Caldwell's offense

**Ravenswintitle** · 07-18-2013, 05:04 PM

I've seen at least a dozen references on the board to how Flacco may/will improve under 'Caldwell's offense'. Since he never called plays before last year's run, and was using Cams system, what is Caldwell's offense?

I've seen some interesting stories, a few snippets below. But will they run Air Coryell and simply modify things like the playoffs?

Caldwell elaborated, pointing to running the ball better on first and second downs, and becoming more consistent in the short passing game. “We averaged a little over four yards a carry in the running game, and in certain situations – first and second down – we want to be a little bit better,” he said.

“We also want to be more consistent in terms of our passing game,” Caldwell said. “We were able to have a lot of big plays down the field and we have that big-play capability, but we also need to be really precise in terms of our underneath passing game.”

Caldwell said the Ravens are “changing a few things here and there” and adding even more wrinkles, but not a whole lot will be different.

under Caldwell, the Ravens ran the ball more. Flacco moved out of the pocket more frequently, threw more deep passes and wasn't as hesitant to use the middle of the field.

**Paintballguy** · 07-18-2013, 05:17 PM

I think the air coryell is history. They may keep some things they like, but I think Caldwell will want to run his own system now that he has time to implement the offense.

**Ravenswintitle** · 07-18-2013, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by Paintballguy

I think the air coryell is history. They may keep some things they like, but I think Caldwell will want to run his own system now that he has time to implement the offense.

what system? he's never called plays in his life before last year and then he used the system in place

**The Excellector** · 07-18-2013, 05:51 PM

The only person in the world who gives Caldwell credit for Peyton Manning's success.........is Peyton Manning.

It's going to be similar to the system they ran in Indianapolis, but with a few modifications to suit Joe's strengths.

When Peyton ran it, the rush offense was vanilla, mainly used to keep defenses honest. It will probably be vanilla here as well, but more successful since the Ravens have better pieces for their run offense. It will be about execution as far as that goes.

When Peyton ran it, they wanted to go deep, but teams always tried to force Manning and Harrison to work their way up the field. So, it was slant, slant, slant, slant, slant and go. In, in, in, in, in, stutter and go.

When Joe runs it, it will be more going to the throat, while the short passing game is used to keep teams honest.

**Kyle Cactus** · 07-18-2013, 06:06 PM

The Coryell system is essentially a way to name plays. There is a philosophy associated with it, but there's no reason you have to heed that philosophy. You could call a bunch of routes we typically associate with the West Coast system while using the Coryell terminology.

Since Joe has 5 years with that terminology, I imagine we will keep it. So we will technically be keeping the Coryell system.

As far as the types of plays that are called, I think that's anyone's guess at this point. We're a team that's well equipped to take shots down field, so obviously they'll keep doing that. I'm interested to see if we can really improve the efficiency of our short passing game.

**Bigfish** · 07-18-2013, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by Ravenswintitle

what system? he's never called plays in his life before last year and then he used the system in place

True. Maybe he tweaks the same offense with different formations and personnel packages and allows Joe more freedom to audible. There's a lot of variables that can be worked into the old playbook. I'm sure Castillo will have some input on drawing up blocking schemes as well as the other coaches contributing. I don't expect anything ground breaking as much as copy what other's have already done; it's a copycat league. Just matching Cam's offensive output would be disappointing. When using Cam's system last year he managed to get better results which gave rise to a lot of optimism.

**HoustonRaven** · 07-18-2013, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by Kyle Cactus

The Coryell system is essentially a way to name plays. There is a philosophy associated with it, but there's no reason you have to heed that philosophy. You could call a bunch of routes we typically associate with the West Coast system while using the Coryell terminology.

Since Joe has 5 years with that terminology, I imagine we will keep it. So we will technically be keeping the Coryell system.

As far as the types of plays that are called, I think that's anyone's guess at this point. We're a team that's well equipped to take shots down field, so obviously they'll keep doing that. I'm interested to see if we can really improve the efficiency of our short passing game.

Agreed.

Cam never really ran a true Air Coryell. We will see different plays, and we saw them in the playoff run, but if you read Caldwells post that the OP quoted, it's a movement to a truer AC system.

**lowrider** · 07-18-2013, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by Ravenswintitle

I've seen at least a dozen references on the board to how Flacco may/will improve under 'Caldwell's offense'. Since he never called plays before last year's run, and was using Cams system, what is Caldwell's offense?

I think you're going to see more of what we saw during the playoff run. Why would you change that? With Boldin gone I'm sure there will be some different wrinkles. Pitta, Dixon, Rice and Pierce are all going to have to step up with the underneath passing game. TS and Jones will be a huge part of the play action passing game. I am excited that Caldwell has had an entire off season to prepare and I can't wait to see what he has drawn up.

**Ravenswintitle** · 07-18-2013, 07:09 PM

I thought the playcalling was somewhat predictable at times and even remember one announcer commenting on it. run, run, pass. But he does seem to have a feel for things and makes adjustments. I really believe the two biggest changes were running more short crossing / slant patterns and allowing Flacco to have freedom to audible at the line.

**kronusthebonus** · 07-18-2013, 07:21 PM

All I wanna know is... Will Flacco flourish now that Cam is gone? Will the trend of getting better after Cam Cameron leaves as OC continue? I hope so.

**ActualSpamBot** · 07-18-2013, 07:23 PM

The football for dummies breakdown between West Coast and AC is simply that the WCO attempts to stretch the field sideline to sideline and isolate receivers at three levels of depth while the AC stretches the field end zone to LOS and tries to isolate receivers in quadrants running from the QB's left to right.

In either case the goal is the same, get a favorable matchup by spreading out the d, the only difference is how you try to spread them out. In Indy and here, Caldwell called plays that were more focused on vertically challenging the D, and I don't expect that to change.

**Rxdoxx** · 07-18-2013, 07:51 PM

Clues I'm putting some weight to are Vonta's presence or lack of, and drafting a H-back (TE/RB combo)
Jusczyk's highlights were a lot of catches.... that is what he is adding to the table is a viable receiving option at the expense of a devistating run blocker.

Boldin can probably be replaced by Pitta, at least in the areas of the field attacked.

Run game? we have 2 mauling guards and a much more agile center, I expect to see "running the ball better on first and second downs" based on that alone.

Air Caldwell coming up, I think we got a taste of it already.