Saturday ends the Commanders’ preseason, and then it’s time to look ahead to Sept. 10 – and when NFL expert Warren Sharp of SharpFootballAnalyst.com joined the Junkies on Friday, he shared his thought that the Commanders offense will be better this year if Ron Rivera leaves them alone.
“I do with one caveat: that Ron Rivera takes a backseat and lets the offense cook. When I analyze teams, often times, teams that have defensive-minded head coaches will meddle on the other side of the ball trying to help their side,” Sharp said. “This preseason, we are seeing much more wide-open offense, with a 20 percent increase in three wide receiver sets. I do expect Washington to use a lot more 11 personnel this year, and coaches can’t really disguise that in the preseason because they have to evaluate their rosters. Last year, they were notorious for running the ball, time of possession, and playing slowly – but they had a high percentage of early down pass rate with Wentz, and it felt like there was a decision made and Ron got involved in the play calling.”
The rub there is that the Commanders’ defense is expected to be a strength, so Rivera was essentially neutralizing a theoretical advantage?
“You are doing your defense no favors keeping them on the bench, which is what Washington was trying to do with so many run plays – they had the most time of possession in the league but were one of the lowest in points per minute,” Sharp said. “Possessing the ball means nothing and doesn’t help your defense; what helps is getting a lead quickly so they can play the entire second half with their ears pinned back, knowing the other team is going to be more predictable because they’re trailing. You have to play more offensive-minded in the first half of games to build leads.”
Take a listen to Sharp’s entire segment with the Junkies above!
Follow The Sports Junkies on Twitter: @moneymetalcakes, @ebjunkies, @lurchbish, @glassjoejp, @drabtshirt, & @JunksRadio
Keep up with The Team 980 via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Related
Related
