So it seems a lot of people are going to get there wish this week. The wildcat simply cannot be that big of a factor without Ronnie. It's possible we don't even run it without him. We'll see. So what does that mean for our offense? Well, for starters, it means Ricky gets the bulk of the characters. Again, another wish many have had for some time. Personally, i'm excited to see Ricky as a featured back again. But i'm also a little afraid. I think back to Ricky in 02-03 and all i can remember is how our offense outside of him could never do anything. And that allowed defenses to stack the box and every game turned into a total grindfest. sometimes ricky got yards, sometimes he didn't. I'm thinking if Carolinas got any sense they're going to stack the box and force our wrs to beat them. Something they can't do. Drawbacks of not running the wildcat The first ones obvious, without the wildcat, our offense goes from being unique to manila. In fact, god only knows if Henning even knows how to call an offense without the wildcat. He hasn't done so in two years basically. Secondly, we practice the wildcat a lot. It's a huge formation for us and I'm willing to bet its a large part of our playbook. That means we can't use a large part of our playbook. On a short week where we can't practice more conventional plays as much, this could be a bigger factor than most think. And finally, our wrs...are not good. A big plus to the wildcat has been that its a formation that gets us yards without having to rely on our wr corp to make plays. Now we don't have it. Some think our offense is going to do better without Ronnie. I'm saying right now, i can't possibly see how. Some are calling for Ricky to run the ball 25+, i'm saying "what did that ever accomplish?" We won games, but realistically we went no where as a team. Truth be told, Ronnie going down isn't going to benefit ricky, it's just hurting our team. I'd like to think Ricky believes that himself. I sure hope I'm wrong, but if you look at every game we've won so far this year, it was because Ronnie and Ricky combined for 150+ yards. Chad hennes avg. below 200 yards a game. We need more offense than that to stand a chance against D. Williams and J. Stewart. (and steve smith can make a play or two as well...)
I hope henning does'nt decide to play wanny ball.....I think if we dont decide to spread this team out, its a mistake..
Why are people just assuming Ricky is going to run 25+ times? I highly doubt he will. Expect to see Polites carries get a minor increase and be ready to see Lex get some chances.
Isnt that what our offense was like even with Ronnie in running the Wildcat??? I believe that year Ricky got 1,853 yards and 17 total TD's. Completely agree.
Anytime your feature back and by far best offensive player goes down, its a huge huge hit. That being said, I think its time to take Chads training wheels away and expect him to win this one for us. As for Ricky, please please please don't get hurt
Maybe Pat White could take the snap in the wildcat. We saw him run between the tackles a couple of games ago and hold his own. He can't smash it in there like Ronnie but he could add other elements to the formation maybe.
michael turner ran for 111 yards in 1 half against carolina last week.....then their 3rd string running back ran for 62 and a touchdown......carolina can def be ran on fellas. ricky will have a good game.
Well, Ronnie B being out hurts, but it is also opportunity for players like Lex Hilliard and Kory Sheets, that is trading a known for an unknown but those two have upside Lexy looked good in the preseason as did Sheets for 49ers. As for the WC, Pat White has to step up he can be the trigger man or run the jet sweep.
Lets not forget that Ronnie Brown has had his days of blunders, like fumbling into the endzone and his fumble last game that set-up a Tampa TD. If Ronnie was as great as some make him out to be, I don't think we'd be sitting at 4-5 right now. If we run a traditional offense, Henne gets a chance to develop some rhythm to his game. Make no mistake about it guys, this is a must win game. A player does me no good if he's injured, its part of the game, we just have to find another way to win the game. Maybe defense and turnovers or maybe Henne puts up big numbers. d-1
Yeah, because the rest of the offense has been absolutely spectacular Without Ronnie, we would have perhaps 2 wins this season.....
i think it would be better suited for ricky to take the snaps as he's more built for inside stuff and have pat's speed in motion on the stuff to the outside. i think we still see it but this is when we see the "new wrinkles" people have been clamering for. it's not going to be effective unless our line learns to block with consistantly at both phases.
