Thoughts and Rants Brought to You by Justis Mosqueda

Friday, September 13, 2013

Break It Down: Aaron Rodgers and his "read-option" play

"I got the ball, and I decided to keep it." That's what Aaron Rodgers told Jason Wilde on his weekly radio show Tuesdays With Aaron. There was some controversy regarding a third-and-one rushing attempt, as fans were split on whether or not it was a read-option play or a designed keeper.

As the coaches' tape went up, it became obvious, it wasn't a zone-read, but it wasn't a designed play, either. Jason Wilde asked, "That was a run/pass option, and you took the option of you running?"

Rodgers replied with, "Maybe." He's too intense of a competitor to tell the world directly what the plan was on that particular snap, but he did indeed pull the ball on a running play designed for Eddie Lacy, the Packers' running back.

Play 1: Aaron Rodgers runs for a first-down

[1] Green Bay came out with a 1-2 receiver split, a tight end (Finley) to the right, and running back (Lacy) to the left of Rodgers, in the shotgun. Rodgers signaled Finley to move to the left, likely to test the defense and see if they switch coverages.

[2] The defense did very little besides shift their linebackers towards the left side of the Packers' offensive line, where Finley motioned to.

[3] This is what the designed play looked like. A typical zone blocking scheme, Bowman (#53, highlighted in the yellow box) went unblocked, as he's a backside linebacker, and the Packers only needed one yard for the first-down.

[4] This is what the mesh-point would look like if it was a read-option. It's not. Look at Rodgers's eyes; they're looking at the sideline. If it were a read-option, Bowman, again highlighted, would be the read man. Rodgers shows no signs that he's reading him at all.

[5] Here's another view of the mesh-point, illustrating where Rodgers's eyes are, and where the running paths of Lacy and Rodgers would be.

[6] Rodgers pulled it, though. Bowman, out of position, couldn't make the stop as his momentum was already going to his left. He quickly tried to get going to the right, but it was too late.

[7] There was just too much space for him to make up for.

[8] Rodgers got much more than a first-down, even before the penalty Bowman would have after the play.

The only way the play could have been a read-option was if someone else made the read for him. He was looking at the sideline, so that wouldn't be totally impossible for a coach to give him a signal during the play based on what Bowman did, but I've never heard of that happening before. It's likely just a case of Rodgers seeing backside linebackers flowing to the running back at the sign of a hand off time after time, so he made the ballsy move to keep it himself.

When asked in-depth about the play, Rodgers replied, "I can't give away all the secrets here. You're asking me to give away way too many secrets."

Aaron, the secret's out.

2013 Rookie Passing Charts: Week 1

In the same fashion of my series charting 2014 NFL Draft prospects, I'll be charting the rookie quarterbacks this year, too. Instead of having the "M" (middle) count as passes between the hashes, though, they're counted as passes between the numbers, as the NFL has much smaller hashes than the college game, and the usage of the boundaries in the passing game are more common on the professional level.

E.J. Manuel vs New England

Geno Smith vs Tampa Bay

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Break It Down: Clay Matthews and how the Green Bay Packers defend the zone-read

After weeks of hearing Clay Matthews say he was going after the quarterback on zone-read plays, we finally saw it in action, and he delivered. On nearly every running play, Matthews was running full-speed into the 49ers backfield. While it didn't necessarily make that huge of an impact (San Francisco did more damage in the air more than on the ground), there's some key take-aways from the performance on Sunday.

Why would you take the quarterback every time?

1) The quarterback has to make the right read. Many are talking about slow-reading the play so the quarterback doesn't know what to do, but Matthews was penetrating so fast, that a quick decision had to be made in what seemed like half usual time. If the quarterback makes the wrong read (ie: keep it), then it's a huge tackle for loss.

2) The defense really doesn't need to worry about the quarterback side of the option. Obviously you assigned a man to him, but if he's getting hit in the backfield every time he keeps it, there's no reason to focus on anything but the running back. One of the biggest reasons the zone-read produces big plays is because the two runners are running in opposite directions, meaning that defenses could actually flow in the opposite direction of the ball. This will not happen if one option is completely taken out of the equation. Clay gets the quarterback, now, defense, you get the running back.

Play 1: Clay Matthews stops Frank Gore in the backfield

[1] An unintentional result of Matthews rushing into the backfield is him making plays on non-zone-read snaps. Here, the fullback is supposed to lead block Matthews to open a hole outside for Gore.

[2] Unfortunately for Miller (fullback), he missed Clay, who's penetration as fast as possible. So, Matthews nails Gore in the backfield for a huge loss of yards.

Play 2: Clay Matthews stops Colin Kaepernick in the backfield on a zone-read

[1] San Francisco's running a typical zone-read play. Clay (highlighted in the yellow box) is the read, meaning he won't be blocked. The rest of the front seven has been assigned blockers, and Miller, the fullback, is lead blocking outside, in case Kaepernick pulls the ball to run himself.

[2] At the mesh-point, Clay is gaining ground in the backfield, meaning that the ball should go to Gore, who's got a lead blocker leading him into the hole.

[3] Instead, Kaepernick keeps the ball, and has to beat a one-on-one situation with Matthews before seeing the open space to his left.

[4] Clay doesn't lose many of those battles.

Play 3: Washington's triple-option vs Cincinnati

[1] Unlike San Francisco, Washington runs a lot of packaged plays and triple options off of their first zone-read action. Here's an example of a triple option against Cincinnati, a team who played the zone-read in 2012 much like Green Bay will do in 2013. Instead of the key 34 OLB being the read, Washington read Cincinnati's key 43 DE, Michael Johnson.

[2] At the mesh-point, Johnson is gaining speed after starting a little slow. It looks as if he is going to the running back.

