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.
49ERS OFFENSE VERSUS EAGLES DEFENSE
Mills was the corner opposite Slay with Mills at right corner and Slay at left corner, Rookie Wallace started at safety with McLeod in the Eagles base 4-3
Second play of the game Eagles went 5-2 versus 49ers 21 personnel, Eagles went cover 1 with Wallace matched on LOS TE Kittle – Mullens overthrew wide open Juszczyk on wheel route off straight I zone lead run action, LB Edwards hit the run action hard
Eagles sub dime: Robey and LeBlanc were the inside slots with McLeod and Epps at safety; Eagles sub nickel: Robey and LeBlanc both snaps at slot corner with McLeod and Epps at safety
First 3rd and long on 49ers first possession the Eagles out of sub dime went mike-star blitz with Gerry and LeBlanc, Late movement from split safety look to cover 3 concept with 3 under
Eagles also showed a 4-4 personnel package versus 49ers 21 personnel, Singleton and rookie Bradley were in that package
Aiyuk 38 yard TD came versus Eagles 5 DL sub dime package, It’s a personnel package DC Schwartz uses at times
Eagles featured split safety cover 4 out of base 4-3 personnel versus 49ers 21 and 12 personnel, Wallace was the matchup on Kittle when they went cover 1 out of base
Avery sack in the 2nd quarter came on 49ers RPO, Eagles had a DL slant with blitz and dropping DE Barnett and LB Riley took away Aiyuk slant – Defense beat the offense
Epps was the matchup on Kittle when the Eagles went cover 1 out of sub nickel versus 49ers 11 personnel
Kittle 38 yards on 3rd + 6 in the 2nd quarter came out of 11 2x2 with Kittle the slot to the field, Eagles dime cover 1 with LeBlanc matched on Kittle; Kittle beat LeBlanc off the LOS and won on the fade route with an excellent ball placement throw by Mullens
McLeod flashed in the run game from his back-end safety alignment, He played downhill with aggression and was a factor in the run game
McLeod interception in the high red zone late in the 2nd quarter was the result of Avery pressure beating RT McGlinchey, and Riley reading the boot action by Mullens and hunting up the crosser by Taylor
Eagles started the 3rd quarter with 5-2 personnel, They played that on 49ers first 2 snaps out of base; Eagles went 5-1-5 sub nickel on third snap versus 49ers 11 personnel – 5 DL part of Eagles game plan approach
Edwards did not play in the 2nd half due to injury, Singleton was the third LB in the base 4-3 with Gerry moving to MIKE; Gerry and Riley were the sub nickel LB
Barnett a lot of good snaps versus LT Williams, both in the run game and as a pass rusher
Eagles had not been a split safety defense through 3 games, They played much more split safety versus the 49ers
My sense was the Eagles did not play as much man coverage as they had through the first 3 games, More snaps of cover 3 and cover 4
Leblanc sack-forced fumble on 3rd + 10 in the 4th quarter came on the Eagles second mike-star blitz of the game with Gerry and LeBlanc the blitzers and Barnett dropping into underneath coverage in the 3 under/3 deep coverage, LeBlanc speed beat RG Brunskill and Jackson recovered the Mullens fumble
49ers final 2 possessions: Eagles cover 4, cover 3, cover 2, cover 1 with Epps matched on Kittle, 1 robber out of sub dime with LeBlanc matched on Kittle – Eagles rushed 4 on every snap on the 49ers final 2 possessions
Eagles played almost all sub nickel on Beathard’s first possession and all sub dime on Beathard’s final possession
RT McGlinchey continued to struggle at times in one-on-one pass protection, On the 49ers final possession he was beaten by Avery and Graham on consecutive plays
EAGLES OFFENSE VERSUS 49ERS DEFENSE
Verrett and Johnson were the outside corners for the 49ers
Eagles started the game with wham concept out of 12 concept, Wing TE Ertz was the wham blocker
49ers challenged LT Mulaita and LG Herbig on the first 3rd and long with a T/E stunt, Looper Ansah got in clean and forced a hurried Wentz incompletion
Wham concept was part of Eagles game plan approach, They ran it again on their second possession
