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- Jun 20, 2010
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- The Dude
Okay, so here are my thoughts. Watched it twice now.
1. The problem is primarily execution. Complain about the zone coverage all you want, but it's not being executed properly. Here's one play for a modest gain that I'll use as an example. I watched it 11 times to make sure I understood what each defender's responsibility was supposed to be.
You have Austin up top and Bryant inside (top of screen) with Jenkins over Bryant, and Finnegan over Austin. Jenkins' responsibility is deep coverage in the event Bryant runs a hitch and go or 9. Finnegan's responsibility is the underneath zone in the event one of them cuts in. Austin is supposed to be released after about 6 yards into the zone Laurinaitis is covering so that Finnegan can crash the underneath. Jenkins is supposed to cover the sidelines and take away the deep ball with safety help over the top (depending on the read by the safety who also is responsible for reading the QB). Finnegan released late (didn't have to), while Bryant cut across the underneath zone. Not a huge deal in and of itself, but if Finnegan releases Austin and jumps the route, he could have broken up the play, or at a minimum, stopped Bryant right in his tracks instead of letting him get the first down. That was a common theme in the passing game.
Anyone want to venture a guess as to why a 2nd and 1 shotgun formation trips-right pass play ended up as a sack when Dallas was only rushing 4? EXECUTION.
Pead's route was simple. Run out 3 yards and turn around for the check-down. What happened instead? He ran through the line to get in position, but he clipped the back of Chris Williams' leg in the process, causing Williams to fall down and his man (Hatcher) literally stumbled INTO Bradford and registered the sack to end the half. Bradford was visibly disgusted, because he had someone down the field that he was going to target.
Did Schottenheimer have in that in the playbook? "Pead clips his own man, Bradford takes sack."
Yeah, probably not, but let's hang that on him too.
2. Holy hell with the bullshit calls. Diminish the effect of penalties all you want, and say that you're supposed to win regardless of that, but you can't beat an opponent when they're being given unfair advantages. You all saw the shove by Bryant in the endzone, but there were MANY holds that went uncalled against Dallas, and that blindside block by McDonald was 100% legal. Granted Witherspoon would have negated that Tavon TD anyway, but his guy wouldn't have been able to make a play on Austin so that's 7 points erased.
3. Maybe some of you didn't see the screens, draws, play-action fakes (out of draws) or any of the other things Schotty was dialing up to try to defeat the strong rush, but I saw enough of them to feel comfortable with the effort on his part to adjust to what was going on. My issue is that there weren't enough. But regardless, they were called and executed fairly well (with good touch by Bradford). The scheme isn't the issue, IMO. It's execution again.
4. LOL @ ANYONE who puts the blame on Bradford for this one. That was a phenomenal defensive game by Dallas in every facet. Receivers were blanketed, Cook was doubled, the rush was ferocious, and they won almost every individual battle there was. My issue was the fact that Shotgun could have been largely successful with Sam, but they didn't let him operate out of that formation nearly enough. And when he was in it, there were drops and protection break-downs. Of course, it would be nice to see him do THIS more often, but how often do you see any QB beat the odds like this with any kind of regularity? Givens did a nice job of adjusting his route and getting open.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re2wuMWw4UY[/youtube]
5. Drops. I'm not going to enumerate them. You saw them. That's not on Schotty.
6. 3rd down conversion fails. In chronological order.
1. Pressure forced Bradford to roll out, and his only option (Cook) dropped the ball. It would have been short anyway, and there was a penalty that would have negated it even if it was long enough.
2. Sacked in less than 3 seconds.
3. Sacked in less than 3 seconds.
4. Pressure, tipped at the line, would have been short even if it was completed (that's on Bradford)
5. Pressured, sacked.
6. Pass dropped (3rd & 6, 20 yard throw) by Pettis.
7. Complete, short of the sticks. Nobody ran a route beyond the marker. Rams were in 4 down mode.
8. Incomplete slant pattern. Bad timing between Givens and Bradford. 4 down mode anyway.
9. Immediate pass to Cook (Bradford looked nowhere else). Appeared to be a designed checkdown. 4 down mode.
10. 3rd & 20. What appeared to be a bad pass to Givens. No idea who was at fault for that one.
Various penalties that afforded the Rams a first down on failed 3rd down conversion attempts (interference, holding, etc).
Anyway, those are some of my observations. I don't think the team quit, I don't think the coaches did a poor job, and I'm not entirely embarrassed. I simply think they need to become more disciplined, more situationally *aware*, and need more time playing together as a team. It was a bad game for sure, but it's not indicative of what this team is all about, nor is it an indication of their limitations. It was just a bad game.
