rookBoston
In the Starting Line-Up
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Were any of the rest of you curious how Chris Hogan got so crazy wide open, standing alone in the endzone for that first TD pass? I spent some time on it, mystified, and the answer is: (1) really terrific pass protection and (2) Brady is special.
Let's take a closer look.
Pre-snap
Steelers are in a 4-2-5 nickel zone look, three corners and two safeties.
On the D-line, the Steelers have Bud Dupree (top) and James Harrison (bottom) at DE, in two point stance. Both famously good pass rushers that lit up the Chiefs. Inside, their enormous 305# DTs are Stephon Tuitt and Javon Hargrave. Bring the beef.
At LB, they've got Timmons and Shazier aligned inside, both between the hashmarks... which seems odd (right?) since it's a passing situation and there's no TE or FB on the field. I kinda wonder if this is a "tell". Ernie Adams would know. Hint: the LBs are blitzing.
At the top of the frame, the Pats have Hogan (outside), Amendola (slot) and Edelman (tight). The deep corner on that side is #31 Russ ****rell and the shallow corner is #22 William Gay.
Bottom of the frame, the Pats have Mitchell, alone, with #25 CB Artie Burns (who?!) in close man. Artie is the Steelers' rookie first round draft pick. I had no idea, had to look it up. In watching this loop over and over, I wondered if the D was trying to protect Burns... they were seriously over-correcting to his side. But turns out, his coverage was solid.
The deep safety is #21 Robert Golden, and the shallow safety on Mitchell's side is #23 Mike Mitchell.
Pats have James White in the backfield, and that's a good thing.
Two things look promising to me, if I'm TB12...
At the Snap
Just to remind everyone, Brady took a few steps to his left and stood there FOREVER. How is that possible? Exceptional blocking.
At the snap, the Steelers drop both DEs into a shallow zone, and blitz both their LBs using a little crossing game where they try to confuse the interior linemen.
Here's pre-snap from the end zone view...
... and here's the motion at the snap...
What are the Steelers doing here?
(1) Instead of rushing, DE Bud Dupree has dropped and taken Edelman in coverage. He becomes the third defender on that side assigned to protect against the three receivers the Pats have over there.
(2) James Harrison also drops into a shallow zone. He's probably spying James White, in case White slips into the flat (he doesn't).
(3) The reason Dupree and Harrison drop into coverage is because the Steelers are blitzing the linebackers. In this frame, you can see both Shazier and Timmons are running at #60 Andrews, 2 on 1. Shazier engages Andrews first, and then Timmons loops around to attack the A-gap to Andrews's left. This is a serious danger to Brady's health and mental well being.
(4) DT Tuitt is doubled teamed by Mason and Cannon
(5) DT Hargrave is picked up by Thuney
(6) Solder is assigned to take Harrison, but Harrison has dropped into zone. So, he turns to help Thuney.
Next frame, you can see the Pats pass protection respond to the rush
Right to left...
(1) Mason has handed Tuitt off to Cannon, to help Andrews with the blitzing linebackers. Cannon completely stonewalls Tuitt. In this frame, you can see Tuitt is high and has lost all his leverage.
(2) Andrews has engaged Shazier, and Mason is turning to help out. Meanwhile James White has filled the A-gap, perfect position and stance to stick the much bigger Timmons.
(3) Since Harrison isn't coming, Solder has now turned without hesitation to help Thuney utterly destroy Hargrave.
Right to left...
(1) Cannon has demoralized Tuitt, who basically stops
(2) Andrews has Shazier under control, and Mason is actually looking around for someone else to block
(3) James White has fearlessly dipped his shoulder to take on Timmons. Courageous. We've seen this from him before.
(4) Thuney and Solder have now converted the 305# Hargrave into an unwitting battering ram, that they will now propel across the LOS to wipe out Timmons and Shazier too.
Brady needs to buy some time. He hops around a bit, takes three of four steps to the left to make space for himself, and then stands there.
The net result of this third down blitz?... a giant glob of Steelers, swept into a congealed mess. Solder's and Thuney's double team block is very effective in clearing the entire pocket.