49ers continued to feature tilted fronts out of their sub nickel, Warner continued to be the wild card
Ward 20 yards on second possession came on a nice misdirection concept off toss action, Wentz play action boot with Ward running the crosser opposite the toss action
Part of Eagles offensive game plan was to get Wentz out on the edge of the defense with designed play action boot
Al-Shaair interception was on Wentz, Ball needed to come out to Ertz on the speed out within the timing of Wentz drop and set; Wentz turned the play into a frenetic second reaction play
49ers featured T/E stunts on both sides of the Eagles OL, attacking inexperienced players Mulaita, Herbig and Pryor
Wentz missed throw to wide open Rodgers on well-designed sail route off play action boot left, Wentz put too much air on the throw allowing post safety Tartt to make a play on the ball – A throw you must make
Eagles ask their receivers to win on individual isolation routes, Very little tactical design to help receivers win versus man coverage and either attack voids or put defenders in conflict versus zone
Ward was the TE matchup out of sub nickel versus Eagles 11 personnel, Warner was used as a rusher at times and was effective as a looper in the inside stunt game
Eagles run the occasional RPO concept but it has not been a foundation of their offense this season
49ers showed 5 across diamond front on 3rd + 6 in the 2nd quarter with Warner one of the edge rushers, It dictated one-on-one protection for the Eagles OL; Armstead beat RG Pryor and forced Wentz into to move into a hurried incompletion
Rodgers 23 yards on first possession of 3rd quarter a good example of using the run game to create a low-risk throw in the pass game: Wentz play action boot hitting Rodgers in the flat off Rodgers base run block on Armstead
Wentz poor ball placement throw to Sanders on angle route versus 49ers base cover 1, Sanders easily beat Al-Shaair and had a lot of room in the middle of the field
Taylor sack from the slot on 3rd + 8 in the 4th quarter was on Wentz, He had Hightower on the slant versus Verrett with separation; Wentz had time to put the ball out on front of Hightower for the first down
Hightower 9 yards on 4th + 4 in the 4th quarter was one of the few times the Eagles tactically helped their receivers versus man coverage: Effective natural rub concept with Fulgham stemming vertically and Hightower running the slant underneath
49ers continued to be comfortable with Ward matching up on inside slot WR to trips
Fulgham 42 yard TD on 2nd + 18 in the 4th quarter came out of 11 2x2 set with Fulgham plus split to the boundary, 49ers cover 3 boundary lock with Johnson matched on Fulgham playing man technique; Fulgham strength through the route stem and excellent tracking of the ball, Great throw by Wentz with the proper trajectory and precise placement
49ers were in single high coverage on almost 80% of Wentz drop backs, and they were in cover 1 56% of Wentz drop backs
Eagles personnel breakdown: 11 personnel on 31 of 59 snaps (52.5%), 12 personnel only 14 snaps (24%)
SAINTS OFFENSE VERSUS LIONS DEFENSE
Trufant and Oruwariye were the starting outside corners in the Lions sub nickel, Roberts continued to be the slot corner; Okudah also snaps at outside corner in the sub nickel and the big nickel
Safety Walker is predominantly the TE matchup in the Lions sub defenses but there were man-to-man snaps versus 11 personnel in which he matched u to Kamara
Lions continued to feature big nickel as their base defense with Harris the third safety with Walker and Harmon
Lions sub dime: Kearse was the dime player (Kearse also played in the sub dollar package) – There were 1 robber snaps in which Kearse was the TE matchup with Walker the post safety, and cover 1 snaps with Kearse matched on the TE and Walker matched on Kamara
Kamara 29 yard reception on 4th + 4 in the 2nd quarter came out of 21 3x1 with Kamara the inside slot to trips versus Lions nickel cover 1 with Oruwariye matched on Kamara, Saints natural rub concept with Kamara wheel route underneath Smith vertical release; Great throw by Brees with touch and precise ball placement
