We are proud to share NFL Films Legend and Tape Wizard Greg Cosell’s raw notes from his film observations. We’ll be releasing his notes every week, either on Wednesday or Thursday.
EAGLES OFFENSE VERSUS BENGALS DEFENSE
Eagles shot play on first play of the game out of 11 3x1 with Jackson the z receiver and Hightower the x receiver, Jackson lost his balance on his stutter-go
Bengals stayed sub nickel versus Eagles 12 personnel, In cover 1 they matched slot corner Alexander on Ertz and safety Bell on Goedert/Rodgers – Late in the 4th quarter on Eagles tying TD drive they matched corner Jackson on Ertz versus 12 personnel
Bell was the matchup on Ertz when the Bengals went cover 1 out of sub nickel versus Eagles 11 personnel
Rookies Davis-Gaither and Wilson continued to be Bengals 3rd down sub nickel LB – Wilson interception on 3rd + 3 to end first possession came versus Eagles staple mesh concept
Hightower was predominantly the x receiver for the Eagles (he played 78 snaps); They also lined up in 1x3 sets with Ertz the boundary x on the back side of trips, That was featured out of 11 personnel
Goedert hurt on second possession, Eagles then played more snaps of 11 personnel – Jackson only played 28 snaps
Second possession Wentz did not turn it loose to Jackson on out route from #3 to trips, Scissors concept versus cover 4 match; It was a timing and anticipation throw and Wentz came off it and ran for 12 yards
Wentz did not turn it loose to wide open Jackson on 1st and goal in the red zone on second possession, It’s a throw you have to make – Wentz is playing too fast and not seeing things clearly right now
Result of Goedert injury was Eagles played more snaps of 11 personnel – Third TE Rodgers did play 33 snaps
Bengals snaps of sub dime on 3rd down with Sims the fourth corner, In cover 1 versus 11 personnel Sims matched up on Ertz – Sims was the matchup on Ertz in cover 1 sub dime, Davis-Gaither was the only LB
LT Peters is a liability in one-on-one pass protection, He no longer has the balance and body control to pass protect consistently
3rd + 10 with 9:10 in the 2nd quarter, Lack of pre-snap recognition by Wentz out of an empty set: Bengals double mug front out of sub nickel with a cover 1 look but Bell was matched on Sanders not Ertz, That was an alert something was different; Slot corner Alexander blitzed off the trips side and was unaccounted for but Wentz had an easy throw to Ward to beat the blitz and Ward had room to run
2nd + 9 with 4:59 in the 2nd quarter: Another poor ball placement throw by Wentz on a routine pitch and catch throw, Ertz wide open on the in-breaker off play action
Wentz missed Ertz on what might have been a TD on 2nd + 9 with less than 4 minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter, Ertz wide open on staple bang 8 from 12 closed formation – Wentz again playing too fast with little pocket patience and not seeing it
Ward 29 yard TD on 3rd + 8 late in the 2nd quarter was an outstanding play by Wentz, That time he read the disguise and late movement out of double mug look with Alexander running with Burnett return motion to cover 2 and hit Ward on the hole shot – Wentz best play of the game mentally
Sims interception late in the 3rd quarter came out of dime cover 1 with Sims matched on Ertz, A poor ball placement throw by Wentz on the quick fade, It was too far inside – Eagles 1x3 set out of 11 personnel
Wentz bad overthrow to wide open Sanders on sluggo on 3rd + 10 in the 4th quarter: Empty set with Sanders #1 to the boundary, Bengals 1 robber with LB Davis-Gaither matched on Sanders; Eagles got the matchup they wanted and Sanders won easily – A throw Wentz must make and he missed him badly, Would have been a 53 yard TD
Ertz 30 yards was Wentz best throw of the game: Ertz sail route from boundary x versus Bengals nickel cover 3
Right now Wentz is fighting it: He is a little lost mentally with his recognition / elimination and isolation, and he is playing much too fast physically resulting in tentative play and too many throws left on the field; Add in his consistently poor ball placement issues and you have a struggling QB
JOE BURROW VERSUS EAGLES DEFENSE
LeBlanc was the Eagles slot corner in their sub defenses, Gerry and Edwards were the sub nickel LB with Reilly playing some snaps with Gerry; Robey was the dime corner with Gerry the dime LB
First Eagles sack came on 3rd + 3 to end Bengals first possession, Burrow had Tate wide open on the pivot route versus LeBlanc for the first down but did not turn it loose; Sweat beat LT Williams to the outside for the sack
