New Orleans Saints Coaches film analysis | Page 9

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 12, 2014 at 4:12 PM

#121

NCommand
Hall of Fame
Posts: 123,365

Originally posted by Niners816:

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by Niners816:

Originally posted by NCommand:
So here is the objective question...Boldin looks like the primary reciever to be cleared out by Johnson (common route for us) based on the play design and where CK looks the whole time (from what I can see). You both are assuming in the loud dome, CK can and has the freedom to audible and check to Crabtree as the primary read? Or if not, he s/h gone there anyways? Just for discussion...not challenging here.

Kap has shown in the past, that he had no problem ignoring the conceptside and going backside. I think his thought process in this particular play is boldin at the sticks, then crabs on the skinny. I think his thought should have been "I see heavy blitz look, CB playing off, middle should be open, we need a first down". Perhaps that hitch step, is he realization of just this and by that time it was too late.

NC, there is no need to audible out of anything. The play remains the same. Once the full house blitz was coming, he could have looked to a different WR - instead of Boldin's Out, look at Crabs' slant. Maybe he doesn't even have to look at Crabs. Once the blitz is seen, and the middle of the field is vacated, just throw to the open space that Crabs will soon occupy. Many times the hot read is the backside slant.

IMO this really is no more than a two read play. I think Johnson's clearing route would really only be thrown at in an "alert" blown coverage situation. You basically have an out route sticks plays and a skinny post on the other side to get a first down.

Agreed..one or the other and neither were viable options when he hit his backstep, hence the hitch (to probably buy an extra second)?

Nov 12, 2014 at 4:14 PM

#122

Giedi
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Posts: 33,959

Originally posted by thl408:
By the way, I'm not suggesting this was an easy thing to do on the "vs high pressure #4" play - to complete a pass to Crabs (or Boldin). Had Kap done so, I would have cut the play up and raved about how excellent of a play it was.

It could have been a designed run play. The pass routes were too long for a zero coverage defense look. Anyway, just my opinion.

Nov 12, 2014 at 4:17 PM

#123

NCommand
Hall of Fame
Posts: 123,365

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by thl408:
By the way, I'm not suggesting this was an easy thing to do on the "vs high pressure #4" play - to complete a pass to Crabs (or Boldin). Had Kap done so, I would have cut the play up and raved about how excellent of a play it was.

It could have been a designed run play. The pass routes were too long for a zero coverage defense look. Anyway, just my opinion.

Interesting perspective. 3rd and 10 and a check out from run to pass? Our conservative M.O. here, that could have been true. Essentially, a give-up on 3rd and 10 with the goal to pin them deep and win with your defense. And ironically, that's exactly what happened!

PS: And against a heavy-blitzing 8-9 man box, on a run, if you get past that first wave, you're gone!

[ Edited by NCommand on Nov 12, 2014 at 4:18 PM ]

Nov 12, 2014 at 4:17 PM

#124

PhillyNiner
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Posts: 8,995

Originally posted by thl408:
By the way, I'm not suggesting this was an easy thing to do on the "vs high pressure #4" play - to complete a pass to Crabs (or Boldin). Had Kap done so, I would have cut the play up and raved about how excellent of a play it was.

I am also not sure I like the idea of throwing to the center of the field and relying on Crabs given the way the game was going. At the time Kap would have let that go Bolden's guy is still in his back peddle he could easily have broke on the ball and then you risk the pick. It just seems like a play that was doomed from the start. I would call 1 inconclusive as to blame, 2' is on Kap, 3 on the line and 4 just a no win situation.

Nov 12, 2014 at 4:19 PM

#125

NCommand
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Posts: 123,365

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:

Originally posted by thl408:
By the way, I'm not suggesting this was an easy thing to do on the "vs high pressure #4" play - to complete a pass to Crabs (or Boldin). Had Kap done so, I would have cut the play up and raved about how excellent of a play it was.

I am also not sure I like the idea of throwing to the center of the field and relying on Crabs given the way the game was going. At the time Kap would have let that go Bolden's guy is still in his back peddle he could easily have broke on the ball and then you risk the pick. It just seems like a play that was doomed from the start. I would call 1 inconclusive as to blame, 2' is on Kap, 3 on the line and 4 just a no win situation.

