Pass to Hogan at Q1 4:48

[K. Dog]

In the play in the AFCC Brady went long to Hogan down the left sideline for a big gain.

Before the play, Brady was gesticulating a lot at the line of scrimmage, moving people around. The announcers said after "What did he see?"

What was going on exactly at the line of scrimmage in the play? What adjustments were being made by Brady and the offense (and why didn't the defense respond)?

 

[TB_Helmet]

Was that the "Jordan" call that moved Develin out wide? That one was nice.

 

[K. Dog]

Was that the "Jordan" call that moved Develin out wide? That one was nice.

Could be, yes. I don't remember exactly. It was like, Brady knew what would happen there before it happened.

 

[shmessy]

It wasn't down the sideline, it was up the seam. It was "Jordan! Jordan! and it was brilliant:

Chris Hogan hangs on for 27-yard gain

 

[Joker]

face facts...the Steelers do NOT make adjustments. They try to bully and beat you up. Once the QB has seen enough of their scheme they are easy pickin's at the LOS for audibles exactly like that one

 

[K. Dog]

It wasn't down the sideline, it was up the seam. It was "Jordan! Jordan! and it was brilliant:

Chris Hogan hangs on for 27-yard gain

Yes! That is the exact play I was thinking of.

Now, I want to understand exactly what Brady saw, why he was moving people around exactly, and what "Jordan" means.

 

[TomPatriot]

He saw a 3-4 front with Cover 1. Steelers couldn't shift to a different formation in time. He hit Hogan in the seam. At least that's my guess.

 

[turkeyneck]

Showed brilliantly what a well-oiled machine the Pats O is, the way they instantly, Transformer-like, reconfigured the way Brady wanted.

 

[slam]

It's amazing. There's 8 seconds on the play clock when he starts the audible. Everyone moves and a completely different play is run. That would drive a d coordinator to despair.

 

[Love The Drake]

The Goat just being the Goat
I hope we Are underdogs this week I hope people talk up Ryan and discount Brady.

 

[Tony2046]

Geez. This looks like the Pats goaded the Steelers into that play. I think they wanted to call "jordan".

My novice opinion: I'll have to look at some film but I wonder if the Steelers like to safety blitz on two back sets.


Original formation: 25 (CB) on Edelman. 28 (S) on Hogan.



After Edelman went in motion: 28 dropped back to safety. 23(S) moves up to the LOS. 31 (CB) lines up on Edelman. 25 lines up 7 yards off of Hogan. Looks like a Safety Blitz.



After "Jordan": 92 (Old ass LB) on Hogan, 25 on Blount. 48 (LB) on Bennett. 31 (CB) on Lewis.
I wonder where the mismatch is.

 

[K. Dog]

Great analysis. The diagrams were really helpful. My brother and I both enjoyed reading it.

Of course any answer always leads to more questions here, depending on how far deep you want to go.

For instance, was the shuffle called with the intent of putting Hogan against Harrison, or was that just a lucky side effect? Was this a design flaw in the Steelers' scheme, or did a player err? If the former, why would the Steelers' overlook such a flaw? How and when did Brady know what was going to happen - was it tape from previous Steelers' games? (But how would he know what would happen on that shuffle). Or was it general principles?

But you've helped me (and my brother) understand that play much better, thanks a bunch.

 

[Betterthanmost]

Great analysis. The diagrams were really helpful. My brother and I both enjoyed reading it.

Of course any answer always leads to more questions here, depending on how far deep you want to go.

For instance, was the shuffle called with the intent of putting Hogan against Harrison, or was that just a lucky side effect? Was this a design flaw in the Steelers' scheme, or did a player err? If the former, why would the Steelers' overlook such a flaw? How and when did Brady know what was going to happen - was it tape from previous Steelers' games? (But how would he know what would happen on that shuffle). Or was it general principles?

But you've helped me (and my brother) understand that play much better, thanks a bunch.

Tomlin, is that you?

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Geez. This looks like the Pats goaded the Steelers into that play. I think they wanted to call "jordan".

My novice opinion: I'll have to look at some film but I wonder if the Steelers like to safety blitz on two back sets.


Original formation: 25 (CB) on Edelman. 28 (S) on Hogan.



After Edelman went in motion: 28 dropped back to safety. 23(S) moves up to the LOS. 31 (CB) lines up on Edelman. 25 lines up 7 yards off of Hogan. Looks like a Safety Blitz.



After "Jordan": 92 (Old ass LB) on Hogan, 25 on Blount. 48 (LB) on Bennett. 31 (CB) on Lewis.
I wonder where the mismatch is.

Nice diagnosis. It looks a lot like what they ran against Denver (though I don't know what they called it then). Trollin' Volin did a nice breakdown of that near the top of this article.

Ben Volin: Patriots created mismatches on offense to expose Broncos’ flaws - The Boston Globe

 

[Pats2000]

Great analysis. The diagrams were really helpful. My brother and I both enjoyed reading it.

Of course any answer always leads to more questions here, depending on how far deep you want to go.

For instance, was the shuffle called with the intent of putting Hogan against Harrison, or was that just a lucky side effect? Was this a design flaw in the Steelers' scheme, or did a player err? If the former, why would the Steelers' overlook such a flaw? How and when did Brady know what was going to happen - was it tape from previous Steelers' games? (But how would he know what would happen on that shuffle). Or was it general principles?

But you've helped me (and my brother) understand that play much better, thanks a bunch.

Remember how Edelman went in motion almost every play? Brady was checking coverages by doing that. Since nobody followed him, he knew it was a complete zone coverage. Then all he had to do was change the alignment of the wide receivers to create the mismatch. It's the best part of his game, bring able to process in seconds the coverage the defense is in from film study and then create mismatches based on player skill sets within a few more seconds.