Second 3rd down of the game (3rd + 7) Eagles went with 5 DL and sub dime in the secondary, Eagles cover 1 doing an excellent job versus Bengals tight bunch of playing releases with slot corner LeBlanc picking up Green on the shallow crosser and avoiding the mesh to make the tackle short of the 1st down
Eagles lined up Slay over Green, Bengals featured reduced splits and stack and bunch concepts to minimize the Slay-Green matchup
Eagles went zero blitz on 2nd + 8 from +42 yard line in the 2nd quarter, It came out of sub nickel with Gerry and LeBlanc the two added rushers
Barnett sack on 3rd + 8 in the 2nd quarter came versus Burrow in an empty set: Well-designed concept with Eagles in double mug front with Gerry and Reilly, Burrow brought TE Sample from flexed alignment to LOS alignment; Bengals slid OL inside leaving Sample one-on-one with Barnett, Barnett beat Sample for the sack – Eagles dropped out both Gerry and Reilly and played 3 robber
Eagles showed another zero blitz concept on 1st + 15 in the 2nd quarter, It came out of sub dime; Mills was the fifth rusher with Gerry dropping out but the secondary matched up across the board with no deep safety
Higgins beat Maddox on an out-and-go late in the 2nd quarter but Burrow left the ball a little short allowing Maddox to make a play, Ball lost energy on the back end
Eagles DC Schwartz aggressive with multiple pressure concepts in the 1st half, including zero blitz and boundary corner blitzes
Eagles featured more stunt concepts versus the Bengals, Bengals OL had struggled in pass protection in their first 2 games so that was a good tactic
Bengals pass game built on timing and rhythm, Burrow quick game a foundation of the Bengals offense
Eagles second snap of 5 DL / sub dime came on 3rd + 6 in the 3rd quarter, Eagales again cover 1 behind the 5 man rush; Boyd beat on an in-breaker for 13 yards
Burrow decisiveness in the pocket showed up on Boyd 17 yards in the 3rd quarter, Eagles late movement to cover 2 invert and Burrow stuck it on Boyd in the inside void to the boundary; It was dagger concept
Maddox hurt late in the 3rd quarter, Williams replaced him on the outside opposite Slay and was beaten on the next play by Higgins on the crosser for 4 yard TD
Eagles featured 2 sub dime packages: one with corner Robey as the dime, and one wit safety Epps as the dime
Eagles 4 man DL pass rush got cranked up in the 4th quarter and OT, Cox some good pass rush snaps and Graham some dominant snaps
Burrow another throw to Higgins at 2:00 in OT that lost energy on the back end, Higgins beat Robey on the slot fade and the ball was underthrown allowing Robey to make a play – Something to watch for
Bengals OL, particularly the interior 3, had major struggles in one-one-one pass protection in the 4th quarter and OT
Eagles sub defense breakdown: 47 snaps of sub nickel, 67% of total defensive snaps; 18 snaps of sub dime, 26% of total snaps
Eagles played about 60% man coverage versus the Bengals – They have been a predominant man coverage defense through 3 games
Burrow out of empty sets: 9-11, 54 yards, 3 sacks – Burrow through 3 games out of empty sets: 28-39, 223 yards, 3 TD, 5 sacks
GIANTS OFFENSE VERSUS 49ERS DEFENSE
49ers sub nickel: Verrett and Moseley the outside corners with Williams in the slot; Ansah used as an edge rusher (21 snaps), Jordan snaps at edge rusher (22 snaps)
Hyder started at RDE in place of Bosa but played both RDE and LDE, Jones and rookie Kinlaw were the DT; Al-Shaair was the third LB with Warner and Alexander in the 49ers base defense, Street played snaps at DT in the base defense
Givens part of DT rotation with Jones and Kinlaw, Jones and Kinlaw both played both 1-technique and 3-technique/4i
Freeman looked quick and explosive with stop-and-start, change of direction and re-acceleration
Moseley hurt on the first play of the 2nd quarter, Johnson replaced him at corner opposite Verrett
Verrett showed the speed to run with Verrett on a vertical route in the 2nd quarter, It came on a 4 weak blitz with Ward getting in clean and forcing a hurried throw by Jones
4 weak blitz was a foundational pressure concept for the 49ers versus the Giants, It came out of single high with Ward one of the blitzers and Tartt the post safety
Slayton was predominantly the Giants x receiver, He showed some refinement as a route runner
49ers showed a sub nickel front in the 2nd quarter with Ansah and Hyder at DE, and Armstead and Kinlaw at DT