Fullback Burton played significant snaps (20) in this game – Saints featured a lot of base personnel packages
Sanders 25 yards on 3rd + 1 in the 2nd quarter was a great throw by Brees in the cover 3 void, 2 man route combination with Smith running the go route and Sanders from the slot running the out route
Smith 20 yard TD late in the 2nd quarter came out of 12 personnel versus Lions big nickel cover 1, Sanders motion across the formation; Man beater concept with mirrored over routes by Sanders and Smith, 2 man route concept with 7 man protection – Smith separation from Trufant, Excellent throw by Brees
In the 3rd quarter Lions played snaps of 4-3 as their base defense versus Saints 21 and 12 personnel, with Davis the third LB with Collins and Jones
Lions out of sub dime with Kearse played snaps of cover 1, 1 robber and 2 man; Kearse significant snaps as the TE matchup
Smith made some big catches versus man coverage, including 19 yards on 3rd + 5 with just over 3 minutes remaining; He created separation from Okudah on the crosser, Good ball by Brees under heavy pressure
JUSTIN HERBERT VERSUS BUCS DEFENSE
Bucs base defense: Davis and Murphy-Bunting the corners with Whitehead and rookie Winfield at safety; Bucs sub nickel: Dean was the nickel corner playing outside with Murphy-Bunting in the slot
Bucs predominant edge pass rushers in sub nickel were Barrett and Pierre-Paul, Nickel LB were White and David
Whitehead the predominant TE matchup when the Bucs went cover 1 out of sub nickel versus 11 personnel
Johnson 53 yard TD came on 1st + 10 shot play out of 12 personnel, Play action with 7 man protection; Johnson ran the deep over from the boundary to the field and quarters safety Whitehead did not recognize the route quickly enough – Herbert threw the ball 60 yards in the air with pressure in his face
Bucs showed double mug looks out of sub nickel, LB White and David aligned in the A gaps; Snaps in that look where Barrett and Pierre-Paul aligned at 3-technique with Suh and Vea in wide 9 alignments
Parham 19 yard TD on 2nd + 8 in the 2nd quarter came out of 13 personnel with Parham the boundary x on the back side of trips, It was a matchup play with the 6’8” Parham matched on the 6’0” Murphy-Bunting; Herbert excellent back shoulder throw to allow Parham to use his size advantage
Allen 17 yards in the 2nd quarter a great example of Herbert’s poise and pocket movement: Another shot play concept but safety Whitehead blitzed and forced Herbert to move before he could plant and set, Outstanding pocket movement to re-set and deliver a strike to Allen on the crosser
Whitehead used as a blitzer in the Bucs sub nickel – Sack on Herbert on 3rd + 6 to end first possession of 3rd quarter, Well-disguised out of cover 1 look
Guyton 72 yard TD on 3rd + 7 late in the 3rd quarter came versus zero blitz (first zero blitz of the game), Herbert read the blitz and laid the ball out for Guyton knowing he had no deep safety in the middle of the field
In the 4th quarter the Bucs featured sub nickel snaps with tilted fronts, LB White and David were the wild cards aligning opposite the tilted front
TOM BRADY / RONALD JONES VERSUS CHARGERS DEFENSE
Chargers sub nickel: King was the slot corner with Murray and White the LB; Perryman was the third LB in the base defense
In the Chargers single high coverages Adderley was the post safety and Jenkins was an underneath defender, In cover 3 Jenkins was both a flat defender and a hook-to-curl defender
Screens, bang play action with timing in-breakers: They were featured on Bucs first possession and that’s what Brady did a lot of with the Patriots – Evans 24 yards from the slot a good example
Chargers did not match up Hayward on Evans as a game plan approach, Hayward played left corner and Davis right corner
