Assuming Richard Smith Gets A Lobotomy Before Sunday, Should The Texans Blitz Vince Young?

by Tim on Nov 27, 2007 2:13 PM CST in News

One of the recurring criticisms this season of the Texans has centered on Houston's nearly constant refusal (my crude estimation pins it at 98.3% of all snaps) to even think about, maybe, possibly, one day utilizing the blitz. Indeed, the last several postgame breakdowns here at BRB have devoted at least some space to lamenting Richard Smith's apparent deep-seated philosophical aversion to sending anyone other than his four (4) down linemen after the quarterback. See, for example, my whining here, here, here, here, here, and/or here; MDC also has voiced his concerns on the topic over at DGDB&D here and here.

Given my track record, it's hard for me to fathom what I'm about to type. Here goes: Richard Smith's absurdly conservative base defense may be just what the doctor ordered on Sunday at Tennessee. Ugh. I felt dirty typing that. Yet I stand by it.

Vince Young is at his best in chaos, when he has a chance to make a play with his legs, be it scrambling out of the pocket for positive yardage or within the confines of the pocket to buy his receivers extra time to get open downfield. As such, I honestly think that keeping six or seven in coverage for the vast majority of VY's snaps is probably the best way to limit him on Sunday. Now, if Kerry Collins was back there, I'd pray that Smith would release the hounds every snap (which, unfortunately, Smith refused to do when the Collins-led Titans came to Houston in late October). I'm interested in hearing what everyone else thinks about this topic, but I think blitzing Vince Young with any regularity cedes the advantage to him. I'm not saying, of course, that the Texans should totally refrain from blitzing VY; just that if there was ever a time to embrace Richard Smith's idiosyncracies, I think this week is it.

Update [2007-11-28 20:50:53 by Tim]:: Hmmmmm...mere hours after this post went up, it seems like John McClain has fervently taken up the pro-Richard Smith/anti-blitz banner in today's Chronicle. I'd express admiration for McClain standing up in the face of adversity, except for the fact I think his arguments are the equivalent of hocking loogies in the face of logic. MDC does a tremendous job dissecting McClain's defense of Smith here, so I'm not going to waste anyone's time reiterating MDC's cogent, scathing, and most importantly, accurate indictment of McClain's defense of Richard Smith. This could get ugly.

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Agreed.

Of all the QBs we'll face this season, VY would be the one guy where I would favor sitting back and forcing him to make throws, so, on that, we are in 100% agreement.

The only caveats to this are (a) we never blitz, so the Titans gameplanning for this game certainly takes that into account, and (b) because we never blitz and the would not be expecting it, some zone blitzes should theoretically catch them by surprise and be effective.

That said, given the option between running Smith's "one linebacker" blitz package or just playing contain and forcing Vince to throw, I'll take the latter.

by MDC on Nov 27, 2007 3:00 PM CST reply actions

Strangely

I did it without cursing.

by MDC on Nov 28, 2007 9:20 PM CST reply actions

re: F-Bombs

I haven't decided yet if I am impressed or disappointed by this. Nonetheless, still a very nice rebuttal you had there.

We can be critical of the draft picks, but in the end we always support the new Texan.

by Shake on Nov 29, 2007 9:58 AM CST up reply actions

Tough call

As much as I'd like to see him throwing from the pocket instead of running, what I'd like even more is to get him throwing on the run. If we can flush him out of the pocket and still somehow keep him contained behind the line, we'll be in good shape. Have you seen the man try to throw on the run? It's embarrassing for a running quarterback. He can't put the ball within five feet of a receiver.

Note: I am fully prepared to eat my words come Sunday afternoon, and I'm not happy about it.

by Nashmeister on Nov 28, 2007 11:08 PM CST reply actions

Interesting stat

that was relayed to me by a friend yesterday. Vince's completion percentage (and all the other corresponding numbers) are historically bad when he is throwing from outside the pocket. Like not just, "oh, he can't throw on the run," but, "good god, he's a quarterback?" bad.

by MDC on Nov 29, 2007 7:06 AM CST up reply actions

and...

Watching him at UT, I am not surprised by that. He was always most effective when just running out of the pocket, not throwing. I think part of the reason is that he has such a long wind-up. Just compare his release versus even Horse Ball's Anderson's. Big difference.

And, frankly, it's why I didn't want Vince. He's already proven to be better than I thought he would, and I happily eat some of my words, but I still don't believe he will be an elite caliber QB.

by bigfatdrunk on Nov 29, 2007 10:55 AM CST up reply actions