Chambers & The Playoff Gameplan

[John K]

Against EWU, Chambers had 190 total yards and accounted for 5 TD, while taking only 9 snaps. How can you not have a player with that kind of production and efficiency on the field more than he was against UM? He won two BSC POTW awards, despite his limited playing time this season. I've always thought the offense just seems to look smoother and seems more dynamic when he's on the field.

[mslacatfan]

I have always liked Tommy as the starter, and still do…. But to not use chambers at all is just criminal.

I mean good Lord, the guy has 5 TD’s in 9 plays against EWU then the next game you give him 1 meaningful snap…. Wtf?

Housewright is not good.

[The Butcher]

I have always liked Tommy as the starter, and still do…. But to not use chambers at all is just criminal.

I mean good Lord, the guy has 5 TD’s in 9 plays against EWU then the next game you give him 1 meaningful snap…. Wtf?

Housewright is not good.

Someone should show Housewright this clip before the playoff game:

[Oldpanther]

Let's be honest. Our offense was better when Tommy was hurt and Chambers was THE guy.

[TomCat88]

Let's be honest. Our offense was better when Tommy was hurt and Chambers was THE guy.

I think you have to consider strength of schedule.
Stetson, @ Weber, Portland State, Cal Poly*
Vs
@ SAC, @ Idaho, NAU, EWU, @ Montana.

*Chambers didn’t start but took 2/3rds of the snaps.
Also, Chambers had free rein in the Stetson, Weber and PAU games.

Might sound like I’m lobbying for Mellott. I’m not and I don’t care who they start. I prefer Mellott but it’s not a big deal to me either way.

[catatac]

Let's be honest. Our offense was better when Tommy was hurt and Chambers was THE guy.

I think you have to consider strength of schedule.
Stetson, @ Weber, Portland State, Cal Poly*
Vs
@ SAC, @ Idaho, NAU, EWU, @ Montana.

*Chambers didn’t start but took 2/3rds of the snaps.
Also, Chambers had free rein in the Stetson, Weber and PAU games.

Might sound like I’m lobbying for Mellott. I’m not and I don’t care who they start. I prefer Mellott but it’s not a big deal to me either way.

Absolutely the way I see it. I don't know if this is the best idea in the world but I would love to see them tell them, you're both going to get plenty of snaps but for the first playoff game, Sean starts and gets the majority of the snaps. For the second, Tommy starts and gets the majority of snaps. Then UM has no idea who starts.

[CelticCat]

So I really wish I could find snap counts for players, does anyone know if that information exists?

The best I can do is look at rushes and passes for Chambers as a % of the whole team. For passing I took out numbers from Jordan Reed as obviously that meant Chamber's and Tommy's days were done. But for rushing it's harder, without knowing when the QBs were done and then compiling stats up to that that point, all I can do use calculate the % of runs Chamber's had versus how many carries the whole team got. So likely Chamber's usage is higher in the blowout wins as his day was done before we kept running the ball late.

I took out the second half of SDSU since Tommy was hurt early on. And a reminder we were up 10-0. Obviously the 2nd half was mostly Chambers and we lost, but it's clear the "mix" was working in the first half.

I took out the 4th quarter at UM since the game was over, but even leaving it in puts Chambers at below 10% usage.



It paints the picture we all know - in both of the frustrating road losses, the Chambers usage rate was below 10%. Chambers did not throw a pass in the 1st half against SDSU, and against Idaho he didn't throw a single pass, and against UM he only came in to throw a hail mary pass right before half, which will count as a 1 rush for negative yards in the stats.

No other games featuring Tommy and Sean ended with Sean throwing zero passes.

Also, the two lowest rushing attempts by Chambers all year were Idaho (3), and UM (1 but technically zero). Again with the caveat I'm throwing out the 4th quarter in Missoula.

It's pretty clear the gameplan changes when the tough gets going, the stage gets big, and it seemingly is costing us wins.

Let's compare two teams, UM and MSU. UM was struggling mightily on the offensive side of the ball early on. They settled the QB spot, and then figured out a way to get their playmakers the ball. Ask any Griz fan in all the games before and including NAU and that was a huge frustration. Now they are getting everyone involved.

In contrast, we really start to rely one one single player when the going gets tough.

[CelticCat]

Let me put it this way - there are only 3 games this season that both Tommy and Sean were available for, and the Cats were still in the game using their full compliment of players (aka I'm not counting the insult from Housewright that Chambers was put in garbage time like a damn backup QB in Missoula), that Chambers didn't throw a single pass in. I'm sure you can guess the 3.

[4thecats]

I don't think it's about Chambers starting or Mellott starting.
They compliment each other perfectly and all we need to do is
Open the playbook up. They are both at their best when the defense has to account for both.

[CatsNoMatterWhat]

So I really wish I could find snap counts for players, does anyone know if that information exists?

The best I can do is look at rushes and passes for Chambers as a % of the whole team. For passing I took out numbers from Jordan Reed as obviously that meant Chamber's and Tommy's days were done. But for rushing it's harder, without knowing when the QBs were done and then compiling stats up to that that point, all I can do use calculate the % of runs Chamber's had versus how many carries the whole team got. So likely Chamber's usage is higher in the blowout wins as his day was done before we kept running the ball late.

