Break It Down: The four allowed sacks vs Cincinnati

I might just change the subject of this blog to cover every sack the Packers allow this season. That's really what it's becoming at this point, anyway. Cincinnati vs Green Bay. The Packers allowed four sacks and really ended up blowing the game at the end, so let's look at some pseudo-X-and-Os to kill time until the Packers' next game (in two weeks..)

Play 1: Sack due to Evan Dietrich-Smith

[1] Cincinnati comes with five rushers, the only time they sacked Rodgers with more than four rushers all game. James Starks (running back) is going to block the blitzing safety (A-gap), and there's a stunt bringing the DE (highlighted) to the opposite A-gap, but there's nothing too exotic from this blitz.

[2] Starks cuts the safety, and Evan Dietrich-Smith (center) is about to engage with his man. This is going to be an issue, because EDS is going to get pushed into Starks, causing him to fall.

[3] As you can see, Evan Dietrich-Smith didn't have much of a chance once he started moving backwards into Starks.

[4] Sack.

Play 2: Sack due to David Bakhtiari

[1] The first of three four-man rush sacks is on the rookie left tackle. He's first off the line of scrimmage, and quickly tries to get to the outside to get in the way of the wide-defensive end.

[2] Instead, the defensive end takes an inside angle, forcing the rookie to come back to his original latitude. Bahktiari can't catch up, though, allowing a rusher into the backfield.

[3] Rodgers sees the blitz and tries to move outside, but Josh Sitton's man is coming around the edge.

[4] There's no where for him to run.

[5] Sack.

Play 3: Sack due to Don Barclay

[1] Another four-man rush. This time, the sack is attributed by a quick jump by the left defensive end.

[2] Getting to the edge quicker than Don Barclay (right tackle), he's able to close in on Rodgers while the tackle is still trying to get set up.

[3] Using his length, he's able to grab Rodgers's uniform as he's falling.

[4] Sack.

Play 4: Sack due to Evan Dietrich-Smith

[1] There's no stunt or quick jump on this one, just a bull-rush (and possible missed "hands to the face" call) by Cincinnati's Peko.

[2] If you really wanted to call this hands to the face, I'd bet you could. I'm not making excuses for EDS, though. He gives up a lot of ground here.

[3] About six to seven yards worth, actually, ending in the center's back ramming into the quarterback.

[4] No-defensive contact sack.

Chip Kelly's former quarterback recruits, 2014 NFL Draft possibilities?

As everyone else collectively gives up on Chip Kelly's offense, I decided to be productive with my time. Instead, I looked up which draft-eligible quarterbacks Chip Kelly (or at least Oregon) recruited while he was in Eugene. As the Dennis Dixon signing and Jeff Maehl trade reflected, Chip Kelly's not afraid to bring in players which he has a connection with.

First off, there's an NFL starter he recruited, which I think is notable: Oakland's Terrell Pryor. Pryor was the top recruit during Kelly's first post-season at Oregon, and the Ducks pitched him an opportunity to compete for the starting job as soon as he walked on campus, as Dennis Dixon had graduated-out (and exploded-kneed-out) of the program. I'm not sure how convinced Oakland is in him at this point, but maybe a trade is possible on draft day, if Oakland is in a position to draft a quarterback they feel builds a better future for them.

Outside of Marcus Mariota (Kelly's last starter at UO), who everyone already has pinned to Philadelphia, Bryan Bennett also played at Oregon before transferring to Southeast Louisiana this season. Both showed promise, possibly causing Darron Thomas to declare early for the NFL in 2012, where he was an undrafted free agent for a camp's time. Both are underclassmen, and I doubt either leave after 2013, but I'd keep an eye out for the pair for 2015's draft.

Here's where the list gets really interesting. There's two current seniors who Chip recruited: Clemson's Tajh Boyd and Cincinnati's Munchie Legaux. They are on two separate ends of the draft spectrum. Tajh Boyd is likely the senior quarterback with the biggest name, while many assumed Brandon Kay was the starter (and better draft prospect), not Legaux, in Cincinnati. Legaux won the starting gig, but his college career ended with a gruesome knee injury. 

Boyd is currently ranked as NFLDraftScout.com's top senior quarterback, and the 6'4" Munchie Leguax is ranked as their 95th wide receiver.

