COACHING TAPE – WEEK 3

VIKINGS OFFENSE V. 49ERS DEFENSE

• Vikings OL still struggled with stunts, This is a continuing problem for the Vikings
• S Lewis aligned at LB in the 49ers dime package: Bly was the third corner, and Roman was the third safety; CB Brown also played as the 49ers 6^th DB
• LG Hutchinson had problems with the bull rush of Justin Smith
• Rice 30 yd TD came out of “21” (2 backs and 1 TE) personnel, Straight “I” formation: 49ers blitzed S Lewis from Rice’s side and rolled the other S Goldshon over the top of Berrian, CB Clements played outside leverage versus Rice but he had no help with Goldshon rotated over the top of Berrian
• Harvin very effective working the slot: Quick, explosive and powerful
• 49ers high percentage blitz out of their dime package, Made sense given weakness of Vikings OL in pass protection and Favre’s tendency to get the ball out quick
• 49ers not a conventional 3-4: The DL often aligned in gaps, and they did  did a lot of slanting – More of a 4-3 concept with 3-4 personnel
• Roman sack on 3^rd + 6 in the second quarter came with no 49ers defenders in a 3 point stance: They rushed 5 (DL McDonald showed rush and then dropped out to account for RB Taylor), and Roman was unblocked
• Favre very erratic throwing the ball, Missed a number of routine throws due to inaccuracy – Also forced some throws into coverage based on poor reads
• Vikings OL not a very good run blocking unit; Peterson makes the OL look far better than it is – OL slow and mechanical, not athletic
• Harvin 15 yds on 3^rd + 10 on GW drive was a critical play: Great route design by the Vikings against the 49ers “cover 4” defense to get Harvin matched against LB Willis in the middle of the field
• Favre / Lewis 32 yd GW TD came against “cover 4 prevent”: There were :12 left when the ball was snapped, so the 49ers had to believe they were going to have to defend 2 plays – S Roman put himself in a trail position instead of cutting Lewis off at the back at the end zone; He had to lose the ball in order to get a fit on Lewis

49ERS OFFENSE V. VIKINGS DEFENSE

• Vikings played a high percentage of “man free” with 8 in the box; They were challenging the 49ers passing game to beat them
• MLB Henderson decisive, active and disruptive
• DE Allen dominated LT Staley both in the run game and rushing the QB
• 49ers offense very condensed and old-fashioned: A lot of tight motion with the WRs, A lot of minus splits with the WRs to be in position to block in the run game – No spread element  to the 49ers offense
• 49ers a lot of tight formations, Bootleg movement – Close to the vest offensive football: 49ers have a clear profile of what they are, and what they’re not
• 49esr do not try to outnumber the defense in the run game, They’re trying to block the defense
• Vikings LBs very fast flow and reactive; 49ers had success running the ball with bend back and misdirection action – Ability of TE Davis to block DEs is critical in this concept
• Coffee a downhill runner with very little lateral agility and explosiveness
• 49ers made a great adjustment with their run game in the second half: They went to more of a zone blocking based run game instead of pulling OL with “power” and “counter” – Gradually, the 49ers run game began to gain control of the pace and tempo of the game
• Vikings defense was not as proactive in the second half, More tentative in their reactions and movements
• LB Henderson and S Williams made the coverage mistakes on Davis 20 yd TD in the fourth quarter; They weren’t breakdowns as much as poor execution of the called defense
• Davis very straight line in his movements, Not a lot of lateral agility and explosiveness – A vertical seam receiver
• Overall, the 49ers offense did an excellent job staying within the discipline of their profile

JETS OFFENSE V. TITANS DEFENSE

• Sanchez 14 yd TD came against “cover zero”; Titans undisciplined with their rush, and had no contain defender to Sanchez left – Sanchez read the “cover zero” and ran the ball
• OC Schottenheimer does an excellent job with personnel and formations, dictating matchups and coverages – Really helps Sanchez with defined looks and reads
• What I really like about Sanchez is that he always resets his feet, and gets on balance off pocket movement
• Titans front four very athletic and quick, and that included all of the guys who played – They have an excellent rotation
• Titans did not blitz hardly at all, Relied solely on their 4 man rush
• Jets offensively driven by their run game, Sanchez is a complementary QB
• As the game progressed, it became evident that the Titans DL was quicker than the Jets OL
• Jets went after CB Harper with Cotchery, and Cotchery won that matchup – Cotchery 46 yd catch on a go route in the fourth quarter came with Harper matched man-to-man, Great throw by Sanchez with Harper having good coverage
• Harper will be attacked by opposing pass offenses as the weeks continue; When the Titans play with 8 in the box, he’s essentially matched man-to-man on the outside, and he struggles with both technique and athleticism – Harper is not a man-to-man corner
• Overall, the Jets OL was overmatched by the Titans front seven in the run game

