I want to show some of the things that are going on with this offensive line and how that is impacting Petras.
Here in this first image we can see that the right tackle is beaten badly. I am not doing this to call anyone out by name, be mean or embarass anyone, but look at his body position. He has no balance, his feet are nearly crossed up and ready to trip over himself and he is reaching badly, all resulting in him having zero leverage and out of position. Now count the players. There are 6 blockers and only 3 rushers. That means after taking out the quarterback, there are 4 receivers (not counting 15 who is not in any position here to make a play) and 8 defenders. This picture is taken just a hair over 1 second from the snap, there is not a Hawkeye receiver that has even thought about looking back to the ball, Petras is trying to fit it into double coverage, and then right after this pic was taken he was sacked. If you think that Petras should have pocket awareness less than 2.0 seconds post-snap while in max protect and trying to look downfield into double coverage you are crazy. There is no way he was expecting pressure here. Also, isn't it interesting how we have 5 Hawkeyes in the area to block 2 defenders yet the right tackle is left in a 1-on-1 situation?
Now this one. First of all, Petras has just planted his back foot on his dropback about 8 yards deep. This is right at 1.4 seconds post snap. It was so much fun the first time, so lets count again here. I count 3 rushers against 5 offensive lineman blockers. Now, lets look at the receivers. There are 4 receivers out in their routes along with Goodson running a shallow cross. At this point, Petras can't even see Goodson and none of the other 4 receivers are available for a pass. And once again, we have 5 receivers for 8 defenders, nearly double coverage. Petras has no way of knowing that he is about to get pressure from his blindside because we again outnumbering the opponents. Now lets look at the defenders. All of them having their eyes on the ball as this is a zone look across the the field with deep help. I am sorry people but there is nowhere to throw the ball here at this point unless you want to throw it to the other team. Every defender is ready to break on the ball. The only throw here is to 15, but, the middle linebacker is waiting for it and even if he threw it to Goodson here it is a very minimal gain. If Petras had a bit more time, the middle could have been open to the TE or a seam route to the slot would have been available. But guess what? Petras got sacked right after this. And one last thing, lets look at the LT. Completely beat on the outside in a 1-on-1 situation and 2 offensive lineman are left to block nobody. Even if Petras steps up, it will only disrupt the timing of the routes and will allow the safeties to converage on the deep routes. And, for all of those that want a running quarterback, if he pulls the ball down here and runs exactly how many of these linebackers do you think he can beat to get a first down? The linebackers are in better position and closer to the LOS than the quarterback is so that will be a minimal gain at best
Lets do another one. So here, less than 1 second post-snap on 3rd and 4, Petras has just completed a short drop. Petras actually recognized the blitz here and is doing what he thinks is the right thing by throwing into it. But, the corner here is pressing the receiver in a 1-on-1 with inside leverage trying to take away the slant. This is Petras' first read and the right one. But, the left tackle doesn't block anyone nor does Goodson want to even chip the backer as he comes around the edge. What you don't see right after this is that the first guy hits Petras in the mouth about a tenth of a second after this screenshot, but, if it wasn't him it was the other unblocked guy behind him that would have cleaned it up. Petras somehow miraculously gets out of it and throws the ball away. But this play here is really telling because what Petras thought was the right read, which was the right read, was actually the wrong read because if he had looked to the other side of the field he would have had an easy out-route to pick up the first down. It is almost as if Wisconsin knew what the first read was and baited Petras into it. Hmmm....
Are we having fun yet? Lets do another one. So on this one, about 1.5 seconds post-snap Petras is going to get the ball out. He knows he has to because he has to be tired of being mauled by now right? The coaches are tired of it too so they went max protect with 2 TE's along with a RB to max protect. So Petras here has 2 receivers in routes and 16 is clearly double covered and 6 has beaten the corner to the inside but out of frame would be a safety over the top and Petras recognizes this and has to throw to the other side. But one defender has come free and is getting ready to lay the wood on Petras. Luckily here, Petras fires into double coverage because he has to throw it sooner than he wants and 16 drew a PI flag that lead to the touchdown. But hey, atleast 16 and 6 were looking back at the quarterback.
Lets just do one more for shits and giggles. Maybe I just picked the 4 worse plays out of a game and you all think I am a Petras homer. Who knows? But nonetheless, there is a fifth one here. In this play we actually have some numbers because we have 4 receivers out against only 7 defenders this time. This is 1.6 seconds post snap and Petras has set and wants to let it go. Same story here though. Nobody has broken their route yet, and Petras sees the pressure right in his face but probably doesn't (but has to expect by now) the pressure from the edge. He can step up, tuck it and run, whatever, he is going to get sacked here whatever he does. Wisconsin is in great position to defend whatever he does here because again, everybody has their eyes on the ball.
