Video Analysis: Achilles Heel of Patriots Defensive Coverage ?

[Ring 6]

The question is if this guy can watch the tape and point out the flaws why hasn't BB changed up the schemes, he and his assistants must self scout.

Who says he hasn’t? They don’t play the same scheme and technique on every play btw.

 

[goheels22002]

What the video shows, like any video of any opposing defense shows, is that tendencies can be identified and beaten. Mistakes happen like McCourty blowing his coverage.

The Patriots rushed four or five guys against Miami all day, figuring they could get to Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick was ready and got the ball out fast to receivers underneath. The pass rush was good, but not good enough to beat that plan on that day. If Fitzpatrick was off a beat, the defensive scheme would have resulted in turnovers. He was not.

I chalk it up to great preparation by Flores and his staff, and a career day by Fitzpatrick who was as sharp as ever with his throws. Credit is important to give where credit is due.

The Patriots will tighten up on the underneath stuff and adjust their pass rush to bring pressure where it can get an advantage while dropping into coverage. Tannehill has been excellent all season. But the Patriots know him.

The chess match against a former Patriot in Vrabel will be interesting.

Great players and great coaches come up big in big games.

 

[gitgronked82]

I'm going to watch this now on my break but this is from last night.

"Yea I'm speaking & maybe should have be clearer abt our secondary.

Again I'd keep our front aggressive but we've gone all out at times jumping/cutting routes. Also some tendencies have been figured out. Biting on fakes/doubles (JJ), giving up inside leverage/inside routes (Gilly), too aggressive off comebacks (Jackson), TE's have been a problem. Good teams have found a way to exploit certain parts of our defense. I think we need to switch up a few things. Tinker not an overhaul. And show some different looks on Sat. Again I'll try to post some clips tomorrow if someone else doesn't. I'm too tired have to wake up at 5am".

I also mentioned either yesterday or the day before that we definitely have to stay disciplined in the back end bc we're going to see a lot of PA, rollouts etc that would try to get us to take the bait in the 2nd/3rd level. Definitely going to see mesh/inside routes. They love crossers off PA. They didn't get rolling until around the middle of the year but now their run game is really on point. The OL/Henry look very much in sync, playing well off each other. We'll see a lot of OZ/Zone lead. If you're a LB the last thing you wanna do is be hesitant. Head on you might have an extra half second but off tackle/OZ you wanna get to your spot. So the mof crossers really play well off those designs. Pats love playing mofc (middle of the field closed) funneling **** inside off playing with outside leverage.
I know we played a decent amount of 2 high throughout the year so I wouldn't be shocked to see us use something like that a lil more to make sure it's not a foot race if someone breaks free. We'd have another player, presumably a S around to try to clamp down on that.

Actually watched the video bc it took me an hour to write bc I'm running around at work. Very good stuff. @gitgronked82 someone a lot smarter is touching on a lot of the same points I mentioned.

Hmm never saw the notification from this post.

Yeah, I came across this video too. Goes along with what we were thinking. So interesting to me... how the hell do we get away with outside leverage in man? From my playing days, if I lined up outside and the corner was outside me, I knew that it was zone, or at least some combo. It just doesn’t make sense to give a free inside release if you don’t have help inside. Gilmore must be just incredible at jumping in breaking routes to be able to recover from there.

I don’t see why one adjustment couldn’t just be as simple as “let’s align in typical inside leverage man when we man blitz”

 

[Hyped]

The question is if this guy can watch the tape and point out the flaws why hasn't BB changed up the schemes, he and his assistants must self scout.

We usually self scout and practice fundamentals during BYE weeks......

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

The question is if this guy can watch the tape and point out the flaws why hasn't BB changed up the schemes, he and his assistants must self scout.

Could be a few reasons but who knows. Trying to get extra possessions for the O. We have a great group for that kamikaze style. So it could be simply playing to our strength. Most of the year we weren't playing Watson or Mahomes so he could be simply playing the odds in terms of taking our guys over bad QBs.Who knows.

We've seen the flaws but just not
Biggest takeaway I got is this guy spent like 50+ hours putting these videos together. Incredible amount of work & I looked at his others which are pretty good to. People have pointed out this or that but he really put it together

Hmm never saw the notification from this post.

Yeah, I came across this video too. Goes along with what we were thinking. So interesting to me... how the hell do we get away with outside leverage in man? From my playing days, if I lined up outside and the corner was outside me, I knew that it was zone, or at least some combo. It just doesn’t make sense to give a free inside release if you don’t have help inside. Gilmore must be just incredible at jumping in breaking routes to be able to recover from there.

I don’t see why one adjustment couldn’t just be as simple as “let’s align in typical inside leverage man when we man blitz”

This is absolutely part of it. The make up speed, spacing ability etc allows him to make that play. More often then not it's a small play, pass break up or INT like the one on Cooper.
He loves getting physical to impede his man but it also helps identify which route is coming. And at times playing that leverage, as much as he does, plays will be made.