Here it is from the sideline view. Domination at the line. Thank you for un-retiring, Dante Scarnecchia.
(Note here that Brady is looking hard to his left as he moves left. More on this to come.)
The Routes
Outside-in... at the snap,
(1) Hogan is running right at ****rell
(2) Amendola is running an out, but it looks like Gay will drop and run with him
(3) Edelman gets a bump from Dupree and is engaged
Steelers look like they've got it handled in this frame. Not so much in the next...
Here, Edelman has drawn a double team, now with Dupree and Gay bracketing him.
Golden is moving that direction. But Gay picking up Edelman, puts ****rell in a tough spot. He has to choose between Amendola's short out and Hogan running past him. He chooses Amendola.
Either Gay or Golden should be picking up Hogan. Who knows how the Steelers designed this zone to work, but these routes have busted it.
Hogan is signalling for the ball. Brady sees it. Trouble is, Brady doesn't have a throwing lane to Hogan. With the blitz, the mass of humanity piled in front of him is still resolving itself. If he lofts the ball, the safety will close on the pass before it gets there.
Brady's Eye Play
And, so, what he does next is masterful. GOAT-worthy.
He moves left. He moves way, way left to get a viable right angle on the pass to Hogan. While he's moving left, he stares down the Malcolm Mitchell route on the left side. His motion and his eye play move the defense. Golden, Dupree, Harrison and Mitchell, they all move left.
Here you can see that Golden is moving to the left AWAY from wide-open Hogan, keyed by Brady's eyes and his motion to the left. Dupree is moving left too. They both move into the space between the hashmarks. Amazing manipulation.
On the left side, Malcolm Mitchell is completely blanketed. The ball really could never have gone there. Were they afraid Brady might scramble?!?
Then, once Brady is clear of the linemen and has the angle that he needs to hit Hogan, he flips back, sets his feet and throws across the field. Golden is too far left to recover.
Wide open.
Conclusion
Let's take a closer look.
Pre-snap
Steelers are in a 4-2-5 nickel zone look, three corners and two safeties.
On the D-line, the Steelers have Bud Dupree (top) and James Harrison (bottom) at DE, in two point stance. Both famously good pass rushers that lit up the Chiefs. Inside, their enormous 305# DTs are Stephon Tuitt and Javon Hargrave. Bring the beef.
At LB, they've got Timmons and Shazier aligned inside, both between the hashmarks... which seems odd (right?) since it's a passing situation and there's no TE or FB on the field. I kinda wonder if this is a "tell". Ernie Adams would know. Hint: the LBs are blitzing.
At the top of the frame, the Pats have Hogan (outside), Amendola (slot) and Edelman (tight). The deep corner on that side is #31 Russ ****rell and the shallow corner is #22 William Gay.
Bottom of the frame, the Pats have Mitchell, alone, with #25 CB Artie Burns (who?!) in close man. Artie is the Steelers' rookie first round draft pick. I had no idea, had to look it up. In watching this loop over and over, I wondered if the D was trying to protect Burns... they were seriously over-correcting to his side. But turns out, his coverage was solid.
The deep safety is #21 Robert Golden, and the shallow safety on Mitchell's side is #23 Mike Mitchell.
Pats have James White in the backfield, and that's a good thing.
Two things look promising to me, if I'm TB12...
- if Mitchell clears out the zone on the left, a flare pass to James might beat the LB who's inside tight, or the S Mitchell. But that's not the call
- the unbalanced receivers on the right... two corners on three receivers. They look one defender light.
At the Snap
Just to remind everyone, Brady took a few steps to his left and stood there FOREVER. How is that possible? Exceptional blocking.
At the snap, the Steelers drop both DEs into a shallow zone, and blitz both their LBs using a little crossing game where they try to confuse the interior linemen.
Here's pre-snap from the end zone view...
... and here's the motion at the snap...
What are the Steelers doing here?
(1) Instead of rushing, DE Bud Dupree has dropped and taken Edelman in coverage. He becomes the third defender on that side assigned to protect against the three receivers the Pats have over there.
(2) James Harrison also drops into a shallow zone. He's probably spying James White, in case White slips into the flat (he doesn't).
