NY Giants coaches film analysis

Originally posted by jonnydel:

Originally posted by genus49:

Originally posted by thl408:
3rd Down Failure #2

1st Down: Gore for -1
2nd Down: Incomplete pass

49ers: Not sure what's going on to Kap's left. Looks rather vanilla. To Kap's right is a clear out by SJ for VD's out route. The whole play looks rather basic, but it got someone open.
NYG: cover 4


Kap drops back and looks to his left. With the CB over Lloyd playing with a large cushion, there's nothing to be had there. Boldin's Curls gets defeated as well. The two DL across from Boone and ADavis just stunted.


Kap looks to his right for a split second before the stunting DT loops around ADavis and has a clear path to Kap.


Kap sees the rusher coming at him and checks down to Hyde over the middle. VD was open along the sidelines, but the pressure didn't allow Kap to see him.







jonnydel alluded to this play earlier in this thread: "To me, when I see a QB miss a read against cover 4 when the defense showed, pre-snap, a 4 shell look and stayed in that look post snap and the QB never looks to the side of the play to beat a cover 4 and has an open TE - it's not a system issue." Read more at http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/niners/180298-giants-coaches-film-analysis/page5/#6DmL6gWlfU5hVYdk.99

huh?

I'm lost on this one. How does he not look to that side? He scans the whole field on the play but due to the pass rush pulls the trigger quickly. Considering the only guy open was Davis...given his recent struggles I don't blame him for not making the rushed throw to him.

You guys are nitpicking like crazy on that one. Makes it hard to believe there isn't bias sneaking in there.

Also don't you get tired starting your breakdowns of the offense with "not sure what's going on there"?

Ok, here's my issue: To break the play down fully -

The left side of the field is more of the cover 2 zone beating combo. You put the corner in a tough spot in that, if he covers Boldin, the streak is open and vice versa. From the snap - you could see a cover 4 shell. At the snap of the ball, CK should be keeping his eyes on the safeties looking for if they rotate over into single high, split wide in cover 2 or drop back in cover 4. What he has to keep in his mind when he comes to the LOS are the possible defenses he could see out of this look. Based of the LB alignment and depth - not likely a blitz here. So, you're looking for cover 2,3, or 4. If you see cover 2 zone, you should immediately be looking for your streaks on the "rail" shot. that open zone between the corner and safety. If you see cover 2 -man, you'll look to Boldin on his hook route. If you see cover 4, you look to the Johnson/VD side for the out route to VD. If you see cover 3(highly unlikely on 3rd and long) you take the shot to 1-1 coverage. My issue is, CK doesn't read the safeties, he assumes cover 2 man(granted, they did run this a few times earlier up to this point) but, the off is something NY doesn't show in a cover 2 very often. From the snap, CK doesn't watch the safeties drop straight back(showing the cover 4) so he's not aware of the fact that he's looking at the wrong side of the play. To me, he should've gone to the Johnson/VD side first, that way, it's not a matter of pressure getting there before he can make the read, it's knowing that the other side IS his primary read.

This is something I've talked about quite a bit. CK will get rather confident in his pre-snap reads sometimes and doesn't bother checking the safeties. It's hurt him in not looking safeties off and by not double checking the plays.(this exact same thing happened on the last play of the NFCCG).

I'm not asking that he be able to scan the whole way across during the play - that would be nitpicking. It's that he needs to have a better understanding of the totality of mental calisthenics he has to go through in the process of each play(process being from the moment the huddle is broken through to the end of the play).

Thanks for filling in the blanks. And I agree with your assessment. Some may consider it harsh, but that's what it's all about. To understand what could have happened to make the play work.

The combo to the left is a cover2 buster. The "rail shot" is designed to target the "honey hole", like you said, behind the CB, in front of the safety. For some more background on the rail shot and honey hole, here is the same route combo versus @CAR from last season's playoff game (versus cover2 zone). This is Patton's big catch. Same route combo to Kap's left as the play discussed above.



QP is in the red square. That's the rail shot to the honey hole. Behind the cover2 CB, in front of the cover 2 safety.





From: http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/niners/176616-analysis-carolina-panthers-coaches-film/page5/#post64

This is why I say, "not sure what's going on here". So someone can fill in the blanks.

Originally posted by spraked:
I think what is going on here is an optional route for crabs. If the CB/ saftey stay on top he makes the cut if not it keeps going straight.

