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 RAVENS DEFENSE
Ravens continued at times to play Smith at safety in their sub dime, Peters at left corner and Averett at right corner
Ravens a sub package defense: over 80% of their defensive snaps have come out of nickel (over 50%) and dime (over 30%)
Ertz matchup out of sub dime: Clark and Smith versus 11 personnel, Humphrey versus 12 personnel; Clark the predominant matchup in sub nickel
Eagles first 2 plays of fifth possession featured 6 OL personnel, That continued into the sixth possession with a third snap; Overall the Eagles featured 4 snaps of 6 OL personnel - Opeta was the sixth OL
Gilchrist continued to get significant snaps in the sub dime, That kept Smith at right corner; That was the Ravens high percentage sub dime package versus the Eagles
Wentz left some throws on the field in the 1st half, It looked like he saw them but just didn’t turn it loose and then went elsewhere with the ball – Watkins on the in-breaker at the 2:00 one clear example
RG Brown in his first start for the Eagles had some bad snaps versus Campbell in the 1st half; Campbell sack to start Eagles second possession of the 3rd quarte also a bad snap for Brown
In the Ravens base defense (they do not play many snaps) Harrison was the stacked LB with Queen, and Humphrey played right corner with Peters at left corner
Ravens continued to feature multiple personnel out of sub nickel: 4-2-5 with LB Queen and Fort; 5-1-5 with Queen the only LB – In sub dime they at times featured 5-6 personnel
Wentz has 2 areas he must continue to clean up: Elimination and isolation must become quicker and more decisive, and lower body mechanics must become tighter so he does not over-stride and hurry his delivery to catch up
When Ertz went out with an injury in the 4th quarter Smith stayed outside at right corner in the sub dime with Gilchrist matching up to Rodgers in cover 1
Toth replaced injured Driscoll at RT in the middle of the 4th quarter; Ravens challenged Toth on his second snap with a slot corner blitz by Humphrey, Toth slow to react and Humphrey sacked Wentz
Later in the same 4th quarter drive Ravens challenged both Toth and Brown with a T/E stunt with Campbell and Brown, Bowser the looper got in clean and hit Wentz as he delivered the slant to Arcega-Whiteside – It was the interception that was overturned
Fulgham 18 yard TD on 4th + 9 in the 4th quarter came versus zero blitz out of sub dime, Wentz gave Fulgham a chance
A gutsy performance by Wentz given the Eagles overall lack of talent on the offensive side of the ball, He was under duress all game and competed to give the Eagles a chance to win
RAVENS OFFENSE VERSUS EAGLES DEFENSE
Eagles base defense: Slay and Robey the outside corners with Bradley the MIKE and Gerry and Singleton the OLB, Eagles played 4-3 base versus Ravens 21 personnel (fullback Ricard played 28 snaps)
Sub nickel in normal down and distance situations had Parks and Mills at safety in a big nickel package, Gerry and Singleton the LB; Eagles also played a sub nickel versus 11 personnel with LeBlanc the slot corner, Parks was not part of that package
Eagles sub dime had Robey and Slay outside with LeBlanc the slot corner, Mills was at safety and was the TE matchup in cover 1; McLeod and Parks were the other safeties with Singleton the only LB, Gerry also some snaps at LB in the sub dime
Eagles also featured a 4-4 personnel package with rookie Taylor the fourth LB (it was Taylor’s first game active), They played this package versus 22 personnel; In that packaged Mills played outside with Slay
Slay played left corner with Robey at right corner, Slay did not match up to Brown
Ravens ran a trap play on 2nd + 5 early in the 2nd quarter, LG Bozeman could not get to 3-technique Cox who blew up the Dobbins run in the backfield
Eagles zero blitz out of sub dime on 3rd + 7 early in the 2nd quarter, Gerry and McLeod part of the pressure with Mills matched on the TE and Parks on the back
What stood out was post safety McLeod played low in the Eagles cover 3, He was more like a robber than a deep post safety; Eagles (like the Bengals last week) were daring Jackson and the Ravens to go over the top
When the Eagles went split safety Mills and McLeod were the back end safeties, Eagles did not play many snaps of split safety; 76% of Jackson drop backs the Eagles were in single high
One player who consistently stands out every week for the Eagles is safety McLeod, especially playing downhill in the run game
