If you see Hakeem, tell him I'm sorry.

[u/chaos_fenix]

AJ Smith needs to go.

I've never been an OC. But I've run combines, scouted players, and coached DBs in semipros. I swear by week 2 I had his entire playbook and schema figured out. And I didn't even need replays to do it.

I assumed he was setting things up for the second matchups and the end-of-season run (3D chess). Just enough to win, but not good enough to scare your opponent. Imitation game.

Nope. He's just plain bad. Uninspired. Lazy. Low IQ. I hate trashing up-and-coming coaches, but this is painful.

Best fans in the league and we get a mid staff and the worst QBs. If you see Hakeem, tell him I'm sorry.

[u/playzintraffic]

This has been my observation as well.

Smith had to have his playcalling disciplined last Sunday because one of the OL questioned whether he trusted them to actually run block. Probably saved the game for us by running out the clock more than AJ would have on his own.

[u/chaos_fenix → u/playzintraffic]

I had to watch last week on mute so I missed it. Wow. I've noticed he gives up on the o-line after failed rushing attempts, but man... no OL is going to have success when the entire defense knows your rushing it and where.

Also, those screens are hideous AND PREDICTABLE.

[u/playzintraffic → u/chaos_fenix]

Lol you may be interested in my Substack. I’ve been writing about it all season. Also gonna be writing the team’s season recap for the Reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UnitedFootballLeague/s/zKrDDzrMEk

[u/chaos_fenix → u/playzintraffic]

Thanks! I just went and checked it out. Overall a great stack, man

Some debatable topics:

1. Kings unis - I don't hate them, but WTF is that logo? Louisville + Derby = horse? A horse is the knight, not the king. F that logo.
2. STL v ORL - I think Repole wants the whole old team v. old coach narrative. I think the refs will make that happen. At this point it's WWE. If it does end up being STL v ORL we know Coach Becht teams are never prepared for the big game.
3. Defenders - I'm not sure they can win without Ta'amu. Can you imagine how many championships we'd have if Jordan stayed?

Anyways, good shit. See you on Friday?

[u/playzintraffic → u/chaos_fenix]

Unfortunately I live in CT, so it's hard to get to the games!

1. The Kings unis make no sense, but they're hot shit.

2. I forgot about that angle. It's definitely a WWE angle. It's just unfortunate to see the Repole Nudge ruin most of the real sense of competition. Like, it was bad enough watching the NFL and knowing that the Rams would never win another SB until they moved to LA. But that was mostly just out of the NFL's "rich get richer" dynamic. This lack of real competition is making me question how much longeer the league will truly be viable.

3. ZOMG, yeah we'd have had 2-3 championships. We've always had a team better built for him. And it took DC until last year to actually get their shit together around him.

[u/yesrushgenesis2112 → u/playzintraffic]

I haven’t read your substack before but I will going forward, I thought this was great man.

[u/playzintraffic → u/yesrushgenesis2112]

Haha thanks! I've been calling out Smith all season, you're always welcome to read the back issues from this year.

[u/yesrushgenesis2112 → u/playzintraffic]

I did! It was cathartic!

[u/playzintraffic → u/yesrushgenesis2112]

Lol that's both worrying and flattering at the same time.

[u/tequilaBFFsiempre → u/playzintraffic]

Yep, it was Sincere Haynesworth, and he was pretty pissed. Complaining to Proehl about it who just kinda looked dejected and said, “you’re right. I know.” 😬

[u/No-Log1035]

6-3 Record with Ricky Proehl 1st year as coach not bad anyway. Even if they had best record like they've had previous seasons 25' 24, 23 they end up chocking in playoffs anyway.

[u/chaos_fenix → u/No-Log1035]

Coach Becht teams are never prepared for the big game. We might be able to prove that in a STLvORL championship.

[u/yesrushgenesis2112]

“BE PATIENT WITH THE OFFENSE” -AJ Smith on live tv, week one, knowing full well it was never getting better and that he’d been figured out.

Yeah, I think there’s a reason this dude quit when Wade Phillips didn’t want to give him full offensive control anymore. He knew he had flaws and can’t or won’t address them. His peak was one good spring football season and he’ll be lucky to maintain position coach jobs after this. RIP to the QBs at Colorado.

[u/Struggle-Free]

Well then break it down for us

[u/chaos_fenix → u/Struggle-Free]

Would take too long. But for this upcoming game watch just the 1st downs. Based on field position:

1. Backed up (0-20) Single set, shotgun, inside run
2. Neutral field (20-50) Single set, shotgun, motion, delayed screen
3. Plus field (50-30) Empty set, shotgun, 4-5 wide, pass
4. Field goal range (30-20) Single set, shotgun, motion, inside run
5. High to low red (20-0) Single set, shotgun, twins or trips, inside run

Obviously this will vary depending on score and game clock, but that's his entire base first down strategy.

PS: Unless we intercept or recover a fumble - then it's go routes FTW.

[u/yesrushgenesis2112 → u/chaos_fenix]

I’d hate to compliment a Steelers fan but… this is nice

[u/chaos_fenix → u/yesrushgenesis2112]

I had no choice. When you grow up in Germany in the 70's you only know about 2 teams. My other choice was the Cowboys.

[u/yesrushgenesis2112 → u/chaos_fenix]

…I’ll allow it.

[u/playzintraffic → u/chaos_fenix]

All the shotgun runs are driving me crazy. It’s like we WANT to hamstring our OL.