My guess is CK saw this and knew that if he made the cut he would have the 1st down. I do not think CK had confidence that crabs would cut so he waited to make the throw until he was sure.

This would explain the stare down and the late throw.

I didn't think Roman's offense ever had option routes. Still think CK made a bad read. Looks like cover 4 with McDonald to occupy the middle and Gore to occupy the underneath backers.

CK is not reading the safeties correctly against the cover 4. If he read this correctly, with the left side crowded with the curls, his read should be the Safety on the right near McDonald/Lloyd breaks. Safety holds to bracket McDonald. This should automatically tell him Lloyds curl is open since the Safety just provided him with a passing window with the DB in Cover 4.

As for develop time: this play developed very quickly since the Safety over McDonald reacted upon the snap.

This should have been CK's progression:

• Drop back: Review Safeties to confirm Cover 4
• Top of the Drop back: if Cover 4 is confirmed then hit McDonald once CK plants his foot and sets. One FS staying means bracket on McDonald so Lloyd is obviously open.
• Hitch forward: make a perfectly timed throw to Lloyd's deep curl which would have busted Cover 4 either way.

This was a great design by Roman vs Cover 4. If both safeties dropped, we would have had McDonald or Lloyd open.

Originally posted by VinculumJuris:
Did I say anywhere that Kap has been unable to lead this team?

Edit: Your point completely undercuts the age argument presented earlier in the thread. Kap has been old enough to lead in the past; why can't he do it now? Well done.

I think he's doing a fine job as is, so my opinion of Kaep may not be something which fits into your assessment, much like what you believe as absolutely no barring on mine.

Originally posted by VinculumJuris:

Originally posted by Afrikan:

Originally posted by VinculumJuris:

Originally posted by Geeked:

Originally posted by VinculumJuris:
25?

Edit: The same can be said of Luck and Wilson regarding age. They seem to lead pretty well.

Both teams have a sound system. The 49ers do not. Apples and oranges. Look at what Arians did with a Bengal/Raider castoff. Carroll IS a leader and the offense ran with Wilson's strengths. Wilson, in many ways, is in a much better situation.

This team... ... has serious gameplan and coaching issues. And I really don't see a difference between Luck's or Wilson's leadership. Keap did a fine job leading in Nevada and winning the team over after Smith was hurt.

But hey, these are my observations.

Oh, and you didn't address my initial postulation. My reasoning regarding the ridicules nature of the audit.

You're entitled to have your observations. I respect them for what they are. You are also free to reject the comparison to Wilson and Luck, but I find your attempt to differentiate unsuccessful. Quarterbacks can lead in broken systems. The fact that Kap has been unable to is not necessarily an indictment on the system.

Regarding your last line, you'll have to be more specific. Which postulation are you referring to? Which audit?

So you are saying Kap has been unable to lead this team?

Do you ignore hid play in playoff games? In Championship games? In situations where we couldn't run the ball? Games on the road against the best teams in the league, as well as facing imo the best QB in the league Aaron Rodgers?...In -20 + degree situations?

Did I say anywhere that Kap has been unable to lead this team?

Edit: Your point completely undercuts the age argument presented earlier in the thread. Kap has been old enough to lead in the past; why can't he do it now? Well done.

"QBs can lead broken systems. The fact that Kap has been unable to...."

What? Lol.

From the people who track this data.
He is the most sacked QB in the league..and the majority of his sacks were not his fault.

He also has a high rate of dropped passes, per attempt...and we know how important our attempts are because we don't pass much.

Yet with all of that, and with Kap struggling as well...but usually a revolving door in front of you can cause the best QB'S to get hesitant and make mistakes....but with all that going on...he still has had a good season, regarding wins and stats.

Does that not show leadership? Not once has Kap thrown anyone under the bus for their mistakes....In fact he has taken the blame for mistakes that were Obviously not his fault...

A realistic good example of the difference between good leadership and bad leadership...is what is going on in DC and RG3 right now and our team with Kap.

Originally posted by Geeked:

Originally posted by VinculumJuris:
Did I say anywhere that Kap has been unable to lead this team?

Edit: Your point completely undercuts the age argument presented earlier in the thread. Kap has been old enough to lead in the past; why can't he do it now? Well done.

I think he's doing a fine job as is, so my opinion of Kaep may not be something which fits into your assessment, much like what you believe as absolutely no barring on mine.

