Pats vs. Bengals: key plays analysis

[Patspsycho]

I wanted to do some analysis of key plays that played a role in our win today. Some of them are on defense and some are on offense. I want to do a fair share on defense to show you just how great they performed today.

First key defensive play: sack of Carson Palmer.

Pre-snap we are in Dime with Wilhite (NB) covering the slot, standard 3-4 with OLB on outside shade with Sanders (DB) as pseudo 5 tech. Mayo feints as 9 tech but laterals to pick up the RB (morphs to cover 1 with deep safety). We see Chung walk up to the box to fake outside blitz. And what he does indicates that the defense already knows what Carson has called. They know his first read is a stem check on Ocho which is somewhat of a hot read, because the route is predicated on what he does to Butler. You see Butler drop back to "invite" Carson to do a quick slant. But Chung has faked the blitz and has dropped back to double on Ocho (he is right below the "3" letter in the 2nd still on the right). So by the time Carson turns to his first read (watch his helmet) Chung is already perfectly leveraged. Carson turns to his second read, Gresham who is tightly covered by Sanders (DB). But because Sanders has a bad angle (he is in the 3rd still on the bottom, right above the Patriot logo) Carson has waited for Gresham to gain leverage but by doing so, he loses valuable time which allows Wilfork to pull the old-school spin move on his man and takes down Carson, along with Pryor who does the same thing. TBC bull rushes his man out of the way and backtracks in time to help Pryor finish the takedown.

 

[Patspsycho]

First offensive drive: 2 x 2 in Ace (212). This drive is a pretty good indication that the Bengals Defense just did not start out well at all. They had a brain fart of a drive (you can actually see the Sam collide with Will). They set up in cover 2 standard 4-3, zone over. First we see the TE's in flex out. Moss and Tate run the 9. Gronk drops to block and totally whiffs on the high safety outside blitz (see 2nd still at bottom right above "1st"), but thankfully Taylor is there to pick the SS (Williams) up and stones him effectively. On the left side Moss and Hernandez stack post-snap (see in the 2nd still on the far right, you can see the legs of Moss just leaving the frame, and Hernandez is right behind him) and Hernandez is the underneath man, and nobody respects him at all. Moss takes the double-team with him upfield (this is why Moss is so valuable even if he does nothing on a play) and Hernandez runs a 2 out. This opens the way for a 45 yard gain by Hernandez. However Hernandez got too greedy and starts to try to look for ways to eat up more yards instead of going forward and gaining at least 5 yards just on momentum alone. I guarantee you BB is going to say to him tomorrow morning in the film room "What the f*** do you think you're f****** doing there?"

 

[BradyFTW!]

Great analysis PS, stuff like this is why Patsfans is the best place to get real insight.

 

[Kontradiction]

Wow. You'll be an admin in no time.

 

[jays52]

Sick. Pretty work, dude. Now, back to feeling insecure with my lowly typing. Nice work man, top shelf sh*t.

 

[Patspsycho]

First TD: Here you see a boneheaded defensive alignment. On the top you see trips left with Gronk, Crump, and Welker and you know this is screaming bubble screen, but they only have the CB and Sam to cover their default assignments (this one is on the Bengals DC). But we have to credit Brady here for throwing a lot of fake audible out there and "pointing out the mike" (for effect) and this initially causes the FS to freeze, unsure of what is coming next and you can tell because he then spies on Brady for the read. By the time he figures out what is happening, it is too late to engage. Both TE's have effectively walled off Welker's route into the EZ.

 

[Patspsycho]

Sick. Pretty work, dude. Now, back to feeling insecure with my lowly typing. Nice work man, top shelf sh*t.

No man, you run circles around me, and you know that.

 

[Patspsycho]

I'd like to thank Unoriginal for showing me how to do this.

 

[SEA_Pat]

I'd like to thank Unoriginal for showing me how to do this.

I'd like to thank you both then, this is great stuff. Love learning more about the game.

 

[Kontradiction]

First TD: Here you see a boneheaded defensive alignment. On the top you see trips left with Gronk, Crump, and Welker and you know this is screaming bubble screen, but they only have the CB and Sam to cover their default assignments (this one is on the Bengals DC). But we have to credit Brady here for throwing a lot of fake audible out there and "pointing out the mike" (for effect) and this initially causes the FS to freeze, unsure of what is coming next and you can tell because he then spies on Brady for the read. By the time he figures out what is happening, it is too late to engage. Both TE's have effectively walled off Welker's route into the EZ.