(3) The reason Dupree and Harrison drop into coverage is because the Steelers are blitzing the linebackers. In this frame, you can see both Shazier and Timmons are running at #60 Andrews, 2 on 1. Shazier engages Andrews first, and then Timmons loops around to attack the A-gap to Andrews's left. This is a serious danger to Brady's health and mental well being.
(4) DT Tuitt is doubled teamed by Mason and Cannon
(5) DT Hargrave is picked up by Thuney
(6) Solder is assigned to take Harrison, but Harrison has dropped into zone. So, he turns to help Thuney.
Next frame, you can see the Pats pass protection respond to the rush
Right to left...
(1) Mason has handed Tuitt off to Cannon, to help Andrews with the blitzing linebackers. Cannon completely stonewalls Tuitt. In this frame, you can see Tuitt is high and has lost all his leverage.
(2) Andrews has engaged Shazier, and Mason is turning to help out. Meanwhile James White has filled the A-gap, perfect position and stance to stick the much bigger Timmons.
(3) Since Harrison isn't coming, Solder has now turned without hesitation to help Thuney utterly destroy Hargrave.
Right to left...
(1) Cannon has demoralized Tuitt, who basically stops
(2) Andrews has Shazier under control, and Mason is actually looking around for someone else to block
(3) James White has fearlessly dipped his shoulder to take on Timmons. Courageous. We've seen this from him before.
(4) Thuney and Solder have now converted the 305# Hargrave into an unwitting battering ram, that they will now propel across the LOS to wipe out Timmons and Shazier too.
Brady needs to buy some time. He hops around a bit, takes three of four steps to the left to make space for himself, and then stands there.
The net result of this third down blitz?... a giant glob of Steelers, swept into a congealed mess. Solder's and Thuney's double team block is very effective in clearing the entire pocket.
Here it is from the sideline view. Domination at the line. Thank you for un-retiring, Dante Scarnecchia.
(Note here that Brady is looking hard to his left as he moves left. More on this to come.)
The Routes
Outside-in... at the snap,
(1) Hogan is running right at ****rell
(2) Amendola is running an out, but it looks like Gay will drop and run with him
(3) Edelman gets a bump from Dupree and is engaged
Steelers look like they've got it handled in this frame. Not so much in the next...
Here, Edelman has drawn a double team, now with Dupree and Gay bracketing him.
Golden is moving that direction. But Gay picking up Edelman, puts ****rell in a tough spot. He has to choose between Amendola's short out and Hogan running past him. He chooses Amendola.
Either Gay or Golden should be picking up Hogan. Who knows how the Steelers designed this zone to work, but these routes have busted it.
Hogan is signalling for the ball. Brady sees it. Trouble is, Brady doesn't have a throwing lane to Hogan. With the blitz, the mass of humanity piled in front of him is still resolving itself. If he lofts the ball, the safety will close on the pass before it gets there.
Brady's Eye Play
And, so, what he does next is masterful. GOAT-worthy.
He moves left. He moves way, way left to get a viable right angle on the pass to Hogan. While he's moving left, he stares down the Malcolm Mitchell route on the left side. His motion and his eye play move the defense. Golden, Dupree, Harrison and Mitchell, they all move left.
Here you can see that Golden is moving to the left AWAY from wide-open Hogan, keyed by Brady's eyes and his motion to the left. Dupree is moving left too. They both move into the space between the hashmarks. Amazing manipulation.
On the left side, Malcolm Mitchell is completely blanketed. The ball really could never have gone there. Were they afraid Brady might scramble?!?
Then, once Brady is clear of the linemen and has the angle that he needs to hit Hogan, he flips back, sets his feet and throws across the field. Golden is too far left to recover.
Wide open.
Conclusion
- Great individual and group blocking by White and the OL. Cannon looked impressive against Tuitt.
- Special props to Solder who recognized that his man isn't rushing, responded without hesitation, and almost single handedly destroyed the interior blitz with a dominating double team
- Brady saw Hogan wide open, and then had the presence of mind to manipulate the secondary away from that side of the field until he could manufacture a viable throwing lane
