PATRIOTS OFFENSE V. JETS DEFENSE

• Revis again predominantly matched up on Moss when Moss aligned on the outside
• Welker and Faulk the keys to the Patriots pass offense, They provide the sustainability factor
• Welker inside slot on the 3 receiver side of a 3×1 set matched on a LB, Matchup advantage Patriots
• Patriots did a great job with personnel and formation dictating favorable matchups for Welker on linebackers and safeties – It also defined the throw for Brady quickly, and therefore negated the Jets pressure concepts
• Moss 4 yd TD came on “Smoke”, It was a called run
• Jets did not show any consistent ability to rush Brady unless they blitzed, Welker 43 yds on 3^rd + 7 came against a 3 man rush with 8 in coverage
• Patriots had a great read on the Jets pressure concepts, especially the zone blitz schemes; Receivers quickly ran to open areas and Brady got the ball out fast
• Jets underneath defenders did a poor job in the first half, Too often they stared at Brady instead of being aware of the route combinations
• Brady now back as far as pocket toughness and pocket movement, He was oblivious to pressure
• Moss not a very good route runner; While there are not many cover corners like Revis, Moss was clearly velcroed the majority of the snaps – Moss limited lateral quickness and change of direction
• Jets did a much better job with their coverage schemes in the second half, Forced Brady to hesitate in the pocket at times – That led to pressure
• Welker a very difficult matchup for nickel corners on the inside: Great understanding of route running, Outstanding lateral explosion and change of direction
• Jets defense did not dictate pace and tempo of this game, as it did back in week 2; They adjusted well as the game progressed but they were reactive through the first half, especially against Welker

JETS OFFENSE V. PATRIOTS DEFENSE

• Patriots opened the game in their 3-4 front: Wilfork still a dominant NT: Unbelievable quickness for a man that size
• Patriots blitzed on the Jets first 3^rd + long (3^rd + 10), They were in their dime package: Sanchez read it quickly, Clowney dropped a perfect throw
• Butler was the third corner, and Chung the third safety in the dime package
• Keller a receiving TE, No power or explosion as a run blocker
• Bodden 53 yd interception return TD on 3^rd + 8 came out of Patriots dime package, It was “man free” lurk
• Patriots went with dime personnel in 3^rd + long situations; They predominantly stayed in their base 3-4 in normal down and distance situations, even if the Jets went with 3 WRs
• Sanchez overly reactive to opposing jersey color, Tendency to break down too quickly: That was evident on Banta-Cain sack in the second quarter – Sanchez played very fast both mentally and physically, The game has not slowed down for him, There’s no comfort level to his game
• Sanchez fast play was the reason the Patriots blitzed out of their dime package in 3^rd + long situations, Encourage his frenetic tendencies
• Wilfork also aligned at LDE in the base 3-4 front, with Pryor at NT; Wilfork also made plays at DE
• Jets first 3^rd down conversion came on their first possession of the second half, It was 3^rd + 9: Patriots rushed 5 and played “cover 2”, Sanchez excellent throw to Keller in the middle void for 21 yds – Thomas from down DE position drove LT Ferguson right back into Sanchez
• Cotchery 29 yd TD on 2^nd + 7 came against a “cover zero” blitz out of base 3-4 personnel – Great throw by Sanchez, Coverage quickly defined and easy to read
• Patriots went to 4-3 front for the first time on the Jets second possession of the third quarter; Burgess was the fourth DL, at RDE – They only played 2 snaps of 4-3
• Sanchez has very quick feet, but not good feet in terms of body control and balance – Right now, Sanchez is playing hurried and scared
• Thomas jumped out on film; He played very well in this game, almost entirely at OLB in the 3-4
• Edwards didn’t seem to play with a lot of enthusiasm, There was no snap to his movement and route running – He was not targeted early and he has a tendency to lose interest

EAGLES OFFENSE V. BEARS DEFENSE

• Bears defense made a gap control mistake on Vick 34 yds on 3^rd + 1 on the Eagles first series
• McCoy looked quicker, He was shifty and elusive plus he ran harder – Overall, he had more juice
• Graham was the Bears nickel corner, He aligned over the slot
• Eagles used more no huddle during the course of the game than I can remember
• Avant 13 yd TD came on a WR screen – Interesting call given McNabb’s 2 main problems in the red zone: Speed of decision making, and accuracy’ The WR screen took care of both
• Bears predominant long yardage defense is “Tampa 2” – They still use the landmark concept in which the underneath defenders drop to a spot and look back at the QB; This concept is one reason the Bears pass defense is so poor, They have no awareness of routes behind them
• Eagles OL still had some problems with pass protection, They continued to struggle with quickness – LG Herremans did not play well, he was beaten too often
• Bowman interception against Jackson came off press man coverage; Bowman physically defeated Jackson, and then jumped inside on the quick slant
• In “cover 3” Bears corners Tillman and Bowman gave the Eagles WRs big cushions, Both Jackson and Maclin can really run and neither Tillman nor Bowman has top end speed
• Jackson 48 yd TD on 1^st + 10 came out of “21” personnel, straight “I” versus Bears “Tampa 2”; Minus splits by both Jackson and Maclin, Objective was for Jackson to scream inside at the S Afalava, Eagles clearly anticipated the coverage because they went with an 8 man protection concept – Afalava did not track the ball in the air very well
• Bears did an excellent job recognizing and taking away the Eagles screen game
• As the game progressed the Eagles allocated more bodies in pass protection, Their OL was getting beat too frequently
• Eagles very balanced on their GW TD drive, in terms of personnel, formations and play calling: 6 called passes, 5 called runs
• Peters and Celek great blocks on McCoy 10 yd TD; Hillenmeyer was awful, He was in the hole clean but instead of finding the ball he attacked the lead blocker and took himself out of the play
• Eagles a well balanced passing game: McNabb targets Jackson and Maclin about equally; Celek wasn’t targeted as much in this game because the Eagles had pass protection issues and he blocked more than the Eagles normally like