Outside of the seniors, there are also three draft eligible underclassmen who are starting at the FBS level: ULL's Terrance Broadway, UCLA's Brett Hundley, and Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel.

Hundley and Manziel are obviously the bigger names, but Broadway's the only junior of the bunch. Broadway was actually originally recruited to Houston by Kevin Sumlin, who also got Manziel to flip from Oregon to Texas A&M. That leads me to believe that the two coaches also view the quarterback position similarly. After one season, Broadway left to Louisiana-Lafayette, where he's since had 3,000+ passing yards and is closing in on 1,000 rushing yards. Like the pair of former-Kelly QBs at Oregon, I doubt he leaves early.

Brett Hundley's got the potential to be the top non-Bridgewater quarterback off the board. He's shown NFL potential as a redshirt freshman last year, and I don't think he enjoys the life as a collegiate athlete as much as most do. He's one of the major, active athletes in the de facto student-athlete union, which can really go two ways. 1) he either wants to help the cause by staying in school, or 2) he despises the NCAA and wants to get out of their jurisdiction. When he called the NCAA a "cartel" recently, I think that tipped his hand.

There's plenty written on Johnny Manziel, and if you've been a mile within a TV broadcasting ESPN you're bound to see something related to him, so the only comment on him I have is that he's a former Oregon-commit.

Next up are the guys not currently starting for their teams, or in the case of former-LSU Tiger Jerrard Randall, playing at a community college.

Randall was an Oregon commit that didn't qualify academically, leading to his choice of LSU as an original destination. Falling behind incoming freshman, Randall decided to transfer to Northeast Mississippi Community College, where he's a starter, then transfer out when he's offered an FBS/FCS starting gig.

Two other former Oregon targets also have transferred. Rob Bolden, who once was a starter at Penn State, is now a reserve quarterback with LSU. Tyler Gabbert, brother of Jacksonville's Blaine, began at Missouri before transferring to UCF, where Blake Bortles is cemented as the starter. Gabbert took the second-team snaps the first game of the year, but Justin Holman has received all of them since then.

Two others, Mark Leal and Christian LeMay, are backup quarterbacks with the teams they originally signed with. Leal is Virginia Tech's second-string quarterback, likely to take the starting job in 2014, when Logan Thomas is graduated-out of the program. Christian LeMay is a reserve behind Aaron Murray and junior Hutson Mason at Georgia.

So while there's really only five potential 2014 draft-eligible possibilities on this list, there's plenty of quarterbacks to keep an eye on for in the next two classes for Philadelphia fans. Keep your eyes out.

Break It Down: The Packers' first two "explosive" runs of 2013

As many people will tell you, football games are won on explosive plays. What this means is turnovers, rushes of 15+ yards, or passes of 20+ yards (at least that's what I was always told.) Up until the second quarter of the Washington match, Green Bay had no such run attempts. With Eddie Lacy out with a concussion (thanks, Meriweather), James Starks came in for the Pack, and with the help of two explosive runs, tallied up 100+ yards, a single-game milestone a Green Bay running back hasn't achieved in almost three seasons.

Play 1: James Starks rushes for 20 yards

[1] Green Bay came out in 11 personnel, and Washington came out in nickel, with only six men in the box. Both of the safeties were around 10-13 yards off the line of scrimmage, and the play-side corner was on the line, creating a perfect situation for Starks to run in space.

[2] Here's the end zone view of the tackle box. As you can see, everyone's accounted for, and only T.J. Lang (#71 LG) and Evan Dietrich-Smith (#62 C) were doing something other than a straight block.

[3] At the time of the hand-off, T.J. Lang and EDS were heading to the second level, and #24 from Washington was running to close in on Starks.

[4] Unfortunately for him, Jordy Nelson's leaf the corner to make the tackle and took the safety. On the backside, Evan Dietrich-Smith wasn't able to secure his man.

[5] Out of position, the corner made a run for Starks, who make it to the edge before leaving the corner behind him.

[6] Instead, Starks was tackled (helmet-to-helmet) by Meriweather, who concussed himself on the play.