IMO of course.
1. The problem is primarily execution. Complain about the zone coverage all you want, but it's not being executed properly. Here's one play for a modest gain that I'll use as an example. I watched it 11 times to make sure I understood what each defender's responsibility was supposed to be.
You have Austin up top and Bryant inside (top of screen) with Jenkins over Bryant, and Finnegan over Austin. Jenkins' responsibility is deep coverage in the event Bryant runs a hitch and go or 9. Finnegan's responsibility is the underneath zone in the event one of them cuts in. Austin is supposed to be released after about 6 yards into the zone Laurinaitis is covering so that Finnegan can crash the underneath. Jenkins is supposed to cover the sidelines and take away the deep ball with safety help over the top (depending on the read by the safety who also is responsible for reading the QB). Finnegan released late (didn't have to), while Bryant cut across the underneath zone. Not a huge deal in and of itself, but if Finnegan releases Austin and jumps the route, he could have broken up the play, or at a minimum, stopped Bryant right in his tracks instead of letting him get the first down. That was a common theme in the passing game.
Anyone want to venture a guess as to why a 2nd and 1 shotgun formation trips-right pass play ended up as a sack when Dallas was only rushing 4? EXECUTION.
Pead's route was simple. Run out 3 yards and turn around for the check-down. What happened instead? He ran through the line to get in position, but he clipped the back of Chris Williams' leg in the process, causing Williams to fall down and his man (Hatcher) literally stumbled INTO Bradford and registered the sack to end the half. Bradford was visibly disgusted, because he had someone down the field that he was going to target.
Did Schottenheimer have in that in the playbook? "Pead clips his own man, Bradford takes sack."
Yeah, probably not, but let's hang that on him too.
2. Holy hell with the bullshit calls. Diminish the effect of penalties all you want, and say that you're supposed to win regardless of that, but you can't beat an opponent when they're being given unfair advantages. You all saw the shove by Bryant in the endzone, but there were MANY holds that went uncalled against Dallas, and that blindside block by McDonald was 100% legal. Granted Witherspoon would have negated that Tavon TD anyway, but his guy wouldn't have been able to make a play on Austin so that's 7 points erased.
3. Maybe some of you didn't see the screens, draws, play-action fakes (out of draws) or any of the other things Schotty was dialing up to try to defeat the strong rush, but I saw enough of them to feel comfortable with the effort on his part to adjust to what was going on. My issue is that there weren't enough. But regardless, they were called and executed fairly well (with good touch by Bradford). The scheme isn't the issue, IMO. It's execution again.
4. LOL @ ANYONE who puts the blame on Bradford for this one. That was a phenomenal defensive game by Dallas in every facet. Receivers were blanketed, Cook was doubled, the rush was ferocious, and they won almost every individual battle there was. My issue was the fact that Shotgun could have been largely successful with Sam, but they didn't let him operate out of that formation nearly enough. And when he was in it, there were drops and protection break-downs. Of course, it would be nice to see him do THIS more often, but how often do you see any QB beat the odds like this with any kind of regularity? Givens did a nice job of adjusting his route and getting open.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re2wuMWw4UY[/youtube]
5. Drops. I'm not going to enumerate them. You saw them. That's not on Schotty.
6. 3rd down conversion fails. In chronological order.
1. Pressure forced Bradford to roll out, and his only option (Cook) dropped the ball. It would have been short anyway, and there was a penalty that would have negated it even if it was long enough.
2. Sacked in less than 3 seconds.
3. Sacked in less than 3 seconds.
4. Pressure, tipped at the line, would have been short even if it was completed (that's on Bradford)
5. Pressured, sacked.
6. Pass dropped (3rd & 6, 20 yard throw) by Pettis.
7. Complete, short of the sticks. Nobody ran a route beyond the marker. Rams were in 4 down mode.
8. Incomplete slant pattern. Bad timing between Givens and Bradford. 4 down mode anyway.
9. Immediate pass to Cook (Bradford looked nowhere else). Appeared to be a designed checkdown. 4 down mode.
10. 3rd & 20. What appeared to be a bad pass to Givens. No idea who was at fault for that one.
Various penalties that afforded the Rams a first down on failed 3rd down conversion attempts (interference, holding, etc).
Anyway, those are some of my observations. I don't think the team quit, I don't think the coaches did a poor job, and I'm not entirely embarrassed. I simply think they need to become more disciplined, more situationally *aware*, and need more time playing together as a team. It was a bad game for sure, but it's not indicative of what this team is all about, nor is it an indication of their limitations. It was just a bad game.
IMO of course.
