Analysis from the Tampa Bay coaches film

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
^ In above, what's the point of having ham slant into the other routes? We are creating congestion it seems like.

Love that last second bloq by boldin.

^^^ Spot on thl408. Damn good defense (good call) against this play. Well done CK!

In the instances like a mesh play against a zone or a high/low concept against man where we had little chance of success, is it on Keap to check us out of those play? Curious if you guys think he misread the defense or if Tampa did a good job of disguising coverage.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
^ In above, what's the point of having ham slant into the other routes? We are creating congestion it seems like.

Love that last second bloq by boldin.

In my observation, the 49ers run a coverage read passing attack, as opposed to a progression read passing attack (WCO). A coverage read attack gives the QB options as to what routes to throw to based on coverage. A generic coverage read pass play will utilize a zone busting concept in one area of the field, and a man coverage busting concept in a different area of the field. It is up to the QB to decide what route he targets based on his pre-snap, and post snap, read of the defense.

The reason Ham ran a slant was to provide Kap a man coverage busting route. Of course, it's not as simple as just calling the correct route against the correct coverage, Ham has to beat his man, but his man was playing the inside release, jams Ham, and properly plays an inside trail technique causing the the slant route to be harmless. We can see Ham realize his initial slant is defeated with the inside technique of the CB, so he breaks his route back towards the sidelines. If Ham had gotten a good release off the line, the inside breaking slant route was available with a throwing lane. However, Kap's first read was the high-low because he thought it was zone coverage.

Originally posted by stonecold590:
Where do you get to see the coaches film of games? I'm just really curious.

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Just to expand on the explanation (and play) above. It is up to the OC to put his best players in the best position to succeed. This means if Roman thinks that the defense will use zone coverage on a certain down and distance, then he needs to use the best route runners to execute a zone busting concept using a combination route designed to beat zone. The secondary route runners, in this case Ham and Osgood, are running the man coverage busters. This is generically speaking.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:

^ In above, what's the point of having ham slant into the other routes? We are creating congestion it seems like.

Love that last second bloq by boldin.

In my observation, the 49ers run a coverage read passing attack, as opposed to a progression read passing attack (WCO). A coverage read attack gives the QB options as to what routes to throw to based on coverage. A generic coverage read pass play will utilize a zone busting concept in one area of the field, and a man coverage busting concept in a different area of the field. It is up to the QB to decide what route he targets based on his pre-snap, and post snap, read of the defense.

The reason Ham ran a slant was to provide Kap a man coverage busting route. Of course, it's not as simple as just calling the correct route against the correct coverage, Ham has to beat his man, but his man was playing the inside release, jams Ham, and properly plays an inside trail technique causing the the slant route to be harmless. We can see Ham realize his initial slant is defeated with the inside technique of the CB, so he breaks his route back towards the sidelines. If Ham had gotten a good release off the line, the inside breaking slant route was available with a throwing lane. However, Kap's first read was the high-low because he thought it was zone coverage.

Originally posted by stonecold590:

Where do you get to see the coaches film of games? I'm just really curious.

NFL Game Rewind (paid subscription)

Thank you!

Originally posted by thl408:
Just to expand on the explanation (and play) above. It is up to the OC to put his best players in the best position to succeed. This means if Roman thinks that the defense will use zone coverage on a certain down and distance, then he needs to use the best route runners to execute a zone busting concept using a combination route designed to beat zone. The secondary route runners, in this case Ham and Osgood, are running the man coverage busters. This is generically speaking.

Awesome, thanks alot for all the great insight. Definitely makes watching the games alot more interesting/enjoyable.

Originally posted by Arminini:
In the instances like a mesh play against a zone or a high/low concept against man where we had little chance of success, is it on Keap to check us out of those play? Curious if you guys think he misread the defense or if Tampa did a good job of disguising coverage.