Honestly, that's how it should be. We are all free thinkers. I'm not posting with the intention of changing anyone's mind. I just like talking football with people who don't resort to name calling.

Originally posted by jonnydel:
If you don't mind, I'll tie this one in later with the previous skinny post that Crabs ran to show how our TD was set up. It'll be in a little bit as I have a couple things to get done at work before I'll have time to jump on that. Look for it in a half hour or so.

Sounds good.

Originally posted by Afrikan:
What? Lol.

From the people who track this data.
He is the most sacked QB in the league..and the majority of his sacks were not his fault.

He also has a high rate of dropped passes, per attempt...and we know how important our attempts are because we don't pass much.

Yet with all of that, and with Kap struggling as well...but usually a revolving door in front of you can cause the best QB'S to get hesitant and make mistakes....but with all that going on...he still has had a good season, regarding wins and stats.

I'll restate my point. I never said that Kap has historically been unable to lead this team. In my opinion, he has not been an effective leader this season. You can bring up past years and such if you want, but it doesn't address my point.

Regarding wins this season, I attribute them to the defense and not to Kap's leadership. If he were leading, we'd be scoring fourth quarter touchdowns and putting up more than 16 points on five turnovers. We are winning because of our defense.

Originally posted by thl408:
When I breakdown passing plays and critique Kap, I am always presenting the "best case scenario" for that play. What would a perfect QB do? I don't always expect him to make the best play. In this case, ADavis gave up pressure and Kap had no time to look to his right because he had already looked to his left to start the play.

I don't see anything wrong with saying "I don't know". There's a lot wrong with making up BS.

It wasn't an attack on you breaking down plays...it was a point that if you're making statements like that on frequent occasion that screams bad play design

Originally posted by jonnydel:
Ok, here's my issue: To break the play down fully -

The left side of the field is more of the cover 2 zone beating combo. You put the corner in a tough spot in that, if he covers Boldin, the streak is open and vice versa. From the snap - you could see a cover 4 shell. At the snap of the ball, CK should be keeping his eyes on the safeties looking for if they rotate over into single high, split wide in cover 2 or drop back in cover 4. What he has to keep in his mind when he comes to the LOS are the possible defenses he could see out of this look. Based of the LB alignment and depth - not likely a blitz here. So, you're looking for cover 2,3, or 4. If you see cover 2 zone, you should immediately be looking for your streaks on the "rail" shot. that open zone between the corner and safety. If you see cover 2 -man, you'll look to Boldin on his hook route. If you see cover 4, you look to the Johnson/VD side for the out route to VD. If you see cover 3(highly unlikely on 3rd and long) you take the shot to 1-1 coverage. My issue is, CK doesn't read the safeties, he assumes cover 2 man(granted, they did run this a few times earlier up to this point) but, the off is something NY doesn't show in a cover 2 very often. From the snap, CK doesn't watch the safeties drop straight back(showing the cover 4) so he's not aware of the fact that he's looking at the wrong side of the play. To me, he should've gone to the Johnson/VD side first, that way, it's not a matter of pressure getting there before he can make the read, it's knowing that the other side IS his primary read.

This is something I've talked about quite a bit. CK will get rather confident in his pre-snap reads sometimes and doesn't bother checking the safeties. It's hurt him in not looking safeties off and by not double checking the plays.(this exact same thing happened on the last play of the NFCCG).

I'm not asking that he be able to scan the whole way across during the play - that would be nitpicking. It's that he needs to have a better understanding of the totality of mental calisthenics he has to go through in the process of each play(process being from the moment the huddle is broken through to the end of the play).

Thanks for breaking down your thoughts...the problem I see with that are the routes we had called. I get where you're going with him looking to the right first but what would be the point of that on that given playcall? Vernon wouldn't have even made his cut yet, Lloyd wasn't open.

It's one thing to know based on the coverage where you have better matchups but you also need to have the right routes called to take advantage. If he looks right post snap Vernon isn't open and the defense would react to him looking that way.

So once again I'm back to how can you put all the blame just on Kap?

Originally posted by SFFanSince72:
THL408 or Jonnydel,

I appreciate everything you guys do in these posts. I know its been said a million times before, but it deserves to be said again because of all of the time and money (for the NFL film package) that you put in. But back to the discussion about football.