TITANS OFFENSE V. JETS DEFENSE

• Jets defense a lot of pre snap movement, The purpose is to distort the offense’s ability to identify players before the snap: Who to block in both the run game and in pass protection?
• You can have success running the ball against the Jets defense by lengthening the front, and utilizing bend back and misdirection elements: Johnson 20 yds in the second quarter
• Against the Jets defense with all their pre snap movement and their shooting of gaps and penetration, it makes sense to tighten the OL splits: The Titans did that, and ran the ball effectively
• Through the first half, the Titans offense dictated the pace and tempo against the Jets defense; They stabilized and minimized the aggressive pressure tendencies of the Jets blitzing defense
• Smith interception came against a 3 man rush, Jets were able to force Collins out of the pocket and throw on the run
• Defenses like the Jets that are structured and predicated on pressure usually do not play full coverages as well as defenses whose foundation is coverage – If you want to scheme to pressure the QB with blitz you can, but it takes a lot of practice time
• Jets did not blitz very much through 2 ½ quarters, and their defense was reactive not proactive – In the middle of the third quarter, they increased their blitz frequency and began to dictate to the Titans offense
• Johnson presses the hole, and then gets to the perimeter with speed and acceleration better than any back in the NFL
• Johnson a very poor blocker versus blitz, Hurts the Titans pass game
• On the final drive, the Jets blitzed on 3^rd + 23, and 4^th + 23; The fourth down blitz was “cover zero”
• Ryan clearly changed the pace and tempo of the game by significantly increasing his blitz frequency in the second half
• LB Harris a dominant player in the Jets aggressive defensive scheme, in all phases: He’s shown to be an excellent blitzer with good timing and downhill burst, plus he’s powerful
• Gholston finally showed up on film: The Jets used him as a rotation player, and he played with effort and intensity; He’s not physically gifted enough to be a special pass rusher, but the Jets sophisticated schemes will create opportunities for him
• Titans an inordinate number of dropped passes in the second half; Collins ended the game with 12 straight incompletions, but 5 of those legitimately should have been caught

COLTS OFFENSE V. CARDS DEFENSE

• Rookie WR Collie becoming a factor in the slot, Manning clearly moiré confident throwing to him
• Manning’s interception would have been a TD to Wayne on the post if his arm wasn’t hit by Branch on his delivery
• Colts added a few formation wrinkles: 3×1 set with Wayne on the right in the inside slot and Clark in the regular slot – First time they aligned in this formation Manning hit Clark matched on SS Wilson for 15 yds on 3^rd + 4; Cards matched up nickel corner Brown on Wayne
• The second time the Colts aligned in the 3×1 set with Wayne in the inside slot on the right Manning hit Wayne for a 20 yd TD
• Cards played a high percentage of soft zone coverage schemes, The absolutely wrong way to play the Colts
• Cards allowed the Colts receivers free access on almost every snap, They never attempted to disrupt the timing of the routes
• Garcon 53 yd TD came against ¼, ¼, ½ coverage; The Cards played “cover 2” over Wayne and had Rodgers-Cromartie matched on Garcon man-to-man vertically in his quarters responsibility
• Cards did not blitz much at all, They generated no pressure on Manning
• Manning’s ball distribution much better without Harrison
• Colts do an excellent job running underneath crossing routes, almost always with a high-low element
• Colts do an excellent job with isolation routes on the outside, a function of their predominant 2×2 sets
• SS Wilson not even close to being the player he was a number of years ago; He’s no longer a significant factor in the run game, and he’s a definite liability in coverage
• Other than Dockett, who has great first step quickness and explosion, the Cards have no individual pass rushers