I would say yes. However, I am unclear on how many plays are being called in the huddle. Is Roman giving him 3 zone buster plays because Roman thinks the defense is about to play zone? Or does Roman give Kap a zone buster and a man coverage buster and let's Kap decide based on his pre-snap read, like you mentioned? Jonnydel did mention that TB likes to disguise coverage in the SEA analysis thread when he started scouting TB. The fact that TB is #2 in INTs supports that.

Jonnydel, I did indeed see TB move around their safties a lot pre-snap and at the snap in an effort to confuse Kap.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by Arminini:
In the instances like a mesh play against a zone or a high/low concept against man where we had little chance of success, is it on Keap to check us out of those play? Curious if you guys think he misread the defense or if Tampa did a good job of disguising coverage.

I would say yes. However, I am unclear on how many plays are being called in the huddle. Is Roman giving him 3 zone buster plays because Roman thinks the defense is about to play zone? Or does Roman give Kap a zone buster and a man coverage buster and let's Kap decide based on his pre-snap read, like you mentioned? Jonnydel did mention that TB likes to disguise coverage in the SEA analysis thread when he started scouting TB. The fact that TB is #2 in INTs supports that.

Jonnydel, I did indeed see TB move around their safties a lot pre-snap and at the snap in an effort to confuse Kap.

Thanks Thl for picking up the slack while I was gone. You added a lot of great stuff! Thanks. I do think, however, that we incorporate progression reads in our coverage reads.

From what I could see on film, and the way Kaep was checking plays, it seemed like they would have a certain zone buster(like a cover 3 buster for example) and with a phrase he could check to a cover 2 bust. Or sometimes a zone buster to a man buster. There were several times(particularly when Tampa stopped us) that Tampa showed somethine pre-snap, Kaep changed the routes, Tampa changed their D and got themselves into a favorable defense.

I'll show in a few minutes how Kaep also did a great job in his scouting recognition to get us into some favorable run plays.

A lot of people here have talked about how much it bothers them that we run into those 8 man boxes! Here I'll show how we can run the ball against a 9 man box as long as Kaep makes his proper pre-snap read.





Before the snap, Kaep saw the LB creep to blitz with the safety moving down into the box showing a 9 man box. He checked the play(presumably to run the opposite way). He checks to an off tackle power play. This will leave the man end man on the backside unblocked as they'll be unable to make a play anyways. Because Tampa had shown a lot of slants off of this play, he see's they will play right into the power run as the 1 technique will slant across the C face allowing the C to block the backside LB and McCoy slanting across Davis' face, giving Davis a good angle to kick him out.



You see at the snap how the blocking assignments play out, Miller is on an option block(If Davis keeps his man Miller leads into the hole, if Davis releases up to the 2nd level Miller takes the 3 technique.



Davis does release up to the 2nd level and Miller takes the 3 technique(McCoy), Snyder comes around on his power lead and sets up blocks on the LB



Snyder and Davis do a great job of sealing off the LB leaving opening a lane for Frank to be 1-1 with the safety.



Frank Gore makes a little move and is able to pick up 10 yards on the play. That is a 10 yard run against a 9 man box. That isn't supposed to happen. That's great play design, great pre-snap recognition and great execution.

If you can run the ball for 10 yards against a 9 man front, that will completely demoralize the opposing defense.

Originally posted by jonnydel:
Thanks Thl for picking up the slack while I was gone. You added a lot of great stuff! Thanks. I do think, however, that we incorporate progression reads in our coverage reads.

From what I could see on film, and the way Kaep was checking plays, it seemed like they would have a certain zone buster(like a cover 3 buster for example) and with a phrase he could check to a cover 2 bust. Or sometimes a zone buster to a man buster. There were several times(particularly when Tampa stopped us) that Tampa showed somethine pre-snap, Kaep changed the routes, Tampa changed their D and got themselves into a favorable defense.

I'll show in a few minutes how Kaep also did a great job in his scouting recognition to get us into some favorable run plays.

