| FTBL Bill O'Brien opinion and questions

[Secondand26]

Yeah you have to really look at the full context. I think this is pointing out why there is a perception the offense is down. Another is related to how the sausage is made and that is there are more long sustained drives and not as many explosives plays. At least that is how it feels. Does anyone know the average scoring drive time for comparison?

I personally have been expecting the offense to be down some and they are. If the OL (big if because of the right side) can clean things up and clean up the drops this offense will be elite (some would argue it already is).

I think the team having some challenges is making them better and preparing them for some tough games in the future.

Lastly this kind of offense is probably better for the defense.

Bingo! You nailed it!

 

[TerryP]

Saban brought up the failure of the first few drives in his presser.. I think it had a purpose.

He did, UT went to a split safety look as one of their adjustments at the half.

For me it’s not total points per game. Many of Sarks games we were done trying to score half way thru the 3rd quarter and with O’Brien we are scoring a late Td’s we need to put an inferior team away.

When it comes to offensive production, that's what matters in the end.

We'll step away from total points and look at efficiency. Whether it's over 80 yards left to score or over 20 left to score, the Tide sits at the top of the nation against this year. The available yards percentage is a great metric to follow demonstrating how well an offense is moving the ball. Last year Bama ranked #1 in O20, O60, and O80. This season they are currently ranked #2 in these categories. (OSU is #1 largely boosted by their last three opponents.)

People may not like the aesthetics of the offense (as mentioned earlier with regard to explosive plays.) There is very little difference in the results in the end.

 

[TerryP]

I hear you Beyoncé. We’ve Put up 56 points in the 4th quarter of the last 3 games. We weren’t able to hit milk-the-clock mode in 2 of them like we did most of last year. That’s 7 points per game addition to our average with just the 4th quarter of those 3 games. If we got our normal 7 points those 4th quarters, our average drops 4.5 per game.

Without realizing it you've just pointed to an area of improvement on offense the last few games. Through four, maybe five games this season Alabama was dead even with their opponents in points produced in the second half. Now, according to what you've posted, that pendulum has swung in a big way.

 

[TerryP]

Are you counting pick sixes, returns and punt blocks too or just referencing offensive scoring? We have had more defensive and special teams touchdowns this year than I recall the last few years. Is that stunting any of the numbers?

Defense put up 24 last season, 12 to date in '21.

 

[TerryP]

Does anyone know if O’Brien is doing any recruiting?

The two most vilified coaches on the staff are the ones recruiting the biggest name this season.

 

[BamaFan334]

Defense put up 24 last season, 12 to date in '21.

Ok, I asked if defense and special teams were in your numbers or if that was specifically just offense. Special teams has three touchdowns, defense two if my memory serves me right. I was just wondering if that helped our numbers this season.

I would also add our first team offense rarely played a fourth quarter game last season too.

 

[TerryP]

Ok, I asked if defense and special teams were in your numbers or if that was specifically just offense. Special teams has three touchdowns, defense two if my memory serves me right. I was just wondering if that helped our numbers this season.

I would also add our first team offense rarely played a fourth quarter game last season too.

You're splitting hairs here. There's negligible difference between the two seasons when looking at points per drive ('20 has a slight advantage, 1.27 vs 1.43.) Take away the four special teams touchdowns and you're putting the ball in the hands of the offense which is scoring right along with last years team.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Other than the run the damn ball on 1st and goal on the 4, O'Brien has done well. I got no problems with him. First year here, and seems to be building a relationship with the offense, particularly Young.

 

[Rolltide24]

Without realizing it you've just pointed to an area of improvement on offense the last few games. Through four, maybe five games this season Alabama was dead even with their opponents in points produced in the second half. Now, according to what you've posted, that pendulum has swung in a big way.

Agree completely. In past years we didn’t have to score in the 4th. I’m happy with the increased 4th quarter productions but I sure wish it wasn’t needed. 2 of these last 3 we would have lost if we hadn’t turned it on. Did lose one, obviously, but UT could have been a whole different outcome. I’d take 14 a game in the 4th every week!

 

[Destiny's Child]

The two most vilified coaches on the staff are the ones recruiting the biggest name this season.

Lol.. I hope I haven’t vilified anyone by saying I don’t like the way they call the game. He can still be the OC and not be the play caller.. he is definitely not a villain.

The other villain, I guess, is currently our best recruiter so he gets some slack from me. I am wondering about development on the d-line (and the o-one too) I also hope we improve our communication from the sidelines but overall he isn’t too bad. We have had better and he isn’t the worst.

 

[mando]

People may not like the aesthetics of the offense (as mentioned earlier with regard to explosive plays.) There is very little difference in the results in the end.

From the scoring standpoint I agree. From results maybe not we have 1 loss. Also a subtle difference is other players getting playing time and developing. One other difference is when the team is ahead early by 2 or 3 scores it causes the other team to call the game differently. So I guess I disagree that there is "very little difference" if taking a more holistic view.

 

[NickelDoubleDog]

From the scoring standpoint I agree. From results maybe not we have 1 loss. Also a subtle difference is other players getting playing time and developing. One other difference is when the team is ahead early by 2 or 3 scores it causes the other team to call the game differently. So I guess I disagree that there is "very little difference" if taking a more holistic view.

That's the most unrealistic viewpoint of all of them - lack of backup PT. This team was not going to be as good as 2020's Offense. No offense will be. Games won't be as big of blowouts, as quickly. But let's not pretend the backups get a ton of experience anyway even in blowouts. Not saying every bit doesn't help, but this program doesn't give tons of reps to backups even in blowouts

 

[rick4bama]

Bama is second in scoring just behind tOSt..

