Camereon W. from Snellville
Hey Tori. I am not sure if you have the answer to this question but I have to ask. WHERE HAS ALL THIS PLAY-ACTION AND UNDER CENTER stuff been all year long? We have been missing the chunk plays through the air all year long. Fans have been screaming to get under center and run play action all year long. It’s so baffling. Is Michaal Penix not capable? We rarely ran the pistol against the Saints. It literally seems like the team had two playbooks. One for Penix and one for Kirk Cousins. Please help me understand this from your perspective.
Raheem Morris was asked these very questions after the game Sunday, and again (by yours truly) on Monday. Let me summarize as best I can.
Morris said after the game that when Cousins came off his torn Achilles injury last season “he felt a little bit more comfortable in the pistol.” So, now that Cousins is “back to what he’s been in the past,” per Morris, the offensive play style was put in place to “accommodate Kirk.”
Did that specifically mean going under center with more obvious play-action?
“Realistically, I don’t know if it was an uptick in play action. It was probably about the same whether we were in pistol or whether we were up under [center] with the number of play actions. I think we got the big explosive last night that we were able to get out of it that was really turned into it. I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me on what it was and all those types of things. But, when you look at it from a defensive perspective, really pistol and dot, when we play it on defense, usually it’s the same thing. Every once in a while, you have some teams that come out in pistol and they can dropback pass, like we were able to do a la Tampa last year with Kirk or a la a couple games this year, because it kind of hides some of your gun stuff that you want to do when you are passing. So, it’s just kind of a matter of what you think you need in order to go out and win that football game. Some of the concepts, some of the things that we do with Kirk, some of the ways we’re able to create the pocket for Kirk. Kirk’s going to be there. We know that. So, to be able to make him nice and comfy and cozy in that pocket, some of the things we wanted to do with our protection schemes and that nature, I think all those things factored in. But, how do we get the best version of all of our guys and our quarterback and find a way to go out there and get a win. I’ve got to give those guys a lot of complimentary work on what they did last week, being able to do those things. Even changing the personnel groupings somewhat more than we were accustomed to, and that wasn’t because of Kirk. That was something that we wanted to do to make sure that we can get the best out of our guys.”
Was this a request specifically from Cousins during the week of game planning?
“We have a system, and the system’s been in place when Kirk was here before. Obviously, he was a starter. He was brought in to do those things, so we kind of know what it looks like, what that whole process looks like, what Kirk likes. So, it doesn’t go so far as Kirk coming in and saying what he wants, but we build a plan like we do every Tuesday. Obviously, Kirk comes in, he’s able to have a lot of input into it. So, when he comes in and we can say exactly what he likes, especially after we get some practice reps and do those things and go out there and look at it. I love this concept, love this, love that, love this scheme, love being here, love this protection for these reasons. I like to do these things, and it’s just what you want to have with your quarterback, the ability to go out there and communicate to make sure you get the best stuff across, and that’s what they’re going to do this week. I see it going that way moving forward.”
Actions matter more than words here. Based on what we’ve seen, it seems likely that 1) Cousins wasn’t fully comfortable coming off his Achilles injury and avoided going under center to keep from turning his back to the defense, which limited those looks last year; and 2) the Falcons may be using more gun/pistol for a similar reason and by the same logic with Penix, who may not yet be comfortable or efficient operating under center. Until someone refutes this outright, this is the opinion of which I have.
The best offenses and quarterbacks in the game right now (think Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff) are utilizing under-center looks and play action at a higher rate. If Penix’s player comp coming out of the draft was Stafford, the Falcons have a ways to go in Penix’s development to get him more comfortable using some of the elements that have made the Rams’ quarterback so successful.