On January 8, 2023, the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals concluded their respective regular seasons in opposite directions, the former thinking about the playoffs and the latter about the upcoming reconstruction. Among the post-game greetings, the one featuring DeMeco Ryans, defensive coordinator of the Niners, and JJ Watt, defensive end of the Cardinals and legend in the city of Houston for his glorious years with the Texans, stood out. Watt asked Ryans to make Houston great again. There were weeks before the hiring of Ryans as the new head coach of the Texans was announced, but without a doubt, Watt, without already being in the franchise, knew well what he was talking about.
Indeed, Ryans ended up signing for Houston, one of the worst possible destinations less than a year ago. The Texans had just recorded three consecutive seasons with one of the worst records in the NFL, always ending with a head coach different from the previous one. The offense’s performance was especially woeful in the last two years, when DeShaun Watson disappeared from the equation due to his off-field issues. In 2021, Houston ranked 30th and 32nd in offensive points and yards and practically doubled that data by being 30th and 31st (of 32 franchises) in 2022. Ryans therefore knew that an almost complete renewal was urgently needed on this side of the ball.
To assemble his first technical staff, DeMeco appealed to the need for it to be very diverse in terms of the experience of its components, reasoning that since players learn differently, coaches must be able to present information in different ways.. Thus, when the time comes to take to the field on Sundays, the players have their minds clear and “don’t think”, so that they can play as quickly as possible. This philosophy of coaches who are good teachers and multifaceted didactics is a key pattern of the system that Bill Walsh executed in San Francisco during the 80s, that Kyle Shanahan learned from his father (offensive coordinator of the 49ers for three seasons) and that in turn Ryans was drinking during his time as an assistant with the Niners.
Precisely a former teammate of his in the Californian franchise, the 36-year-old Bobby Slowik, was hired to take charge of the attack. Slowik was part of the increasingly historic Washington Redskins roster from 2011 to 2013, spending three years as an analyst for Pro Football Focus, where in his own words he gained a valuable different perspective, before returning to the NFL under Shanahan. in San Francisco in 2017. Until 2019 he was part of the defensive staff, for Kyle Shanahan you will not dominate the attack if you do not know well how the defense works, and from there he rose to become the coordinator of the passing game in 2022 . When you watch the Texans play, the seal of the West Coast Offense that Slowik learned at the 49ers is evident. The first touchdown of his Wild Cards game against Cleveland is a good example of this. If you remember Deebo Samuel’s last touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles this season, on a “tunnel screen”, you will see a very similar concept in Nico Collins’ score. However, Slowik does not limit himself to copying the moves of his teacher. Here we have the quarterback under center instead of in shotgun and making a very quick movement of feinting the run to the right with a “pitch” to return to the opposite side, with the defense completely out of position, and send a perfect pass to his teammate who He carries the ball to the end zone with the help of his offensive line. Two plays similar in approach, but different in their execution. The result, however, is equally good in both cases.
2024-01-19 16:17:00
#Stroud #Texans #stay