 

[Tony2046]

Great analysis. The diagrams were really helpful. My brother and I both enjoyed reading it.

Of course any answer always leads to more questions here, depending on how far deep you want to go.

For instance, was the shuffle called with the intent of putting Hogan against Harrison, or was that just a lucky side effect? Was this a design flaw in the Steelers' scheme, or did a player err? If the former, why would the Steelers' overlook such a flaw? How and when did Brady know what was going to happen - was it tape from previous Steelers' games? (But how would he know what would happen on that shuffle). Or was it general principles?

But you've helped me (and my brother) understand that play much better, thanks a bunch.

So one thing to keep in mind is that the Pats like to create mismatches. Not sure if the Harrison (92) on Hogan was intentional or not but what was intentional, imo, is giving the two back set look and then switching it to a four receiver wide look. Typically a defense will want a "base" defensive package on the field when there is two RB's in the offensive backfield. They want the heavier personal to handle any run attempts. But they would want to have a nickle (5 DB's) or Dime (6 DB's) on the field to handle a 4 wide receiver offensive set. So the Pats basically presented a run formation and switched it to a pass heavy formation leaving the Steelers with a run stuffing defensive package to stop the pass. Which ended up with a Hogan Harrison mismatch.

Defensive Packages:

Base package - 4-3 (4 linemen and 3 LB's) or 3-4 + 4 DB's.
Nickel Package - 4-2 or 3-3 + 5 DB's
Dime Package - 4-1 or 3-2 + 6 DB's

BB and MP like to employ personnel which can morph into different different packages without substituting players in and out of the formation. For example: They use Chung at Safety but he will at times drop into a Linebacker roll to handle the TE or to fill a running gap on a run play.

That's my novice breakdown btw. There are others on this forum with a much better understanding of this stuff. Fun to discuss though.

 

[rookBoston]

Yeah, I agree. The Pats lined up in a power running formation, with Develin lead blocking for Blout, and Bennett on the line. It's first and ten, and the Pats are notorious to run on first down. This screams run.

As mentioned, the Steelers aren't in their base D. They're in a run stopping 3-4 front, with seven big dudes in the box. The look is a 3-4 front, with three DTs inside, each 300#, with Dupree and Harrison at OLB, Shazier and Timmons at ILB. Plus, the Steelers show the Safety blitz, by bringing #23 Mitchell to the LOS on the strong side.

The math is: Steelers have 3 DL + 4 LB + 1 blitzing... 8 in the box

Tough sledding, but this is the NFL. How many yards are likely in a power run, especially if they called it to the side where the Steelers are showing their run blitz.

To start, by shifting to Jordan, Brady forces the Steelers to abandon the blitz and step into their soft zone, but this time with awkward personnel. It's not their nickel lineup, they've got their pass rushers covering receivers.

By design, Blount and Develin are the guys that line up on the outside. I'm sure the Pats anticipated that the Steelers would matchup the outside guys with their two corners... Burns and ****rell. The two safeties drop into a Cover-2 shell.

That leaves DE Dupree matched up with Bennett, LB Timmons on Edelman, and a DE Harrison on Hogan-- all favorable matchups. If the Pats had started in this formation, they would have put a safety on Bennett, at least, and some legitimate cover guys on Edelman and Hogan.

Hogan runs a seam that generally would have been a Gronkowski route, and Brady goes there for a first down. Edelman would have been open, too.

Keys to Jordan:

• Diffuse the run blitz
• Avoid the teeth of a run-stopping front
• Put their elephants on roller skates
• Force the corners will take Develin and Blount through the formation
• Challenge their LBs and DEs to cover Edelman, Hogan and Bennett

It worked. This has McDaniels fingerprints all over it.

 

[n1997y]

Yeah, I agree. The Pats lined up in a power running formation, with Develin lead blocking for Blout, and Bennett on the line. It's first and ten, and the Pats are notorious to run on first down. This screams run.

As mentioned, the Steelers aren't in their base D. They're in a run stopping 3-4 front, with seven big dudes in the box. The look is a 3-4 front, with three DTs inside, each 300#, with Dupree and Harrison at OLB, Shazier and Timmons at ILB. Plus, the Steelers show the Safety blitz, by bringing #23 Mitchell to the LOS on the strong side.

The math is: Steelers have 3 DL + 4 LB + 1 blitzing... 8 in the box

Tough sledding, but this is the NFL. How many yards are likely in a power run, especially if they called it to the side where the Steelers are showing their run blitz.

To start, by shifting to Jordan, Brady forces the Steelers to abandon the blitz and step into their soft zone, but this time with awkward personnel. It's not their nickel lineup, they've got their pass rushers covering receivers.

By design, Blount and Develin are the guys that line up on the outside. I'm sure the Pats anticipated that the Steelers would matchup the outside guys with their two corners... Burns and ****rell. The two safeties drop into a Cover-2 shell.

That leaves DE Dupree matched up with Bennett, LB Timmons on Edelman, and a DE Harrison on Hogan-- all favorable matchups. If the Pats had started in this formation, they would have put a safety on Bennett, at least, and some legitimate cover guys on Edelman and Hogan.

Hogan runs a seam that generally would have been a Gronkowski route, and Brady goes there for a first down. Edelman would have been open, too.

Keys to Jordan:

• Diffuse the run blitz
• Avoid the teeth of a run-stopping front
• Put their elephants on roller skates
• Force the corners will take Develin and Blount through the formation
• Challenge their LBs and DEs to cover Edelman, Hogan and Bennett

It worked. This has McDaniels fingerprints all over it.

That makes me wonder if the throw to Develin later in the game was set up by this? Can't remember the formation or shifts on that one though. Remember being amazed that he was totally uncovered. Seems likely this sowed the seeds of confusion to harvest that first down.