Through 3 games the 49ers have played an almost equal percentage of single high and split safety, That’s a change in philosophy from what DC Saleh has done in the past
Through 3 games the 49ers have played over 60% zone coverage and just under 40% man coverage
49ERS OFFENSE VERSUS GIANTS DEFENSE
49ers opened the game with Aiyuk on the jet sweep out of 21 personnel, Giants were in base defense with Bradberry and Yiadom the corners and Martinez and Downs the stacked LB
49ers 2 jet sweeps to Aiyuk on their first possession, the first out of 21 personnel and the second out of 12 personnel
Aiyuk was the boundary x on the back side of trips out of 11 personnel on the 49ers first 3rd down, Giants went 2 man out of sub dime versus the 11 3x1 tight bunch set and slot corner Holmes played Reed release from #1 rather than staying with Taylor
Giants played both base and sub nickel to the 49ers base personnel, Giants predominantly were in base versus 21 personnel and in sub nickel versus 12 personnel; Martinez and Downs were the LB in base
Slot corner Holmes was the matchup on Reed when the Giants went cover 1 out of sub dime versus 49ers 12 personnel
In 11 personnel Aiyuk lined up at boundary x on the back side of trips and in the inside slot to trips
Bradberry and Yiadom were the outside corners in the Giants base and sub defenses, Bradberry played every snap; Holmes continued to be the slot corner
Ryan was the TE matchup when the Giants went cover 1 out of sub dime versus 49ers 11 personnel, There were also man coverage snaps in which Love (a corner at Notre Dame) matched up to Reed
Giants showed tilted front out of sub dime with Martinez the wild card opposite the tilt, At times Martinez was used as the fifth rusher
Giants continued to play a lot of man coverage out of their sub defenses; 49ers went after rookie corner Holmes in the 1st quarter and had success
Peppers hurt after playing 9 snaps, Ebner played snaps at safety in the Giants sub defenses
TE Reed hurt late in the 1st quarter, He ended up playing only 18 snaps; Dwelley played 62 snaps with the rookie TE Woerner playing 12 snaps
49ers ran more gap scheme than we are used to seeing from them, They featured multiple blocking concepts in their gap scheme runs
RT McGlinchey struggled at times in one-on-one pass protection, Snaps in which he did not sit down and anchor well and was driven back into the pocket: 9:12 in the 2nd a good example of being physically dominated by a one arm stab by Ximines
Giants run defense was strong in the 1st half, Their DL physically dominated the 49ers OL; McKinnon consecutive 11 yard run and 10 yard TD run late in the 2nd quarter
Dwelley 20 yards on 2nd + 11 on late 2nd quarter TD drive was excellent recognition and decisiveness by Mullens: Giants disguise and late movement to cover 2 behind zone exchange pressure featuring a boundary corner blitz by Bradberry, Mullens read it immediately and hit Dwelley on the bender to the weak side of the coverage
LG Tomlinson was featured as a puller in the run game, both gap scheme concepts and outside in G pull schemes
49ers started the 2nd half with an RPO concept: Mullens hit Aiyuk from boundary x on the quick slant versus off coverage zone corner Yiadom 14 yards
Giants featured 3-4 front look out of base with Martinez and Downs the stacked LB, Bear front look with two 3-techniques; Giants also featured 6 man fronts with Martinez the stacked LB out of base
Giants started 3rd quarter playing zone coverage and the 49ers took advantage with Aiyuk from the boundary x working against off coverage corner Yiadom on in-breaking routes
Aiyuk 19 yard TD late in the 3rd quarter came on a well-executed orbit reverse out of 21 personnel with Aiyuk the reduced split boundary x (an alert for the defense)
Giants played with 5 man and 6 man fronts versus 49ers base personnel to defend the run: 49ers backs finished with 28 rushes for 62 yards - Giants defensive front was dominant in the run game, Lawrence stood out
Wilson 19 yard TD reception came out of 21 personnel: Well-executed screen off outside zone run action to the same side as the run action
Through 3 games the 49ers have been in a base personnel grouping (21, 12 and 22) on 65% of their offensive snaps
VIKINGS OFFENSE VERSUS TITANS DEFENSE
On the second snap of the game versus Vikings 12 personnel Landry and Clowney lined up on the same side
Titans sub nickel / dime: Butler right corner, Joseph left corner, Fulton in the slot; Brown was the LB in the 4-1-6 sub dime
