Stillers Offense Needs an Adreneline Boost
If the Stillers offense is every going to make a turnaround, the team needs to find a way to assert confidence in itself. As you watch as the offense took the field on first and goal, did you get the feeling that they were thinking, "This will be an easy six"? Rather than confidence and straight forward execution, the team is in a constant state of second guessing. This is not limited to the players either; it's also seen in conservative and predictable play calling.
In order to right the ship, Gilbride needs to start exploiting over zealous defenses, rather than executing a hard, fast, fixed game plan that was laid out on a flight home for the holidays in 1989. The offense has bodies capable of playmaking including Edwards, Burress, Huntley and Zereoue. Yet, how often do we see Huntley, let alone Zereoue in the backfield? These two have the speed to burn opposing defenses that are hungry to hit Graham one more time. And, numbers 80 and 81 have complimentary abilities (Burress downfield and Edwards with nifty run-after-catch moves) to do similar things to a defensive secondary.
While it's understandable that a lack of personnel (especially on the offensive line) makes it difficult on an offensive coordinator, I find it completely ludicrous to think that the current personnel is so bad that there is no way of:
- successfully executing a draw
- throwing quick, three-step-drop timing patterns
- throwing deep to Plax on a down other than 3rd and 37
- using RB's and Bruenner to neutralize aggressive LB play
I refuse to believe that the offense roster is so bad that they are incapable of moving the ball and scoring some points. What I do know is that the offense is bad enough that poor play calling can make it look worse than it is.
This being the case, the upcoming game against the Brownies is as good a time as any to start executing a quick-hitting offense and getting the ball into the hands of the playmakers. A big play here and there and a few TD's could be all the adrenaline this team needs to gain at least some confidence in the offense. Next Sunday is the time for the Black 'n Gold to put the smash back in smashmouth!