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X's & O's Super Bowl Analysis - X's and O's

RULES FOR THIS THREAD:
1) No attacking or criticizing fellow posters, the players, or the coaching.
2) Stick to breaking down plays, not criticizing performance, execution, or messing up.
3) It's ok to identify who blew a play or assignment, but stop right there.
4) It's ok to disagree with analysis from beat writers, but not to criticize them.
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Betterthanmost said:
Any good strategist among us? What do you see with this cover 6? What is the real issue? How do we beat it?
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The second link in the post you quoted answers your questions.
 
Betterthanmost said:
Any good strategist among us? What do you see with this cover 6? What is the real issue? How do we beat it?
I feel this is more an indictment on our OLine vice Maye and the trust he has in them to hold against 3 men/4 men rush.
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Run some flood concepts. Key is Drake understanding what he is seeing. He missed some throws/reads against the Broncos when they ran Cover 6.

This video shows some of the breakdown and how there were plays to be made.

 
WhatJustHappened said:
Smash These little ****s.

That'll do it.
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When we played lights out we lined up and punched them in the teeth
Vrabel will have them salivating like Pavlovian dogs
He’s knows the in and outs of being in a SB. He will know exactly what buttons to push
 
Moving my post here instead of a new thread.

If that's the look he sees couldn't he just go RPO? That opens the run game right up, yes?
 
SlowGettingUp said:
Cover 6 as Drake's Achilles Heel?



More on Cover 6 here:

Summer School 2020, Cover 6: What this coverage is, and how offenses attack it

Cover 6: strengths, weaknesses, and how to beat it
www.bigblueview.com
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PP2 said:
The second link in the post you quoted answers your questions.
Click to expand...

Goodness that is some heavy dosage of X/O's, which I'm not great at translating My basic understand is: Maye will have to play the Cover 2 side carefully, but also take what is given to him. Pull the safety down into run coverage by committing to the run, then gash the seam with play action. Am I reading that wrong?

Disrupt confidence in safeties by taking the shots you can, have them tepid in their decision making. Use their own flexibility against them and make them feel uncomfortable in their reactions.

My question, because I really just lack the ability to look at a play chart and know who goes where: based off how McDaniels runs this offense, what will he likely draw up (and with who?) to attack those weaknesses?
 
Vindicate said:
Goodness that is some heavy dosage of X/O's, which I'm not great at translating My basic understand is: Maye will have to play the Cover 2 side carefully, but also take what is given to him. Pull the safety down into run coverage by committing to the run, then gash the seam with play action. Am I reading that wrong?

Disrupt confidence in safeties by taking the shots you can, have them tepid in their decision making. Use their own flexibility against them and make them feel uncomfortable in their reactions.

My question, because I really just lack the ability to look at a play chart and know who goes where: based off how McDaniels runs this offense, what will he likely draw up (and with who?) to attack those weaknesses?
Click to expand...


First, it is important to understand that McDermott and then the others utilized cover 6 not so much as a technique but a scheme to exploit Maye's impatience and tendency to go for kill shots or play hero ball. If you watch the video in the first attachment, you will notice that Maye misses an open receiver in almost every clip that's played, and almost all of them are short routes to open space.

Maye has had his difficulties in learning to let the play come to him rather than force it. He will need to read a lot better if he wants to win this one last game.

Some of the ways you can exploit a cover 6 is to focus on vacated space that has been vacated because of forced responsibilities towards other routes. For example, in the below diagram, both corners are forced to go deep because the X and Z receivers run deep go routes. This leaves both sides vacant and allow the FB and RB (green dots) to exploit these vacant spaces. The TE (blue dot) can also exploit by gaining outside leverage on his man (the free safety) then playing the sideline because there is nobody available to bracket him.


 
Bedard on beating cover 6:

The first thing I want to say about this play by the Rams — and this will be one of the Patriots' answers — is I have no idea why Matthew Stafford turns down the go route to Adams. It's there, actually a few times in the game (he does throw it in the second half). Maye is not turning down that throw to Kayshon Boutte, he loves it. Just need to hold the other safety, which Maye has done and I'm sure Josh McDaniels will be schooling him on that this week.
Other popular answers to Cover 6:
• Flood the zone on three levels (flat, hole shot, go from the slot) to the quarters side. Patriots do this a lot.
• Get the back out quickly to the flat on the Cover 2 side.
• Threaten the Cover 2 safety with a route in the middle of the field, leaving the corner back exposed. Patriots do this with Mack Hollins and DeMario Douglas.
• Run the ball.

