New Orleans Saints Coaches film analysis | Page 13

jonnydel · 2014-11-11T11:39:18-08:00

Got done watching the film - it was a fun game to watch. There was a lot of back and forth chess match stuff going on for both sides. There were great plays made by both sides and both sides missed some big opportunities. I think both teams look back on this game with a perspective that there were definite missed moments. I do want to say, my heart is saddened to hear about Willis' season being over - I hope it's not true, but, probably is. Chris Borland has played well, but, he's not Willis. Willis will almost surely end up with a bust in Canton - you can't just replace that. His leadership, his experience and not to mention his pure physical gifts. It sucks to see something like this to happen to, not only a great player, but, who seems to be a great person as well. Today, I'm pouring out a little bit of my coffee for him..... What always has to be remembered in a game like this are a couple things: 1. The Saints had the longest active home winning streak of anyone in the league. The Dome is a hard place to play and the Saints are a very talented football team. 2. We were playing against, statistically, the best QB in the game right now. With those two things considered, I thought we played a heck of a football game. It wasn't the cleanest, it wasn't dominant, it wasn't always pretty. But, we found a way to win. Above everything, I saw in this game, what we didn't see in the losses to Ari, Chi and St. Louis - a team that fought to the end. In the end, the Rams loss might be one of the best things that happened to our team - if having our backs against the wall now gets our guys to play with an edge again. I saw an edge to the way they played. Yes, there were drops, yes, there were missed blocks, yes, there were blown coverages, but, there was a fight and an edge to the way they played. As usual, I'll start with the positives on Offense and work to the negatives: Offense: Positives - We ran the ball with a determination and, for the most part, ran the ball well. I thought CK's pocket awareness was MUCH better this game than last game. I thought, for the diversity with which NO threw at us from their defense, we did a pretty good job of executing through that. There was a lot of back and forth chess match going on between Roman and Rob Ryan. The biggest positive from this game was, there's still a lot of food left on the table. We're doing better, from an execution standpoint, of a lot of things that plagued us earlier in the year, but, had some BIG drops in the game. I can't remember a game when we had that many drops from our receivers. Boone had a much better game than he'd been having. Did a good job on some pulling blocks and did MUCH better in pass pro - as well as Iupati. I thought Iupati played the best out of any our lineman. He was dominating in the run game and solid in pass pro. I think a lot of it had to do with a commitment to the run towards his side. If we can get that kind of thing going a lot - he'll keep playing at a pro-bowl level. Negatives: There's still a lot of "little things" to work on. When I look at an offense like the Saints compared to ours. What I see more than a lot of schematic difference, are "little" things in execution. Sometimes, it's how guys will "sit" in or "work" some zones. Sometimes, it's in throwing the ball away when a call doesn't work. Whatever the situation, they have an offense that is very good at all the little things. Sacks were still an issue in this game. Some of it was on the O-line, one was on Carlos Hyde, a couple were on CK himself. There needs to be an understanding - at all times, that sometimes, you're not going to win on a play, when that happens, get to your checkdown or throw the friggin ball away! We tried to dial up a couple homerun plays during the game and when they didn't work, CK ended up putting himself into a bad situation. The Saints had the same thing happen - they dialed up a homerun play - it wasn't there, so Brees got rid of the ball. CK has to do those things, you can't put the team into a 2nd and very long situation, the odds of making a first down go through the floor. Marcus Martin played better, but it still sucks that Kilgore's injured as Kilgore was playing better IMO. I think he still looks a little overmatched, especially against a NT alignment. Receivers have to catch the ball. Could some of them been a little better thrown? Yeah. But, you still gotta catch the ball. That's why you're in the NFL, because you can make catches others can't. Defense: Positives - Our secondary was a big positive in this game. We didn't get a lot of intense pressure on Brees, but our secondary played very solid in this game. Our 2 sacks at the end in OT came, really, as coverage sacks. They, at times, gave up some bonehead stuff, but, overall, they had some outstanding plays. The positives outweighed the negatives. If Aldon can be anything close to what he's been in the past, our secondary is going to look very good over the rest of the season. Chris Borland has been a bright spot. I'm still super bummed that Willis will be out, but, you can see the affect of having 2 very good, leaders at the position. Just like how the Ravens would seem to consistently "find" LB's when Ray Lewis was there, we have that as well. I don't think it's as much a matter of "finding" these guys, it's having great examples at the position playing ahead of these guys. They get coached at all times by not only their coach, but a guy who's playing the position as well. So, I'll give a quick scouting report on Borland to help out with the analysis: He's a very aggressive LB who plays with a downhill mentality. Plays without hesitation, when he sees it, he goes and gets it. High motor guy, will chase down plays from wherever he's at. Plays very low at the POA(point of attack) and slips blocks well. Can be violent in the hole against a lead blocker, but struggles against Guards in the hole. Has a nose for the football and will usually end up around the ball. Reads lineman well and flies around to his spots in pass coverage. Tends to be a little stiff in his coverage, plays coverage more like a college style looking for "landmarks" instead of receivers. Chases plays with good angles and doesn't overrun plays often. Can be a little too aggressive when coming from the backside on plays. Plays faster than he is - his high motor and ability to read what he's seeing allow him to play faster than he truly is. Going back to secondary, Bethea continues to impress. To me, I think he's playing the most solid football of anyone in the secondary. He hasn't been a culprit on many plays and has provided quite a few "splash" plays. You can see it on the field that he's really emerged as a leader in the secondary. Negatives - After Ian Williams went down, our run defense went down as well. Not all of NO effective runs came against our 3-4 front, but, Dial seemed timid at the POA. He also got little to no push in passing situations from our base defense. Our pass rush was inconsistent, but was helped by our coverage. As positive as the secondary was, they did have a few negatives. Eric Reid was beat deep several times. A couple of them, I'm not sure about. Some of the plays that look like he's the culprit, I'm not 100% sure about, the defense is really hard to figure out what we're trying to do on those plays, so, I can't be sure he really is at fault of not. We had a big blown coverage late in the game that allowed the Saints to convert a huge 4th down that led to the TD to take the lead. Overall though, the defense went up against one of the best offenses in the league in a situation where they have, historically, been even better - averaging over 35 points per game in the Dome and held them to 24 points without 3 All-Pro's. That's pretty good. As usual, breakdowns to follow

