Yeah I went back and watched it again.
It's not even a great route at all by Zay... he approaches him and even slows some on his break, making his move on the post.
It's pretty clear which way the receiver is breaking and there is still a decent cushion there.
Looks to me like Fuller's eyes were on Jackson too long.
Also he has no help to that side of the field, on his other shoulder he has two defenders for help.
I get the concept of a receiver running full speed at you and how difficult it is to match directions - but I feel like this was below
average coverage in a critical situation.
Agree to disagree. Speed has nothing to do with it. In fact, something a little slower might make it easier to juke and fake the defender out.
I won't disagree that an Ed Reed might have done better ... but it's not clear to me what the receiver was going to do. I can't because I am not facing him and seeing his eyes, shoulders and so forth.
Think of yourself running. You can fake someone out even if it looks like to them (as it does to you) that a cut one way or the other is certain. But they can still go the other way, especially if going a hair slower. Again, just common sense.
So, someone is coming at you ... and even lean one way, they can stay that way (which you don't know) or go the other way.
Think of basketball, how some guys can get faked out when someone is dribbling ... it's a lot easier to do that without the hassle of dribbling.
Us saying we can tell what the receiver is doing is what I disagree with. NFL-level offensive tackles get beat and they are going slower than a WR and they cannot tell and they are right on top of them.
You can assign blame because it was his coverage and it was not a good rep. My point is that happens in the NFL.
I I were to speculate, and this is just a guess, in no way can I say I am right ---Fuller tried to jump a route earlier in the game and got burned. This time he was probably trying to not get faked out. A WR would know that and use it to his advantage.
So, respectfully, I don't see it the way you do.