GBag Nation
NFL Insider Mark Schlereth joins the Nation to recap Week 4 of the NFL
Former NFL offensive lineman and current FOX game analyst Mark Schlereth is still a BIG believer in how a commitment to the run opens up an offense, regardless of the yards per carry gained. Plus, he discusses why the Cowboys may or may not be using motion in their offense.
- Broadcast on:
- 01 Oct 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
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Bill credits end if you pay off devices early. CTmobile.com. - Thank you, Lucius NFL Week 5. Mark Schlarath joins us. Odyssey NFL Insider hosts to the Stink and Truth podcast. You know, Insider calls Brought you by Hellman's Real Manes. Mayo game day be delicious. And a good afternoon, Mark. How the heck are you? - I'm doing great. How are you guys doing? - We're doing well. You know, we're wondering how good Washington is and I was watching the red zone, of course, as usual. Heard you there with Chris Rose on the commander's Cardinals game. And I wanted to ask you how good you think Washington is or are they just playing bad defenses right now? - Yeah, Chris Myers, me and Chris Myers. - Yeah, I was getting credit though. Listen, I think the commanders are offensively, they're a challenge for anybody. I mean, you put them on tape and they are running plays that I essentially went to Cliff Kingsbury on Saturday morning going, what do you call this? Like, what is this scheme? Like, how do you, so every time you face them, you're gonna get half a dozen scheme runs that you may have never seen before. They're a very unique team built that way and it's been this amalgamation between Cliff Kingsbury and then Anthony Lynn, the former head coach of the Chargers, the Bills, a former teammate of mine that really understands the run game. They brought him in really to set the mentality and to create schemes off of that kind of air raid offense that Cliff was known for in college and what he tried to do in Arizona. And so they've meshed these two things together and Cliff is the first, like I love the humility of like this and man, the first time around, I didn't have it set. I didn't know what I was doing in the run game or I didn't know how to implement some things, the run game, much too easy, much too spread, didn't have tight ends, it could block people, this go around, it just has changed philosophically for him. So it's a really cool thing to watch and to see him kind of learn from those mistakes. And that's why, you know, I think most coaches, you know, most coaches, they get hired in this league, probably have a better opportunity the second time around. You know, Mike Shanahan got hired for the Raiders, got fired and then was, you know, great and Denver for 14 years. There's so many stories like that of guys who have a better opportunity the second time around. So it's really cool to kind of watch that offense just change from, you know, from 22 to now in 24. - Hey, Stink, I have a question for you. The, I've asked my guys here on the station, this question before, I was interested in your opinion 'cause you've been in the offense. If you were to hire a coach, would you rather have a Shanahan guy as a coach or a Shanahan stopper as your coach? - Oh, I think for me, I would rather have a Shanahan guy. I mean, who's the Shanahan stopper? - Well, it's, yeah, I'm saying if there was somebody out there that you felt like, you know, if you had a guy that, you know, a guy in Minnesota, I don't know, I mean, I'm just throwing ideas out there, but the way it is, I think everybody kind of leaning into the Shanahan way, and it's a great way. But I wonder if somebody out there would be, it's like, give me the Shanahan stopper 'cause I'm playing this more and more now every week. - Yeah, well, those, yeah, there's a huge, it's a great question 'cause there's a huge percentage of teams that that's the, you know, that's the base or the root of their offense. And of course there's, it becomes tangential, depending on like what kind of personnel you have, the people you have, how, you know, how you see your offense, how much base you wanna play versus how much too tight in you wanna play versus how much 11 personnel do you wanna play, you know, it all is based on kind of the personnel that you have. And so, you know, I would say, it's an interesting question. Like if you found somebody that could stop it, but I just don't think all the different, all the different kind of levels of that offense, and it's really morph. There's so much more, if you go back to Shanahan when I was there, like we didn't do very much other than the wide zone stuff, you know, we would have occasional a gap run here or there, but for the most part, we're all wide zone stuff and some pin pull stuff, you know, like G scheme stuff. But other than that, that's kind of all we did. And now you see a very steady mixture of gap runs versus, you know, zone runs, it's almost 50, 50 in everybody's offense now. So that's the adaptability of, hey, people are playing a certain way, Val, let's get to the gap scheme. And you start making people's plays schemes instead of just blocks. And the next thing you know, you're creating gaping, you know, chasms for your running backs and then all the plaques and stuff that comes after that. So I just know the offense so much better that I would probably choose the offense. - Mark Schlarath is brought to you by Helman's Real Manage. You can purchase Helman's at your local Walmart, Kroger or grocery store to add extra deliciousness and creamy flavor to your game day dishes this football season, Brian. - And Stake, you were in, you were in the Joe Gibbs, the counter tray stuff, right? - Mm-hmm. - Which one, I mean, you guys were devastating in that. And that was run out of a lot of different formations, but the same play, if you had to pick which one to run the ball, would the Gibbs scheme be just as comparable as what the Shanahan scheme was? - Yeah, well, you know, like I said, now it's a mixture of two schemes. And so, you know, there's so many pros and cons with all the shotgun that you run into now. - Sure. - You know, it just, it becomes very different. I'm a big believer of being under center, you know, and I'm not saying you have to be under center all the time, but anytime