Brate 3 yard TD on 3rd and goal to end first possession came out of 03 personnel and was designed for Brate who initially lined up in the backfield and motioned outside of Gronkowski and Howard, 3 man route concept matched Brate on Hayward on the pivot route back inside
When the Chargers went cover 1 and 1 robber out of sub nickel versus Bucs 11 personnel Murray was the predominant TE matchup, Jenkins was the robber in 1 robber but at times he matched up to Gronkowski
Brady looked much more rhythmic in this game, Bucs passing game had more elements of the Patriots passing game including timing throws to the backs in the flat; Chargers played predominant zone coverage which gave up those throws
Chargers showed some multiple pressure concepts and disguised late movement coverages out of sub nickel; Nwosu was a Joker at times used both as a pass rusher and coverage player, When Nwosu was the Joker Tillery aligned as a wide 9 edge rusher
Chargers showed tilted fronts out of sub nickel with Murray the wild card lining up opposite the tilt
Howard 28 yard TD in the 3rd quarter came on 4 verticals concepts out of 13 2x2 set closed to the boundary versus nickel cover 3, Post safety Adderley cheated to Gronkowski and lined up on the field hash so LB White ran with Howard on the boundary seam; Howard created separation vertically and Brady dropped it into his hands
Miller 19 yard TD late in the 3rd quarter came out 11 1x3 set with Miller the inside slot to trips versus Chargers nickel cover 3, Counter run action held the underneath coverage and hook-to-curl defender Jenkins was in no position to run with Miller’s over route
Bucs effective in the 2nd half with the bang play action pass game, both gap scheme and zone run action, featuring the over route from the inside slot to trips
Rookie Vaughn became a factor for the Bucs in the 4th quarter – Jones is clearly the number 1 back but will Vaughn take snaps away from Fournette
Jones showed the explosiveness to stick his foot in the ground and burst with speed, He ran with velocity and physical toughness inside
Jones showed lateral quickness and jump cut change of direction ability, There is a lot of juice to his movement
Jones ran predominantly zone concepts in the Bucs running game, His longest run (23 yards) came on a delay draw with an excellent block by Gronkowski on LB White
What stood out watching the Bucs offense was rookie RT Wirfs totally controlling Bosa in pass protection, Bosa was a non-factor
Chargers played cover 3 on 33% of Brady drop backs, Whey went man it was all cover 1 and that was 30% of Brady drop backs
VIKINGS OFFENSE VERSUS TEXANS DEFENSE
Vikings again featured their offensive profile: 21, 12 and 22 personnel with Cook and the play action pass game their foundation – Fullback Ham played 32 snaps, almost half of the Vikings offensive snaps
Thielen 19 yards on 2nd + 9 on first possession representative of Vikings offense: 21 straight I closed to the boundary twins to the field with Thielen in the slot, 2 man route combination with Jefferson running the vertical route from the outside and Thielen the out route; Texans a foundational cover 4 defense with the route concept effective in attacking the coverage
First 3rd and long the Vikings went 02 personnel with TE smith and Rudolph, Beebe was again the third receiver
Texans sub dime featured slot corner Jo. Reid and safety Johnson (a converted corner), Jo. Reid was the slot corner in sub nickel – Hargreaves also snaps at slot corner
Jefferson 29 yards to start second possession another good example of Vikings pass game: 12 personnel with both Jefferson and Thielen in reduced splits, Outside zone run action with post-cross combination; Texans out of base spun to cover 3 at the snap, Jefferson open on the crosser – Jefferson excellent route detail
Roby and Hargreaves were the outside corners for the Texans, Gaines also significant snaps opposite Roby; Gaines also snaps in the slot depending on matchups
Texans featured tilted fronts out of sub dime, Adams was the LB in sub dime and he was the wild card Joker lining up opposite the tilt