You know what we should do now, thl408? Assess Brees in this game! How fun would THAT be for context/perspective!

Nov 12, 2014 at 4:36 PM

#126

thl408
Moderator
Posts: 33,299

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:

Originally posted by thl408:
By the way, I'm not suggesting this was an easy thing to do on the "vs high pressure #4" play - to complete a pass to Crabs (or Boldin). Had Kap done so, I would have cut the play up and raved about how excellent of a play it was.

I am also not sure I like the idea of throwing to the center of the field and relying on Crabs given the way the game was going. At the time Kap would have let that go Bolden's guy is still in his back peddle he could easily have broke on the ball and then you risk the pick. It just seems like a play that was doomed from the start. I would call 1 inconclusive as to blame, 2' is on Kap, 3 on the line and 4 just a no win situation.

You know what we should do now, thl408? Assess Brees in this game! How fun would THAT be for context/perspective!

Yup. If there's time in the week, there were a few other topics I wanted to hit on. Boone as a pull guard (run game successes), Ingram's big day (49er run defense), and how the 49ers made Bree's hang onto the ball longer than he wanted to on a few plays, including Brooks strip sack. Not sure I can get to all of it, but those were the other interesting points in the game imo.

Nov 12, 2014 at 4:44 PM

#127

NCommand
Hall of Fame
Posts: 123,365

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:

Originally posted by thl408:
By the way, I'm not suggesting this was an easy thing to do on the "vs high pressure #4" play - to complete a pass to Crabs (or Boldin). Had Kap done so, I would have cut the play up and raved about how excellent of a play it was.

I am also not sure I like the idea of throwing to the center of the field and relying on Crabs given the way the game was going. At the time Kap would have let that go Bolden's guy is still in his back peddle he could easily have broke on the ball and then you risk the pick. It just seems like a play that was doomed from the start. I would call 1 inconclusive as to blame, 2' is on Kap, 3 on the line and 4 just a no win situation.

You know what we should do now, thl408? Assess Brees in this game! How fun would THAT be for context/perspective!

Yup. If there's time in the week, there were a few other topics I wanted to hit on. Boone as a pull guard (run game successes), Ingram's big day (49er run defense), and how the 49ers made Bree's hang onto the ball longer than he wanted to on a few plays, including Brooks strip sack. Not sure I can get to all of it, but those were the other interesting points in the game imo.

Those are all great ones!

We should track down WRATH to assess the OL as well, esp. M.Martin's second game in a very very tough environment! Well done rookie, well done!

Nov 12, 2014 at 4:59 PM

#128

NinerSickness
Member
Posts: 8,897

Originally posted by NCommand:
We should track down WRATH to assess the OL as well, esp. M.Martin's second game in a very very tough environment! Well done rookie, well done!

I didn't watch the game over again, but I was really impressed with Martin's 2nd game. He clearly wasn't ready his first game (neither were the other 4 OL apparently), but he looked good against the Saints IMO.

Nov 12, 2014 at 5:08 PM

#129

thl408
Moderator
Posts: 33,299

Originally posted by Giedi:
I reviewed the two plays prior. A gore run to the left for -2, and a pass to crabs for incomplete. To me that play looked like an audible. When the Saints showed blitz, Colin twirled his hands in the air for an audible, and it looked like a designed run to me. In other words, I don't think this was a pass play, but a run play to get closer to Dawson's field goal range. I think if it was a designed play, Colin took too deep a drop and if he could have shortened his drop, he could have run out of there for a big gain. **if it was a designed QB run play**

I agree with everybody if it was a designed pass play, it was a bone head play call, and the failure of Colin to audible to a hot route was a failure in execution.

Here is that play. This is in OT, one play before the "49ers versus high blitz pressure #4" play. The colors are there because there is so much criss crossing that it's easier to see with the routes color coded.

49ers: Drive concept (VD + Boldin). Crabs and Miller provide a Hi-Low read to Kap's left (zone buster).
NO: cover1 man (5 man pressure)

Kap takes the snap and looks to his left towards the zone buster. Crabs will be running a route that breaks to the outside (sidelines). Notice the leverage of the CB on Crabs.