Dagger is part of Ravens vertical route concepts, You see it almost every week; Jackson 24 yard scramble on 2nd + 17 on first possession of 3rd quarter when Eagles took away dagger (great job by Robey reading the dig to Brown) with cover 4
Eagles played high percentage zone coverage versus Jackson drop backs, which made tactical sense given Jackson’s second reaction running ability – Eagles have been trending toward more zone coverage the last few weeks
Eagles went 1 robber out of sub dime on 3rd + long in the 3rd quarter, McLeod was the robber and Parks was the matchup on Andrews (Mills was injured and missed some snaps) – 1 robber a good coverage versus Jackson on 3rd and long
Eagles came back to 1 robber later in the 3rd quarter on 3rd + 12, Again McLeod was the robber
Eagles did not play many snaps of man coverage but they did feature 1 robber on 3rd and long in the 2nd half, 3 times on 3rd and long they played 1 robber and it was effective each time
Jackson 37 yard TD on 3rd + 3 in the 3rd quarter came on gap scheme concept with misdirection action in the backfield, Pulling OC Skura missed his block on Graham but the play still worked because of the impact of the action on stacked LB Singleton and Gerry
Jackson had 4 designed runs in the game for 75 yards; The 3 Ravens backs had 28 rushes for 74 yards
WASHINGTON OFFENSE VERSUS GIANTS DEFENSE
Giants sub dime: Bradberry and Holmes outside with Ryan and Lewis inside, Love the post safety with Peppers the hybrid safety-LB
Giants sub nickel: Bradberry and Lewis outside with Ryan in the slot, Love and Peppers are the safeties
Giants base defense: Bradberry and Lewis the outside corners, Peppers and Ryan the safeties; Martinez and Crowder the stacked LB
In the Giants sub nickel and sub dime Love and Peppers were the back end safeties in the split safety coverages
Giants opened the game in cover 2 out of base with Martinez the middle hole defender; Giants high percentage zone versus Washington – Giants high percentage zone defense through 6 games, More than 60% zone coverage with cover 3 the predominant coverage but also significant snaps of cover 2
Giants showed cover 2 and cover 3 out of base on Washington’s first two first downs of the game, Giants snaps of cover 2 out of sub dime with Crowder the middle hole defender and Holmes in the slot with Lewis outside
Giants showed different front looks out of sub, Some nickel snaps with Martinez on the ball and Fackrell off the ball; Crowder also multiple alignments in the sub nickel
Giants did not match Bradberry on McLaurin, Bradberry was the left corner with Lewis the right corner
Bradberry interception late in the 1st quarter came out of sub dime versus Washington 11 1x3 set, Giants showed cover 1 with corners over and Ryan aligned over nub TE Thomas but they played cover 3; Bradberry the hook-to-curl defender to the strong side of the offensive formation got underneath the dig to McLaurin
TITANS OFFENSE VERSUS TEXANS DEFENSE
Murray played safety in the Texans base defense and was the slot corner in sub, Johnson was the safety with Reid in sub; In sub dime safety Thomas was the dime player with Cunningham the only LB
Adams was the stacked LB with Cunningham in the base and the sub nickel, McKinney on injured reserve
Titans feature split flow action by the TE and TE easy release in their zone run game: Henry 18 yards to start second possession a good example, Henry 34 yards to start 3rd possession another good example, 14 yards in 2nd quarter
When the Ravens went 2 man out of sub dime versus 11 personnel Johnson was the TE matchup, Johnson was a corner in college at Kentucky
Titans continued to be multiple with their personnel and formations, showing 13 personnel and 10 personnel; OC Smith gives a defense a lot of different personnel packages and formation looks
13 personnel was featured part of Titans game plan – Through 5 games they have played 13 personnel on about 10% of their offensive snaps
Firkser 7 yard TD and Brown 6 yard TD in the 1st quarter both were second reaction plays by Tannehill: Firkser TD came with Tannehill staying in the pocket and hitting Firkser late in the down, Brown TD came with Tannehill moving out of the pocket – Both came out of 13 personnel
Brown 6 yard TD on 1st and goal late in the 1st quarter came out of 13 personnel with Smith offset in the backfield to the boundary, Play was designed for Smith on the angle route but Tannehill did not turn it loose seeing safety Reid lurking on the back side; Tannehill moved to his right and hit Brown crossing from the other side of the formation