Texans featured 2 base fronts: 3-4 front with Mercilus and Scarlett the standup OLB, and a 4-3 front with Scarlet predominantly aligned as an off the ball stacked LB and a 1-technique and 2i/3-technique
Roby was the matchup on Thielen, There were 11 personnel snaps in which Roby went in the slot with Thielen and base personnel snaps with a closed boundary in which Roby aligned over Thielen in the slot to twins
Jefferson 26 yards on 1st + 10 in 2nd quarter came out of 21 personnel and was a beautiful counter off Jefferson 29 yards in the 1st quarter, Reduced splits by Jefferson and Thielen off motion across the formation, It looked like post-cross off outside zone run action but Jefferson showed the crosser then broke outside to beat Hargreaves – Texans were in cover 1 out of base
Jefferson is a refined route runner for a rookie WR: Detailed and nuanced with an understanding of how to set up defenders in both man and zone
Vikings continued to be multiple with their formations out of their base personnel packages, Fullback Ham lined up in multiple spots including split outside the numbers
Texans at times featured disguise and late movement to cover 2 out of sub dime with different personnel in different positions: Slot corner Jo. Reid was a half field safety, Safety Johnson was the middle hole defender
Texans had issues all game with the Vikings post-cross concept off play action out of cover 4 and cover 3, Thielen 39 yards to start second possession of 3rd quarter another example – All came out of reduced splits which must be alert for the defense
Cousins is not an aggressive turn-it-loose thrower, He is a programmed QB who can execute the structure of the pass game effectively when the route concepts are defined versus the anticipated coverage
Jefferson 23 yards on 3rd + 10 in the 3rd quarter came out 11 1x3 closed with Jefferson the inside slot to trips, Texans out of sub dime went cover 1 blitz with Hargreaves matched on Jefferson; Jefferson over route and made a strong hands catch, Man coverage defined the throw for Cousins
Thielen 9 yard TD on 1st and goal late in the 3rd quarter was all Thielen versus Roby, That was the play design re: personnel and formation and route combination: Reduced split stack with Jefferson from the inside running the over to control the post safety and Thielen working one-on-one versus Roby
Jefferson 25 yards on 3rd + 6 in the 4th quarter a well-designed concept by the Vikings: They went empty out of 11 personnel with a 4x1 set with Jefferson the boundary x, Texans out of sub dime played cover 4 which put Gaines one-on-one versus Jefferson; That was the design for the Vikings, Great back shoulder throw by Cousins
Vikings had a lot of success with reduced splits, Thielen 25 yards in 4th quarter another example
Vikings offensive coaching staff had an excellent feel for what they were going to get defensively from the Texans, and they attacked it and broke it down with the play action pass game and the route concepts – Texans were out-schemed defensively
TEXANS OFFENSE VERSUS VIKINGS DEFENSE
Rookies Gladney and Dantzler were the outside corners in the Vikings base defense, Nickerson again was the third LB with Kendricks and Wilson with Davis also getting snaps as the third LB in the 2nd half
Vikings sub nickel: Hill and Dantzler the outside corners with Gladney in the slot, Kendricks and Wilson the LB
First 3rd down of the game (3rd +2) Watson threw to the wrong receiver based on the coverage, Ball should have gone to Fuller on the slant versus Hill not Cobb on the slant in the middle
Watson did not see things clearly in the 1st quarter with the result that he left throws on the field, It’s a tendency that crops up with him
Watson did not turn it loose to Cooks on the dig versus cover 2 on 1st + 10 in the 2nd quarter, He threw the check down to Du. Johnson for 15 yards but it was another example of Watson leaving throws on the field
Vikings continued to feature double mug looks out of sub nickel with LB Wilson and Kendricks in the A gaps
