he is one of the best analysts out there rn, here is a taste of his most recent shit
PATRIOTS OFFENSE V. COLTS DEFENSE * In the Colts nickel package, Powers played inside with Jennings on the outside
* Patriots had success running the ball out of shotgun with Faulk against the Colts nickel package – Bracket and Sessions were the LBs in the nickel
* Moss at his best as a vertical route runner, and a bender; He’s not a lateral receiver with agility and quickness – He runs go routes, seam routes, deep over routes (the 55 yarder v. the Colts)
* Moss 55 yds was a great play: Patriots 6 OL on the field to dictate Colts base 4-3 personnel, Moss in the slot inside TE Watson, Play action with Brady under center, Moss deep over route versus “Tampa 2”, Brackett just impacted enough by play action so that Brady made the throw over the top of him
* Brady more and more comfortable in the pocket, His elite pocket movement is almost all back to where it was
* Colts a much more multiple defense this season, More pressure concepts
* Patriots an excellent job with Moss aligning him in different locations in the formation, This dictates coverages and matchups that favor the Patriots – This is how the Patriots get Moss matched on safeties
* Stanback played meaningful snaps in the Patriots 3 WR packages, He was the third WR in this game
* 6 OL was clearly a part of the Patriots offensive game plan, It dictated fronts and coverages – Moss 63 yd TD came out of 6 OL personnel plus a TE, It was 8 man protection off play action, Moss tight motion to get him matched on B Bethea
* Mathis gave RT Kaczur a lot of problems with his speed and quickness as a pass rusher, It was clearly a mismatch
* Brady great pocket movement on Edelman 9 yd TD, At his best no QB in the NFL is better than Brady at movement within the pocket while maintaining focus downfield
* What was interesting on Edelman 9 yd TD was that LB Wheeler was playing Edelman man-to-man, It was a quarters coverage concept but the slot defender has the slot receiver man-to-man on lateral routes
* Patriots utilized a lot of different double team and chip tactics to neutralize Freeney as a pass rusher against rookie LT Vollmer
* Maroney very little juice, Somewhat mechanical in his movement, Not a smooth and fluid runner, Lacks great change of direction and burst – He’s really more of a grinder with a limited skill set
* Patriots most effective runs in this game came out of the shotgun with Faulk, who’s a much quicker and more dynamic back than Maroney
* Brady threw the ball extremely well: Velocity and accuracy
* Colts defense seemed to play faster as the game progressed, They generated more pressure on Brady with their DL in the second half – Mathis and Freeney play with incredible energy and effort snap after snap
* In the second half, the Colts defense was the better unit on the field; They looked quicker and faster than the Patriots offense – They also did an excellent job mixing coverage schemes in the secondary and preventing big plays
* On the Patriots final drive, they were in the shotgun on all 4 snaps; No confidence in their running game and Maroney out of base offense with Brady under center – In that situation, Belichick told you all you need to know about Maroney
VIKINGS OFFENSE V. LIONS DEFENSE
* CB James played with a big cushion, He just gave up completions at the short to intermediate levels, He never challenged receivers (even TE Shiancoe when he was split wide)
* Favre made a couple of great throws on the move – The 43 yarder to Rice in the second quarter came off designed movement: Favre great pump fake to the flat to Harvin, CB James jumped Harvin and allowed Rice to run by him, Deep safety Simpson also reacted to Harvin – Just a classic example of undisciplined defense
* Favre is so good at manipulating and moving the defense with his head, his eyes, shoulder rolls, pump fakes – No QB is better playing games with the defense than Favre
* Rice has deceptive long speed, He eats up ground in a hurry with his stride and breaks down the cushion quickly; He tracks the ball in the air very well
* Vikings downfield passing game very much of function of Peterson and the run game; Vikings dictate fronts and coverages with personnel and formations, shifts and motions – That allows a receiver like Rice, who’s not naturally explosive, to be a significant vertical threat
* No back in the NFL forces defenses to stay disciplined on the back side more than Peterson; His vision and cutback ability are unparalleled – Also, he breaks more tackles at the line of scrimmage than any other back; A violent, relentless runner
* Favre is throwing the ball consistently better than I have seen in a number of years; Outstanding velocity, and more importantly, accuracy
* Favre clearly playing with more discipline; There’s almost a precision to his game that was never really there before, even in his MVP seasons in Green Bay – He’s playing with great pocket discipline and awareness
* Vikings incorporated more Favre designed movement off play action in this game, This really put the Lions defense in a bind – This is something I would expect to see more of as the season progresses
* Lions defense posed no challenges to the Vikings offense, either in terms of pressure or coverage – Vikings offense was able to play this game comfortably, under no duress
JAGUARS OFFENSE V. JETS DEFENSE
* Jets did not blitz much at all through the first quarter; The Jaguars discouraged the Jets from blitzing with personnel and formations: A lot of 2 TE personnel packages, Some “22” personnel (2 backs and 2 TEs) and some “21” (2 backs and 1 TE)
* In the first half Jets corners did not match up to the Jaguars WRs; Revis played LCB and Lowery played on the right side
* LB Scott at times looked tentative and hesitant in his reactions, He was catching blocks rather than delivering blows
* FB Jones an excellent lead blocker, He delivers a blow
* Garrard 11 yd TD run came against a Jets blitz, a 5 man rush with “man free” behind it; Great block by Jones-Drew on blitzing S Rhodes – Jets lost their pass rush discipline and created a big gap for Garrard
* Jets defense does not play very well when they do not blitz; They are an energy defense more than they are a system defense
* Jones-Drew an excellent blocker versus blitz: Recognition, awareness and execution – Overall, as a complete back, Jones-Drew is one of the best in the NFL
* Garrard threw the ball well, He threw with confidence – I liked the fact he made some stick throws into tight windows, The willingness to pull the trigger
* Sims-Walker 26 yd TD was a quick slant against Lowery, Lowery missed the tackle
* Jaguars did not attack Revis, They clearly stayed away from him
* Jaguars significant utilization of 6 OL, and they threw out of that personnel at times – This is clearly becoming a trend in the NFL
* In the second half Revis matched up to Sims-Walker at times, and he blanketed him
* Jets defense much more stout in the second half, especially in the third quarter
* Jets overall blitz concepts structured on the positioning of the back in the backfield, The blitz almost always will come from the side opposite the back
* Shepherd played the second half at the corner opposite Revis
* Interesting on 3rd + 9 with 3 minutes left and 1 point lead Ryan did not blitz, He rushed 3 and played “2 man” with a lurk defender in the middle (the Garrard factor as a runner?) – Garrard made an excellent throw to Thomas in the middle matched against Strickland for 15 yds
* Jets defense was not a proactive factor in this game, They were not aggressive and challenging, They were more passive with less blitz
― NEW YORK DESERVED 9-11 (cankles), Wednesday, 18 November 2009 20:58 (fourteen years ago) link