The longest breakdown of a play I've even done, circa last spring:
3rd and 5 Den 5
Result: Pass, Brown, 10 yard out, INTERCEPTED by Den – Bailey at Den -1, Bailey fumbles at NE 1, ball out of bounds at NE 1, 100 yd. return.
Offense: Shotgun 4 WR, Branch wide left, Watson left wing, Brown right slot, Givens wide right, Faulk RB to right of Brady in shotgun.
Defense: 4-2-5 nickel, S Brandon showing blitz over LG, MLB Wilson showing blitz over RG, S Lynch showing blitz right wing, WLB Gold a few yards off Watson left wing, all 3 CBs 5 yards off.
Blocking: Watson and Ashworth both take a step left on the snap following the DE Ekuban, who then drops off, allowing the S Brandon to come in free on his blitz to Ashworth’s right
Mankins drives the DT Myers right
Hochstein rides the DT Warren outside
Neal comes forward to stop the blitzing MLB Wilson
Gorin gets driven back by the DE Pryce but Brady has already been forced to roll out of the way from the blitz
Faulk steps up on the right edge to cause Lynch to back off from his blitz.
Coverage: Branch fades into the far endzone corner with his body open to the play, but Brady has already rolled right, dragging the CB Foxworth off Branch too
Givens drags underneath Brown cutting outside, but the NB Da. Williams is waiting in his zone and picks Givens up tightly across the middle
Brown makes his cut on the route just shy of the zoned Bailey right when Brady feels the pressure,and has to come back inside for the ball but Bailey holds the position and intercepts it
Analysis: The reason for the interception? A poor throw. The reason for the poor throw? A speedy blitzer coming right at Brady off the snap. The reason for that? Tom Ashworth not picking up the blitz. The reason for that? A probable miscommunication at the line when Denver showed the blitz. Instead of Ashworth coming inside to pick up Brandon and Watson going outside to pick up Ekuban, both Ashworth and Watson went outside as if the WLB Gold playing off the line was coming in on a blitz next to Ekuban’s rush. Still, Brandon is closer to center and thus closer to the QB and is the first priority in the blitz pickup.
This the exact dynamic of how the blitz works. It’s a numbers and mind game. The key for the defense is to hold an advantage in numbers but draw one blocker to a blitzer who will instead drop off. This triggers a hole some place else in the line, despite the numbers then being equal, as the defense gains one more pass defender. What this meant for Denver was that Gold’s threat drew Ashworth away from picking up Brandon. Brandon got pressure on Brady from the get-go, and with slower-developing routes against the zone, all Brady could do was buy time and try to make the best of the situation. Throwing off his back foot and leaning away to avoid the blitzer, his only option was to Brown going towards the sideline. Without the chance to get enough behind the ball, Brown had to turn back inside for the ball, but Bailey, being the player that he is, stepped in front of Brown and took things from there.
What made this play even more memorable was the full-field run by TE Ben Watson to knock Bailey out of bounds at the NE 1, and in the process, launch the ball out of Bailey’s hand and in a flight path still argued to this day.
Note: Play was challenged by New England, but was not reversed. At question was whether Bailey’s fumble exited through the endzone or in-play. If through the endzone, it would have been a touchback and Patriots ball at the NE 20. If through the field of play, the original ruling, the result of the play would remain the same and Denver would have the ball at the NE 1. Since there were no camera angles sufficient for the play, there was simply nothing conclusive to overturn the play.
Note: As a result of the unsuccessful challenge attempt, New England assessed a timeout – 2 remaining in the second half.