First 3rd and long the Titans out of sub dime disguise and late movement to cover 2 behind 4 man zone exchange with Vaccaro one of the rushers, Clowney and Simmons aligned at 2i with Simmons beating RG Samia for the sack
Vikings went back to basics after 2 losses: 21 and 22 personnel with fullback Ham, In 21 personnel the WR were Thielen and Jefferson
Titans continued to feature 2 base fronts: 4-3 look with Landry predominantly in an off the ball LB alignment, and 3-4 look with Landy and Clowney the on the ball OLB; Simmons predominantly a 3-technique in the 4-3 and a 3-technique/4i in the 3-4
Clowney at times aligned in an off the ball LB alignment in the 4-3 front with Landry at DE; There were snaps in the sub dime in which Clowney lined up inside at 2i – Clowney is a chess piece player not an edge rusher
Titans overall were multiple with their front looks out of base and sub – That’s a Vrabel staple from his Belichick experience: multiple fronts and coverage continuity
Jefferson was an outside receiver in this game, both in the Vikings base and 11 personnel; Beebe was the slot receiver I 11 personnel
Cook 39 yard TD on 1st + 10 in the 1st quarter came out of 13 personnel, It was counter strong; Cook showed his traits: patience, vision, stop-and-start, lateral quickness, re-acceleration
DT Simmons had dominant snaps in the 1st half, particularly when he was matched up on RG Samia – That continued in the 3rd quarter: Simmons strong powerful hands to move both interior OL and OT
On 3rd + 3 in the 2nd quarter the Titans out of sub dime went cover 1 versus Vikings 11 personnel and matched Hooker on Rudolph – Hooker almost always a post or half field safety in the Titans man coverage concepts
Jefferson 31 yards on 3rd + 3 in the 2nd quarter came out of 02 personnel versus Titans sub dime cover 1, Jefferson fade route went up over Butler and made a tough contested catch with great body control and hands – Beasley and Landry the edge rushers with Clowney and Simmons inside at DT
Evans had some snaps in the 2nd quarter in which he was a beat slow to recognize and react, both in the run game and in man coverage; Eyes were a little slow to process
In 2 man and 1 robber out of sub dime Vaccaro was the TE matchup, Byard was the robber in 1 robber; LB Brown was predominantly the matchup on the back in the Titans man coverage concepts
First play of the 3rd quarter the Titans came with pressure out of base versus Vikings 21 straight I, They brought Evans and Brown up to the LOS after the protection had been called, Brown blitzed forcing a hurried Cousins throw that was intercepted by Joseph
Vikings stayed with high percentage base personnel throughout the game, That’s the way they want to play - Fullback Ham played 27 snaps (42% of the offensive snaps)
Jefferson 71 yard TD on 2nd + 8 in the 3rd quarter came out of 21 straight I split flow zone run action, Thielen motion across the formation from the boundary to the field outside of reduced split Jefferson; Titans cover 1 out of base with the Thielen motion putting Joseph on Jefferson, Jefferson ran by Joseph on the deep over
Cook looked quick and explosive, He got to the outside on some runs and easily outflanked the Titans defense
Titans run defense struggled with misdirection runs: gap scheme counter, zone counters; Also there were Cook runs in which he bounced outside and got to the perimeter
Fulton sack on 1st + 20 in the 4th quarter came out of sub nickel: Zone exchange concept with Fulton the fourth rusher and cover 3 behind it, Vikings OC Bradbury slid to the slot side but Fulton slow played his blitz and came inside of Bradbury who did not see him
Clowney strong pass rush versus LG Dozier on Vikings final possession – It came out of Titans dime front with Landry and Beasley the edge rushers, and Simmons and Clowney inside
Simmons a dominant performance in this game, He showed all the traits and attributes of an All-Pro DT
TITANS OFFENSE VERSUS VIKINGS DEFENSE
Vikings sub nickel: Hill and Boyd the outside corners with Gladney in the slot, Kendricks and Wilson the LB
Vikings base defense: Hill and Gladney the corners with Kendricks, Wilson and Nickerson the LB; Nickerson was the weak side stacked LB in the Vikings predominant over fronts
Second play of the game Titans went play action out of 22 closed to the boundary twins to the field (Smith shifted across the formation to the slot to twins), Raymond from plus split ran the stutter-go and got on top of Hill; Lead zone run action and a great throw by Tannehill