I took out the second half of SDSU since Tommy was hurt early on. And a reminder we were up 10-0. Obviously the 2nd half was mostly Chambers and we lost, but it's clear the "mix" was working in the first half.

I took out the 4th quarter at UM since the game was over, but even leaving it in puts Chambers at below 10% usage.



It paints the picture we all know - in both of the frustrating road losses, the Chambers usage rate was below 10%. Chambers did not throw a pass in the 1st half against SDSU, and against Idaho he didn't throw a single pass, and against UM he only came in to throw a hail mary pass right before half, which will count as a 1 rush for negative yards in the stats.

No other games featuring Tommy and Sean ended with Sean throwing zero passes.

Also, the two lowest rushing attempts by Chambers all year were Idaho (3), and UM (1 but technically zero). Again with the caveat I'm throwing out the 4th quarter in Missoula.

It's pretty clear the gameplan changes when the tough gets going, the stage gets big, and it seemingly is costing us wins.

Let's compare two teams, UM and MSU. UM was struggling mightily on the offensive side of the ball early on. They settled the QB spot, and then figured out a way to get their playmakers the ball. Ask any Griz fan in all the games before and including NAU and that was a huge frustration. Now they are getting everyone involved.

In contrast, we really start to rely one one single player when the going gets tough.

This is great stuff. The short version I'm taking away: in tough games, we need them both to be very involved.

Is that accurate?

[Bocephus]

There was a drive last year in Cat/gris where they were both on the field all the way down the field. Cats scored on a fly sweep looking play to Mellott. All I know is if this team ends up back in Missoula, we better use every play in that playbook, nothing to lose, don't hold back.

[CatsNoMatterWhat]

There was a drive last year in Cat/gris where they were both on the field all the way down the field. Cats scored on a fly sweep looking play to Mellott. All I know is if this team ends up back in Missoula, we better use every play in that playbook, nothing to lose, don't hold back.

I mean...I kinda think we need to do that during our two "warm up" games against NDSU and USD. We officially have nothing to lose for the rest of the season. Win or go home.

[tagleason]

That.

[KIX]

I don't think it's about Chambers starting or Mellott starting.
They compliment each other perfectly and all we need to do is
Open the playbook up. They are both at their best when the defense has to account for both.

Sounds like an OC issue, not a player issue. We have the Joe's, not so sure about the X's and O's.

[BobMarshall]

Against EWU, Chambers had 190 total yards and accounted for 5 TD, while taking only 9 snaps. How can you not have a player with that kind of production and efficiency on the field more than he was against UM? He won two BSC POTW awards, despite his limited playing time this season. I've always thought the offense just seems to look smoother and seems more dynamic when he's on the field.

Not trying to take anything away from Chambers but EWU didnt really do much in that game. They had the football beat out of them before the game started. Crazy how far that program has sunk. I agree that the offense under Chambers seems a bit smoother but im still not sold on the rotation of the 2 QB in loud environments. Seems like it throws the cadence off and the offense takes a bit to adjust. Gregorak mentioned that struggle over a couple games this season.

[Colter_Nuanez]

Plenty of Chambers talk in here during the segment with Brooks. The Chambers part is about 30 min in

[BleedingBLue]

For me the biggest thing about Chambers playing more, or being the starter, is the PA game. It's basically non existent when he's not playing. The lone exception being the seam route to the TE or RB and the RPO drag across the field. The PA was a big part of the reason Sean had 3 TD passes against Eastern.

[iaafan]

Against EWU, Chambers had 190 total yards and accounted for 5 TD, while taking only 9 snaps. How can you not have a player with that kind of production and efficiency on the field more than he was against UM? He won two BSC POTW awards, despite his limited playing time this season. I've always thought the offense just seems to look smoother and seems more dynamic when he's on the field.

Not trying to take anything away from Chambers but EWU didnt really do much in that game. They had the football beat out of them before the game started. Crazy how far that program has sunk. I agree that the offense under Chambers seems a bit smoother but im still not sold on the rotation of the 2 QB in loud environments. Seems like it throws the cadence off and the offense takes a bit to adjust. Gregorak mentioned that struggle over a couple games this season.

Exactly. It's cool that he had the game he had, but EWU had checked out. Chambers seems to have trouble in noisy environments. I think all but one false start vs SDSU was with him in the game and the linemen and TEs were looking at him like he was from Mars after a few of those calls. Also against Idaho he had a DOG and then UM he either had a DOG or a FS, plus he and Davis seemed confused.

We should have gotten beat by a much bigger score than we did vs UM. That's one thing that gives me hope for the next game against them. We couldn't have played much worse in all three phases.

I think we'll see more Tommy and Sean on the field together the rest of the way. More plays with multiple handoffs. We need to get our athletes in space, especially Tommy, Sean, Marqui, Taco, McCullouch. That will make the run game more consistent. Can't just rely on RPO and play action all the time. I don't think matters who starts but we need to mix it up more.

[Common Cat]

Plenty of Chambers talk in here during the segment with Brooks. The Chambers part is about 30 min in

This picture is unreal - like how is he that high?

[Helcat72]

Tommy is better at the beginning of a game because he can escape or turn losses into gain better than Sean. Usually when Sean comes in is when the line has a good idea of what they can do against the defensive front. If Tommy is having a difficult time moving the ball because the front is stopping us, then I believe it's not worth throwing Sean in there because he can find creases and take off. If there are no creases...he runs to the sideline for no gain.