Offensive/Defensive Gameplan Thoughts

[larrymcg421]

I believe I've come across a pretty successful offensive/defensive gameplan strategy. Like Skydog, I won't give away the down/distance information, but here are the basic principles involved...

The offensive philosophy is to deceive the defense with lots of short/medium passes and mixing in long balls in surprising situations. While this is primarily a pass oritented offense, RB's do very well because the LB's are looking for those passes over the middle and the CB's are scared of the deep ball.

For this offense you want:

QB's with very high accuracy. Other helpful strengths are Short Passes, Medium Passes, and Sense Rush. Of course you want a QB who doesn't throw picks, but that might take some time to find out. Screen, Long, and Deep are good to have, but not necessary as long as they are semi-adequate (nothing less then 35 I'd say).

With WR's I would concentrate on Getting Downfield and Courage. Still, I wouldn't really de-emphasize anything. It's best to go for premium WR's in this offense. You can go cheap on other positions. If you can't get premium guys, then make sure your starters complement each other. Have a high Courage/Getting Downfield guy for those short passes, and then a deep threat with high Big Play Receiving for the quick strikes.

TE's will never pass block in this offense. That's a waste of a good TE. They will run block occassionally but are used primarily as receivers in this offense. Look for good receiving numbers, but especially good 3rd Down Receiving.

Likewise, FB's will do very little pass blocking, albeit a little more than TE's. They will run block, but again you want good pass catching skills, especially on 3rd down.

Again with RB's, look for good pass catching attributes. I had an RB catch over 71 passes in this offense once. For running skills, I would avoid tweener types and go after a guy maxed out in Hole Recognition and something else (I like elusiveness, but Breakaway is good too).
For offensive Linemen, focus primarily on pass blocking. The RB's will usually be running when the defense is off guard, so stud run blockers are not necessary. You just make sure your QB doesn't get killed since the TE's and FB's won't be picking up the blitzes.

The defensive philosophy is to focus mostly on stopping the run. With a pass oriented offense, the worst thing that can happen is for your QB to be sitting on the sidelines picking his nose. Don't let them control the clock. Make them go for the 80 yard TD. If they get it, then at least your offense is back out on the field.

For this defense, you want to focus on a secondary. The agressive run stopping nature will bait offenses into passing alot against you. If you have a good secondary, you're now forcing them to go against your strength. I usually get a run stopping MLB and a mixture on the line (two run stoppers, two pass rushers) . I wouldn't worry about OLB's much. Just make sure they can find the field.

As Skydog did, I'm gonna run two test seasons. One with an team specifically drafted with the offense in mind, and one with a randomly drafted team.

[larrymcg421]

Here is the "Ideal" Test. Notice how often the opponent decides to throw the ball, with very limited success. And despite the fact that I rarely made my Backs or TE pick up blitzes, the opponents had a very low pass rush %.


2006 Summary for Miami Dolphins

Year 2006
Record 19-0
Winning Pct. 1.000
All-Time 16-0
Winning Pct. 1.000
Playoffs 3-0
Playoff Visits 1
Bowl Wins 1
Head Coach Buddy Chapman
Record 19-0
Winning Pct. 1.000
Off. Coord. N. Morrison
Def. Coord. V. Quan

Miami Dolphins Team Rank
Rushes per Game 36.1 7
Rushing Yards 149.0 3
Yards Per Carry 4.13 6
Pass Attempts 26.1 28
Completions 18.9 7
Completion Pct. 72.7 1
Passing Yards 241.1 1
Yards Per Attempt 9.25 1
Yards Per Catch 12.73 1
Total Yardage Gained 382.2 1
3rd Down Conversions 49.5 1
Points Per Game 34.9 1
Pass Rush Pct. 7.7 10
Pass Defense Pct. 77.9 1
Turnovers 19 4
Turnover Margin +13 2 (T)