I've noticed it with Jackson on a few comebacks/curls. He's confident in what's coming, maybe too much, knowing a play is there to be made & at times that will work against you.

We had & have a good thing going. This defense was in sync as it gets. From the type of pass rush to the back end, just very calculated & measured.

Hopefully the defense is looking to make a statement. I can see Bill ****in with them all week, "How are we going to stop Smith, cover Brown, who wants to tackle Henry"? type ****.

I think it really comes down to that last part. Henry is the key rn as good as Tanny has been playing imo. Like us they've been in flux a lot of year. OL, RB & QB. The first two have really meshed well the last few months. Whether it's reading his blocks, allowing them to set up, well timed cuts. Its fun to watch.

They love running OZ. A favorite of his since college & that play really highlights the chemistry they have. The footwork (from OL of course Henry's isn't bad either) , patience & blocking is very good.
Everything looks the same. IZ/OZ then they'll hit you with windback, which again highlights the great footwork that sells the flow to the defense before Henry is breaking outside for a nice gain.
SF runs windback the best imo, maybe the most but Tennessee looks good running it as well. Windback is basically a zone counter for those that might not know. Often looks like split zone. We've run it before. Goal line I think.

Anyway I think it all starts up front this game. I doubt we "sell out" on anything but really treat their running game as priority #1. Someone posted one of Lazars tweets & he mentioned the 6/1 against the Rams. I definitely think we try something to that effect with some zone mixed in on certain plays/sides of the field like we talked abt in the other thread. Tennessee isn't really trying to fool anyone so we/have a great idea of what's coming Sat.

 

[reflexblue]

The one thought I had was they're are going to make changes in the playoffs. Don't give any tipoffs as to how they'll play defense.

 

[Dennis DiMaria]

I have to admit I do not know the X's and O's as well as many of the posters on here. This is a 20 minute video but I found it interesting to watch and understand how Gilmore and our secondary plays.

How accurate is the analysis from the viewpoint of the more experienced forum members?

 

[jah]

I don't have the emotional range to put myself through that video but that dude usually has very fair and reasonable analysis. Has made plenty of videos analyzing what we did right this year too.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Already a thread on this at the bottom of the page
Video Analysis: Achilles Heel of Patriots Defensive Coverage ?

 

[Patstastic]

BB needs to have his defense counter this somehow.

 

[Dennis DiMaria]

Already a thread on this at the bottom of the page
Video Analysis: Achilles Heel of Patriots Defensive Coverage ?

Ahhh sorry about that, must have missed it. I stumbled across it while looking for something unrelated

 

[letekro]

If only there was a way that the team could have had a week off to self scout and address these issues

 

[Shockt327]

Guys, this leverage "tell" is much ado about nothing...

Rather, these are just the basic rules in regards to what Nick Saban calls "the divider." The basic idea is to use leverage to take away the most open space on the field. So, if the WR lines up inside the divider, you play outside leverage too take away all that open space to the outside (remember you have help inside). If the WR lines up outside the divider, the CB plays inside leverage to force him to the sideline, because now there's far more open space until you reach the inside help.

Here are better write ups:

Cripes! Get back to fundamentals...: Nick Saban: Middle of the Field Safety Coverage Principles (part I)

Film room: Nick Saban’s Cover 1 Defense

The video below is Saban explaining it...

 

[Shockt327]

Also, I was only at 7:30 into this video -- where Gilmore baited Daniel Jones into the throwing the quick slant (and nearly picking it off) - and I was already questioning the knowledge of the author of the video, especially when he makes this point:

"In poker terms, Gillmore figured out Jones's tell and he almost punished him severely for it"

Uhh, that's nonsense. It has nothing to do with a "tell" from Daniel Johnson. The Pats just baited Daniel Jones with the blitz and he made a rookie mistake. How?

The Giants are in a 3x1 formation and the Patriots are playing single high safety (so, think Cover 1 or Cover 3). Now, anyone who even so much as tries to read/comprehend NFL/college playbooks and reads coaching blogs & watch videos (i.e. like me!) can tell you:

A) Throwing a quick slant to an isolated WR in a 3x1 is an obvious defensive weakness, because it's a quick inside route vs an easy 1-on-1.

B) So, to take away this 1-on-1 advantage; basic defensive coverage rules will always assign a defender to help that CB by aligning to jump that quick slant (i.e. the curl-flat defender; think Will or FS in-the-box). So, what was once a 1-on-1, is now a 2-on-1 against that route. Again, the very first read of that curl-flat defender is to check for that quick slant, before dropping into coverage (i.e. whether it's zone or man). Belichick and Saban call this rule "4/1st crosser." So, again, basic defenses are always prepared to take away the quick slant in 3x1.

Here's more on "4/1st crosser"
(the example is in cover 6 Skate w/ the weak safety, but also it's used C0ver 3 for Rip/Liz, Mable with the OLB too.)