Titans continued to use fullback Blasingame, A lot of straight I formations; Blasingame and straight I significant part of game plan – Blasingame played 19 snaps versus the Vikings
Rookie Wonnum played significant snaps at DE in both the sub nickel and base fronts
One of major foundations of Titans offense is bang play action, They do it out of 12 and 21 personnel with multiple run game concepts (power, iso lead, outside zone) and route concepts (in-breakers, seams); Both Blasingame and Pruitt line up in the fullback position in the straight I
Lewan injued late in the 1st quarter, Sambrailo replaced him at LT; Lewan did not return
Henry 16 yards in the 2nd quarter came out of 21 straight I, Outside zone lead with Henry getting to the edge; Henry made safety Smith miss at the third level
Humphries 23 yards on 1st + 10 in the 1st quarter came out of 12 personnel and was a well-designed boundary route concept off outside zone run action to the boundary, Route concept attacked Vikings staple cover 4
Vikings a predominant zone coverage defense, Cover 4 remains their staple but also snaps of cover 3; When they play cover 1 out of sub nickel safety Harris is the TE matchup
Henry was the back out of 11 personnel on 3rd + 10 on Titans first possession of the 3rd quarter – Ngakoue sack came off double mug front look, That dictated one-on-one matchup with Ngakoue versus LT Sambrailo and Ngakoue beat him off the edge
Titans are a bang play action offense and a shot play offense when it comes to the passing game, Those are two defining staples – Tannehill had a shot to hit Davis on the post off play action on 2nd + 3 in the 3rd quarter but inside pressure from Odenigbo prevented the throw and Tannehill threw it away
Titans split Henry on 3rd + 3 in the 3rd quarter, They went empty out of 11 personnel, Vikings out of sub nickel matched up with cover 1 with LB Kendricks on Henry; Tannehill off his progression reads came to Henry late on an in-breaker but it was incomplete
Titans stemmed TE Smith across the formation quite a bit, Vikings a predominant over front defense and the Titans looked to dictate the front and then run away from the strength of the front to the bubble
Davis 38 yards on 2nd + 3 in the 3rd quarter came out of 11 personnel versus Vikings sub nickel, It was bang play action off outside zone with Davis running the 5 step in-breaker; Vikings were in single high with corner Boyd played with outside leverage versus Davis reduced split
First play of late 3rd quarter possession was the other part of Titans play action pass game: Shot play out of 13 personnel off outside zone with Raymond running the deep corner-post (same play versus the Ravens in the playoffs last season), Vikings late movement to cover 4; Raymond beat corner Gladney
Vikings went cover zero on 2nd + 10 with 7 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter from the +36 yard line, with a 5 point lead; They did it out of base – Vikings also went zero blitz on 3rd + 9 with 1:52 remaining from the +37 yard line, with a 2 point lead; This time it was out of sub nickel
Vikings played single high safety coverage versus the Titans on 66% of their defensive snaps, split safety on about 30% of the snaps; Vikings played about 54% man coverage and 46% zone coverage
Tannehill play action passing versus Vikings: 9-13, 225 yards, 1 interception; Tannehill play action passing through 3 games: 25-36, 436 yards, 3 TD, 1 interception, 12.1 yards per attempt
TEXANS OFFENSE VERSUS STEELERS DEFENSE
Steelers played cover 1 out of sub nickel on the first snap of the game, Hilton the slot corner
First 3rd down Steelers out of sub dime went cover 1 behind 4 man DL rush, Bush was used as spy on Watson; Dime corner Sutton was the TE matchup and Edmunds was the matchup on the back
On the Texans second 3rd down (3rd + 3) Steelers again went cover 1, this time out of sub nickel: Edmunds was the TE matchup, Williams matched up on the back, Bush again the spy
Despite not gaining many yards Johnson looked laterally quick with his jump cuts and change of direction
All three 3rd downs on Texans opening TD drive the Steelers went cover 1, Sutton was predominantly the TE matchup in dime and Edmunds in nickel – In sub dime Bush was used as a spy, a blitzer and man-to-man on the TE
Edmunds and Bush were the TE matchups when the Steelers went cover 1 out of base versus Texans 12 personnel