Play 2: James Starks rushes for a 32-yard touchdown

[1] Unlike the first explosive run, there's no pulling guard, but again it involves Green Bay with 11 personnel and Washington out in nickel. This time, though, Andrew Quarless (the tight end) was in the backfield.

[2] Evan Dietrich-Smith was going to chip the defensive tackle to the right of him before taking on the linebacker, but besides that, everyone was assigned just one man to account for.

[3] At the hand-0ff, Quarless and EDS moved to second level, with all the other offensive linemen engaged in their blocks. What's interesting here is that #24 (highlighted) was running towards the ball, but was paying no attention to the backfield. Instead, he's looking at Jordy Nelson, who would be blocking him on the play.

[4] Nelson secured his block. Quarless secured his block. EDS secured his block. James Starks had nearly twenty yards of space ahead of him.

[5] Then he managed to survive two "tackle attempts" by Washington defensive backs.

[6] And finally a third as he was approaching the end zone.

Break It Down: The Packers' four sacks against Washington

A struggling offensive line is nothing Aaron Rodgers is new to, but unlike like Week 1's showing against the San Francisco 49ers, the Packers' offensive line gave up four sacks on non-fluke occurrences (such as the first sack of the season, which featured a missed cut block and wrong route.)

Sack 1

[1] This is probably the worst sack of them all, because it was just a full-on 1-on-1 mismatch, that lead to the sack. There were four Redskins rushing the passer with five linemen to block them, so in theory, Rodgers would have time to throw the ball, but Don Barclay, a 2012 UDFA who's likely a guard on 80% of NFL rosters, is the Packers' starting right tackle. He's matched up against Washington's #91, Ryan Kerrigan.

[2] Kerrigan get full extension on one arm, which means he has a much longer reach than Barclay could ever get with two. As long as Kerrigan can still get a push, this play's a disaster.

[3] And indeed he does, not only pushing Barclay, but shoving his right shoulder enough to open a lane straight to Aaron Rodgers.

[4] Eventually, Kerrigan gets the sack, pushing Don Barclay, again, the right tackle, all the way to where the left tackle, #69, David Bakhtiari, stands.

Sack 2

[1] Again, this one sack is caused by Kerrigan, who's highlighted. He and the defensive tackle are going to use movement and a stunt to get to Rodgers. This sack also only involves four men rushing.

[2] Right before the play is snapped, the tackle goes from lining up in the A-gap to moving on top of the center. This leads to the immediate attention of center, Evan Dietrich-Smith. Pay attention to right tackle T.J. Lang, #70; he's looking at #59, a linebacker who's not going to blitz. This is going to be important.

[3] Now, this is when the stunt starts to develop. Lang's looking for a blitz to pick up, coming from the second level, but there's nothing there. Kerrigan is starting to make his way to the opposite A-gap, while Dietrich-Smith and Josh Sitton, #71, the left tackle, are both paying attention to the tackle, which was once right on top of the center.

[4] Washington only sent four. Green Bay had six potential blockers. the 1-3 split of the rushers should have been able to have been combated by the 2-4 split of the offense's protection, but the blockers on both sides of the offense's right A-gap have no idea that Kerrigan's closing in on a straight shot to Rodgers.

[5] Which results in a sack.

Sack 3

[1] Like the first sack, this is a 1-on-1 breakdown, this time by another former UDFA, though.

[2] Evan Dietrich-Smith, who you could partially blame for the second sack, is at fault here. #96, who was lined up slightly to the right of him, was able to beat him from the start, and was well on his way by the time the center made first contact. 

[3] Rodgers saw it coming at his face, and he tried to escape.

[4] But there wasn't enough room for him, leading to the sack.

Sack 4

[1] This is the first, and only, sack Green Bay allowed to rush of more than four. As you can see, six were showing blitz, but two dropped back into zone. Instead, the fifth rusher came from the slot corner hovering over Randall Cobb, #18.

[2] Rookie David Bakhtiari had to go out wide to engage his rusher, which allowed the corner to zoom in the space he left behind. Unfortunately for Rodgers, T.J. Lang and Evan Dietrich-Smith were already engaged in their own rushers, meaning he was on his own.

[3] Rodgers, again, saw the rush coming at him and tried to flee the pocket.

[4] But again, he has no such luck.