When I rewatched this game via DVR (so just the TV broadcast) it did appear that Kap targeted Crabtree slightly more than other recievers. Certainly this was not exclusive as there were the throws to VD and at least one to SJ and one attempt to Lloyd. But as we saw in the most recently broken down play, Kap targeted Crabtree on the deep out to the left, which was a much harder throw than the hook or curl (never remember which is which) to Lloyd to his left.

So my question is do you think that Crabtree's locker room comments after the Saint's game played into Kap's mind in where to try to go with the ball?

If so, this to me is the massive danger of the media. If so, does this mean that Aldon or Lynch are gonna be held out in favor of Brooks, just so he doesn't get his feelings hurt more? (rhetorical question)

I think we would all like to see some breakdowns of the passes that VD was targeted on. Many of us thought that on a few of those throws that VD only gave half an effort on his route. There was of course his injury and maybe that is still bothering him or mentally affecting his game, but I can't help but wonder if outside considerations on his part are affecting his effort. (Things such as contract concerns he had before the start of the season, how he feels he is being used in the offense, how he feels about his position coach or some of the other coaches -- has VD come out in TOTAL support of Harbaugh...could he be the leak/complainer, etc). I have also felt like perhaps this may have been the case with Boone's poor play throughout the season, but I digress.

I wanted to repost this so that maybe THL408 or Jonnydel might have a chance to comment on some of these questions

Originally posted by jonnydel:
Ok, here's my issue: To break the play down fully -

The left side of the field is more of the cover 2 zone beating combo. You put the corner in a tough spot in that, if he covers Boldin, the streak is open and vice versa. From the snap - you could see a cover 4 shell. At the snap of the ball, CK should be keeping his eyes on the safeties looking for if they rotate over into single high, split wide in cover 2 or drop back in cover 4. What he has to keep in his mind when he comes to the LOS are the possible defenses he could see out of this look. Based of the LB alignment and depth - not likely a blitz here. So, you're looking for cover 2,3, or 4. If you see cover 2 zone, you should immediately be looking for your streaks on the "rail" shot. that open zone between the corner and safety. If you see cover 2 -man, you'll look to Boldin on his hook route. If you see cover 4, you look to the Johnson/VD side for the out route to VD. If you see cover 3(highly unlikely on 3rd and long) you take the shot to 1-1 coverage. My issue is, CK doesn't read the safeties, he assumes cover 2 man(granted, they did run this a few times earlier up to this point) but, the off is something NY doesn't show in a cover 2 very often. From the snap, CK doesn't watch the safeties drop straight back(showing the cover 4) so he's not aware of the fact that he's looking at the wrong side of the play. To me, he should've gone to the Johnson/VD side first, that way, it's not a matter of pressure getting there before he can make the read, it's knowing that the other side IS his primary read.

This is something I've talked about quite a bit. CK will get rather confident in his pre-snap reads sometimes and doesn't bother checking the safeties. It's hurt him in not looking safeties off and by not double checking the plays.(this exact same thing happened on the last play of the NFCCG).

I'm not asking that he be able to scan the whole way across during the play - that would be nitpicking. It's that he needs to have a better understanding of the totality of mental calisthenics he has to go through in the process of each play(process being from the moment the huddle is broken through to the end of the play).

Thanks for breaking down your thoughts...the problem I see with that are the routes we had called. I get where you're going with him looking to the right first but what would be the point of that on that given playcall? Vernon wouldn't have even made his cut yet, Lloyd wasn't open.

It's one thing to know based on the coverage where you have better matchups but you also need to have the right routes called to take advantage. If he looks right post snap Vernon isn't open and the defense would react to him looking that way.

So once again I'm back to how can you put all the blame just on Kap?

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Giedi:
I saw some very good first down gains by Gore in the Giants game and the New Orleans game. I think our run game is one of the best. The statistics bear that out. Where this offense is having problems is in the passing game, again the stats bear that out. If you compare the NY Giants to the 49er offense, and also look at the game, the Giants were much more consistent and smoother on their offense than ours. I think if you zero in on the TE position, you will see the NY TE's outproduced our TE by a 3 to 1 margin. Just looking at Donnell season (the NY Giants TE) vs VD, and you see him having 40+ catches to VD's 18.

I think aside from the sub par pass protection and constant failure of blitz pickups in the red zone, the TE position and Vernon in particular is really costing this offense. Several times Vernon and Vance were targeted and the failures and misfires left the offense in 3rd down long yardage situations. Not a good thing if you want to keep a drive alive.