Raymond 20 yards on 2nd quarter TD drive an excellent example of Tannehill quick elimination and isolation ability: Bang play action with ball designed to go to Firkser on the 5 step slant but Cunningham drop took that away, Tannehill immediately went to Raymond on the out route – A comfortable QB
Fullback Blasingame played 10 snaps but Henry only had 1 run out of 21 personnel, It came on the first possession of the 3rd quarter
Firkser 45 yards on 2nd + 20 in the 3rd quarter came out of 11 3x1 with Firkser from #3 to trips running the middle seam, Texans out of sub nickel disguise and late movement to cover 2 but middle hole player Reid disguised himself out of the coverage and was late; Great throw by Tannehill under duress, Mercilus beat Lewan with an inside spin move – My sense was this trip route concept was designed to attack cover 3
Lewan tore his ACL in the middle of the 3rd quarter, Sambrailo replaced him at LT
2 plays after Lewan injury Titans were 3rd + 10, Texans front look resulted in Sambrailo one-on-one versus Watt; Watt sack-forced fumble recovered by Texans
Sambrailo excellent block on Mercilus on McNichols 20 yards zone lead weak, I formation fullback Blasingame strong block on gap shooting LB Cunningham
Brown 15 yards on 2nd + 6 late in 2nd quarter came on Titans staple bang play action: Straight I with iso lead run action, Brown 5 step slant versus press corner Roby
Henry 94 yard TD to start 4th quarter possession: 12 personnel with tight bunch to the field, Duo concept with outstanding double by LT Sambrailo and LG Saffold on 3-technique Hall right back into LB Cunningham, Excellent back side block by RG Davis on LB Scarlett; Henry beats safety Murray in the open field
Roby interception was on Tannehill: Shot play action (a Titans staple) with Raymond running the deep post versus outside leverage corner Roby, Tannehill threw the ball too far up the field instead of taking Raymond across the field
What stood out of Titans tying TD drive was the play of the OL in pass protection, and Tannehill patience in intuitively understanding how much time he had and what that meant re: kinds of throws he could make
Sambrailo excellent block on McNichols 17 yards in OT, He drove 4i DT Hall out of the hole, Easy release by TE Swaim set up split flow block by Firkser on Scarlett
Henry ran well in this game, He was decisive with no hesitation even when the POA was not cleanly defined, He did not stop his feet instead striding to generate velocity and power – Henry at his best
Texans more zone coverage than man coverage with about an equal amount of split safety and single high coverage, Texans multiple with their coverage concepts but it never had any real impact on Tannehill and the Titans passing game
TEXANS OFFENSE VERSUS TITANS DEFENSE
Fulton was the slot corner for the Titans with Butler at right corner and Joseph at left corner, Hooker continued to be the dime safety
Titans continued to feature disguise and late movement out of both sub nickel and sub dime to get to cover 2 with different players the half field safeties and the middle hole defender
First 3rd and long Titans lined up Beasley and Landry on the same side with Beasley inside of Landry, with both outside LT Tunsil
Byard continued to be the predominant TE matchup in cover 1 out of sub dime versus 11 personnel, Vaccaro at times used as a blitzer from different spots
Simmons continued to flash both as a run defender and inside pass rusher – He has had many dominant snaps this season
Cover 2 was clearly game planned coverage out of both sub nickel and sub dime for the Titans, Titans also featured 3 man pressures and 4 man zone exchange pressures with both cover 2 and cover 3 behind it
Empty sets continued to be meaningful part of Texans pass game – Watson second most empty sets in the NFL (Joe Burrow)
Texans snaps out of 12 personnel with TE Brown as an I formation fullback, They featured play action pass game out of that formation – Fuller 15 yards on out route on first TD drive, Texans played off tendency of Fuller to run crossers and overs
There were snaps depending on down and distance and field location in which the Titans matched up to Texans 12 personnel with sub nickel
Titans game plan was high percentage zone coverage, at times with disguise and late movement; They played few snaps of man coverage in the 1st half
