4 Hopeful Signs from the Jets Game

[jcdavey]

i knew gregory would finally make some plays for you guys

loved that dude in sd

 

[supafly]

This is sort of nitpicking the play description but it might be educational to some: "option" is not a good word for anything that goes on on this play. This is a simple FB Fake HB Toss Weak play. The QB does not make any option reads on this play. It is somewhat similar to an option play in that it leaves a dangerous lineman completely unblocked, but he's not dealt with via an option read but purely by the fake. Here, I'll show you:

Two things to see: Solder leaves the weakside LB/DE completely unblocked and just heads for the second level, and Vereen takes no fake (or "buck") step with his right foot in the direction of the play action. That Vereen immeadiately goes weak means this cannot be an option play, as option does not expect the QB to read two sides of the line at once (Strong dive, weak toss) or anything directly behind him, as we shall see.

Now, it's true that a hallmark of the option game is that defensive lineman are left completely unblocked. But those are playside lineman, and here the play action is to the right. Above it is the weakside end-of-line player that is left unblocked, which rarely happens in option football as he could crash inside and chase down the action from behind.

Furthermore one can see here that Brady never once looks at the line of scrimmage. What is he reading for an option key? Nothing that the Jets are doing, that's for sure.

Let's see if I can better explain why Vereen's first step is significant. In normal I-form midline option, in which the fullback hits the A gap (between the center and playside guard) the QB opens to the playside while stepping back weakside, which gets him out of the way of the fullback while putting him in a position to read his first key on the play, usually the playside defensive tackle. (Here, it would be the playside defensive end, between Cannon and Connolly, as the Jets are in an odd-man solid front). That guy is supposed to be left mostly unblocked, and if he crashes on the fullback dive, the QB pulls the ball away from the fullback and steps down the line of scrimmage playside with the halfback off his hip, reading the pitch key, either the playside end or linebacker, also left unblocked.

That Brady opens up directly back in a conventional QB drop, along with Vereen not even faking stepping right with his right foot before shoving off to the left (the "buck" step, used a lot in counter plays), means there is not so much as an option fake on this play. Add to that that Connolly and Cannon actually combo block that B-gap DE before Connolly goes to the second level and we are very far removed from any sort of option football.

Vereen is simply getting wide as fast as he can so he can run the circle cleanly on the backside player that almost always IS left unblocked in the conventional run game.

Thank you for that awesome breakdown, unoriginal.

 

[supafly]

Cheers Seymour,,but but who is Frankenberry ? Gotta remember i come from Bahrain !! I could go over to my friends at the 5TH Fleet based here and ask them,,but i guess my friends here are much closer to me.

They are referring to Peyton, often called "Goober" due to his red-neck "aw shucks" hickness about him, in other words a hillbilly.

One in the same is the term "Frankenberry" due to his extremely large forehead (often referred to as a "five-head).

Just nicknames for Peyton Manning, that's all.

As noted we have some for his brother Eli as well, since they both have the same look and characteristics/silly faces and mannerisms about them.

Just goofing around the same as any fanbase would do, nothing more. When push comes to shove, many here think that Peyton Manning is somewhat of a good guy, and they have more respect for him than anyone wishes to admit---although that is a darkly kept secret around these parts.

Eli on the other hand, is kind of over rated in some ways, although some also respect the fact that he led his team to 2 nice playoff runs with ended in victories over us...one in a half-a55ed kind of way, and one in more of a legit way...although I can rarely keep the 2 apart.

 

[abdul7]

Thanks Scott and thanks very much Supafly for making it so clear for me. Cheers.

 

[supafly]

Thanks Scott and thanks very much Supafly for making it so clear for me. Cheers.

My pleasure, buddy.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Eh, they weren't all junk yards. Before the Gregory INT, for example, the Jets were humming down the field. After that INT, we blew open a big lead and the game was essentially over. The secondary is improving from a pass defense standpoint. But there's still a good amount of work to do.

I agree with your underlying thesis that the secondary still has a long way to go before fans should believe it is very effective (I believe that is what you were getting at). However anyone believing the pass coverage was going to become that effective was probably fooling themselves. Yet while having the pass coverage take a big jump and become a positive is not likely, the Patriots don't need that for the team to become SB bound. We really just need the pass coverage to become modestly satisfactory. And while the jury is still out on that point, visual evidence is encouraging. It appeared to me that many more passes were being effectively challenged (not defended but at least challenged). There weren't so many egregiously open receivers making easy 10 to 20 yard plays. That isn[t to say it still isn't happening (it was) or that it won't happen (it will), it means it appears to be less automatic than prior to Talib taking the field as a Patriot.

Hey, teams will have long drives on the Patriots (in today's NFL that is the case with most every team). Our defense just isn't stout enough to routinely be hard to drive/score against. But with more passes being challenged/coverage appearing to be more often tighter, some effective blitzing now being sprinkled in, Talib back into game shape and more time to mesh with the Patriots, McCourty getting repeated uninterrupted reps at the FS spot, Gregory and Chung getting healthy, Dennard getting more reps-getting his NFL legs under him.....the secondary has a bunch of things working for it exactly at the right time of the year. There clearly are things that should lead fans to believe the porous pass defense will definitely be less porous. Unfortunately the middle of the field?? LB coverage is not likely to improve much. Fortunately a marginally more effective secondary with the potent O should equal a solid chance to beat anyone and make it to the SB.