Watson continued to have snaps in which he broke down in the pocket prematurely, with no pressure, breaking down the integrity of the route concepts
When the Vikings go cover 1 out of sub nickel versus 11 personnel safety Harris is the predominant TE matchup, Smith does not often match up to TE; In 2 man out of sub nickel both Kendricks and Wilson matched up to the TE
Watson best throw of the 1st half came with 1:13 remaining: Seam ball to Akins 22 yards versus 2 man; It was a big-time throw with velocity and precise ball placement
Smith was disqualified late in the 2nd quarter, Iloka replaced him at safety with Harris
First possession of the 3rd quarter Texans showed 01 personnel with Watson in an empty set
Vikings played significant snaps of cover 2 versus the Texans, It was a staple coverage in this game; Vikings also continued to play a good percentage of cover 1
Fuller 43 yards on second possession of 3rd quarter came out of 01 empty with Fuller #2 to trips, Vikings out of sub nickel went cover 1 with Gladney matched on Fuller; Straight vertical route and Fuller ran by Gladney, Precise ball placement throw by Watson
01 personnel was part of Texans 2nd half personnel approach; Vikings matched it with cover 1 out of sub nickel, Safety Harris matched up on one of the WR
Vikings a snap of 3-3-5 sub nickel versus Texans o1 personnel on the first play of the 4th quarter, Davis was the third LB; They went cover 1 with LB Wilson matched on the TE
Stills 24 yard TD on 4th + 10 in the 4th came out of 01 empty versus Vikings nickel cover 2, Field safety Iloka stayed too far inside allowing Stills to be wide open near the back pilon
Watson is an exciting and frustrating evaluation, He can both make excellent throws from the pocket within structure and make special second reaction plays but there’s a glaring inconsistency to his play that likely drives his coaches crazy, Too often you do not know what you are going to get snap after snap
BENGALS OFFENSE VERSUS JAGUARS DEFENSE
Jaguars sub nickel continued to have Hayden the slot corner with Schobert and Jack the LB – Jaguars have not played one snap of sub dime this season
Henderson hurt after 12 snaps, Claybrooks replaced him at outside corner opposite Herndon, Hayden also snaps at outside corner opposite Herndon in the base defense
Bengals game plan featured snaps of 10 personnel on 3rd down, The second time they went 10 (on second possession) the Jaguars matched up with 4 corner-1 safety sub nickel and went cover 1
Jaguars showed tilted front out of sub nickel on 3rd down with Schobert the wild card Joker opposite the tilt, Marsh used at times as a pass rusher in the sub nickel and was also the SLB in the base 4-3
Wingard snaps in man coverage on the TE when the Jaguars went cover 1 out of sub nickel versus 11 personnel
Jaguars showed 5 across diamond front on 3rd down out of sub nickel, Jack aligned at 0-technique – Jaguars featured multiple stunt concepts out of different sub front looks
Burrow a very comfortable pocket mover, Showed the light feet to slide and re-set and deliver with balance
Higgins a long strider who plays faster than his timed Pro Day speed of 4.58, He can get on top of corners; He will be a vertical dimension in the Bengals offense
Higgins continued to get significant snaps as the boundary x, He has boundary x traits with his size and movement and contested catch ability – Green and Tate also snaps at boundary x
Bengals got Mixon on the perimeter with the G/C pull scheme, They worked both sides of the formation
Sample 23 yards to start late 2nd quarter TD drive showed Burrow touch, ball placement and pocket toughness: Hi-low concept versus cover 3 with Sample running the intermediate crosser, Burrow in empty set showed needed patience seeing the pressure in his face
Jones some snaps at outside corner in the Jaguars sub nickel, Jones played 12 snaps
Mixon 34 yard TD to end first possession of 3rd quarter came out of 11 3x1 versus Jaguars nickel cover 1, Well-designed concept versus man coverage with z receiver Thomas stemming hard inside to bring corner Claybrooks with him, That opened the perimeter for Mixon