the silver lining is it's going to help Henne progress and take more chances downfield. I believe he has the talent to do so but since we were all run before he didn't get many opportunities besides maybe one or two shots downfield a game. Right now we are a heavily favored run team. Rookie qb, some questions at TE and WR and a great run blocking line and two great running backs has forced us to be one dimensional. This may force us to take some more shots down field. Especially with playaction. Time for Henne and the recievers to step up, especially when teams are loading the box on us. Lex and Ricky will do just fine. Ricky and Pat can run the wildcat, they won't be as good as Ronnie but doesn't mean it can't be effective in certain situations. The big difference is any back we have behind our line average a healthy 4-5 yards per carry. That won't change if our line continues to block they way they can. Sure losing ronnie hurts, but we are fortunate to have depth at that position and more importantly our line to have an effective running game. I personally think Lex will suprise most people if he gets his opportunity while ronnie is out.
good point. I think its time we really spend some coaching on our passing game. Henning and the boys have to come up with a gameplan thAt utilizes our below average crop of receivers and figures out a way to make them effective. The good part of the bad news is that Henne will have to be given a bigger role for the next few games. Even if he screws it up it should benefit him for 2010. If we can establish an effective, not great but effective, running game with Ricky and Lex we should be able to get some routes open for our receivers off play action. We're not dead but wounded. But wounded aniumals can be very dangerous
So far....most of the guys who have had to come in...I.E. Anderson, Torborg, our rookie CB's when Allen went down....have all really stepped up when given the oppurtunity. Guys like Sperry.... I think we could see some interesting thigs Thursday...as with Ronnie being out...Carolina really doesnt know what to expect.... Might we see some plays with Thigpen in?
You forgot to bash Ronnie's "vision". You also forgot to mention he was the #2 overall pick. Come on, you can do better at your Ronnie criticisms. I've heard them all before. If we didn't have Ronnie, we'd have 2 wins.
Its going to be a hit not having Ronnie. You also though never know what you have in your other players. There is nothing saying that Ricky and Lex can't go in there and produce just as well if not better than Ronnie and Ricky. I think Ronnie is a top back in this league, so getting the same production from a backup isn't likely but stranger things can happen. I wasn't sure we would be just as good of with Henne, but until he got in there and got some plays and showed what he can do we know we might be better off with him.
disagree: time to give Pat White more time in the (WC) system Ricky is at least as good a RB as Ronnie on any given day & probably better Williams is a ProvenBull that has carried the team by himself many, many times Ricky won't disappoint (if the Orca-5 hold up w/o Smiley pulling for them) If the offensive line fails to dominate the line of scrimmage no RB would make a difference. we will go as the Pod goes my prediction is the Pod will play well & our team will be up to the challenge I think we have an excellent chance Thursday night Miami by 3 pts.
i was referring more to rickys 03 year before he retired. He had about 1300+ yards or so and every game was just ricky ramming his head into 3 LBs over and over. He still had a great season but ultimately we went no where as a team either season. As for turner having a good game against the panthers, need i remind any of you that the falcons have matt ryan and roddy white? A clear passing tandem that needs to be respected. Hartline, Camarillo, Bess, and Ginn do not need to be respected. If the Panthers know what they're doing, they'll stack the box and force our wrs to beat them. Not saying theres no way our wrs wont do that, but it does seem unlikely. I also don't buy the idea of Pat White running the wildcat more than 5 times. Ronnie gave the defenses something to think about. pat White hasn't done that.
I think Ronnie's likely absence means a few things... 1) More Ricky. Hey, it's not like he's not a pretty good fallback option. Besides, he's used to carrying the load. Give him the rock. I think it also means more Hilliard, Polite and Sheets. Let's see what these guys can do. If Ricky can't handle the load, or just as a change of pace, sprinkle these guys in and see how they fare. 2) Henne and the WR corps have to step up and make plays. I also think we need to utilize Haynos and Sperry more. 3) The Pat White Experience. Ronnie's absence doesn't have to mean no Wildcat. Time for the rookie to shine. So, let's see it. Add to that playing smart (no stupid penalties), and aggressive (win the battle on the LOS), and we should win this game. Even without Ronnie. JMHO... Go Phins!
Williams is the RealDeal he won't disappoint Remember Brown's Stadium Nov 20th, 2005 the man is the Beast of the Second Half
I think we should see Ricky and Pat White in the Wildcat/Pistol offense. Both of them are capable of handling those duties. Bringing in Lex and Sheets should be interesting as far as how they could mix some things up and possibly confuse the Carolina defense. I am looking for a strong and physical offense with a touch of finesse in this game. I believe we will win this game.