LB Williams always shows up on tape, both in the Steelers base defense as a run defender and as a blitzer in the sub nickel; Williams consistently featured as a blitzer in the sub nickel
Johnson 20 yard reception on 2nd + 12 on first play of the 2nd quarter came out of 12 empty, It was a good read by Watson seeing corner Nelson anticipate and jump the quick out by slot Fuller and throw over the top to Johnson
Steelers out of sub dime continued to feature disguise and late movement to cover 2 with Sutton a deep half player and Fitzpatrick the middle hole defender – First time Steelers did this Watson hit Fuller 20 yards on a dig ball (dagger concept)
Steelers continued to feature multiple stunt concepts out of their sub fronts – It’s been a staple through 3 games
Sutton was used at times as a half field safety in cover 2 and a post safety in cover 3; Hilton also 2 snaps as a post safety out of sub dime on 3rd + long in the 4th quarter, the second one he made an interception off a Watson second reaction throw
One thing the Steelers did more of in their cover 1 concepts as the game progressed was use Fitzpatrick as an underneath robber/spy on 3rd down out of sub dime, with Edmunds the post safety
Steelers DL began to dominate as the game progressed, Tuitt had a lot of impressive snaps – Rookie Highsmith flashed in limited snaps
Slot corner Hilton has played 70% of the Steelers defensive snaps through 3 games, Significant snaps in which the Steelers played sub nickel versus the opposing offense base personnel
STEELERS OFFENSE VERSUS TEXANS DEFENSE
Texans sub dime: Moore was the dime player with Murray was the slot corner, Reid and Johnson were the safeties, Cunningham the only LB – In the base defense Murray and Reid were the safeties
Texans snaps of big nickel versus Steelers 12 personnel with Moore / Johnson the third safety, They also played some big nickel versus 11 personnel
Murray continued to play safety in the Texans base defense and slot corner in the sub defenses
Steelers a predominant 11 personnel offense (over 67% of their offensive snaps) but they will feature both 12 personnel with Ebron and McDonald and at times 6 OL personnel
Ebron may not be a high-volume receiver but he is a weapon at all 3 levels of the defense with his movement and speed, In addition he is a tough matchup in man coverage for both LB and safeties
Ebron 10 yard TD on 3rd and goal a good example of Ebron as a matchup weapon: 3x1 set off Smith-Schuster motion across the formation with the motion validating Texans man coverage, Matchup was Ebron #1 to trips versus safety Moore; Fade for TD
Steelers featured 1x3 sets out of 11 personnel with both Ebron and McDonald the boundary x out of multiple splits including LOS TE
In the Texans man coverage concepts out of sub dime versus 11 personnel they featured different players matching up to the TE: Moore, Johnson and Reid all matched up on Ebron
Connor featured both as an I back and a shotgun runner, Gap scheme and inside zone were foundation runs – Steelers also featured snaps out of the pistol formation: 11 yard son G/C pull scheme
Against the Texans the Steelers ran a lot of gap scheme concepts, Connor showed good patience and vision feeling his blocks and working off them – Overall Connor looked quick with plus cutting ability, short area burst and a slashing running style
The majority of Connor’s carries this season have come out of shotgun: 26-119, 4.6, 3 rushes of 10+ yards
McFarland 20 yards on 2nd + 10 in the 2nd quarter came on sprint draw to the weak side of the formation; 11 yards to start 3rd quarter came on G/C pull scheme out of pistol
RAVENS OFFENSE VERSUS CHIEFS DEFENSE
Chiefs base defense: Fenton and rookie Sneed were the corners with LB Hitchens, Wilson and Niemann
Chiefs sub nickel: Mathieu moves into the slot with safety Sorensen the nickel defender, Hitchens and Wilson were the LB
Jackson 30 yards on 3rd + 2 on first possession came on a QB counter out of 11 personnel with sweep run action in the backfield to hold the backside DE, Play side stacked LB Wilson reacted to the backfield action and Jackson got clean to the edge; Chiefs were in nickel press man cover 1 so there were no eyes on Jackson
Chiefs were aggressive with press man coverage on 3rd down out of both sub nickel and sub dime, Safety Thompson was the dime defender with Niemann the dime LB