Hopefully with the offense playing at home, the offense can actually call audibles and more motions in the game. That may help the red zone blitz pick ups and possible hot route adjustments on weird all or nothing defensive calls by opposing teams. If there is one area of the offense I can point to - that is causing all the offensive breakdowns, it's the lack of the TE production, sub par pass protection by the O Line, and of course Colin's tendency to throw deep instead of getting the sure checkdown pass for positive yardage. You might as well throw in there some of G-ro's badly designed pass plays, but I don't think its as big a factor as failure to execute by the offensive players.

I think you're slightly missing the forrest through the trees here Geidi.

3rd downs are the "money" down but you've got to put yourself in manageable situations on 2nd and 3rd downs to make life easier for your QB, weaker pass protecting OL and own the TOP (if we're focused on the passing game here). Yes, overall, we have a good running game but NOT on 1st downs d/t predictability of play calling. Sometimes we'll take a shot on 1st downs (passing) and that will help our average production but think about it this way: if we're 30th in 1st down production and going backwards this much (averaging 10.6 & 10.4 yards to go when we don't pick up at least 4 yards), that means we have to hit some pretty big plays on 1st down once in a while to get your average UP to an overall 5.08 yard average; 30th in the NFL. Or some big passing plays to get UP to a 5.33 yard average or some big runs to get UP to a 4.89 yard average.

And yes, even against an 8-10 man run blitzing box, we still do get some 4+ yard gains. That happens with perfect execution and/or individual effort (will); what I call, "The Gore-effect."

But if you want to know why we are outmanned and outnumbered in pass protection on 2nd and 3rd downs, and why CK is often times scrambling for his life or why he almost always has to pass at the 2-2.5 second mark, etc., is forced into 8 of his 12 TD's on broken plays, have zero production in the 2nd halfs of games, etc. it's more often than not, b/c of predictable play calling on 1st downs that perpetually put us in 2nd and 3rd and longs, often times, playing right into a defenses hands (their strengths) esp. if they have any kind of pass rush and/or are aggressive at attacking the LOS. This is why I don't put 50% of the responsibility on CK as he walks up to 2nd down already behind the 8-ball.

This is why I call this the Anti-WCO. If this was a true WCO offense, 1st down production is THE down that sets up your series of play calling (i.e. how you play chess).

IIRC, when CK checked down to the RB in the middle of the field last game and picked up an easy 8 yards on 1st down, you should have heard the SoCal Niner's Chapter bar go crazy. They "get it." Now your play book is wide open to run/pass/PA.

Again, let's not ignore these stats and just focus on 3rd downs as that is the end result of poor play calling on 1st downs (coupled with some poor execution as well). You fix that and we're a playoff team. You then fix the RZ problems and we're a Superbowl winning team. Ironically, 1st down production and the RZ are very similar and it's where an OC earn their money: HaRoman.

Saints Game:
2nd and 10
2nd and 12
2nd and 8
2nd and 10
2nd and 17
2nd and 10
2nd and 12
2nd and 10
2nd and 8
2nd and 9
2nd and 19
2nd and 7
2nd and 10
2nd and 10
2nd and 10
2nd and 8
2nd and 10

Of the 25 2nd downs we had this game here is the breakdown:
17 times 25 times of >7 to go averaging 10.6 yards left to go

Giant's Game:
2nd and 18
2nd and 17
2nd and 11
2nd and 7
2nd and 8
2nd and 11
2nd and 10
2nd and 9
2nd and 10
2nd and 7
2nd and 8
2nd and 9

Only 19 2nd down opportunities this game:
12 of the 19 times of >7 yards to go averaging 10.4 yards to go

To me, stating an average without more isn't very helpful.

Predictability and execution are two totally different things. They do combine though, to make a good offense. Just stating first downs and getting an average really doesn't tell me anything. Looking at a run offense and the first down play getting stuffed doesn't tell me anything about predictability or execution. The reason I like jonnydel's breakdowns and thl408's breakdowns is they get into the nitty gritty of individual matchups, down and distance, and tactical options. Then you can step back after those film breakdowns and fill in the gaps from a strategy point of view, to understand where the Coaches are coming from.