COLTS OFFENSE V. RAVENS DEFENSE

• Colts utilized closed formations (no split receiver to one side of the formation) on their first 3 normal down and distance plays
• Ravens blitzed on the first 2 long yardage situations: Wayne 15 yds on 3^rd + 9 was a “fire x” blitz out of nickel, Garcon 66 yds on 2^nd + 9 was an overload slot blitz out of nickel
• Landry interception came out of a Colts closed formation, Clark ran a corner route from the closed TE position against Landry, Colts did not occupy the underneath corner Washington, Washington dropped underneath Clark’s corner route, Manning clearly did not account for Washington
• Colts predominant personnel package in this game in normal down and distance situations was 2 TE and 2 WR, Santi was the second TE with Clark primarily aligned in the slot
• Reed manipulated Manning on his interception, He showed Manning deep middle movement then flew over the top of Wayne’s go route
• LB Ellerbee has good sideline-to-sideline range, His ability to run stood out
• Ravens primarily matched up to the Colts 2 TE and 2 WR personnel with their nickel package, which featured CB Webb in the slot
• Addai juked Lewis in the hole on his 5 yd TD, Lewis grabbed at air
• This was the first game in which the Colts run game was a sustaining factor, The yardage may not have been big but they ran the ball efficiently and they stayed with it
• Manning defeated the Ravens blitz a number of times , He made accurate throws under duress: A great example (one of many) was Garcon 15 yds on 2^nd + 10 on GW FG drive in the fourth quarter
• Lewis makes individual plays, but play after play, he’s not the same player he was
• Ravens used more base personnel in the second half, mixing and matching base with nickel; They did this because the Colts run game was having an impact against the nickel
• In the red zone, Ravens often rushed 3 and dropped 8; That was clearly a game planned tactic
• Collie got very few snaps in this game because the Colts felt their best personnel package was 2 TE and 2 WR

GIANTS OFFENSE V. FALCONS DEFENSE

• Giants OL did not create space in the run game, They allowed too much quick penetration which forced backs Jacobs and Bradshaw to redirect too often in the backfield
• Another problem in the run game was the inability of the OL to get to the second level cleanly, That was a strength last season
• FB Hedgecock also was not very good as a lead blocker in this game – Overall, a number of problems with the Giants run game
• One positive was that Jacobs ran hard, He ran downhill with power although he did not run through tacklers the way he did the last 2 years – Too bad he got injured in the third quarter
• Nicks showed the ability to come out of breaks with quickness and explosion, Also liked his innate ability to come back to the ball – Showed strong hands with the ability to snatch it away from his body
• Giants went back to basics in the pass game to get Manning back on track: The flat/curl combination, a staple of their pass game during their SB run in 2007
• Manning threw the ball very well beginning in the second quarter: Consecutive outstanding throws to Nicks 30 yds and Boss 28 yd TD
• LT Diehl struggled in pass protection when matched one-on-one with Abraham and Davis; Giants often gave him help
• Manning great throw to Boss on 4 yd TD before the half, He threw away from S DeCoud – Great accuracy in a tight window, That’s what demanded inside the 10 yd line
• Smith ran by Houston on his 51 yd catch to start the second half: Houston pure man on Smith, Smith showed a great release and vertical speed – Houston was a 4.3 speed guy at the Combine and he could not make up any ground on Smith
• Houston had a tough time, He really struggled in man coverage
• Giants very aggressive with the passing game: Manningham 27 yds in the fourth quarter came on 3^rd + 1, Shotgun spread with 4 WR personnel – Unbelievable throw by Manning, Manningham well covered by S Decoud
• Falcons did not disrupt the Giants pass game when they blitzed
• Giants clearly got Boss more involved in the pass game, and they were intermediate throws down the field
• Falcons increased their blitz frequency in the fourth quarter and OT, They tried to challenge the Giants offense with pressure
• Giants will be a passing offense as the season progresses, They have an improving trio of WRs with a multiple array of skills; Nicks, Smith and Manningham all provide something different and something needed in a balanced pass offense – Boss will also become a bigger factor
• My only concern with the Giants pass game is protection, LT Diehl can be a liability when matched one-on-one – Overall, the protection against the Falcons was inconsistent, at times showing too much leakage