Heh. I saw this. I was so relieved when Brady "audibled" out of it because it was so obvious that the play was a bubble screen.

 

[Patspsycho]

Wow. You'll be an admin in no time.

I'd probably turn it down. I'm still not above getting into silly squabbles on here from time to time.

 

[boston22407]

nice work man

 

[emoney_33]

I'd like to thank you both then, this is great stuff. Love learning more about the game.

I agree, this is awesome stuff. Great game today and a couple of great threads with awesome breakdown/analysis.

 

[The Brandon Five]

PP (or anyone else with insights) to share. Any thoughts on why they didn't go for a fieldgoal near the end of the game? I was thinking that they were worried about a kick return for a TD, but the FG would have made it a three possession game again. Was he just giving the special teamers a break (they saw a lot of action today with all the scoring we did).

 

[Patspsycho]

PP (or anyone else with insights) to share. Any thoughts on why they didn't go for a fieldgoal near the end of the game? I was thinking that they were worried about a kick return for a TD, but the FG would have made it a three possession game again. Was he just giving the special teamers a break (they saw a lot of action today with all the scoring we did).

I will be getting to that point. Will try to answer some of the questions that were asked about the game.

 

[BradyManny]

Really great stuff PP!

Yikes. Looks like the Bengals were woefully unprepared for what they were facing on that first drive.

In re: Gronk's whiffed block - based on preseason, I noticed that if Gronk got his hands on a guy, he did a good job of taking him out of the play. However, he did make mental mistakes and found himself whiffing on guys from time to time. I'll chalk it up to rookie mental mistakes and bank on the fact that his physical ability to block seems really high.

 

[Trocadile]

PP (or anyone else with insights) to share. Any thoughts on why they didn't go for a fieldgoal near the end of the game? I was thinking that they were worried about a kick return for a TD, but the FG would have made it a three possession game again. Was he just giving the special teamers a break (they saw a lot of action today with all the scoring we did).

I think BB has said in the past that in that situation (up two scores with time running down) he is reluctant to kick the FG since a blocked kick run back for a TD is the fastest way for the other team to score.

 

[PatsfanGlo]

I swear this board has best analysts when it comes to breaking down plays and making observations. Compared to typical Jest forums where most struggle with any words bigger than 'sh!t' 'f*ck' 'b00bs' and their 'tom brady iz gayz.' nonsense, this board is just pleasure to read.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I think BB has said in the past that in that situation (up two scores with time running down) he is reluctant to kick the FG since a blocked kick run back for a TD is the fastest way for the other team to score.

More to the point BB has also said that kicking just runs up the score while running a play gives the enemy a chance to earn a stop and ZERO points.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

First offensive drive: 2 x 2 in Ace (212). This drive is a pretty good indication that the Bengals Defense just did not start out well at all. They had a brain fart of a drive (you can actually see the Sam collide with Will). They set up in cover 2 standard 4-3, zone over. First we see the TE's in flex out. Moss and Tate run the 9. Gronk drops to block and totally whiffs on the high safety outside blitz (see 2nd still at bottom right above "1st"), but thankfully Taylor is there to pick the SS (Williams) up and stones him effectively. On the left side Moss and Hernandez stack post-snap (see in the 2nd still on the far right, you can see the legs of Moss just leaving the frame, and Hernandez is right behind him) and Hernandez is the underneath man, and nobody respects him at all. Moss takes the double-team with him upfield (this is why Moss is so valuable even if he does nothing on a play) and Hernandez runs a 2 out. This opens the way for a 45 yard gain by Hernandez. However Hernandez got too greedy and starts to try to look for ways to eat up more yards instead of going forward and gaining at least 5 yards just on momentum alone. I guarantee you BB is going to say to him tomorrow morning in the film room "What the f*** do you think you're f****** doing there?"

Great recap. I'd add that on this play where Gronk wiffed which woulda destroyed the play and gotten The Franchise hit hard, Taylor was running towards the LOS, stopped, reversed direction and came back to make the block. A great individual effort that saved the play and continued the early game necessary momentum.