• Clear out vertical route paired with a deep in cut to the Cover 2 side. Patriots ran this a few times against the Broncos.
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TommyD4207 said:
Honestly the plan really couldn't be much easier compared to previous games.

1) Find Nick Emmanwori. Run all your decoy **** at him, and don't throw at him.

2) Find Leonard Williams. He has a tell where he's shaded as to whether he's going to run a stunt or not. Campbell and Wilson HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO figure out how to jam those stunts. They do that, Maye will have a big day.

3) Contain Smith-Njigba as best you can, probably by using match zones instead of pure man or pure zone. Keep those windows tight, make Darnold have to fit into really small spaces.

Do this, the pass rush will get home, that o-line is pretty damned mid, keep your lane integrity on the rush, because Seattle barely tries to run inside, all their success goes to the outside.

Stick with the run, even if the usual GDT suspects are crying that McDaniels is trying to run, you have a big size advantage on the right side of the line. Run gap stuff, limit the zone runs. Diggs needs to have a big slot day, there will be plenty of space, because Seattle runs like 70% split safety zone. Maye has to stay patient and take the easy money, let those corners creep up and then take your shots. Also take advantage when you do catch them in man, those corners both sorta suck in man coverage.

Seattle is a talented football team, very good, and pretty well-coached, but honestly I think we've played tougher teams in the playoffs. Seattle has not.
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Seattle may switch it up. They are well-coached and not necessarily a "do what I do" defense. They went to heavy Man coverage against the Rams, counter to their strategy most of the year. Obviously it didn't work that well in that game but I wouldn't be that surprised if in the SB they do more flooding of the underneath zones and forced the ball to go deep. That's not necessarily them saying they don't think Maye can do it, but more that they think that gives their D-Line more time to win against what's been pretty bad pass protection for the Pats and they think their coverage guys are better than our receivers.

Simply put - we can have a game plan but we will have to be nimble. The extra week for the Super Bowl often leads to big wrinkles in game plans / tactics vs. regular season.
 
jal said:
Seattle may switch it up. They are well-coached and not necessarily a "do what I do" defense. They went to heavy Man coverage against the Rams, counter to their strategy most of the year. Obviously it didn't work that well in that game but I wouldn't be that surprised if in the SB they do more flooding of the underneath zones and forced the ball to go deep. That's not necessarily them saying they don't think Maye can do it, but more that they think that gives their D-Line more time to win against what's been pretty bad pass protection for the Pats and they think their coverage guys are better than our receivers.

Simply put - we can have a game plan but we will have to be nimble. The extra week for the Super Bowl often leads to big wrinkles in game plans / tactics vs. regular season.
Click to expand...
Oh, I agree. And I expect Seattle to switch it up, but it really all boils down to those line stunts, and if Campbell and Wilson can jam those stunts. If they can, Maye will have a big day. If they can't, it will be a struggle. The back end of it (the switches in coverage) is for Maye and the receivers to work out, but if you can protect, everything will get open eventually. Cover 6, Cover 4, Cover 1, Straight Man, doesn't matter if the QB has time to make a decision. Outside of Emmanwori, that secondary grades out to 'fine'. Riq Woolen suddenly becoming Deion Sanders in the media is hilarious, since Seattle's spent the last two years trying to draft his replacement.

As you said, they've had two weeks to work on it.
 
TommyD4207 said:
Oh, I agree. And I expect Seattle to switch it up, but it really all boils down to those line stunts, and if Campbell and Wilson can jam those stunts. If they can, Maye will have a big day. If they can't, it will be a struggle. The back end of it (the switches in coverage) is for Maye and the receivers to work out, but if you can protect, everything will get open eventually. Cover 6, Cover 4, Cover 1, Straight Man, doesn't matter if the QB has time to make a decision. Outside of Emmanwori, that secondary grades out to 'fine'. Riq Woolen suddenly becoming Deion Sanders in the media is hilarious, since Seattle's spent the last two years trying to draft his replacement.

As you said, they've had two weeks to work on it.
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I agree. That D line is not fearsome IF you can suss out the stunts.
 
I see people freaking out about cover 6, but it was a small percentage of what Seatle did this year. As others have mentioned they are very well coached and will "spin the dial" in the 2ndary. As pointed out above the key is the OL vs the D, if Maye has sufficient time he will find plays.
 
Patriot's interior DL can dominate this game. Some nice examples of how they use wide sets (with and without stunts and blitzes) to pressure the guards:

 
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