are not you will look clunky. However, it is important to understand that this is what DeMeco Ryans wants. He wants a team that will score between 20 t0 25 points and not turn the ball over. If they do that then his defense can carry you the rest of the way,
In that universe there is really only one thing you can do. It isn’t to fire the offensive coordinator. It is to give him the pieces he needs to run smash mouth football. That requires at least a new center and new left guard and an additional running back. You cannot count on Joe Mixon because there is no actual proof he even exists at this point or that he has both of his feet. You have a first rounder and two second rounders. If you don’t come out of that with at least one lineman and a running back or two linemen then Caserio and Ryans are not aligned. That is the bigger problem.
I know some people say you don’t need a first or second round running back and I certainly respect that, but this team desperately needs a bell cow back. Marks has been great, but he isn’t that guy. He ie best cast as a change of pace back that can catch passes out of the backfield. He is not a 20 carry per game guy and shouldn’t be cast in that role. It is time to lean into smash mouth football and actually give Nick Caley the pieces he needs to run that before we talk about letting him go.