you're out of gun, you know, with near or far, meaning like if it's far, if the back is on the, like if you're in a right-handed formation, like the tight end is right, far would be the running back to the left of the quarterback, near would be the running back to the right of the quarterback in, you know, in a right-handed formation. And ultimately what ends up happening is you eliminate maybe 30 to 40% of your run game out of gun. - Mm-hmm. - There's just not as much stuff you can run. Now there are some counter schemes you can run out of that. You know, then you run basically mid zone opposite the way the back is, which is a tell for the defense. So you get a lot of slanting, a lot of pinching that way in those type of formation. So like I'm a big believer in getting into base. I'm a big believer in getting into tight ends. I'm a big believer in getting into, you know, under center formation. And the other thing about under center formations is, you know, when you run play action, you first you tune your back to the defense. When you turn your back to the defense as a quarterback, that like they can't help but suck themselves up, right? They want it, they want to come up and then you flag that ball. That ball is hidden. - Yeah. - And so it makes it really hard. So you get a, at least if you don't get the linebacker stepping up, at least you get them to stop their feet. And then they don't get into their drops. And then when you pop back up and you have the ball in your hand, well now there's wide open spaces to throw the football. And you don't get that same action. You don't get that same reaction in gun. You don't gun the backers have a tendency to play, you know, hide a low, they'll get, they're out of their drops or they'll get into their drops. And then they'll come and attack the run. You don't get that same action on the linebackers and secondary players when you're under center. So again, there's a value to it. And you've got to figure out exactly how much you need and how much you want and back to Washington. That's one of the things Cliff Kingsbury was basically no under center in Arizona. Now he's getting about 20 to 25 plays a game under center. I love listening to the inside of talking with Cliff there 'cause him and Jane Daniels seem to be on the same page. The seasons may be changing, but the deals at the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha McKia. And I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings events where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now. Shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures. Plus with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Log on and shop online at the sharpestrides.com right from the palm of your hands. Or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides located 2250 South Sea Home Street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out. 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Phones will be at 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire accounts to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement too. Bill credits end if you pay off devices early. ctmobile.com. You see this across the league with these offenses that are working. The play collar, putting the quarterback in the offense in a position to succeed. I wonder, I mean, watching the Cowboys offense, it kind of seems like we're watching another sport compared to like last night with the Lions and Seahawks. Do you think Mike McCarthy gives the Cowboys an offensive advantage as a play collar at all? Yeah, I mean, obviously Mike McCarthy has had a lot of success in this league. And last year they had a far more success last year than they've had this year so far. But I think one of the things that you always have to kind of look at is one, how committed you are to running the football and how good you are at running the football. And in a day and age, when everybody poo poo's a run game and it's a passing league, and you've got to the overpay wide receivers, and you've got to do this, that, and the other. And that's the narrative that's out there. People don't really understand the value of imposing your will upon people and running the football and attempts. And one of the things I always talk about when I'm talking to coaches or when I'm talking to people in general is the attempts become a really big thing to me. And it's really hard for a coach to understand the value of attempts, how it slows down a pass rush, how it creates opportunities in the play action game. And a lot of coaches, if they get a two yard gain and a three yard gain and a two yard gain and a one yard gain, that's their first five runs. They throw their hands up and say screw it, we're not gonna do it anymore. And yet they'll throw seven incompletions in a row and not even think twice about it. I have, it just makes no sense to me because you've got to change your attitude and your mentality. Listen, if you can applaud a two yard run as long as it's physical and you're beating a snot out of people, then you know that eventually it will have, you know, it will pay dividends, but people aren't patient enough to do it in this league. And that's where you get these offenses that are just putrid because they won't commit to it. And I'll go back to Washington against Cincinnati as good as that offense was in that Cincinnati game and they were outstanding. Do you know that there's the lead running back, average two yards a carry and he still got 16 carries? - Yeah. - And then the other running backs got, you know, a handful of carries each and at the end of the day with their quarterback and their two running backs and actually three running backs, I think they ended up getting like 25 total carries in a game where they're averaging two yards a carry. Like there is, that's a commitment to running the game. And you think that had an effect on the play action, you think that had an effect on the ball of the top, damn right it did, sort of the quarterback runs, but like there's so few coaches that will even get, they will even do that. They will like, oh, they'll throw their, they can't wait to throw their hands up in the air and go, well, we can't run it. So let's throw it on every single possession. And then your offensive line gets trucked in, 'cause there's no