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes per Game 23.3 3
Rushing Yards 94.9 4
Yards Per Carry 4.08 26
Pass Attempts 34.7 30
Completions 17.9 23
Completion Pct. 51.5 1
Passing Yards 176.6 17
Yards Per Attempt 5.09 4
Yards Per Catch 9.88 9
Total Yardage Gained 260.0 9
3rd Down Conversions 35.7 18
Points Per Game 10.7 2
Pass Rush Pct. 3.7 2
Pass Defense Pct. 59.9 1
Turnovers 32 5 (T)

Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 41 at PIT 17
2 34 BUF 3
3 48 TEN 7
4 35 at HOU 3
5 31 at NED 3
6 30 at NJY 6
7 41 GBY 23
9 20 at CHI 17
10 40 KCY 14
11 32 MIN 14
12 23 at DET 10
13 41 JAX 6
14 37 NED 0
15 45 at BUF 31
16 38 NJY 3
17 23 at IND 14
$$CS 31 NED 13
$$CF 35 BAL 7
**FB 38 vs WAS 6

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int Rate
7 E. Rumans QB 358 262 3422 9.56 29 8 120.6
14 E. Parker QB 59 41 436 7.39 3 0 107.7
**Team --- 417 303 3858 9.25 32 8 118.8
$$Opp --- 555 286 2825 5.09 11 15 61.6 
Front Office Football 2007

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD Fum
33 I. Rasmussen RB 326 1323 4.06 15 5
47 K. Coffey RB 201 825 4.10 8 0
7 E. Rumans QB 45 209 4.64 6 6
**Team --- 577 2384 4.13 30 19
$$Opp --- 372 1519 4.08 4 28

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop TD
85 H. Glover WR 103 71 1053 14.83 10.22 4 7
82 D. Houseright WR 81 58 1053 18.16 13.00 4 6
33 I. Rasmussen RB 50 38 284 7.47 5.68 2 5
83 J. Hudson WR 53 33 550 16.67 10.38 4 4
45 E. King FB 34 31 169 5.45 4.97 1 1
89 C. Braun WR 37 27 310 11.48 8.38 4 3
80 J. Mueller TE 29 19 233 12.26 8.03 1 2

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn PDPct
93 T. Pirtle ILB 80 19 2.0 1 0 9 76.5
46 B. Crichton S 64 25 0.0 0 2 12 81.6
91 C. Mason OLB 55 21 3.0 5 1 8 78.7
92 B. Baxter OLB 50 19 0.0 0 2 3 77.0
32 S. Crumpler S 46 22 0.0 0 1 11 81.6
48 K. Crawford CB 41 17 0.0 0 3 20 87.2
78 J. Hughes DT 37 16 2.5 5 0 0 81.2
21 W. Rodham S 37 13 0.0 3 0 5 80.0
30 M. Meier CB 36 12 0.0 0 4 13 86.1
39 C. Morrison CB 32 12 0.5 0 1 6 81.2
97 L. Castagnola DE 31 10 8.5 20 0 0 82.0
94 C. Fitzgerald DE 29 12 6.0 14 1 0 81.4
70 D. Upshaw DT 24 4 3.0 1 0 0 81.9
96 I. Samuels ILB 23 9 0.0 1 0 3 80.3
79 G. Hammontree DT 19 7 1.5 3 0 0 81.2
52 C. Gambrell ILB 16 4 2.0 0 0 1 66.1

[larrymcg421]

And here is the "random" test. Still won the SB, but not quite as dominating. Obviously, the problem here was a QB who threw too many INT's. Still, you can see some facets of the gameplan working. The TE was the leading receiver and the backs caught alot of balls as well. The defense looks much worse here, but the focus on run stopping seemed to be enough to get us by.

