orangeandbrown wrote:McMetz811 wrote:I don't think it's entirely Magner's catching ability. Teams know his skills and seem to be double teaming him a lot more than last year.
You know I wondered about that, but can a team really double team too much in the spread? I thought that was one of the big advantages.
No not really. More likely they used a bracket-style zone coverage. When you run the spread you don't see too many man coverages anyways. Nobody can match up a CB for a WR because they don't have enough decent, experienced corners to do so. As a result they may man up on your best 2 WRs and play zone the rest of the way. Or a straight zone.
I'd have to have game film to really say, but I'd bet that most teams play a zone against us, and that zone is told to pay special attention to #21. When the players shade his way in the zone it opens up other lanes.
The only real way to defend a spread offense is pressure on the QB. If you can get him moving and possibly take away some of his options you can make the team more predictable. For instance if you force him right he will not be able to get the ball to his guys on the left side of the field. However, we have always countered this by having very athletic QBs who can escape the pressure and improvise. This is why our defense is indefensible, even for the best defenses in the world. We combine a good, well-thought out spread attack (with top notch WRs) with a solid RB and an ahtletic QB.
Are they doubling Magner? I doubt it. Likely he is the focal point of their zone coverage, but I doubt that its a true double team. I think he's probably bothered by the toe more than we think. Personally, I like Cole, but I don't care if he doesn't catch another ball all season if we win. Let them be concerned about him, Chuck will make up for it. I know that if I'm scouting BG Chuck Sharon is my #1 concern from the WR corps. I like Cole, he's a great player, but he's a possession guy. Sharon is the HR threat, and he's the one that I'm gonna pitch around.