Chiefs philosophical approach on 3rd down was, we’re challenging the Ravens offense with press man coverage and pressure and you’re going to have to beat it; Make the receivers one-on-one and force Jackson make precise ball placement throws
Sorensen continued to be the predominant TE matchup out of sub versus 11 personnel, Thornhill also matched up on Andrews at times
Chiefs at times in 3rd and long out of sub dime featured disguise and movement to get to split safety zone coverages – Chiefs did this on 2nd down in the 2 minute at the end of the 1st half, Jones beat Bozeman for sack-forced fumble
Great play by post safety Thompson to cut Brown on the shallow crosser on 3rd + 6 in the 2nd quarter, Chiefs cover 1 out of sub dime behind 5 man pressure
Chiefs went zero blitz out of sub dime on 3rd + 7 late in the 2nd quarter, They got 2 rushers clean to Jackson forcing him out of the pocket and into a hurried undefined throw
Sneed hurt after 22 snaps with broken collarbone, Ward came in to replace him opposite Fenton
Ravens continued to feature 1x3 sets out of 11 personnel with Andrews the boundary x, In the Chiefs man coverage concepts out of sub nickel they matched up to Andrews with a corner and the inside slot WR to trips with a safety
Chiefs zero blitz out of sub dime on 3rd + 9 in the 3rd quarter – Chiefs went zero blitz on 3 consecutive snaps on Ravens 4th quarter possession
Ravens stayed true to what they are offensively even when they were down 27-13 mid-to-late in the 3rd quarter, They are not a drop back passing team with Jackson and the coaching staff clearly did not take that approach in this game
Jackson had Brown on top of corner Ward on a vertical route in the 4th quarter, Jackson made the wrong throw throwing it too flat and not putting any air under the ball; The right route versus the right coverage (cover 4) and Jackson missed the opportunity
Chiefs played 10 snaps of cover zero, which was 29% of their defensive snaps
BILLS OFFENSE VERSUS RAMS DEFENSE
Rams sub defense continued to have Ramsey and Williams outside with Hill in the slot
Rams featured 5 across Bear front out of sub nickel with Kiser the stacked LB, Donald and Brockers were the predominant 3-techniques; They also featured a sub nickel with LB Kiser and Young behind a 4 man DL pass rush
First 3rd and long Rams out of sub dime went cover 4 boundary lock with corner Williams matched on boundary x Brown, Rams tilted front to the field with both Donald and Okoronkwo aligned outside LT Dawkins
Bills continued to feature snaps out of 10 personnel, 15 snaps of 10 versus the Rams; It is part of what they do offensively – This game featured a high percentage of 11 personnel with Kroft the TE
Rams safety Fuller hurt after 8 snaps, Rapp replaced him in the base defense and the sub defenses
Allen is becoming as good a second reaction QB as there is in the NFL with his ability to move and make tough throws
Rams featured both cover 4 and cover 3 out of sub, They also featured zone exchange pressure concepts with Kiser the fourth rusher and 5 man pressures with Young the fifth rusher
Smith 1 yard TD on 4th and goal was an excellent play by Allen, Play was not designed to go to Smith but Allen saw that Bated and Kroft were taken away and came back to Smith on the other side; Ramsey blew the coverage, He had Smith man-to-man
Davis 39 yards to start third possession came out 11 personnel versus Rams nickel cover 4: Well-designed concept with reduced split by Davis to the field, jet motion by Brown from the field to the boundary, outside zone run action to the boundary and Allen play action boot to the boundary; 2 man route concept with Davis on the sail route and Kroft on the back side crosser distorted coverage responsibility of corner Long
Allen a significant factor in the tight red zone with designed run game concepts, Bills featured multiple concepts to stress defenses
When Fuller went out after 8 snaps the Rams did not play sub dime until the Bills last 2 possessions of the game, They played only nickel as their sub defense, That limited their coverage options versus Bills 10 personnel since neither safety Johnson nor Rapp is a man coverage player – In the first 2 games they played 32 snaps of sub dime
Allen excellent job versus Rams zone coverage in the final 2 minutes of the 1st half: Davis 21 yards, Beasley 29 yards on the wheel versus cover 4 – Allen excellent TD drive at the end of the 1st half
Bills featured a lot of motion concepts and play action (including play action boot) versus the Rams; Allen play action: 8-12, 122 yards, 2 TD, 9.8 yards per attempt, 139.6 QB rating