Nov 13, 2014 at 9:51 PM

#181

thl408
Moderator
Posts: 33,337

Originally posted by HearstFan:

Originally posted by thl408:
This is Kap's first completion of the game, on his second attempt of the game. He shows good poise within the pocket.

1Q 3rd & 10

VD's route is designed to influence the ILB for Boldin to work the vacated space towards the inside. This is a rhythm throw with 3 curl routes that won't be open for long after the curl is completed.
NO: Kind of looks like cover3 but I'm not sure.

The LE (versus ADavis) is playing with a very wide 9 technique to get after Kap.

Kap hits the top of his dropback and is shown looking to his right.

Kap hitch steps forward one time. Iupati is maintaining his block well, and even though it's a tight pocket, it's a secure pocket. Kap stands tall and never takes his eyes away from the defensive backfield to look at the rush.

Can't tell if Kap is looking to Crabs or Boldin. The orange LB in zone coverage is blocking the passing lane to Crabs' curl route. This opens up space for Boldin. VD's skinny post has not influenced the ILB the way it should. That ILB probably knows that he has safety help behind him and will not shade towards VD.

Kap steps up and pulls the trigger to Boldin.

Good pocket to throw from.

Same time as pic above. Boldin slows his route and sits in the quiet area in between the two zone defenders.

Climb the pocket. Have trust in the Oline. Fire the pass.

