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[Beemnseven]

On the subject of playcalling, here are a couple of things I’ve noticed about Gibbs this year...

I saw more slant passes thrown against Denver than I think there were in all of Gibbs’ career. But you never see screen passes – something you would think best fits Portis’ abilities. And while we used to see them all too frequently on third and long, short passes to Cooley and the tight ends on first down up the middle for 5 to 10 yards would be effective from time to time.

By my count, there’s only been one attempt at a trick play this year: A flea-flicker against Seattle last week that failed to connect. What happened to the fake end-arounds and reverses that were once a staple of Gibbs’ offense? I understand that you can’t be gimmicky, but once and awhile you’ve got to mix it up a bit and do things that defenses just don’t expect. Even under Spurrier you saw a little bit of imagination – remember the wideout screens to Rod Gardner where he threw it to wide open running backs on the other side of the field?

To his credit though, Gibbs does appear more receptive to actually attempting a long pass when it’s required to convert on third and long. Maybe he’s more confident in Brunell’s arm this year. There was a time when all you saw was a spread formation, with the running back lined up directly behind the tackle (ordinarily a pass formation) only to see a counter-draw that never fooled anybody.

Does anyone else get the sense that Gibbs may not yet be into a groove as a play caller? Don’t get me wrong, he’s not stinking it up by any means, sometimes I just feel there’s something missing. Or is playcalling overrated, as many NFL experts tend to say?