One player who consistently stood out as the game progressed was LT Tunsil, He looked outstanding in one-on-one pass protection
Titans went 2 man out of sub dime on 3rd + 9 with less than a minute remaining in the 2nd quarter, It was their first snap of 2 man: Fuller from inside slot to trips beat Fulton on out route, Good ball by Watson
Titans also played 1 robber out of sub dime in the final minute of the 2nd quarter, Byard was the robber
First 3rd down of the 3rd quarter the Titans went 1 robber out of sub dime, Byard again the robber with Vaccaro matched on the TE
Fells 35 yards on Texans second possession of the 3rd quarter resulted from corner Joseph not playing his cover 4 responsibility correctly: Fells became #1 quickly in the play with Cooks stemming inside to became #2, Byard matched up to Cooks but Joseph kept his eyes on Cooks with no awareness of Fells
Watson threw the ball very well, He was more patient in the pocket and he was decisive turning it loose with timing; Consistently precise ball placement – Brown 22 yards on seam route versus cover 3 in the 4th quarter a great example
In this game Watson’s second reaction ability was a parachute not a foundation, If you‘re playing the QB position properly that’s the way it should be – Watson efficient versus the Titans
Titans used Roberson as a spy on 3rd + 3 early in the 4th quarter, Titans played cover 1 out of sub dime
Simmons sack on 3rd + 8 in the 4th quarter came on well-executed long stunt with Landry the looper behind Clowney and Simmons, OC Martin reacted to Landry and Simmons had room to get to Watson
Fuller 53 yard TD on 1st + 10 in the 4th quarter came versus Titans cover 2 invert with corners Joseph and Butler the deep half field safeties, Butler did not get deep enough and Fuller got over the top of him on the vertical route; Butler not used to being a back end safety and played with poor eye discipline and technique
Titans played a coverage-based defense versus the Texans, They did not blitz much; Some 4 man zone exchange concepts but not many 5 man pressures
STEELERS OFFENSE VERSUS BROWNS DEFENSE
Sendejo and Redwine were the safeties for the Browns with Ward and Mitchell the outside corners, Johnson was the slot corner in sub nickel with Goodson and Smith the LB
Sendejo was predominantly the post safety in single high safety coverages with Redwine in the box
First 3rd down Washington was the boundary x on the back side of trips in 11 personnel, Browns out of sub nickel went cover 1 boundary lock with Mitchell on Washington – Washington 27 yards on fade ball
Steelers one of the best in the NFL at attacking one-on-one matchups outside the numbers, They isolate matchups; That’s how they get many of their explosive pass plays
Redwine-Goodson sack on 3rd + 9 to end Steelers second possession came out of sub nickel double mug look with safety Redwine on the LOS to the weak side of the formation, Connor stepped inside to account for the blitzing Goodson leaving no one to account for Redwine off the edge – Well-designed pressure concept
Connor clearly part of Steelers game plan with different run concepts including gap scheme and delay draw
Washington was predominantly the x receiver, both to the boundary and at times to the field; Washington predominantly aligned to the boundary
Claypool 36 yards on 2nd + 3 in the 2nd quarter just another example of the Steelers attacking the one-on-ones on the outside: Claypool #1 in trips tight bunch ran the out-and-go route versus Mitchell, Browns nickel cover 1 behind 5 man pressure; Outstanding ball placement throw by Roethlisberger
Steelers had success out of trips tight bunch: Claypool 36 yards on out-and-go from #1 to trips versus cover 1 beating Mitchell; Washington 28 yard TD on out-and-go from #1 to trips versus cover 4 beating Ward
BROWNS OFFENSE VERSUS STEELERS DEFENSE
Steelers started the game with Watt on the same side as Dupree versus Browns 21 straight I, It was a 4-3 over front with Watt the weak side off the ball LB; Browns iso lead strong with Heyward physically beating TE Hooper
Steelers continued to play sub dime on 3rd down with Sutton the dime player, Bush the only LB
Fitzpatrick 33 yard interception return TD came out of sub dime 1 robber with Fitzpatrick the robber, Mayfield threw the slant to Bryant on 3rd + 3 without any recognition of the coverage and any knowledge that Fitzpatrick was sitting there