Same moment in time as pic above. Kap should see this and immediately red light the route. With the CB playing outside leverage, and Crabs route breaking to the outside, there is a slim chance Crabs' route wins. To Kap's right, the way the 49ers bunched the formation allows a rub action with VD providing interference for Boldin's drag route to come underneath. Drag routes are a man coverage busting route.

With Staley beat around the corner, Kap needs take a moment to evade the rush. This is the moment in time Boldin should be targeted, had protection been good. Kap would have had time to red light Crabs, recognize cover1, and look to the man buster - Boldin's drag.

Kap evades the pressure and is mid windup targeting Crabs. By this time, the window to Boldin is closed as his defender is attacking hard downhill. Boldin would get smacked immediately if he is targeted with a pass at this moment.

Incomplete. This is a pick a side play. To Kap's left is a zone buster. To Kap's right is the Drive concept which can work against man (Boldin's drag) or zone (VD's Crosser). Crabs' route (looks like a corner route) also works against man coverage, but very difficult to complete with the CB playing outside leverage. Had Kap not needed to evade pressure, been able to red light Crabs, and target Boldin, it would have been like a small 5-7 yard gain, but a gain nonetheless.

[ Edited by thl408 on Nov 12, 2014 at 9:45 PM ]

Nov 12, 2014 at 5:16 PM

#130

Niners816
Veteran
Posts: 9,990

^^^^i like the design of the above play. Full disclosure though, flanker drive is my all time favorite WCO concept. If I was OC it would be called 7-8 times a game

.

It does look like the drive is open for a second. Could have been a nice little 6 or so yard game. It also looks like vd might be opening up on the dig. Would have set up an easier 3rd down play.

[ Edited by Niners816 on Nov 12, 2014 at 5:17 PM ]

Nov 12, 2014 at 5:20 PM

#131

thl408
Moderator
Posts: 33,299

^^ Hmm the all22 gifof that play is broken. Will edit it later

Nov 12, 2014 at 6:05 PM

#132

brodiebluebanaszak
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Posts: 15,389

It should have been a floater to Miller in 2 seconds, no? That looks like a minimum 7 yards. Can Kap make that throw?

Nov 12, 2014 at 6:29 PM

#133

NCommand
Hall of Fame
Posts: 123,365

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
It should have been a floater to Miller in 2 seconds, no? That looks like a minimum 7 yards. Can Kap make that throw?

I like this call above on first down (not second and 10) with Boldin being the primary. Now you're in 2nd and 5 or less if Boldin breaks a tackle. Then run Gore or Hyde up the middle on 2nd down or take a deeper shot.

Nov 12, 2014 at 6:29 PM

#134

NCommand
Hall of Fame
Posts: 123,365

Originally posted by NinerSickness:

Originally posted by NCommand:
We should track down WRATH to assess the OL as well, esp. M.Martin's second game in a very very tough environment! Well done rookie, well done!

I didn't watch the game over again, but I was really impressed with Martin's 2nd game. He clearly wasn't ready his first game (neither were the other 4 OL apparently), but he looked good against the Saints IMO.

Me too...if I get time this week, I may analyze.

Nov 12, 2014 at 6:48 PM

#135

Caurick
Veteran
Posts: 9

Originally posted by defenderDX:
This play signified a key moment of the game for NO in which they almost completed a what-would-be, "finger-Graham double whammy tap". This play doesn't happen without the Joker. But NO did a great job of defending here negating the big play.

4Q 1:52

NO: Vertical' stretch leap
Fans: Rub route. aka, finger tap. With a double whammy.

After NO completes the vertical stretch leap, you can see the Joker immediately has his eyes set down field.

Following that, you see the next phase of the play where the 2 fans to the weakside of Graham are now looking to execute what is known as, the "double whammy".

The double whammy works, as they keep outside contain allowing for the Joker to execute the finger tap rub route. All the Joker has to do is make the play...

But the Joker's hand is not where it needs to be, as he has no leverage.

Result of the play is just tapping no fingering.

Best play analysis ever...