offensive line that can stand up for 40 past plays in a row. Sorry, I don't care who you are. Even you go back to the days when the Cowboys were the most dominant group I've ever seen as a starting five. Like even if you're throwing it 45 times a game and you're not running the ball at all, they won't hold up. It's just as impossible. - It's Mark Slarith here, dropping knowledge with you on your home of the Cowboys. The media is trying to pry with Mike and ask questions why not more motion, whether that's Shanahan style or any kind of motion. They're 30th in the NFL. And he won't give us a great answer or like a candid answer, I guess is kind of what we're looking for Mark. So I would ask you why wouldn't a coaching staff like McCarthy and Schott and Heimer together choose to just not run that as much? What are the cons? - Well, you know, it's funny. I coach a little league team with Peyton Manning. And Peyton Manning was pretty good, right? - Yeah. - Yeah. - It's pretty good. - Completely static formations. They rarely ever motioned. They rarely ever moved anybody. It was, we're better than you and we're gonna beat you in these row combinations that we run. So there's, you know, there's a different philosophy like motions and shifts are awesome. And I think they work exceptionally well. When your team understands the value of them, understand, and your team is precise. You know, the ball is snapped right where it's supposed to be snapped so that you have a good leverage position of your tight end who's crossing the formation and is running a lead block or cutting off the backside defensive end or running a lead on the defensive end in combination with another tight end. If that ball is snapped or if that guy's off time or if that guy's not in the right position, then you can't block that guy. You can't block that defensive end and then your play is garbage. And so then it becomes down to how precise are we, what kind of precision do we have? And the other part of that is, hey, do we have receivers that can't beat one-on-one coverage? Do we have receivers that need to be in motion so they get free releases and all those different things? So it's a philosophical approach and I believe in motion. You know, it's like anything. Motion is really good until it screws you up. It's like disguise on defense. Disguise on defense is great until you get out of position and you get hit for 80 yards over the top. Then the sky sucks, right? So it depends on how smart your team is and it depends on what your philosophy is and is it gonna do more harm than good for us? Some teams use it and they use it to perfection, that Niners are incredible with all the shifts and emotions. But I've also seen, for instance, the Broncos who have really gotten away from shifts in the last couple of weeks and won two games, their shifts in motions brought other guys into the box and then the offensive line couldn't sort numbers. And so, you know, you're running game, all of a sudden you're running and let's say you motion a tight end, you know, from a split-out formation or like an open formation. So he's off the ball in five-year split and then you motion him back across the formation. Somebody chases across and all of a sudden you've got an extra defender in the box and you're running some type of zone inside handoff and nobody accounts for that guy. And now it's just tackling practice. And so your guys up front have to understand the motions, understand who's coming to the box. Then you have to change the identification of the mic and you have to say, "Hey, man, that guy's no longer the mic. "Now this guy's gonna be the mic "and we've got to switch across the line of scrimmage." Everybody's got to communicate that and you've got to re-identify that and you've got to let the widest guy go free or whatever your scheme is. So there's a lot of moving parts, right? And let's say you've got a bunch of dumb guys. Well, then motion, and I'm not saying they do, but, you know, if you've got a bunch of dumb guys, like you can't do all that motion. You can't do all those things because they can't sort out the box. They can't get those number counts correct. And the next thing you know, you've got four or five tackles for losses in your runs and then you're, you know, behind the eight ball, the entirety of the game and you're ruling four drives doing. - You're the man, Mark. That was incredible. Thank you so much and enjoy week five. We'll talk to you next Tuesday. - Sounds good. - Thank you. - It goes. Mark Schlareth brought you by Manace. That is right. Hosted the stinking truth podcast. Insider calls brought you by Hellman's Real Manace. Mayo game day be delicious. Yes, I think the 682 hit it on the text. There's your issue. The team commits too many penalties and they know they're not disciplined enough to do it. Probably McCarthy doesn't want to throw his guys into the bus. - Maybe so. - It could be. You got Tolbert who doesn't know where he needs to line up. You got a rookie left tackle, a rookie center. - Maybe it's quarterback. - That's something that's realistic. It's time now for an addition to the finest wall chuck where you taking it. It is a toxic Tuesday and the NFL is getting real toxic. We'll talk about that next in the nation. - The seasons may be changing, but the deals at the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha McKia. And I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings event where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now. Shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures. Plus with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Log on and shop online at the sharpestrides.com right from the palm of your hands. Or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides located 2250 Saucy Home Street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out, head on over to the sharpestrides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell 'em that you're girl, Tasha McKia sent you. The sharpest rides, affordable, sexy, sharp. ♪ You spent a long year ♪ After investing billions to light up our network, T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone, and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon and AT&T at T-Mobile.com/KeepAndSwitch. 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