 

[Joker]

Abdul...these guys did an OK job sorta but your ol' Unca Joker will FULLY explain "Goober" so that you get a flavor for the historical significance, the genesis as it were, of Gooberism.

Back in the 1960's when America was still a country of rural towns connected by two lane routes, and before there were the massive highway systems you see in America today, there were towns and townships. Outside of the big cities, America was a maze of rural roads and two lane blacktops winding north and south, east and west all across the country.

Reflecting this state of being in the USA, there was a television show called the Andy Griffith Show...a portrayal of small town America and it's wholesome, down home values...here's a pic of Sheriff Andy Taylor and his ultra-nervous deputy, Barney Fife....

as the show progressed, another character was introduced...Gomer Pyle, the gas station attendent, whose main lines in the show were "Gollleeee!" and "Shazam!"....here's Barney and Gomer....

well, as time went by, Gomer got so big that they spun a show off the Andy Griffith Show called Gomer Pyle USMC, in which Gomer played a bungling Marine recruit whose main objective in life was to torture his drill sergeant, SGT. Carter....

this left a void on the Andy G Show , so they brought in another character, Gomer's even dumber cousin, Goober.Both Pyle cousins worked at Wally's Filling Station, though not together, and were the show's comic relief. Lindsey was hired to fill the void, when Gomer was spun off to join the United States Marine Corps. During season five, Goober was initially referred to as "Goober Beasley". To solidify the Gomer connection, his surname was changed to "Pyle". Thus was born into the lexicon the term Goober, which carries the connotation of being a dumb, crap kickin' country hick....here's the original Goober..

so there you go...NOW you got the WHOLE story....

p.s. found a link that's pretty comprehensive...yes, that little redhaired kid, Opie is Ron Howard, the actor and director...

http://www.timvp.com/andy.html

 

[DarthHoodie]

Haha I have learned a lot from this thread. I hope my fellow five-head(as I have a large forehead as well) beats the Ravens when he plays them. I never know that about Goober Pyle as well, what interesting info exists in this forum!

 

[Water Boy]

Nice breakdowns Metaphors and Unoriginal. By the looks of the last picture Unoriginal posted, although the Jet edge defender is off balance, Vareen is still five yards deep from the defender when he gets the pitch. Given the distance between the two, it appears to me that the defender would have ample time to recover and meet Vareen at the line of scrimmage. I think this illustrates how speed kills in the NFL.

 

[abdul7]

Hey Joker,,thanks buddy. So funny though learning about these funny characters. Good old days i guess,,and RIP Sherriff Taylor...only died recently July 2012. Never heard about the Show or these names so many thanks to all who have educated me about it. I love these old comedy shows,,,especially the Three Stooges. Man i loved them as a kid.

 

[Metaphors]

This is sort of nitpicking the play description but it might be educational to some: "option" is not a good word for anything that goes on on this play. This is a simple FB Fake HB Toss Weak play. The QB does not make any option reads on this play.

You are correct. Any reads on this play are done pre-snap. I should have described the options available on this play (QB sneak, FB dive, pitch wide) without using the word "option".

While you are using screencaps (thanks for that BTW), here is one that shows the all-22 view after Vereen gets the pitch:

As you noted, it is up to Vereen to get the edge on his own, which he clearly does. That accounts for a 5 yard gain right there. The rest of the picture shows that the Jets played this fairly well while the Pats didn't maximize the play. The CB pressed the edge inside the numbers, the LB got free and teamed with the safety to make the tackle after a 7 yard gain (plus the strong side safety was there to clean up if needed).

If Edelperson (I think?) keeps the CB outside the numbers, Solder stayed locked onto the LB and Connolly was able to reach the strong side safety, Vereen would have had a clear lane and a full head of steam against the weak side safety at about the 45. One good move and you have a 62 yd TD run.

 

[aluminum seats]

This is a terrific thread.

 

[ralmat55]

Thank you Metaphors. I really appreciate the effort you put into your original post. (thanks also to Unoriginal for his clarification and to the Joker for taking us on a journey down Mayberry way)

Just a couple of thoughts:

1. Gregory's interception - it says alot that Belichick and Patricia are feeling a level of comfort with their DBs to vary things up a little.

2 & 4- Ridley and Vereen- I admit to getting a little warm and tingly when I saw them lined up together on that play. So many possibilities making it hard for a defense to defend them all. To me, it's a better way to go than lining up Connolly or a TE back there. I'd like to see more 2-back sets overall using them especially to catch passes out of the backfield. It's a very much an underused portion of the Pats overall arsenal. Vereen's play against the Jets worked so well because the Pats so rarely pass the ball to any RB other than Danny Woodhead that the Jets didn't even cover him(but I like it when Bart Scott gets blamed for something). A few more passes out in the flat to fleet RBs will stop teams from packing the middle so much.

3. Mayo's blitz and sack - Bend-don't-break isn't my cup of tea but it is Belichick's way and you can't say it hasn't been successful. But, i wish they would get a little more aggressive on 3rd down to get off the field with a little more consistency. What this play showed to me is Belichick might be gaining confidence that he has the personnel to do just that.

Overall, they are very encouraging signs indeed.