2006 Summary for Miami Dolphins

Year 2006
Record 13-6-1
Winning Pct. .675
All-Time 9-6-1
Winning Pct. .593
Playoffs 4-0
Playoff Visits 1
Bowl Wins 1
Head Coach Ben Fuller
Record 13-6-1
Winning Pct. .675
Off. Coord. R. Witt
Def. Coord. J. Ferguson

Miami Dolphins Team Rank
Rushes per Game 28.8 16
Rushing Yards 138.5 3
Yards Per Carry 4.82 1
Pass Attempts 35.7 4
Completions 21.6 4
Completion Pct. 60.4 9 (T)
Passing Yards 270.2 1
Yards Per Attempt 7.57 2
Yards Per Catch 12.53 2
Total Yardage Gained 397.1 1
3rd Down Conversions 41.7 2
Points Per Game 21.1 7
Pass Rush Pct. 6.0 27
Pass Defense Pct. 68.8 23
Turnovers 35 30
Turnover Margin -15 31

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes per Game 27.5 10
Rushing Yards 102.3 7
Yards Per Carry 3.72 7
Pass Attempts 30.8 12
Completions 19.7 27
Completion Pct. 63.9 31
Passing Yards 216.4 27
Yards Per Attempt 7.02 31
Yards Per Catch 10.99 27
Total Yardage Gained 310.8 27
3rd Down Conversions 36.6 22
Points Per Game 20.6 23
Pass Rush Pct. 7.4 12
Pass Defense Pct. 72.1 19
Turnovers 20 29 (T)

Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 24 at PIT 20
2 14 BUF 27
3 7 TEN 25
4 13 at HOU 30
5 31 at NED 14
6 31 at NJY 7
7 31 GBY 14
9 27 at CHI 13
10 17 KCY 31
11 7 MIN 19
12 27 at DET 34
13 24 JAX 21
14 28 NED 27
15 13 at BUF 13
16 17 NJY 13
17 27 at IND 21
$$WC 24 at PIT 3
$$CS 16 at KCY 6
$$CF 37 at HOU 24
**FB 41 vs SEA 24

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int Rate
9 B. Doyle QB 545 330 4138 7.59 19 22 79.0
**Team --- 571 345 4323 7.57 20 23 78.9
$$Opp --- 493 315 3462 7.02 24 12 90.6 
Front Office Football 2007

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD Fum
38 A. Bunch RB 324 1629 5.03 13 2
48 T. Meador RB 101 457 4.52 5 5
**Team --- 460 2216 4.82 19 21
$$Opp --- 440 1637 3.72 9 15

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop TD
81 C. McGregor TE 83 63 869 13.79 10.47 1 5
82 K. Shorter WR 106 57 867 15.21 8.18 5 2
38 A. Bunch RB 71 52 444 8.54 6.25 2 2
83 N. Schultz WR 99 51 826 16.20 8.34 7 6
88 J. Riley WR 73 40 537 13.43 7.36 8 4
31 R. Berberich FB 38 31 187 6.03 4.92 0 1
80 A. Irwin WR 50 24 309 12.88 6.18 5 0

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn PDPct
98 B. Johnson ILB 106 42 0.0 1 0 5 73.5
54 A. Shantz OLB 93 33 1.0 3 0 10 73.3
44 P. Gerhardt S 75 26 0.0 0 4 10 85.2
99 K. Lake OLB 64 29 1.0 1 2 3 71.7
45 M. Crane S 55 25 0.0 0 1 11 80.5
36 J. Blair CB 41 12 0.0 0 2 9 80.1
46 L. Alderman CB 41 16 0.0 0 2 9 79.7
95 M. Burks DT 39 12 4.5 11 0 0 80.8
72 B. Perez DE 34 11 7.0 12 0 0 82.0
79 J. Myers DT 29 9 1.0 5 0 0 82.1
91 A. Nelson DE 26 5 3.5 13 0 0 81.5
49 B. Ackerman S 26 16 1.0 0 1 3 82.1
29 C. McElroy CB 20 3 0.0 0 0 3 77.6
94 R. Hayes OLB 18 5 0.0 0 0 1 73.2

[larrymcg421]

What if your starting QB gets hurt? Here's a test I ran using the "ideal" squad, but cutting the stud QB before Week 1. The replacement was a 22/38 rookie.