I hope that gives everyone a visual of what is going on with this offense. If there is no time to throw, your offense is going to be crap. I don't care what level of football anybody is playing and I don't care who the quarterback is, the o ain't moving. And I hope by you see from these snippets (and for those inquiring minds there are many many more plays that I could choose from, I just stopped after 5) that there is a lot of blame to go around besides the quarterback. It is not just that the offensive line is bad, it is, but it is how they are bad. Their technique is awful, they don't maintain balance thus have no leverage, and oftentimes you see them not engaging the defender but really looks like they are trying not to. A defensive tackle, end or LB'er will want to CREATE space and the blocker will want to ELIMINATE that space, but we are not doing that at all. These guys may not be the most talented offensive linemen in the world, but, a lot of this has to fall on the position coach to look that bad. Anybody who has played any sport is taught on day one to be in the ready position, to widen your stance, keep your balance, slide your feet and keep your weight over the balls of your feet, blah, blah. But these guys consistently are not doing that. And in many other instances, we have blockers that literally run right past a defender to go block someone else when the person they ran by goes and makes the play. That again has to be coaching. The receivers and route trees are not helping a think either because they have to make themselves an available target. Think whatever you want about Petras, but the guy is standing back there ready to get his head knocked up because the blocking in front of him sucks but nobody is even looking at him to give him a place to throw. I really to feel bad for the guy because who would want to play QB in that situation. I also have to call out the play calling, and by no means am I wanting to contribute to another "Fire BF" campaign, but it is obvious that a lot of these defenses know what is coming. I think one of the Wisconsin d-linemen said as much. That has to get better too.
My goal of this very long post is not to bitch, whine or complain, but explain to everyone why exactly this offense is struggling so badly right now. The good thing is that some of this can be cleaned up. The bad thing is that some of it cannot. This is what it is at this point and if this team wins 10 or 11 games this year it will be a ****ing miracle. Hell, 6 wins is a pretty great accomplishment all by itself.
Here in this first image we can see that the right tackle is beaten badly. I am not doing this to call anyone out by name, be mean or embarass anyone, but look at his body position. He has no balance, his feet are nearly crossed up and ready to trip over himself and he is reaching badly, all resulting in him having zero leverage and out of position. Now count the players. There are 6 blockers and only 3 rushers. That means after taking out the quarterback, there are 4 receivers (not counting 15 who is not in any position here to make a play) and 8 defenders. This picture is taken just a hair over 1 second from the snap, there is not a Hawkeye receiver that has even thought about looking back to the ball, Petras is trying to fit it into double coverage, and then right after this pic was taken he was sacked. If you think that Petras should have pocket awareness less than 2.0 seconds post-snap while in max protect and trying to look downfield into double coverage you are crazy. There is no way he was expecting pressure here. Also, isn't it interesting how we have 5 Hawkeyes in the area to block 2 defenders yet the right tackle is left in a 1-on-1 situation?
Now this one. First of all, Petras has just planted his back foot on his dropback about 8 yards deep. This is right at 1.4 seconds post snap. It was so much fun the first time, so lets count again here. I count 3 rushers against 5 offensive lineman blockers. Now, lets look at the receivers. There are 4 receivers out in their routes along with Goodson running a shallow cross. At this point, Petras can't even see Goodson and none of the other 4 receivers are available for a pass. And once again, we have 5 receivers for 8 defenders, nearly double coverage. Petras has no way of knowing that he is about to get pressure from his blindside because we again outnumbering the opponents. Now lets look at the defenders. All of them having their eyes on the ball as this is a zone look across the the field with deep help. I am sorry people but there is nowhere to throw the ball here at this point unless you want to throw it to the other team. Every defender is ready to break on the ball. The only throw here is to 15, but, the middle linebacker is waiting for it and even if he threw it to Goodson here it is a very minimal gain. If Petras had a bit more time, the middle could have been open to the TE or a seam route to the slot would have been available. But guess what? Petras got sacked right after this. And one last thing, lets look at the LT. Completely beat on the outside in a 1-on-1 situation and 2 offensive lineman are left to block nobody. Even if Petras steps up, it will only disrupt the timing of the routes and will allow the safeties to converage on the deep routes. And, for all of those that want a running quarterback, if he pulls the ball down here and runs exactly how many of these linebackers do you think he can beat to get a first down? The linebackers are in better position and closer to the LOS than the quarterback is so that will be a minimal gain at best
Lets do another one. So here, less than 1 second post-snap on 3rd and 4, Petras has just completed a short drop. Petras actually recognized the blitz here and is doing what he thinks is the right thing by throwing into it. But, the corner here is pressing the receiver in a 1-on-1 with inside leverage trying to take away the slant. This is Petras' first read and the right one. But, the left tackle doesn't block anyone nor does Goodson want to even chip the backer as he comes around the edge. What you don't see right after this is that the first guy hits Petras in the mouth about a tenth of a second after this screenshot, but, if it wasn't him it was the other unblocked guy behind him that would have cleaned it up. Petras somehow miraculously gets out of it and throws the ball away. But this play here is really telling because what Petras thought was the right read, which was the right read, was actually the wrong read because if he had looked to the other side of the field he would have had an easy out-route to pick up the first down. It is almost as if Wisconsin knew what the first read was and baited Petras into it. Hmmm....