Mixon 23 yard TD on 3rd + 1 to end second possession of 3rd quarter was well blocked at the POA and then Mixon has to beat safety Jones, OL handled the two DT Bryan and Jones
Bengals did an excellent job with different hi-low concepts versus the Jaguars zone coverage
Burrow a good combination of timing and rhythm, and patience in the pocket; He has a refined feel for playing from the pocket with excellent pocket movement
Burrow was much better in the 2nd half with his ball placement, He made some outstanding throws versus man coverage: Carter 24 yards, Higgins 23 yards – Burrow only limitation is he does not have high-level arm strength and that shows up once in a while
Bengals featured a multiple run game versus the Jaguars, A lot of different concepts; Overall the interior of the OL did a good job but there also productive Mixon runs to the perimeter with C/G pull and pin-pull schemes
Through 4 games Burrow has been in empty sets more than any QB by a wide margin: 54 snaps – 37-49, 75.5%, 336 yards, 3 TD, 114 rating
LAMAR JACKSON VERSUS WASHINGTON DEFENSE
Stanley was inactive for this game so the Ravens moved Brown to LT with Fluker at RT
Washington almost exclusively nickel as their sub defense: Fuller and Darby the outside corners with Curl the slot corner versus Ravens base personnel and some snaps of 11 personnel, Moreland the slot corner on 3rd down versus Ravens 11 personnel
Washington cover 4 out of sub nickel on Ravens first 3rd and long (3rd + 12), 3 underneath defenders with eyes on Jackson – Jackson designed run for 5 yards
Washington on 3rd and long also played 1 robber out of sub nickel with Collins the robber and LB Bostic matched on Andrews, They also played straight cover 1 with Collins matched on Andrews
Washington on 3rd and long also went cover 1 blitz out of sub nickel, Collins was the matchup on Andrews
Washington showed tilted fronts out of sub nickel with Pierre-Louis the wild card Joker opposite the tilt
Jackson’s core and lower body mechanics were poor in this game, No weight transfer on some of his throws
Jackson 50 yard TD on 3rd + 4 in the 2nd quarter came out of 11 3x1 versus Washington nickel cover 1, It was QB power with sweep action by Dobbins grabbing the eyes of Bostic to expand him and open the hole for Jackson; Pulling RG Bozeman outstanding job tracking and blocking post safety Apke
Brown 31 yards on 1st + 10 in the 2nd quarter came out of 21 closed to the boundary twins to the field, This was a schemed 2 man route concept to attack cover 3; It was dagger with Duvernay running the go route and Brown the dig route
Jackson getting into a little bit of a bad habit of climbing the pocket when he does not need to, at times moving himself into pressure
Washington played snaps in their base 4-3 when fullback Picard was in the game, Hamilton and Davis both snaps as the third LB
Washington played significant snaps of cover 4, It’s a foundational coverage for them; Washington through 4 games has played a higher percentage of cover 4 than any team in the NFL
Andrews 22 yard TD on 2nd + 9 in the 3rd quarter came out of 22 closed with Picard motion to the closed side of the formation, 3 man route concept with both TE and Picard versus Washington cover 4, Corner Fuller and both safeties Apke and Collins were put in conflict by the route concept
On 3rd and long (3rd + 12) in the 4th quarter versus Jackson empty set Washington rushed 6 and played sticks coverage, Jackson quick timing throw to Snead on the in-breaker for 10 yards
Jackson has not thrown more than 28 passes in any of the Ravens first 4 games, He threw 28 passes in the loss to the Chiefs
RAIDERS OFFENSE VERSUS BILLS DEFENSE
Bills continued to play big nickel versus 12 personnel with Marlowe the third safety, Johnson continued to be the slot corner in the conventional sub nickel
Bills went 4-3 with Klein the third LB versus Raiders 21 personnel – 21 personnel a staple of the Titans, Will we see that from the Bills this week?
