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Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33
I'm with Daseal on this one, it was either Gibbs or Saunders not opening up the playbook for Campbell, either way the offense was definitely hamstrung by playcalling.
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But isn't the 'opening up' of the playbook the part thats up to perception/debate?
I mean, I think for "handcuffing" to have an actual effect on the outcome of the game, the playcalling has to be so limited that the defense can correctly predict what's coming. Based on the overall offensive numbers under Campbell, this was clearly not the case.
I think that we can deduce that Todd Collins was allowed to run a greater percentage of the playbook, but from the defenses perspective, the playcalling wasn't any different. The run-pass ratio didn't change significantly with Collins in, and any increase in production can be directly attributed to Collins' level of play itself...not the playcalling.
Like Smootsmack just said, real factors such as injuries to the line and inexperience to the quarterback determined how we went about attacking the opposing defense. There was no "holding back" of Jason Campbell -- throughout the entire season, if the offense needed a big play, they would hang the request right on Campbell's arm -- this started all the way back in the Philadelphia game.
So no, Gibbs and Saunders weren't doing anything out of the ordinary last year. They simply went into the season with a plan, and tweaked it when reality happened. I would hope Jim Zorn does the same thing...but then again, I'm not really sure there's any alternative here to be fearful of. That's just the way NFL coaches do their jobs.