Are we having fun yet? Lets do another one. So on this one, about 1.5 seconds post-snap Petras is going to get the ball out. He knows he has to because he has to be tired of being mauled by now right? The coaches are tired of it too so they went max protect with 2 TE's along with a RB to max protect. So Petras here has 2 receivers in routes and 16 is clearly double covered and 6 has beaten the corner to the inside but out of frame would be a safety over the top and Petras recognizes this and has to throw to the other side. But one defender has come free and is getting ready to lay the wood on Petras. Luckily here, Petras fires into double coverage because he has to throw it sooner than he wants and 16 drew a PI flag that lead to the touchdown. But hey, atleast 16 and 6 were looking back at the quarterback.
Lets just do one more for shits and giggles. Maybe I just picked the 4 worse plays out of a game and you all think I am a Petras homer. Who knows? But nonetheless, there is a fifth one here. In this play we actually have some numbers because we have 4 receivers out against only 7 defenders this time. This is 1.6 seconds post snap and Petras has set and wants to let it go. Same story here though. Nobody has broken their route yet, and Petras sees the pressure right in his face but probably doesn't (but has to expect by now) the pressure from the edge. He can step up, tuck it and run, whatever, he is going to get sacked here whatever he does. Wisconsin is in great position to defend whatever he does here because again, everybody has their eyes on the ball.
I hope that gives everyone a visual of what is going on with this offense. If there is no time to throw, your offense is going to be crap. I don't care what level of football anybody is playing and I don't care who the quarterback is, the o ain't moving. And I hope by you see from these snippets (and for those inquiring minds there are many many more plays that I could choose from, I just stopped after 5) that there is a lot of blame to go around besides the quarterback. It is not just that the offensive line is bad, it is, but it is how they are bad. Their technique is awful, they don't maintain balance thus have no leverage, and oftentimes you see them not engaging the defender but really looks like they are trying not to. A defensive tackle, end or LB'er will want to CREATE space and the blocker will want to ELIMINATE that space, but we are not doing that at all. These guys may not be the most talented offensive linemen in the world, but, a lot of this has to fall on the position coach to look that bad. Anybody who has played any sport is taught on day one to be in the ready position, to widen your stance, keep your balance, slide your feet and keep your weight over the balls of your feet, blah, blah. But these guys consistently are not doing that. And in many other instances, we have blockers that literally run right past a defender to go block someone else when the person they ran by goes and makes the play. That again has to be coaching. The receivers and route trees are not helping a think either because they have to make themselves an available target. Think whatever you want about Petras, but the guy is standing back there ready to get his head knocked up because the blocking in front of him sucks but nobody is even looking at him to give him a place to throw. I really to feel bad for the guy because who would want to play QB in that situation. I also have to call out the play calling, and by no means am I wanting to contribute to another "Fire BF" campaign, but it is obvious that a lot of these defenses know what is coming. I think one of the Wisconsin d-linemen said as much. That has to get better too.
My goal of this very long post is not to bitch, whine or complain, but explain to everyone why exactly this offense is struggling so badly right now. The good thing is that some of this can be cleaned up. The bad thing is that some of it cannot. This is what it is at this point and if this team wins 10 or 11 games this year it will be a ****ing miracle. Hell, 6 wins is a pretty great accomplishment all by itself.