Excellent placement on the throw to throw it a little high. This allows more margin for error in case the ILB gets a good jump on the throw. Boldin goes up and snags the pass. +13 yards. This was a great sign to see early in the game. He could have carried over his short internal clock from the STL game, but he does not.

I have one minor comment on this diagnosis - VD route doesn't influence the ILB because Kap locks onto Boldin (and maybe Crabs behind him) the whole time. The ILB reading Kap and peripherally VD's route going by him can see VD isn't the target. Anyway, still a very good play. When Ck gets more confidence, a slight head-bob inside would make the ILB move.

Good point. If Kap looks at VD, even though knowing that VD is more of a clearing route, then it could have moved that ILB and gotten Boldin more room. Kap put the ball in a good spot. High, but only where Boldin can get it.

This goes back to how Kap can do better at using his eyes to move zone defenders. He was correct in his presnap decision with Boldin getting open. Have confidence in that presnap read and use the time that he is dropping back to move defenders. Then target Boldin because he knew all along that Boldin would be open. One thing I notice is that defenders bite hard on his pump fakes. Really wish he would use a pump fake more.

Nov 13, 2014 at 10:53 PM

#182

thl408
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Posts: 33,337

Originally posted by jonnydel:
Here's one of those things that I don't think I've pointed out enough - or clearly enough. That CK really has come a long way in his indentification of run alignments and fronts.

Here the Saints come out in a 4-3 under front with the "open" or "weak" side DE in a "wide 9" set. You've probably heard the term, "wide 9" talked about. It refers to the DE lining up, instead of the traditional "7" technique - outside shade of the TE, but widened out by an extra couple of feet into a "9" technique. But, since there's not double TE or, in the this case, TE, the wide set outside the EMLOS it's a "wide 9" set.

The numbers I've put on the pic refer to the "technique" or position each of the guys are aligned as.

A little football 101 - the 4-3 under is determined by the "3" technique moving to the weakside and the strong side DT in a 1 technique position with the "sam" or strong side OLB coming up over the TE. In this set, you'll also see the 2 LB's stacked over the Guards. The benefit of this formation is that it covers all the run gaps and prevents T/G combo blocks on a the strong side and makes it harder to pull a guard towards the strong side.

To combat this, CK could be heard on the broadcast make a call and motion Boldin in, what he does is, presumably, change the side the play is designed to go to.

Ck motions Boldin in to hold up the wide 9 technique. Boldin will end up blocking out on his man who followed him, but, he causes the EMLOS hold up just a bit to give Boone a great angle on the EMLOS.

Staley and Iupati get a devastating combo block on the "3" technique, and move the LOS.

You see the wall the O-line is creating and Boone is gonna get a good kickout block with McDonald leading up in the hole.

The lane opens up and McDonald has a good head of steam on a defender.

McDonald does good job of leading through and somehow Iupati blew his guy all the way upfield. Staley also did a good job of sealing off the interior defenders. We get a solid 11 yard gain on the play. That is run game beauty.

This is where Ck has made a lot of strides. It was one thing I noticed a lot when A. Smith was here, he did a great job of consistently getting us into good running looks and calls. Since CK has been here, haven't seen it as much called from the LOS. He's making good strides here to identify the alignment and adjusting the run call.

^^ Here's that play:

The 49ers called a bunch of run plays where Boone pulled to the left - many having counter action just like the play above. If I had to put a number on it, I would say that when a 49er guard pulls to lead, 75% of the time it's Iupati pulling to the right side of the formation. In this game, Boone easily was used to pull a higher number of times than Iupati. This was really different and broke a tendency. There were several solid gains of 4-6 yards. The one above went for 11. Here are a couple more that went for very nice gains.
----------------
(below) Notice the counter step by Gore. Vance fakes a block to get the defender (#91) to get him to halt and brace for the hit. This helps to cause delay. Staley does the same thing to #53 by slightly dipping his shoulder before actually blocking the defender that Vance faked the block on. Carrier (yellow) is the guy that eventually blocks #53. Those fake blocks are to cause hesitation in the defenders.