Mayfield still struggling: He is reading the wrong side of the field at times, He is throwing to the wrong receiver based on the route versus the coverage, He is not eliminating and isolating with the needed timing – Mayfield is playing slow mentally and the result is he is playing too fast physically
Steelers showed different ways to play 1 robber with Fitzpatrick the robber, Dupree sack another example with Fitzpatrick starting low on the LOS and then picking up the shallow crosser by Landry
Watt lined up as a weak side off the ball LB on 2 snaps of 21 personnel in the 1st quarter, Both times the Steelers were in over fronts
There continued to be snaps in which the Steelers matched up to 12 personnel with sub nickel, Hilton an important part of the Steelers defense
1 robber was a foundation 3rd down coverage out of sub dime for the Steelers in the 1st half and the Browns had no success against it
Williams consistently stood out in the run game, Excellent feel for hitting gaps and getting into the backfield – Watt also showed the ability to set the edge and then play off the block
Steelers continued to feature disguise and late movement out of sub dime to get to different zone coverage concepts – Sutton interception on 3rd + 12 a good example: cover 2 with Haden and Fitzpatrick the deep half players and Hilton the middle hole defender, Watt pressure forced an undefined second reaction throw by Mayfield
Browns offense to try to get on track versus Steelers defense went to 12 and 13 personnel; Hooper 36 yards a good example of orchestrating a big play out of 13 personnel with post-wheel concept off outside zone run action to the field
Bush hurt late in the 2nd quarter (out for the season with torn ACL), Spillane replaced him in all 3 Steelers packages
Steelers started the 3rd quarter with Watt at weak side off the ball LB and the same over front versus Browns 13 closed to the field, Heyward again ate up Hooper to make the tackle
49ERS OFFENSE VERSUS RAMS DEFENSE
Ramsey continued to play predominantly in the slot in the Rams sub nickel with Williams and Hill on the outside but there were sub snaps outside in zero man versus the boundary x receiver on the back side of trips
In the Rams base defense Ramsey predominantly aligned on the outside; Ramsey some snaps at the star position versus the 49ers 21 and 12 personnel, playing inside in the hybrid safety-LB position
Rams continued to feature 2 sub nickel fronts: 5 across front with Kiser the stacked LB, and 4 man DL front with Kiser and Young the LB
Misdirection continued to be a significant feature of the 49ers offense, Samuel and Aiyuk used as motion receivers
Kittle 18 yard screen on 1st + 10 on first possession came out of 11 personnel with Aiyuk motion across the formation from the boundary to the field, Aiyok wheel route and Taylor vertical lifted the coverage setting up the Kittle screen; The other element was the outside zone run action to the boundary away from the screen
RG Brunskill outstanding reach block on Donald on Samuel 6 yard TD – That was a high level degree of difficulty block to execute against a great player
Rams at times showed a 6 man front versus 49ers 21 personnel with 4 DL and 2 on the ball OLB, usually Floyd and Ebukam with Hollins also getting significant snaps
Kittle 44 yard TD on 4th + 2 early in the 2nd quarter came out of 11 1x3 set with Kittle reduced split as the boundary x, Rams out of sub nickel went zero blitz with outside corner Williams matched on Kittle; Kittle 5 step slant with a precise timing and ball placement throw by Garoppolo
Bourne 25 yards in 1st + 10 in the 2nd quarter came out of 11 3x1 versus Rams sub nickel cover 3, Samuel orbit motion from the field to the boundary expanded hook-to-curl defender Kiser and opened the void for Bourne – 49ers took a basic 2 man route concept (post-cross) and added a wrinkle
Aiyuk 2 yard TD on 3rd and goal late in the 2nd quarter was an outstanding play by Garoppolo looking to Bourne and then coming back to Aiyuk after LB Young moved, Quick elimination and isolation
Rams went 1 robber out of sub dime on first 3rd and long of the 3rd quarter, They matched dime Burgess on Kittle; Donald lined up at wide 9 DE and drove back RT McGlinchey into the pocket resulting in hurried inaccurate throw by Garoppolo
When the Rams went man coverage out of sub dime on 3rd down in the 2nd half (1 robber was the primary coverage) Burgess was the matchup on Kittle
Ramsey did not play many snaps at the star position in this game – Function of 49ers base personnel foundation?