Hope all is okay with pops jonnydel. I link a progression read directly to footwork. Also, it is pre-determined by the playcall which target the QB looks to first. After the QB snaps the ball, during mid-dropback, he is reading the coverage technique used by the CB on that WR (his #1 read). If the WR is running a route that wins against that leverage and technique (coverage), throw it on the completion of the dropback. If during mid dropback, the #1 WR is covered, the QB looks to his #2 and uses the same analysis of leverage and technique. Coverage reads are where the QB can look first to whichever route he feels is right based off his pre-snap read. Good footwork never hurts, but does not need to be precise. I'd like to take a guess at what you meant in the bolded, and hope you expand on it. I'm guessing what you mean is that when the 49ers call a generic pass play, designed to beat both man on one side and zone on the other, Kap is timing his footwork with his #1 and #2 read on that certain route concept. If that concept is defeated, his footwork takes him to the other concept being run on the other side of the field.

During the live telecast, they rarely show the defensive backfield, where less players are and it's easier to see what's going on. Instead, they focus on the front 7 and OL, where there is so much going on and it's impossible to really see it all. Thanks for the breakdowns near the line of scrimmage. Looking forward to more.

I'm not trying to call anyone out or start anything with anyone, but, Phoenix, I feel like no matter how many film breakdowns we show, or whatever little things here and there we try and point out, you are never going to believe that Greg Roman knows what he's doing. I went into this, and this is completely honest, with the Jury out on Roman. I heard from the broadcasts that he's widely regarded around the league, but, hadn't seen much from him myself to believe one way or the other. All I have to base what I believe is off of the film. From what I see, in the way he sequences plays, the kinds of plays he's calling, the guy is a very smart man. I feel like anything we show to point out good play calling or design you put us down and say, "well anyone OC should do that". Correct me if I'm wrong, cause I could just be taking it the wrong way.

Originally posted by jonnydel:
A lot of people here have talked about how much it bothers them that we run into those 8 man boxes! Here I'll show how we can run the ball against a 9 man box as long as Kaep makes his proper pre-snap read.





Before the snap, Kaep saw the LB creep to blitz with the safety moving down into the box showing a 9 man box. He checked the play(presumably to run the opposite way). He checks to an off tackle power play. This will leave the man end man on the backside unblocked as they'll be unable to make a play anyways. Because Tampa had shown a lot of slants off of this play, he see's they will play right into the power run as the 1 technique will slant across the C face allowing the C to block the backside LB and McCoy slanting across Davis' face, giving Davis a good angle to kick him out.



You see at the snap how the blocking assignments play out, Miller is on an option block(If Davis keeps his man Miller leads into the hole, if Davis releases up to the 2nd level Miller takes the 3 technique.



Davis does release up to the 2nd level and Miller takes the 3 technique(McCoy), Snyder comes around on his power lead and sets up blocks on the LB



Snyder and Davis do a great job of sealing off the LB leaving opening a lane for Frank to be 1-1 with the safety.



Frank Gore makes a little move and is able to pick up 10 yards on the play. That is a 10 yard run against a 9 man box. That isn't supposed to happen. That's great play design, great pre-snap recognition and great execution.

If you can run the ball for 10 yards against a 9 man front, that will completely demoralize the opposing defense.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by jonnydel:
Thanks Thl for picking up the slack while I was gone. You added a lot of great stuff! Thanks. I do think, however, that we incorporate progression reads in our coverage reads.

From what I could see on film, and the way Kaep was checking plays, it seemed like they would have a certain zone buster(like a cover 3 buster for example) and with a phrase he could check to a cover 2 bust. Or sometimes a zone buster to a man buster. There were several times(particularly when Tampa stopped us) that Tampa showed somethine pre-snap, Kaep changed the routes, Tampa changed their D and got themselves into a favorable defense.

I'll show in a few minutes how Kaep also did a great job in his scouting recognition to get us into some favorable run plays.