Wallace hurt after 6 snaps, Norman replaced him at the outside corner opposite White; White was the boundary corner and Norman the field corner
First 3rd and long (3rd + 11) the Bills went cover 4 behind 4 man DL rush that had Addison and Epenesa as the edge rushers, They got no pressure on Carr who had more than 4 seconds to hit Jones on the crosser for 16 yards
Cover 4 was a featured 3rd and long coverage for the Bills in this game, It has been a Bills staple under HC McDermott
Cover 1 has been the Bills predominant coverage through 4 games; They play straight cover 1 with both Poyer and Hyde the TE matchup, and 1 robber with Milano the TE matchup
Bills at times featured zone exchange pressure concepts out of sub nickel, They often showed cover 1 then spun the coverage to zone (cover 4/cover 2/cover 3) with a LB (usually Milano) and slot corner Johnson part of the pressure with 2 DL
Pass rush from their DL can be a concern for the Bills at times, especially on 3rd down
Raiders continued to feature Waller as the boundary x out of both 11 and 12 personnel packages
Almost 50% of the Raiders offensive snaps through 4 games have come out of a base personnel package
Raiders featured a multiple run game with Jacobs: 16 yards on first possession of 3rd quarter came on pin-pull concept with LT Miller the puller
Bills had a 3rd down high red zone snap on Raiders first possession of the 3rd quarter in which Murphy was a standup Joker aligned inside over the OG and Oliver aligned at wide 9 DE
Double mug fronts continued to be part of Bills 3rd down sub nickel approach, Milano and Edmunds lined up in the A gaps; At times from this front the Bills blitzed either a safety or White from the boundary
In the 4th quarter with the lead the Bills went to conventional sub nickel with slot corner Johnson versus the Raiders 12 personnel
Milano hurt early in the 4th quarter, Dodson replaced him in the Bills sub nickel package
Oliver great play on 4th + 1 in the 4th quarter, Leverage and strength versus Raiders RG Jackson to defeat the block and tackle Jacobs for no gain
Jefferson sack-forced fumble came on strong bull rush versus RG Jackson driving back Jackson into the pocket
BILLS OFFENSE VERSUS RAIDERS DEFENSE
Littleton and Kwiatkowski were the sub nickel LB for the Raiders in normal down and distance situations, Morrow and Littleton were the nickel LB on 3rd down; Joyner continued to be the slot corner
DE Ferrell continued to move inside to DT in the Raiders sub nickel front with Key and Crosby the predominant edge pass rushers
First 3rd down (3rd + 6) the Bills went empty out of 11 personnel, Raiders went 1 robber out of sub nickel; Diggs from the inside slot to trips ran the crosser versus outside leverage slot corner Joyner, Allen late-in the-down pocket throw with precise ball placement
Diggs has been outstanding versus man coverage through 4 games and Allen has been consistently accurate getting him the ball
Davis 26 yard TD on 3rd + 1 to end first possession came on well-designed concept: Bills split flow outside zone away from Davis in the slot, Davis initially showed run blocking getting slot corner Robertson (his first snap of the season after Joyner injury) to look into the backfield, Davis crossed the formation on a wheel route concept
On 1st + 10 on their second possession the Bills went 00 personnel with 5 WR, McKenzie was offset in the backfield
McKenzie 18 yards on 3rd + 13 on Bills second possession came on another well-designed concept, Shallow cross screen with 4 blockers out front: 3 WR to trips and the back Singletary offset to trips
Singletary 11 yards on second possession came on a trap play with LG Ford trapping the 3-technique DT Collins
Bills run game was multiple versus the Raiders, A lot of different concepts with Singletary both as an I back and offset in the shotgun
Raiders went sub dime on 3rd + 10 late in the 2nd quarter, Nixon was the dime corner – Raiders not a sub dime defense, They had only played 3 snaps of dime through the first 3 games
Raiders at times on 3rd down out of sub nickel showed double mug looks with LB Littleton and Morrow, They showed a triple A gap pressure concept on 3rd + 6 late in the 3rd quarter with Abram getting in clean; Allen beat the blitz with a timing hitch to Diggs versus off coverage corner Nixon
Diggs 49 yards in the 4th quarter was a great catch, Allen underthrew him but Diggs outstanding contested catch versus safety cover 2 safety Harris
Bills again featured significant snaps of 10 personnel, 11 snaps of 10 personnel versus the Raiders: 9 Allen drop backs and 2 Singletary runs
Raiders through 4 games have blitzed (sending 5 or more rushers) almost 25% of opposing QB drop backs (25th blitz percentage in the NFL), Against the Bills they only blitzed 17% of Allen drop backs
Raiders through 4 games have played an almost equal amount of man and zone coverage snaps, Cover 1 is the Raiders most played coverage at 44%
Allen on 3rd down through 3 games: 24-31, 77.4%, 301 yards, 5 TD, 0 interceptions, 9.7 yards per attempt