Hasty showed desirable combination of patience and decisiveness with some natural power running inside – Hasty was the back Shanahan counted in the 4th quarter to seal the game
Rams continued to feature tilted fronts out of sub dime, At times in that front Donald was lined up as the wide 9 DE opposite the tilt to create a one-on-one matchup with the OT
Great block by LG Tomlinson on Donald on Hasty 10 yards that started 49ers game sealing drive
BRONCOS OFFENSE VERSUS PATRIOTS DEFENSE
Patriots continued to feature nickel as their base defense with Phillips / Dugger as box safeties, Jones continued to play safety in this big nickel package
Phillips and Jones were the TE matchups in the Patriots cover 1 versus 12 personnel
Patrick 41 yards on second play of the game came out of 12 balanced versus Patriots big nickel, Patrick go route versus J. McCourty with an excellent ball placement throw by Lock
Broncos aggressive on first possession throwing the ball down the field, attacking the Patriots man coverage; Broncos continued to be aggressive on their second possession
First 3rd and long the Patriots out of sub dime went cover 1 blitz, Dugger was the TE matchup; Dugger was the TE matchup throughout the game in the Patriots sub dime, Brooks some snaps in sub dime as the TE matchup
Rookie Jennings was both an on the ball and off the ball LB in the Patriots big nickel
Jeudy predominantly lined up in the slot in the Broncos 11 personnel, At times he was used as a motion receiver
J. McCourty and Jackson continued to both play snaps outside opposite Gilmore in the nickel and dime
Patriots continued to feature 2 different fronts out of big nickel: 5 across front with Phillips / Dugger and Bentley the stacked LB, and a 4 man front with 2 stacked LB (predominantly Bentley and Jennings)
Lock early in the 2nd quarter had a TD to Patrick on the deep post on 1st + 10 shot play versus Patriots big nickel cover 3 but he did not read back side corner Jackson replacing post safety D. McCourty and took Patrick too far across the field – A learning play for Lock
Okwuegbunam 27 yards on 3rd + 8 in the 2nd quarter came out of 11 3x1 set with Okwuegbunam the inside slot to trips, Patriots cover 1 blitz (Phillips was the blitzer) with J. McCourty the post over trips and Gilmore zero man on plus split boundary x Hamilton; Okwuegbunam beat Dugger on the crossing route
12 personnel was a foundation of the Broncos offense, Patriots matched up with big nickel with Phillips / Dugger the third safety and Jones / J. McCourty the safety with D. McCourty
Lock at times still shows a tendency to drift in the pocket resulting in some throws left on the field because he is not ready to deliver within
timing
Patriots continued to play significant snaps of dollar with 7 DB – No team in the NFL has played as many snaps of dollar as the Patriots, More than 20% of their defensive snaps have come out of dollar
Broncos stayed aggressive with the passing game into the 3rd quarter, pushing the ball at the intermediate and vertical levels
Patriots continued to feature 1 robber as a foundation coverage out of sub dime, excellent coverage versus passing games that work the short to intermediate areas of the field
Broncos continued to attack vertically late in the 4th quarter, Lock threw 2 interceptions in the final 6 minutes the second coming with less than 3½ minutes remaining on a vertical route combination on 1st + 10 with a 6 point lead
PATRIOTS OFFENSE VERSUS BRONCOS DEFENSE
Broncos sub nickel: Ojemudia and Bausby the outside corners with Callahan the slot corner, Jewell and Johnson the LB – Ojemudia and Callahan the corners in the base defense
Broncos sub dime had Dawson as the dime player, He played inside with Callahan; Johnson was the only LB
Callahan used as a blitzer out of sub dime on 3rd down; Chubb and Reed the predominant edge rushers in sub fronts, Chickillo some snaps both in sub fronts and the base defense
1st + 10 in the 2nd quarter Newton missed Edelman on well-designed 3 man route concept to the boundary: Flood / hi-low concept versus cover 4 with Edelman wide open on the intermediate out route, Newton did not turn it loose
Newton inconsistent with his ball placement, even on some completions; That has been his MO much of his career
Broncos aggressive with pressure versus Newton and the Patriots pass game, especially on 3rd down out of sub but as the game progressed into the 4th quarter they blitzed and green dogged with more frequency
3rd + 3 in the 3rd quarter Broncos out of sub dime went man coverage and doubled White offset to the boundary with LB Johnson and safety Jackson
