Each week we’re bringing you a discussion on a few plays that our analysts found interesting over the course of the week’s action. This week we have the return of PFF’s Chief Analyst, Ben Stockwell, to take you through a pair of plays, before a final one from Sam Monson.
We’re going to look at a run play with perfect execution, a touchdown pass by an in-form pair, and a momentum-swinging interception that was returned for a touchdown, sending the Cowboys spiraling out of control and ultimately to defeat against the Lions.
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Carolina @ Chicago | 1st Q, 9:02 | 2nd-and-5
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Outcome:
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Matt Forte picks up 46 yards on the Bears’ second offensive play from scrimmage.
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Why it worked:
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This play is a perfect example of how motion causes problems for defenses that do not adjust and, as in this instance, causes them to be outnumbered and lose gap control. The Bears are able to get their second run of the game to the edge of the Panthers' defense and with the tight end and right tackle able to seal the first level the play simply opens up for Matt Forte. With the help of some shoddy open field tackling from Charles Godfrey, the Bears have transformed field position in the blink of an eye and with just two mistakes from the defense.
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The Bears align initially with a tight end left and their fullback offset right. This sets the Panthers up with their defensive strength to their right. The weak (left) side of their defense is extremely stretched at this point with middle linebacker Dan Connor aligned over the head of the center, Sione Fua is in the weakside A gap, weakside linebacker Jason Williams has an inside shade of the RT, and DLE Charles Johnson is wide of RT Frank Omiyale. This weak side of the formation is fine, but when the Bears move their TE from their left to their right side, the Panthers now find themselves outnumbered four to three on a new strong side of the formation, and Chicago makes them pay.
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One excellent piece of work by an offensive lineman and one linebacker left with a horrid conundrum spring this play at the line of scrimmage. RG Chris Spencer makes an excellent first step to get around Fua's front shoulder to not only hold Fua up, (allowing his C Roberto Garza to take over the block), but he is also able to work off of it cleanly to cut-off the Connor's pursuit at the second level, maintaining the Bears’ numerical advantage. Omiyale and TE Kellen Davis get a solid double team on Charles Johnson, which leaves the WLB Willaims, now playing SLB after the motion, in a no-win situation.
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Both the play-side B and play-side D gaps are open; Williams can’t cover both. He shoots the B, flushing Forte outside and when fullback Tyler Cutts kicks out the force defender, SS Sherrod Martin, the Bears’ tailback is free into the secondary.
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This is how an offensive co-ordinator dreams of his plays being run; the motion unlocked the defense which failed to adjust with it. Without any dominant one-on-one victories, the Bears have moved half way down the field and set the tone for their big day running the football.
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Denver @ Green Bay | 2nd Q, 0:27 | 1st-and-10
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Outcome:
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Packers score on a 17 yard touchdown strike from Aaron Rodgers to Greg Jennings.
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Why it worked:
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The Packers caught out the Broncos trying to roll their corners into cover 3 in this game; this is a coverage that saw Chris Cook make a fabulous play to break up a pass to Calvin Johnson last week in the Vikings' home game with Detroit. Unfortunately for Denver, because of the timing between quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Greg Jennings, Green Bay was able to beat the coverage right up the seam of the defense for a score that stretched their lead to eleven points as the first half came to a close at Lambeau Field.
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The Broncos begin the play with a “two high” look but as the snap approaches Brian Dawkins steps up in coverage and shows that he is likely to be occupying the flats to the right side of the offense. He does just this and as the play rolls on, it's clear that the Broncos are dropping both cornerbacks into deep zones with free safety Rahim Moore taking the middle of the field. Whether this was the original play call or Rodgers and Jennings adjusting on the fly, with Dawkins stepping up, the best option for the offense is a shot into that space to the slot receiver; the Packers have the perfect play. Left corner Cassius Vaughn is then left with the unenviable task of having to get deep over the top of Jennings’ go route from the slot and work his way in-field to it, and he simply isn’t quick enough to do that this time.
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When the ball is caught by Jennings at the 2-yard-line going in, even the broadcast camera angles show that the route and throw have perfectly dissected four zones up the right numbers. Not one of Moore in his deep middle third, Vaughn in his deep third to the right side of the field, Dawkins with the right flat or Wesley Woodyard with a hook/curl zone inside the numbers has the speed to get to the edge of their zones to make a play on this ball. With Jennings getting a free release up the field there was simply no way for the Broncos to defend this route with the coverage that they had called. Credit goes to the play call and adjustment from Rodgers and Jennings for finding the perfect play to beat this coverage.
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Detroit @ Dallas | 3rd Q, 5:48 | 3rd-and-2
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Outcome:
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Detroit takes another seven points out of the Dallas lead to close the gap to 10 by returning a second Tony Romo interception for a touchdown.
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Why it worked:
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This should have been a high percentage play. On 3rd-and-2 from midfield, the Cowboys set up to try and move the chains against man coverage to the right side. The line up 3-wide, tight-end right, with a running back flanking Romo in the backfield from the shotgun. What we’re going to be interested in though is the one-on-one matchup between Lions cornerback Chris Houston, and Dallas wide out, Laurent Robinson.
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Houston had not been having a good day up until this snap. Victimized a few times already in the pass game, it’s not surprising Dallas went right towards an isolated matchup with him to move the chains.
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Robinson is going to run a slant pattern, and Houston lines up about three yards off his receiver in a classic man technique, head up over him. Robinson releases to the outside, and three yards up field he cuts back across Houston's face, having forced the corner to flip his hips to the outside to respect the release. To this point everything is going the way it is supposed to for Dallas, even more so as Jason Witten's route has dragged the rest of the coverage across the field away from the slant. This play has a chance to not only move the chains, but to pick up significant yards after the catch as well. Unfortunately, at about the time Romo has correctly registered all of that and cocked to throw the pass, Robinson makes his error on the play and Houston redeems his earlier play.
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Having done the hard work to set up Houston to the outside, Robinson doesn’t fight across the face of the corner once he makes his cut. Houston, recognizing the cut by the receiver, gets enough contact and weight on him to prevent him from coming fully across to the open field where the ball will be thrown. Robinson’s failure to battle through means Houston is now in the better position, and finds himself in the spot the ball is being thrown to – the space Robinson should have commanded.
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There is an argument to be made that Romo shouldn’t have thrown the pass into such tight coverage, but at this level, you’re dealing with a game of split seconds, key reads, and inches between success and failure, especially on short, sharp plays designed to pick up quick yardage. The last thing you want to do is be late on a throw – that's when bad things happen. At the point Romo decided to throw this pass, everything he could have read looked good. Houston was able to recover his leverage with a subtle grab of the receiver, and then jam him with enough force to prevent him getting to his spot. This interception is a combination of an excellent play by Houston to recover position, and a poor play by Robinson to fight his way into good position to receive the pass.
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Follow Sam on Twitter: @SamMonson … and give our main Twitter feed a follow too: @ProFootbalFocus
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