Rewatch Thread: NE vs. Indianapolis (W5 TNF)

[luuked]

The usual X & O thread. Take your bickering or off topic discussions into the Post Game Thread please.


Here are the snap counts this week:





Coverage stats for this week:



Pressure stats:



Blocking:

 

[luuked]

I am gonna start with some gifs and thoughts on DMac getting beat a few times:



This is the TD to Swoope where from my point of view he just took a few steps too far back and when swoop broke inside he was already beat. There is no speed in the world that will be able to make up for those wrong steps he made.

 

[PScottman]

This is the TD to Swoope where from my point of view he just took a few steps too far back and when swoop broke inside he was already beat.

Safety zone-based inside technique. He was late, but was trying to keep the player inside to where he had help as well.

 

[luuked]

The pass to Ebron before the Swoope TD:



On the second angle he definitely looks to be slower. But then again he has to flip his hips, accelerate against a player who is already in motion. The ball arrives just at the perfect time and into the ideal place as well. Again, not sure there is a player who can make up that difference in about 6 steps.

Am I not harsh enough on him ?

 

[PScottman]

On the second angle he definitely looks to be slower. But then again he has to flip his hips, accelerate against a player who is already in motion. The ball arrives just at the perfect time and into the ideal place as well.

Yeah, that one flat out just looks like poor man to man technique and execution.

 

[luuked]

Safety zone-based inside technique. He was late, but was trying to keep the player inside to where he had help as well.

So should the inside help be closer ? I am just trying to understand how much of his struggle is "loss of speed" and how much of it is just bad positioning/technique/etc.

 

[luuked]

Yeah, that one flat out just looks like poor man to man technique and execution.

I agree that is pretty much why he was moved to safety in the first place.

 

[luuked]

The final play I will post about DMac. Getting beat by Ebron for a TD in the third quarter:



Looks essentially identical to the other completion Ebron had on him. Same issue with man-to-man technique. That being said the TE chip in this play really did not help as well. Also another pitch perfect pass by Luck. Just slid it in far enough ahead of Ebron where he doesn't have to slow down too much but still has enough room to get both feet down.

 

[PScottman]

So should the inside help be closer ? I am just trying to understand how much of his struggle is "loss of speed" and how much of it is just bad positioning/technique/etc.

Depends on the offensive play call being executed against it. If you can flood a zone in the right place you expose the gaps inherent in it - 1 more offensive player versus 1 less defensive is optimal obviously. The other defender can also make the wrong choice of who to double or "take the hand off" from the initial defender. There are a ton of variables to consider.

The other play you loaded is probably more indicative of speed, but even there - was he supposed to jam and missed, did he expect "over the top" safety help in the overall coverage, was he to play inside or outside technique, etc, etc?

He did close well to limit YAC which is speed based, but not informative really toward the overall question.

 

[PP2]

Let's not discount the kind of night that Luck had. It was obvious from last night that he's all the way back from his shoulder injury now. The accuracy and pop in his throws were pretty good last night, especially in the 2nd half. He was just picking us apart in the secondary and picking on mismatches, especially McCourty vs. the TE's (we apparently had Chung cover the RB out of the backfield).

I would actually argue that Luck is the first elite QB that this team has faced this year.

 

[maineman209]

I am gonna start with some gifs and thoughts on DMac getting beat a few times:



This is the TD to Swoope where from my point of view he just took a few steps too far back and when swoop broke inside he was already beat. There is no speed in the world that will be able to make up for those wrong steps he made.

Do you know who was the other Pats defender who came in after the catch?

 

[Angelpats]

I am gonna start with some gifs and thoughts on DMac getting beat a few times:



This is the TD to Swoope where from my point of view he just took a few steps too far back and when swoop broke inside he was already beat. There is no speed in the world that will be able to make up for those wrong steps he made.

If he diagnosed that play better he would have had a chance for an int. Overall though he seems slower. He had No closing speed on Ebron, it actually looks like he is even losing ground on some other plays too.

 

[luuked]

I had this noted down since early in the first quarter yesterday:


Good luck defending a bunch with CP behind the blockers and Gronk spread out wide on the other side in the redzone. Add in White out of the backfield and you are toast. You only have so many bodies.

 

[luuked]

Do you know who was the other Pats defender who came in after the catch?

If you mean the inside help it was Chung.

 

[maineman209]

The pass to Ebron before the Swoope TD:



On the second angle he definitely looks to be slower. But then again he has to flip his hips, accelerate against a player who is already in motion. The ball arrives just at the perfect time and into the ideal place as well. Again, not sure there is a player who can make up that difference in about 6 steps.

Am I not harsh enough on him ?

DMac was close enough at the end to get a hand in there. Gave himself a chance at a PBU, anyway.

 

[luuked]

If he diagnosed that play better he would have had a chance for an int. Overall though he seems slower. He had No closing speed on Ebron, it actually looks like he is even losing ground on some other plays too.

I don't think a INT is realistic here but a PBU (or making Luck look somewhere else) would have easily been there if he took one less step backwards.

 

[luuked]

DMac was close enough at the end to get a hand in there. Gave himself a chance at a PBU, anyway.

I actually think he was closing down well enough but there were only 5-6 steps Ebron took between when DMac had to flip hips & accelerate and when the pass arrived. I don't know if you can make up that much space in this amount of time if the pass is placed perfectly in front of the TE.

 

[maineman209]

I had this noted down since early in the first quarter yesterday:


Good luck defending a bunch with CP behind the blockers and Gronk spread out wide on the other side in the redzone. Add in White out of the backfield and you are toast. You only have so many bodies.

Also, <1 sec from snap to throw.

 

[luuked]

Also, <1 sec from snap to throw.

Knock on wood but if most of those offensive pieces stay healthy and the new additions (Michel, Gordon) keep on the same trajectory I don't see what team can consistently stop them. Only penalties, drops and turnovers can.

 

[maineman209]

I actually think he was closing down well enough but there were only 5-6 steps Ebron took between when DMac had to flip hips & accelerate and when the pass arrived. I don't know if you can make up that much space in this amount of time if the pass is placed perfectly in front of the TE.

Thanks for the replays. It seems to me now that DMac got beat more by excellent route-running and perfect throws, rather than his own lack of speed. At least last night.

If he still had his rookie-year, elite closing speed, maybe he makes one of those plays, but that's obviously unrealistic.

Also, just in general WRT the "speed of the defense", they really aren't allowing much YAC very often.