[3] But he changed directions quickly, leading him right to Robert Griffin III, who will pitch it to the third option right before he gets hit.

[4] The issue is this, the quarterback has to be clean enough to pitch the ball; otherwise, it's going to be a fumble. That's what happens when they make the wrong read (doesn't happen here, the read just changed directions during the mesh-point) with the read running full speed at them. So, instead of Matthews getting tackles in the backfield, there's a solid chance that if Griffin makes the wrong read this Sunday, he'll be forcing fumbles.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Break It Down: Evan Dietrich-Smith vs the San Francisco 49ers

If I was forced to summarize the Packers' center quality in one word, it'd be crud. After losing a talented Scott Wells in the 2012 free agency period to the St. Louis Rams, Green Bay signed Jeff Saturday, formerly the Colts' long-term center, on a two year contract. By mid-season, Saturday was benched, replaced by a 2009 undrafted free agent on his second stint with the Packers.

That man is Evan Dietrich-Smith. Prior to taking over as the Packers' starting center, the most recognition he had received was being the player Ndamukong Suh stomped on during the 2011 Thanksgiving game. Don't get it bent, though, Suh's not the only defensive lineman that stomps on EDS (as fans like to call him).

After the 2012 season, Jeff Saturday retired (either way, he wouldn't have lasted the off-season on the Packers' roster), and Evan Dietrich-Smith, as restricted free agent, was only tendered with "first-right of refusal " designation. To keep it simple, this meant the Packers were willing to have their projected starting center (also only center) walk off if any team was willing to give him any sort of money.

EDS signed a 1.32 million, one year contract with the Packers. It was obvious that Packers didn't value him much more than a one-year stop gap at the position. On Day 3 of the draft, the Packers took a left tackle from Cornell, J.C. Tretter. While Tretter played left tackle in college, many projected him as a guard/center prospect on the next level, due to his size.

It seemed like Dietrich-Smith's replacement was set, and it wouldn't have been a stretch to see Green Bay switch centers mid-season if something went wrong, as they had already recently done it. If you were a fan of that possibility, though, you must have been disappointed during rookie camp, when J.C. Tretter, the only other quality center on the Packers' 90-man roster, broke his ankle, likely ending his season.

Dietrich-Smith won the starting center job by default. He's going to keep it, too. Of the rest of the offensive linemen on the roster, Don Barclay and Greg Van Roten were the only ones with extended center experience this preseason. Don Barclay is starting at right tackle, so I highly doubt he'd move to center for any reason, and Greg Van Roten struggled with shot-gun snaps, and is likely a guard-only lineman for the rest of his career.

Enough on the background of EDS, though, onto his miserable performance against San Francisco. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this, coaches' tape of the Green Bay/San Francisco game was not available, so I had to use the TV feed.

Play 1: Eddie Lacy carries the ball for a 3 yard loss

[1] This is a simple zone running play. The run is going right, so the center goes after the person on or to the right of him. Evan Dietrich-Smith is uncovered, so his job is to block the man over T.J. Lang (the right tackle), after Lang chips him long enough for Dietrich-Smith to reach him, then Lang goes to the right inside linebacker.

[2] Lang chips the man (McDonald), then moves on his way to linebacker. The problem? Evan Dietrich-Smith's position. Not only is he not turning McDonald, or driving him backwards, but it looks as if he's pushing him from the side TOWARDS the ball carrier (Eddie Lacy). There's clearly a running lane in the B-Gap, but McDonald has penetrated the backfield.

[3] Dietrich-Smith had no chance on the play once McDonald got in front of him. McDonald makes contact with Lacy 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

[4] He makes the tackle-for-loss, while Dietrich-Smith stands next to his fallen teammate and failed blocking target.

Play 2: Eddie Lacy catches a screen and YACs for 31 yards

[1] The Packers are running a basic screen play. Lacy's catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage, while three offensive lineman (including Evan Dietrich-Smith) are moving down field to block for him.

[2] The first missed block for Dietrich-Smith. With a man RIGHT NEXT TO HIM and Lacy, he doesn't make a move. He continued to run down field.

[3] About five yards deeper than the last screen shot, Lacy breaks two tackles (including one from the man EDS should have blocked). Dietrich-Smith has two men in front of him; he has to block someone this time, right?

[4] Wrong. Dietrich-Smith buys a ticket. Instead of blocking for Lacy, or you know, even, like, looking the right direction, he decides he's going to watch him run.

[5] 31 yards past the line of scrimmage, Lacy is finally tackled near the goal line. Evan Dietrich-Smith was able to keep up with him, but he blocked a total of zero 49ers on the way there.

[6] Then Dietrich-Smith asks Lacy for some daps after the play. Amazing.

Notice the time. 1:40 in the first quarter. This isn't even all of the plays he graded poorly in, it's just the worst two in the first quarter of the game. I, as all Packer fans should, am praying for Tretter to be ready at some point in 2013. He's on PUP, so he technically can comeback, even though it's not likely. If not, fans of the team might want to familiarize themselves with the names Travis Swanson and Tyler Larsen, they'll been seeing them a lot in mock drafts.

Monday, September 9, 2013

2014 Draft Prospects Passing Charts: Week 2

Using Draft Breakdown's videos, I'll be charting the 2014 class in-season like I did in the preseason. This time, though, I'm including "catchable incompletions" (IE: drops, etc.) in the charts, too. The charts are split up into distance (behind the line-of-scrimmage, between 0-10 yards, between 11-19 yards, and 20 or more yards) and location horizontally (left of the hashes, between the hashes, and right of the hashes).

Key:
Top Row- Left-Completions, Middle-Attempts, Right-Catchable Incompletions
Middle Row- Yardage
Bottom Row- Left-Touchdowns, Right-Interceptions

Week 1

Stephen Morris (Miami) vs Florida