2006 Summary for Miami Dolphins

Year 2006
Record 13-5
Winning Pct. .722
All-Time 12-4
Winning Pct. .750
Playoffs 1-1
Playoff Visits 1
Bowl Wins 0
Head Coach Buddy Chapman
Record 13-5
Winning Pct. .722
Off. Coord. N. Morrison
Def. Coord. V. Quan

Miami Dolphins Team Rank
Rushes per Game 29.8 17
Rushing Yards 125.3 9
Yards Per Carry 4.21 6
Pass Attempts 36.9 2
Completions 23.0 2
Completion Pct. 62.3 6
Passing Yards 280.9 1
Yards Per Attempt 7.61 2
Yards Per Catch 12.21 1
Total Yardage Gained 391.1 1
3rd Down Conversions 47.8 1
Points Per Game 28.3 2
Pass Rush Pct. 7.1 16 (T)
Pass Defense Pct. 73.8 13
Turnovers 47 32
Turnover Margin -15 29

Opponents Team Rank
Rushes per Game 24.9 6
Rushing Yards 83.3 2
Yards Per Carry 3.35 1
Pass Attempts 33.6 22
Completions 18.4 23
Completion Pct. 54.9 10
Passing Yards 224.6 32
Yards Per Attempt 6.69 31
Yards Per Catch 12.18 32
Total Yardage Gained 290.3 24
3rd Down Conversions 35.3 22
Points Per Game 18.3 21
Pass Rush Pct. 7.1 14 (T)
Pass Defense Pct. 72.6 15 (T)
Turnovers 32 11 (T)

Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 34 at PIT 19
2 35 BUF 28
3 38 TEN 13
4 31 at HOU 17
5 30 at NED 3
6 41 at NJY 13
7 17 GBY 20
9 23 at CHI 21
10 31 KCY 24
11 24 MIN 12
12 19 at DET 31
13 10 JAX 24
14 42 NED 24
15 20 at BUF 26
16 35 NJY 7
17 23 at IND 10
$$CS 41 CLE 20
$$CF 13 IND 37

Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int Rate
14 E. Parker QB 591 368 4495 7.61 34 33 81.6
**Team --- 591 368 4495 7.61 34 33 81.6
$$Opp --- 537 295 3594 6.69 21 15 77.1

Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD Fum 
Front Office Football 2007
33 I. Rasmussen RB 287 1313 4.57 9 3
47 K. Coffey RB 140 518 3.70 8 2
**Team --- 476 2005 4.21 17 30
$$Opp --- 398 1333 3.35 9 33

Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop TD
85 H. Glover WR 158 87 1383 15.90 8.75 4 9
82 D. Houseright WR 109 67 1116 16.66 10.24 6 11
83 J. Hudson WR 72 48 617 12.85 8.57 2 5
89 C. Braun WR 82 44 520 11.82 6.34 5 3
33 I. Rasmussen RB 59 43 243 5.65 4.12 2 3
45 E. King FB 37 27 149 5.52 4.03 1 0
80 J. Mueller TE 27 20 250 12.50 9.26 0 3

Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn PDPct
46 B. Crichton S 67 17 0.0 0 2 9 82.9
91 C. Mason OLB 63 20 1.0 2 0 11 79.1
93 T. Pirtle ILB 52 18 0.5 1 2 9 84.3
48 K. Crawford CB 51 9 0.0 0 2 12 78.8
92 B. Baxter OLB 50 19 2.0 0 0 2 74.8
30 M. Meier CB 47 15 0.0 0 2 10 79.9
78 J. Hughes DT 40 16 6.5 9 0 2 82.1
21 W. Rodham S 35 6 1.0 1 1 3 79.2
97 L. Castagnola DE 34 11 15.0 18 0 1 82.7
94 C. Fitzgerald DE 31 16 4.5 7 0 0 80.8
96 I. Samuels ILB 31 15 0.0 0 1 0 71.2
70 D. Upshaw DT 29 9 4.0 3 0 0 82.5
32 S. Crumpler S 28 11 0.0 0 0 7 80.4
52 C. Gambrell ILB 26 7 0.0 0 0 0 68.8
39 C. Morrison CB 24 8 0.0 1 3 3 82.4
79 G. Hammontree DT 21 10 6.0 8 0 0 82.5
42 E. Truitt S 20 13 2.0 0 1 2 81.4
54 C. Huntley OLB 16 3 0.0 0 1 1 76.3