Rams have not used Ramsey as a matchup corner travelling with the opponent’s best receiver, Rams have been a predominant zone coverage defense through 3 games - Other than tight red zone Rams have played zone coverage over 60% of their defensive snaps
As well as Allen is playing overall he still has a bit of a wild stallion element to his game that needs to be channeled, He can get frenetic and reckless at times
Allen play action versus Rams: 8-12, 122 yards, 2 TD, 10.2 yards per attempt – Allen play action through 3 games: 25-37, 425 yards, 4 TD, 0 interceptions, 11.5 yards per attempt, QB rating 142.3
Allen out of 10 personnel through 3 games: 25-33, 273 yards; Diggs 13 targets out of 10 personnel – Bills 45 total snaps of 10 personnel through 3 games
DAK PRESCOTT VERSUS SEAHAWKS DEFENSE
Seahawks sub nickel: Griffin at left corner, Flowers at right corner, Amadi the slot corner; Seahawks played both 4-2-5 and 3-3-5 nickel, Rookie Brooks was the third LB who was often used as a blitzer
Seahawks featured Bear front looks out of sub nickel, LB Wright was an on the ball edge defender in that front
Seahawks continued to feature double mug looks out of sub nickel with Wager and Wright in the A gaps
When the Seahawks went cover 1 out of sub nickel versus 11 personnel Adams was the predominant TE matchup, When Adams was used as a blitzer Wright was the TE matchup
Griffin played significant snaps in the sub nickel, used primarily as an edge rusher; Moore continued to play significant snaps, lining up both at DE and DT in the sub front
Seahawks played snaps of base 4-3 personnel versus Cowboys 11 personnel in addition to 12 personnel, Brooks was the third LB
Reed continued to be the 3-technique and Ford the 1-technique in the Seahawks 4 man front
Cowboys featured bunch sets on 3rd down out of 11 personnel, Effective versus Seahawks man coverage
Seahawks showed zone exchange 4 man pressure out of 3-3-5 sub nickel with disguise and late movement to cover 2, Adams and Brooks were rushers and slot corner Amadi was a half field safety, 0-technique Reed dropped into underneath coverage – This was part of Seahawks 3rd down package
Seahawks also showed 1 robber out of sub nickel on 3rd down, Adams was the robber
When the Cowboys line up in 3x1 sets out of 11 personnel Gallup is almost always the boundary x, At times it is Cooper; Griffin interception near the end of the 1st half came with Cooper the boundary x and Griffin undercut Cooper’s dig route
Wagner became part of 5 man pressure concepts in the 3rd quarter, rushing from inside the formation
Gallup 52 yards on 1st + 10 in the 3rd quarter came out of 11 3x1 with Gallup the boundary x, Gallup ran by Griffin and Prescott threw a great ball
Gallup 43 yard TD in the 4th quarter came out of 11 3x1 with Gallup the boundary x, Gallup separated from Flowers at the back end of the route when Flowers looked back for the ball; Underthrown by Prescott but Gallup made tough body control catch
Adams hurt in the 4th quarter, Neal replaced him at safety; That limited the Seahawks defensive playbook
Seahawks continued to show tilted fronts out of sub nickel with Wagner the wild card weak side player opposite the tilt
Brooks hurt late in the 3rd quarter, Barton replaced him in the Seahawks 4-3 base
When Brooks and Adams went out with injuries you saw no 3-3-5 sub nickel and more split safety coverage looks featuring cover 4
Seahawks featured cover 2 out of sub nickel on the Cowboys final possession, Wagner was the middle hole defender; At times the Seahawks rushed 4 and at times they rushed 3
Seahawks played single high almost 54% of their defensive snaps, They played split safety about 46% of the snaps; Seahawks played man coverage about 35% of the defensive snaps and zone about 65% of the snaps
TOM BRADY VERSUS BRONCOS DEFENSE
Broncos sub nickel: Callahan and Ojumedia the outside corners with Bassey in the slot, Johnson and Jewell the LB
Broncos played significant snaps of split safety – That is HC Fangio’s calling card
Godwin 30 yards on 1st + 10 late in the 3rd quarter came out of 12 closed to the boundary twins to the field, Broncos base 3-4 with LB Reed bumped out over slot Godwin; Bucs ran post-wheel concept with Evans and Godwin with Reed in cover 4 by assignment running with Godwin on the wheel – Bucs got the matchup they wanted
Brady developed more timing and rhythm as the game progressed, The ball came out of his hand well with velocity when needed
