Offensive play-calling<\/a> that fits more of a safe route, yet still has its moments where chances are taken.<\/p>\nThe \u201coffensively bananas\u201d phase (the back-half of the fourth quarter, or sometimes even the entire fourth quarter): Offensive play-calling that throws caution to the wind, which encourages quarterbacks to play ball.<\/p>\n
The game flow particularly follows this pattern when two quarterback-driven head coaches are matched up against each other, i.e., McVay vs. Canales, Johnson vs. LaFleur, Shanahan vs. Sirianni, or even Coen vs. McDermott, the latter of whom has the best quarterback in the sport. <\/p>\n
What happens when a contrasting mindset is steering the ship?<\/p>\n
Slow-plotting conservatism<\/p>\n
As nutty as the first three (or four) games were this past weekend, the final two games of the round contrasted that tone. <\/p>\n
First, Mike Vrabel\u2019s New England Patriots smothered Jim Harbaugh\u2019s out-gunned Los Angeles Chargers team, 16-3. While many traditionalists loved the throwback feel of the game, many of those same individuals understood what had happened\u2026<\/p>\n
The Bolts\u2019 offensive line just didn\u2019t know which way was up. <\/p>\n
Kudos to Harbaugh for even having that squad in the playoffs. Nevertheless, Vrabel\u2019s defense limited Justin Herbert and company to just 207 yards of offense. <\/p>\n
The weekend capper featured, by far, the most dominant defensive performance. DeMeco Ryan\u2019s Houston Texans overwhelmed Mike Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers\u2019s Pittsburgh Steelers. <\/p>\n
They didn\u2019t have a shot from the get-go. <\/p>\n
Houston\u2019s front four dominated the Steelers\u2019 offensive line. While Rodgers\u2019s quick-release ability could be viewed as positive, Pittsburgh\u2019s weapons had little ability to separate downfield, and the Texans created a situation in which there was little time to do so (via the pass-rush). <\/p>\n
The 30-6 final was hardly indicative of what played out on the field. Houston clung to a 7-6 lead early in the fourth quarter. Houston\u2019s 23-point fourth-quarter outburst was hardly a product of the \u201coffensively bananas\u201d phase, either; instead, it dealt more with Pittsburgh\u2019s desperation. <\/p>\n
Vrabel vs. Harbaugh (offensive-minded, though playing to his defensive strength due to his offensive line\u2019s status) and Ryans vs. Tomlin speak for the other side of this new-age NFL. <\/p>\n
Yes, it contrasts greatly, but what does that tell us? <\/p>\n
The head coach\u2019s overall mindset and top-level vision for the football team are crucial. It always begins there. <\/p>\n
What it means for the Jets<\/p>\n
For Aaron Glenn and company, before personnel and coaching changes are even a thought, a baseline understanding must occur: What is this team\u2019s vision? <\/p>\n
Last offseason, it was evident: Glenn wanted a tough, violent, physical team that could run the ball and impose its will at any point. That\u2019s why he pointed the finger at Justin Fields and drafted roadgrater Armand Membou. <\/p>\n
Beyond that, how does Glenn envision weekly game plans unfolding? Will it always showcase his rushing attack and physical defense (that loves to press and play man coverage), or will it be more versatile depending upon the situation? <\/p>\n
When he\u2019s facing a defensive-minded head coach, that slower-plotting game flow can surely commence. However, how does that work when taking on a team like the Jaguars, for instance? How would it look against the Rams or Bears? <\/p>\n
Asking a head coach to change his core philosophies is a near-impossible ask. Let\u2019s be honest; that\u2019s just the nature of football coaching. <\/p>\n
Core philosophies are one thing; understanding the rules of engagement is a completely different matter. <\/p>\n
Wanting a physical rushing attack is admirable and not incorrect. Chicago showcases one. The route to finding that success is the rub here. <\/p>\n
Ben Johnson didn\u2019t force it down the throats of his roster and opponents. He instead allowed it to grow organically. Remember, Chicago didn\u2019t come out of the gates rushing the ball well. They instead funneled it through the lens of quarterback efficiency first. <\/p>\n
Mike Vrabel\u2019s slower-plotting game feel can certainly occur \u2014\u00a0as we just witnessed \u2014 but it won\u2019t always play out in that vein. He must have his offense neatly fitting through the quarterback efficiency gospel, first and foremost \u2014 which is surely the case in Josh McDaniels\u2019s corner of the football world. <\/p>\n
Simply put, it\u2019s much more difficult to play great defense as opposed to great offense in today\u2019s NFL. As much as I\u2019ll be rooting for the defense in these playoffs, if recent history is any indication, the offensively driven head-coaching minds will come out on top for the rest of the way.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, next up for Vrabel is Ryans, for whom a semi-defensive-minded head-coaching bracket of this tournament has shown face. How the winner fares against the Broncos or Bills will be interesting. <\/p>\n
If either gets through to the Super Bowl, it\u2019ll be doubly interesting in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
For Jets fans, the hopeful template for your team is the Houston Texans. For Glenn, however, it cannot stop there. The idea that these games play out so differently, depending upon which head coaches are involved, is impossible to overlook.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, Aaron Glenn\u2019s mindset means everything for the New York Jets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is precisely what Roger Goodell and the powers that be wanted when they expanded the field from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2051],"tags":[1585,198,7,3228,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,84,4403,6531,7823,3916,3234,31834],"class_list":{"0":"post-674545","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-aaron-glenn","9":"tag-featured","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-free-content","12":"tag-jets","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-jets","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkjets","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-nfl-playoffs","19":"tag-ny-jets-coaches","20":"tag-ny-jets-column","21":"tag-ny-jets-image","22":"tag-ny-jets-players","23":"tag-standard","24":"tag-syndication"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115889068172236170","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}