 

[mando]

That's the most unrealistic viewpoint of all of them - lack of backup PT. This team was not going to be as good as 2020's Offense. No offense will be. Games won't be as big of blowouts, as quickly. But let's not pretend the backups get a ton of experience anyway even in blowouts. Not saying every bit doesn't help, but this program doesn't give tons of reps to backups even in blowouts

I agree to a point but backups do get playing time when Bama is up by 3-4 scores. Maybe not the full unit but some backups get some scattered playing time. Some of the backup playing time also depends IF Saban believes the starters need the work to improve in some areas.

Completely agree the offense was going to be different and take a dip. Honestly the dip has not been as much as I expected.

 

[NickelDoubleDog]

Bama is second in scoring just behind tOSt..

Ohio St's schedule has been dog turd as well since they played Oregon.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Ohio St's schedule has been dog turd as well since they played Oregon.

They always have a weak schedule. Look at last year, how many games they played 7 regular season games, then get their asses handed to them in a hat because they were not prepared because of the weak schedule.

 

[TerryP]

That's the most unrealistic viewpoint of all of them - lack of backup PT.

I agree to a point but backups do get playing time when Bama is up by 3-4 scores.

Can you guys name a team that's putting their 2's and 3's in earlier?

They are getting the same amount of practice reps against what may be inferior opposition.

 

[94 Grad]

And yet there's only a 2½ point difference in scoring average for '21 versus '20 and '19. There's a ½ point difference (increase) in '18, and almost a nine point increase over 2017. (O'Brien, Sark, to Daboll.) Bama is scoring a touchdown more per game now than they did under Kiffin in '16.

The 'sausage still tastes the same' but to me it looks like people are looking at how it's made versus the final product. Sark's offense gave the Tide an extra couple of points per game, literally, but did give the Tide more explosive plays per game.

And, by the way, if we had a way to take away the drops—one thing we didn't expect to see as often going into the fall—the point differential would like swing to the positive on O'Brien.

For me it’s not total points per game. Many of Sarks games we were done trying to score half way thru the 3rd quarter and with O’Brien we are scoring a late Td’s we need to put an inferior team away.

It’s not about thinking he can’t get better or that Nick Saban hired him and all of his offensive knowledge leaked out on his pillow while he was sleeping.

I don’t think the offense can get in rhythm because of his play calling. I just don’t care for his flow of play calls. More importantly Saban said what he wanted from our offense in the second half.. O’Brien seemed to do what he wanted. Saban brought up the failure of the first few drives in his presser.. I think it had a purpose.

We got used to scoring in 2 or 3 plays with the likes of Juedy, Ridley, Waddle and Smith. We don't have that type of WR this year so we are a more possession team that needs to drive the ball to score. This leave teams in the game longer as the score differential takes a bit to get wide enough for the other team to "give up"... IMO.

I don't have any issues with the way O'Brien is calling games. We do have some large issues on Oline that have some impact on play calling. I can't recall a time where we didn't bitch a bit about the play calls... you know, arm chair QB/OC is our best position year in and year out.

Anyway, I see progress every week.. and at times a few steps backwards too... but over the long haul, it's moving in the correct direction and I think it will get better as the year finishes out. Let's hope we're hitting our stride by the Ironbowl and SEC championship game. I'm still not sold on the UGA dominance... but maybe that's must me.

 

[94 Grad]

He did, UT went to a split safety look as one of their adjustments at the half.

When it comes to offensive production, that's what matters in the end.

We'll step away from total points and look at efficiency. Whether it's over 80 yards left to score or over 20 left to score, the Tide sits at the top of the nation against this year. The available yards percentage is a great metric to follow demonstrating how well an offense is moving the ball. Last year Bama ranked #1 in O20, O60, and O80. This season they are currently ranked #2 in these categories. (OSU is #1 largely boosted by their last three opponents.)

People may not like the aesthetics of the offense (as mentioned earlier with regard to explosive plays.) There is very little difference in the results in the end.

100% Agree and a great stat... thanks for digging it up and posting. I was actually wondering abou that.

From the scoring standpoint I agree. From results maybe not we have 1 loss. Also a subtle difference is other players getting playing time and developing. One other difference is when the team is ahead early by 2 or 3 scores it causes the other team to call the game differently. So I guess I disagree that there is "very little difference" if taking a more holistic view.

Our loss was a defensive loss more than an Offensive loss, IMO. If you score 38 points you should win... at least that's the way I feel about our Defense.

Anyway, We don't have anywhere near as good a RB, WR or Oline play as last year so I would expect the play calling and game flow to be very different than last years team... even if we had the same OC... I think we as fans have a hard time to reset our mind or preception of the team on a yearly basis and tend to compare against last years team. It's not the same makeup so you can't expect the same gameplan/results... again, just my opinion. What is amazing to me is that we are not only still scoring at the same level, but as @TerryP posted above, our efficiency is still outstanding. I would think this is a CREDIT to the OC and play calling given some of the obvious deficiency we see on Oline play and loss of talent at RB and WR and 1st year starter QB. Maybe we should be praising O'Brien...

Now, what about the position coaches? Do they deserve a bit of criticism ? Why is our Oline so poor this year ? This is where I really would like some answers. To be honest, I think the Oline has really progressed this year too... It has a long way to go, but again it's moving in the correct direction... IMO.

 

[bama alum]

I don't have any issues with the way O'Brien is calling games. We do have some large issues on Oline that have some impact on play calling. I can't recall a time where we didn't bitch a bit about the play calls... you know, arm chair QB/OC is our best position year in and year out.

I do agree with you. The majority of us had a big problem the red zone calls in the tamu game, but for the most part the issues we have start with the OL. I told someone at the game Saturday that while we all wish we had Mac and/or Smitty, I wish we had Dickerson back. We need that spark plug on the OL.