Hope all is okay with pops jonnydel. I link a progression read directly to footwork. Also, it is pre-determined by the playcall which target the QB looks to first. After the QB snaps the ball, during mid-dropback, he is reading the coverage technique used by the CB on that WR (his #1 read). If the WR is running a route that wins against that leverage and technique (coverage), throw it on the completion of the dropback. If during mid dropback, the #1 WR is covered, the QB looks to his #2 and uses the same analysis of leverage and technique. Coverage reads are where the QB can look first to whichever route he feels is right based off his pre-snap read. Good footwork never hurts, but does not need to be precise. I'd like to take a guess at what you meant in the bolded, and hope you expand on it. I'm guessing what you mean is that when the 49ers call a generic pass play, designed to beat both man on one side and zone on the other, Kap is timing his footwork with his #1 and #2 read on that certain route concept. If that concept is defeated, his footwork takes him to the other concept being run on the other side of the field.

During the live telecast, they rarely show the defensive backfield, where less players are and it's easier to see what's going on. Instead, they focus on the front 7 and OL, where there is so much going on and it's impossible to really see it all. Thanks for the breakdowns near the line of scrimmage. Looking forward to more.

Thanks for the concern Thl, my dad is doing much better today. Not to air everything out there, but, he was diagnosed with an inoperable, terminal brain tumor recently. His first doctor said they were going to stop treatment because they thought the chemo was breaking down his body so fast that it was going to kill him before the cancer did. Which is why I took a leave from work and have been caring for him the past week or so with not much more than my laptop(without a mouse btw!!!!) to keep me company. This is why I've had so much time to break down film as my dad has trying to recover his strength and sleeps for long periods of the day. Thankfully, we got a better prognosis from a 2nd opinion today who has seen improvement in his health and wants to continue treatment. So, that's encouraging.

From the football side, I mean, the QB has to determine pre-snap what possible coverage he's going to see based off of alignment and safety look to determine his 1st and 2nd reads(which is why I think we have Kaep hard count so much to try and get a coverage look), from there, post-snap, see if the coverage has held to what it showed or has shifted, knowing also from his pre-snap read of leverage where, if the coverage did change, what are now his 3rd and 4th reads to the check down read.

I guess that's what I'm meaning. That, he has to understand his coverage read, to make his progression read. If that makes sense.

I said earlier how I thought Tony-Jerrod Eddie played a great game and really flashed some potential. Here I'll show one of several examples I could show of that.



You see that Tampa is trying to run another zone run, this time off T. They end up with the T having a great angle on Eddie to seal him off, kick out Brooks and get a big gain on the run.


Instead, Eddie shifts around to keep contain on the play, while keeping his leverage(that alone is a heck of a play)



To anyone who has played or coached football, this has got to make you happy, you're always taught, "the lower man wins" Eddie does a great job maintaining lower leverage on the T which allows him to drive the tackle back into the play, squashing the lane. Bow does a great job of hitting the hole too.



You see here how Eddie collapsed his player into the play, the RB tried to cut outside but Eddie was in position to make the play, they only get 2 yards on the run.

I'm working on the hurry up 2 minute offense that Tampa beat us with to answer several requests about that. I'll show as much of the sequence I can. A couple things to bear in mind: Vic Fangio did a great job of mixing up the coverages on that drive, but that drive was kept alive but Mike Glennon surprisingly being able to get out of the pocket to his left and throw a good ball, you have to give it to him on that play.

The first play of the drive didn't start out well though....



We're running a man coverage and tampa runs a simple draw play. Bowman has the RB in coverage and see's the draw quickly, moving up to make the tackle. Normally, having Bow 1-1 with the RB in the hole is an absolute win for us.



Bowman, as he comes up, doesn't square his hips.



Because he doesn't square his hips, Leonard(who????) puts a little juke move on him and slips by.



You don't often see Bow miss a tackle that bad.... tampa gains 12 yards. It was a funky series like this. I think the defense got a little overconfident on this drive and thought they had Tampa licked. I'll show how Whitner biffed the next play to give up a 9 yard gain