+9 yards

----------------------------------------------------------------
Counter action by Vance playing FB and Gore. Iuapati nails the block so well Staley whiffs on what was supposed to be a double team block

+10 yards

Nov 14, 2014 at 9:38 AM

#183

thl408
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Posts: 33,337

On the 3rd quarter drive for NO that resulted in Graham's first TD catch, Tank Carradine (#95) was able to get in for 5 plays. If anyone would like to see those plays, they start at the 5:18 mark (1st & 10) of the 3rd quarter. He was used up and down the DLine, lining up in various spots. On his last play, he was able to notch his first tackle.

Play#1
5 tech (head up on the left tackle) playing RE in base 3-4. NO will run playaction to look for a chunk play.

The playaction is coming right at Tank, so he has to hold his ground and read his run/pass key. NO has started to get their ground game going at this point in the game.

Once he reads 'pass', he is at a standstill and has to start his pass rush which is not easy. He somehow grabs the left guard's left arm and pulls the LG to get him off balance. Then Tank sidesteps the LG and is able to get by him.

Almost got his first sack as Brees displayed good elusiveness. I liked how he was able to get around the LG after having to start his pass rush from a standstill.

Nov 14, 2014 at 10:00 AM

#184

thl408
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Posts: 33,337

Tank Play #2 (very next play from Tank play #1 in NO's offensive drive)

NO: Zone right
Tank: 1 tech as right DT in the nickel package. Check out where Tank's hand is on the ground compared to where RayMac's (other DT) hand is on the ground. Tank's hand appears to be 1-2 feet behind RayMac's

Tank is engaged with the LG. The Center gives Tank a one armed shove, but I wouldn't consider that being double teamed. The center is moving to the second level. Check out where Tank was when he was in his 3 point stance to where he is now (pic below). He has given up some ground and is the only front4 defender that looks to have been driven backwards.

Tank is driven back about 2 yards before he sheds the block. Below is Tank falling ot the ground as Dahl misses a tackle.

Gain of +7.

Nov 14, 2014 at 10:02 AM

#185

thl408
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Posts: 33,337

If anyone can provide better insight as to what Tank is doing well or poorly with regards to technique, please chime in. I don't know the low level details of trench play and would love to hear some thoughts.

On the next play of the NO offensive series (Ingram +9 run), Tank was subbed out.

On the play after the Ingram +9 run, NO ran a run play where Tank was double teamed and the RB ran away from Tank's side of the formation. Tank was playing 5-tech as LE in base 3-4. This play is not shown.

[ Edited by thl408 on Nov 14, 2014 at 10:06 AM ]

Nov 14, 2014 at 10:38 AM

#186

thl408
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Posts: 33,337

Tank Play #3

Tank: 5 tech as LE in base 3-4.
According to Fangio (and Tank himself), who speaks the truth more so than any other 49er coach, Tank can't get on the field because he doesn't know his assignments. Here is a play where I can tell that Tank did understand his assignment.

Because Bethea will be coming on a blitz from the slot CB position, Tank and Lynch's assignment is to create as much space as possible to that Bethea can take the most direct route as possible to the QB. To do this, Tank will attack the inside shoulder of the RG while Lynch attacks the inside shoulder of the RT. This should cause the pocket to narrow itself (cave inwards) giving Bethea a clearer path.

Notice the angle Tank and Lynch have taken as they engage the RG and RT, respectively. Bethea is just off the screen.

The RB does a nice job picking up Bethea's blitz. Pass broken up by Cully.

Nov 14, 2014 at 10:56 AM

#187

thl408
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Posts: 33,337

Tank Play #4

Tank: 5-tech LE in base 3-4. This is the last snap I saw him play in this game as he was not used again (I think).
NO: Inside Zone

The Center and RG double team block on Dial. Tank engages with the RT and is shown holding his ground.

