We actually have a very good blue-print for beating them. All we have to do is look at the 2nd game we played against them last year. We held them to 104 total yards of offense (52 passing, 52 rushing), limited them to 6 first downs, and held their offense to 10 total points. We lost that game 30-25 entirely due to our giving up 2 kick off returns for TDs to Ginn, and a Shonn Greene fumble return for a TD by Jason Taylor.
We've each added new parts since then, but most of the personell is largely the same as it was back in November of last year. And our game plans should be largely the same as they were back then as well.
THE GAME PLAN
Snuff their running game -- So far, this isn't the same dominating running game that we saw from the Phins last year. The interior of their o-line are all new and have yet to gel. Pouha will handle their center easily. We should blitz their A-gaps and create confusion and disrupt their running backs. Get those big backs running east-west rather than north-south. Due to the fact that they lack any real deep threat in their passing game, we should play our corners off and move our safeties up into the box on early downs for additional run support and to take away the short, easy completion opportunities from Henne.
Rev up the ground and pound -- Mike Nolan has instituted and new defenseive system predicated on creative blitzing and attacking the QB. Their D-line, however, relies more upon quickness and speed rather than strength at the point of attack. This means we can drive them off the ball. Jackson and Lynch in Buffalo had 7 rushes for 32 yards against them, a 4.6 average. Adrain Peterson went crazy on them with 28 carries for 152 yards, a very nice 5.2 average. We averaged a solid 4.2 YPC against Wilfork, Warren & Co. from New England; and we averaged an incredible 5.5 YPC against an extremely formidable Raven D with Ngata and Lewis & Co. The average weight of their D-line is about 300 lbs. The average weight of our O-line is about 313 lbs. Particular advantage being our RT Damien Woody (327 lbs) matched up with their LDE Kendall Langford (295). We should be able to pound it all day long, especially to the right side. We shouldn't even need Braylon in this game.
Beat on Henne -- We should do the same thing on 3rd and long that we should do on first and second down. Play the corners off, the safeties up, and blitz and stunt the interior of their o-line. Confuse an incohesive o-line unit, take away all the short-intermediate looks from Henne and make him look for the long ball and squeeze the rock while we bring the pressure to his face. We should also move JT around and let him come from either side so that he can't be easily accounted for. This should not only take Henne out of his comfort zone, but it will make it much tougher for Marshall to do damage with all the extra help in the vicinity of where he operates best.


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