LT Wynn (who stared the game inside at LG then moved back outside due to injuries) struggled in one-on-one pass protection versus Chubb, especially with Chubb’s power
Patriots had to chip with a back and a TE to help both OT Wynn and Herron in pass protection, and that limited their pass game concepts
Overall Newton must get quicker and more decisive with his elimination and isolation, Some throws left on the field; He is not seeing things with needed clarity on a consistent basis
Newton badly missed wide open Edelman on in-breaker with 1:17 remaining in the game from the Broncos 24 yard line, He threw it into the ground
Fangio will play snaps of sub dime but he is a sub nickel coach, He was that way in Chicago and it is the same in Denver; You saw that on the Patriots final possession
Newton left another throw on the field with 1:14 remaining in the game on a wide open bang 8 to Byrd from the Broncos 24 yard line, Result was sack by Reed who beat LT Wynn
Broncos went zero blitz out of sub dime on 4th + 10 with 1:03 remaining in the game from the +24 yard line, Newton had time in the pocket and Harry open versus off coverage corner Bausby but made an inaccurate throw
Patriots offense looked sluggish and slow, They had no juice and no explosive element
Broncos have been a high percentage cover 1 defense this season playing that coverage on almost 50% of QB drop backs
BILLS OFFENSE VERSUS CHIEFS DEFENSE
First play of the game Allen bad throw to wide open Beasley on quick out route from the slot – An easy throw out of empty set to get Allen in rhythm and he missed it badly
Allen’s second throw was just as bad as his first throw: He air-mailed Brown open on the crosser versus 1 robber
Mathieu continued to be the slot corner in the Chiefs sub nickel, Fenton was the slot corner in sub dime with Mathieu at safety; Niemann was the dime LB on 3rd down with Hitchens the dime LB in other longer yardage situations
First 3rd and long Chiefs out of sub dime went with double mug look with Sorensen and Niemann and brought inside pressure with a zone match coverage concept behind it
Bills went 10 personnel on 3rd + 9 on second possession aligning in 3x1 set, Chiefs went 2 man out of sub dime with Sorensen matched on inside slot to trips Davis; Two things: Chiefs tilted front, and safety Mathieu cut the shallow crosser by boundary x Brown – Allen 9 yard scramble, Allen dropped his eyes
2nd + 10 on second possession the Bills again went 10 personnel this time in 2x2 set, Chiefs went cover 1 blitz with Fenton and Mathieu matched on the slot receivers Beasley and Davis – Beasley 11 yards
Allen struggled with his ball placement through the first couple of possessions, He was wild and scattershot
10 personnel clearly part of Bills game plan approach, 16 snaps of 10 personnel in the game – Allen 5 rushes for 29 yards of 10, 7-9 passing for 82 yards with 1 TD and 1 interception; Singletary and Moss each had a carry out of 10
Chiefs went zero blitz out of sub dime versus Bills 10 personnel on 3rd + 7 on second possession, They blew the coverage with no one picking up Singletary out of the backfield but Allen made another wild inaccurate throw
Chiefs 1-technique Nnadi was a factor in the run game on the third possession, Bills came out to run the ball to stabilize their offense and Nnadi was tough to block inside
Chiefs featured man coverage (and zone match at times) and pressure versus Allen and the Bills passing game – Last week the Titans featured disguise and late movement to zone coverage concepts
Bills featured designed Allen runs on third possession – They were looking to get their offense going
Dime is a foundational sub package for the Chiefs, Through 6 games they have played almost as many snaps of dime as nickel – Against the Bills they played the entire game in sub: 27 snaps of dime, 23 snaps of nickel
2 man out of sub dime was part of Chiefs 3rd down coverage, Sorensen used both as a man coverage player and half field safety; Tilted fronts part of 2 man
Overall the Chiefs featured significant snaps of man coverage on 3rd down out of sub dime
Allen had a bad game with his ball placement issues cropping up, He missed far too many routine throws including a 3rd + 6 throw to Beasley on the first possession of the 3rd quarter with the Bills trailing by 3
Beasley 8 yard TD on 1st and goal came out of 10 2x2 versus Chiefs dime zero blitz, Beasley slant route in front of off coverage safety Thornhill – Chiefs have played 25 snaps of zero this season, the most of any team in the NFL