The 49er on his knee is Dial (the nose tackle). The RB reads the blocks and will test the gap to Tank's right shoulder, which is where the NT was. Tank sheds the block and notches his first career tackle.

+4 yards

Nov 14, 2014 at 12:04 PM

#188

Sanfran_chrisco
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Posts: 33,919

Originally posted by thl408:
The play that won the game and a reminder that Brees is Brooks' b***h.

OT 2nd & 15
NO: 4 Verticals
49ers: Some sort of cover1. It's not really cover 1 because the inner most slot WR gets passed from Wilhoite to Bethea. Borland will come on a delayed blitz.

Brees's footwork and mechanics are a thing of beauty to watch. I think he has the best throwing motion in the league.

Nov 14, 2014 at 12:12 PM

#189

verb1der
Member
Posts: 15,613

Originally posted by defenderDX:

Originally posted by thl408:
The play that won the game and a reminder that Brees is Brooks' b***h.

OT 2nd & 15
NO: 4 Verticals
49ers: Some sort of cover1. It's not really cover 1 because the inner most slot WR gets passed from Wilhoite to Bethea. Borland will come on a delayed blitz.

Brees's footwork and mechanics are a thing of beauty to watch. I think he has the best throwing motion in the league.

lol really? Brees size is a disadvantage to his release, I don't like how he has to catapult himself off his back legs.

Best mechanics in the league is Tom Brady, effortless! hands down. Rodgers comes in second.

Nov 14, 2014 at 12:17 PM

#190

Sanfran_chrisco
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Posts: 33,919

Originally posted by verb1der:
lol really? Brees size is a disadvantage to his release, I don't like how he has to catapult himself off his back legs.

Best mechanics in the league is Tom Brady, effortless! hands down. Rodgers comes in second.

Disagree, Brees has the cleanest throwing motion to me with great balance and footwork.

Nov 14, 2014 at 12:19 PM

#191

thl408
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Posts: 33,337

This is the big drop by Boldin that had him sitting on the ground for a few seconds thinking how the hell that just happened.

3Q 3rd & 15

49ers: Sail concept (Lloyd + Crabs + VD) with a backside Post (Boldin).
NO: cover3

The CB lined up across from Lloyd is Keenan Lewis (blue), NO's best CB. He injured his knee earlier in the game and came back in with a knee brace. He was noticeably limping. This will factor into the coverage that NO plays here.

After corralling in a poor shotgun snap, Kap hits the top of his dropback and sees this. Both CBs near the sidelines are bailing to their deep third.

Kap steps up into the pocket. Because NO is aware of Lewis' gimpy knee, they give him help with the middle deep safety (orange). In doing so, this opens up space for Boldin.

With the CB on Boldin playing with outside leverage, and with the deep middle safety (orange) removed by giving help to the gimpy Lewis (blue), the middle of the field has opened up for Boldin's skinny post as it breaks to the inside. Kap is mid windup.

This is when Boldin has two hands on the ball.

It's tough to say if Boldin would have outran the other two defenders had he made the catch, but it's easy to say that this was a huge wasted opportunity.

Nov 14, 2014 at 12:21 PM

#192

BKpower
Veteran
Posts: 115

Originally posted by defenderDX:

Originally posted by verb1der:
lol really? Brees size is a disadvantage to his release, I don't like how he has to catapult himself off his back legs.

Best mechanics in the league is Tom Brady, effortless! hands down. Rodgers comes in second.

Disagree, Brees has the cleanest throwing motion to me with great balance and footwork.

That being said, that quadruple clutch was basically the ball yelling out "Hit me"

Nov 14, 2014 at 12:24 PM

#193

Sanfran_chrisco
Veteran
Posts: 33,919

Originally posted by BKpower:
That being said, that quadruple clutch was basically the ball yelling out "Hit me"

His throwing motion is my favorite out of all the NFL QB's. to me it's flawless. that being said, he drove me insane on Sunday avoiding those sacks and making those throws.