Looking at post #166 where JD breaks down the 3 sequence drive that resulted in a field goal, you see *execution* breakdowns where Staley and Miller didn't communicate/understand what to do with a slanting DE that is basically taking himself out of the play. Miller should have blocked down on the LB instead of hesitating and letting the LB blow up the play. That is *execution* and not a bad playcall - because the play could have gone for a big gain if that LB was blocked right.

Then on the passing side, you see Colin looking deep to shallow, as it is his tendency to do so - hence the predictability. In the 2nd play in that 3 down sequence, Colin tries to hit Crabs on a deep pass when the underneath route is available. As folks commented, we don't want Colin to be Captain Checkdown 2.0, but from a predictability standpoint - the defense has it easy when they know Colin will read deep to shallow, right to left, 90% of the time.

So again, looking at thl408's and jonnydel's breakdowns, pass protection is still an issue - specially in the redzone, when defenses (usually *bad* defenses) use the back endzone as an extra DB and begin to blitz their DB's to put pressure on the O Line protection schemes. The second issue is Colin's inability to *throw blind* consistently. If you look at the completion to crabs against a zone defense, Colin is throwing to crabs *way before* he's open. On the passing plays which are not successful, it's Colin failing to take advantage of a checkdown instead of a more risky deep throw. Colin is still not confident in this system to *throw blind* the way Breesus and Young did in their respective offenses.

Finally, this isn't a WCO. As much as PaseoDoc and other *wish* it were joe executing a flair out, that's not going to happen a lot in this offense. In vertical offenses, the TE operates in the middle area as an outlet should the playfake be covered. The HB is not an immediate outlet option because he's executing the play-fake. The TE is the one that takes that outlet role, and niether TE has been executing and producing, which means the DB's can cover the WR's much closer and can ignore the TE. If we can get any of those three things fixed, I think you will see a much more consistent offense, and probably a much more productive offense. 0

Originally posted by jonnydel:
It reminds me of something Deon Sanders said to Steve Mariucci when they were talking about the day Terrell Owens broke the record for most catches in a game. It was on "Jerry Rice" day in San Fran. Deon said to Mooch, "how could you call 20 pass plays to Terrell Owens on Jerry Rice day, of all days?!?!?" Mooch responded, "Hey, I wasn't the one making the throws, so you can't blame me for that"

I understand the point you're trying to make but it's a bit silly.

Garcia making choices in going to Jerry Rice who the Bears were hell bent on stopping that day or going to some scrub named Terrell Owens vs Kap going for bigger plays(which may or may not be what the coaches are preaching for him to do) vs taking shorter easier completions.

Originally posted by VinculumJuris:
Defenses adjusted...look at what Lynch is doing. Wilson will take 150 yards and 2 TDs from Lynch every day.

Edit: This discussion is totally off the rails. Just wanted to throw that in.

So because Wilson has a better running game and took a big step back as a passing QB he's still a better leader than Kap?

I'm sure Kap would take 150 yards and 2 TDs from Gore every day also but you play with what you've got. I hope you're not somehow insinuating that Russell Wilson is leading Lynch to such production?

Though come to think of it I remember Lynch playing poorly and then Wilson gave him a wink and the very next play Lynch rumbled over half the opposing defense on his way for a huge play. It was like Wilson was a guardian angel projecting blocks for Lynch's runs.

Kap should learn a thing or two from Mr. Wilson.

Originally posted by genus49:

Originally posted by VinculumJuris:
Defenses adjusted...look at what Lynch is doing. Wilson will take 150 yards and 2 TDs from Lynch every day.

Edit: This discussion is totally off the rails. Just wanted to throw that in.

So because Wilson has a better running game and took a big step back as a passing QB he's still a better leader than Kap?

I'm sure Kap would take 150 yards and 2 TDs from Gore every day also but you play with what you've got. I hope you're not somehow insinuating that Russell Wilson is leading Lynch to such production?

Though come to think of it I remember Lynch playing poorly and then Wilson gave him a wink and the very next play Lynch rumbled over half the opposing defense on his way for a huge play. It was like Wilson was a guardian angel projecting blocks for Lynch's runs.

Kap should learn a thing or two from Mr. Wilson.

Defenses are being forced to pick their poison. To shut down Wilson in the passing game, they are leaving gaping running lanes for Lynch. Wilson is also getting it done on the ground, which shows that the defense is not able to play the run effectively. If the defense committed to shutting down the run, it seems likely that Wilson's production through the air would improve.

This is not connected to the discussion of Wilson being a good leader last season.