Chiefs DC Spagnuolo did an excellent job mixing his pressure and coverage looks versus Allen: A good mix of single high and split safety, and a good mix of man and zone
Chiefs played more split safety than single high, and they played an almost equal amount of man and zone; 2 man and cover 2 were featured coverages
CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE VERSUS BILLS DEFENSE
Bills sub nickel: White and Norman the outside corners with Lewis the slot corner, Johnson came in and played the large percentage of snaps at slot corner; White is the boundary corner - Edmunds and Klein were the LB (Milano again inactive)
Edwards-Helaire 31 yards on 1st + 10 in the 1st quarter came out of 12 personnel versus Bills sub nickel cover 1 – Impact of Hill orbit motion and split flow action clearing out the boundary for Edwards-Helaire
Bills committed to playing sub nickel as their personnel foundation, even versus Chiefs 12 personnel
Chiefs had success running the ball both out of 11 and 12 personnel versus Bills split safety coverages out of sub nickel – Edwards-Helaire 14 yards on 1st + 10 in the 2nd quarter was outside zone lead to the boundary versus split safety, Great block by Kelce aligned in the backfield on LB Klein
Bills significant snaps of split safety coverages to stay over the top of the Chiefs passing game, Chiefs ran the ball effectively versus two high coverages
Bills DT consistently moved in the run game, both by individual one-on-one blocks and especially double team blocks
Chiefs featured a multiple run game with different concepts and different blockers executing those concepts, Kelce was a factor as a blocker aligned offset in the backfield; The high percentage of Edwards-Helaire runs came out of the shotgun
PACKERS OFFENSE VERSUS BUCS DEFENSE
Bucs sub nickel continued to have Davis and Dean outside with Murphy-Bunting in the slot, David and White the LB – Bucs a nickel sub defense with only 3 snaps of dime all season, and they all came versus the Packers
Bucs predominantly matched Davis on Adams in their man coverage concepts
First 3rd down the Bucs went 2 man out of sub nickel with Pierre-Paul and Barrett aligned on same side both outside RT Turner, and Gholston the wide 9 DE on the others side; Pierre-Paul and Barrett run T/E stunt with Barrett the looper forcing Rodgers to leave the pocket -Rodgers second reaction throw to Jones 20 yards who beat White
Bucs played 2 man out of sub nickel on both 3rd and long plays on Packers first possession, David the TE matchup; Different fronts with different stunt concepts on each play
3rd and 7 on Packers second possession the Bucs went cover 3 out of 3-2-6 sub dime with safety Whitehead the dime player, White added in as the fourth rusher
Three of the first 4 3rd down situations Rodgers converted with second reaction plays including the 7 yard TD late in the 1st quarter
Barrett continued to line up at times as a standup Joker in the sub nickel front, Suh also featured at times as a standup Joker - That has been part of DC Bowles approach all season, especially on 3rd down
Dean 32 yard interception return TD on 3rd + 10 came out of sub dime, Dean excellent job reading the triangle and planting and driving on Rodgers arm motion
Edwards interception on 3rd + 3 on Packers fourth possession came out of nickel cover 1 blitz with a 5 across diamond front and post safety Edwards aligned only 7 yards off the ball playing the pressure front
What was evident watching the 3rd down snaps was the multiple fronts and pressure concepts the Bucs featured out of their sub nickel, A lot of different looks and pressure schemes for the Packers DL and Rodgers to decipher pre-snap and sort out post-snap
Bucs featured a 3rd + 8 snap in the 3rd quarter in which safety Whitehead was aligned as the 0-technique with Suh in the standup Joker position behind him
What also stood out with the Bucs sub nickel fronts was the alignment versatility of the different players, lining up in multiple positions both in 3 point and 2 point stances
David sack on 3rd + 3 in the 2nd quarter came out of sub nickel with a diamond front with White the stacked LB adding in to the 5 man pressure as the 6th rusher in zero blitz concept, Bucs comfortable with Davis one-on-one on boundary x Adams
Bucs played 3 snaps of zero on 3rd down, part of an aggressive game plan versus Rodgers and the Packers passing game – White sack on 3rd + 6 in the 4th quarter came on White green dog, He had the back in coverage and added in as the seventh rusher when Williams blocked