C) So, how do offenses adapt to defenses taking this away with such basic rules? Well, offenses have their own basic rules, particularly "sight adjustments." Which means, regardless of the play-call/route in the huddle; when there is a weakside blitz (which makes it a 1-on-1 again) then that WR will change the route to a quick route, like a slant (or hitch, hook, etc) in order to exploit the blitz. Again, this rule is built into the offense's protection.

Here it is in the Patrots 04 offensive playbook:

So, with all those basic rules in place; how did the Pats bait Daniel Jones into throwing that quick slant & why did Jones think it was open? Well, if you re-watch the video, you'll see, pre-snap, Van Noy (and Winovich) on the LOS showing blitz. See, Daniel Jones fully expects a weakside OLB to drop into coverage in order to defend that quick slant, right? So, when both defenders rush the QB - and leave Gillmore in a 1-on-1 - Daniel Jones fully expects an easy completion to the slant. But nope! As the video's author (now) successfully points out, Gillmore was in position to jump the slant, and he can do so because that Single-high safety was really shading over to the weak-side.

So, again, Daniel Jones didn't have any "tell." At least no more than any other QB in any other system, when you study how they attack blitzes. Rather, Jones got baited into following the basic rules on a not-so-basic coverage. All because he saw NE showing blitz & then blitzing, which -- 99 times out of a 100 -- would be perfectly successful vs the slant. But, because it's the NFL, he didn't notice the deep safety shifting over, or account for the personnel he'd be throwing to (Gillmore!) and he didn't realize it was a trap. He's a rookie. That's all.

 

[Brick27]

Someone get this to BB. I know, I know, he probably doesn't need help from some yahoo on YouTube. But it can't hurt just in case.

Bill’s postgame conference after a win on Saturday..

Bill: “Yeah..*Smacks lips* I’m not usually someone to rely on breakdowns from someone on TubeFace or Twittstagram, but it was really the difference in this one.”

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Also, I was only at 7:30 into this video -- where Gilmore baited Daniel Jones into the throwing the quick slant (and nearly picking it off) - and I was already questioning the knowledge of the author of the video, especially when he makes this point:

"In poker terms, Gillmore figured out Jones's tell and he almost punished him severely for it"

Uhh, that's nonsense. It has nothing to do with a "tell" from Daniel Johnson. The Pats just baited Daniel Jones with the blitz and he made a rookie mistake. How?

The Giants are in a 3x1 formation and the Patriots are playing single high safety (so, think Cover 1 or Cover 3). Now, anyone who even so much as tries to read/comprehend NFL/college playbooks and reads coaching blogs & watch videos (i.e. like me!) can tell you:

A) Throwing a quick slant to an isolated WR in a 3x1 is an obvious defensive weakness, because it's a quick inside route vs an easy 1-on-1.

B) So, to take away this 1-on-1 advantage; basic defensive coverage rules will always assign a defender to help that CB by aligning to jump that quick slant (i.e. the curl-flat defender; think Will or FS in-the-box). So, what was once a 1-on-1, is now a 2-on-1 against that route. Again, the very first read of that curl-flat defender is to check for that quick slant, before dropping into coverage (i.e. whether it's zone or man). Belichick and Saban call this rule "4/1st crosser." So, again, basic defenses are always prepared to take away the quick slant in 3x1.

Here's more on "4/1st crosser"
(the example is in cover 6 Skate w/ the weak safety, but also it's used C0ver 3 for Rip/Liz, Mable with the OLB too.)


C) So, how do offenses adapt to defenses taking this away with such basic rules? Well, offenses have their own basic rules, particularly "sight adjustments." Which means, regardless of the play-call/route in the huddle; when there is a weakside blitz (which makes it a 1-on-1 again) then that WR will change the route to a quick route, like a slant (or hitch, hook, etc) in order to exploit the blitz. Again, this rule is built into the offense's protection.

Here it is in the Patrots 04 offensive playbook:

So, with all those basic rules in place; how did the Pats bait Daniel Jones into throwing that quick slant & why did Jones think it was open? Well, if you re-watch the video, you'll see, pre-snap, Van Noy (and Winovich) on the LOS showing blitz. See, Daniel Jones fully expects a weakside OLB to drop into coverage in order to defend that quick slant, right? So, when both defenders rush the QB - and leave Gillmore in a 1-on-1 - Daniel Jones fully expects an easy completion to the slant. But nope! As the video's author (now) successfully points out, Gillmore was in position to jump the slant, and he can do so because that Single-high safety was really shading over to the weak-side.

So, again, Daniel Jones didn't have any "tell." At least no more than any other QB in any other system, when you study how they attack blitzes. Rather, Jones got baited into following the basic rules on a not-so-basic coverage. All because he saw NE showing blitz & then blitzing, which -- 99 times out of a 100 -- would be perfectly successful vs the slant. But, because it's the NFL, he didn't notice the deep safety shifting over, or account for the personnel he'd be throwing to (Gillmore!) and he didn't realize it was a trap. He's a rookie. That's all.

Superb. Thank You