Washington Redskins Coaches film analysis

Here's our first TD in the game. Love this play from top to bottom. Design, execution and timing.

11:20 1st QTR


Here's our play design. I've seen plays very, very similar to this(like one route is slightly different, but it accomplishes the same thing) in Jon Gruden's playbook so I've also included overlay of what the play would have written out in the playbook as directions for the QB. You see that at the top you have a cover 2 zone/man beating combo and the corresponding progression and at the bottom, you have a cover 3 zone/cover 1 man beating combo with corresponding progression. The progression is for cover 3 zone and there's an alert for man-coverage to the corner route.

We go into the huddle with 21 Personnel(2 backs 1 TE). Since DC's usually base their playcall off of the personnel grouping of the other team(you see 2 RB's and 2 TE's go into the game on 1st and 10 - you're gonna make a run D call. Likewise, you see 4 WR's check in on 3rd and 12 - you're gonna make a pass call) this will put the defense into more of a base defense call.(unlikely to call a fire zone blitz or exotic blitz as runs can often exploit those) Furthermore, we then flare Miller out wide and motion Hyde out as well.


From the snap you see the LB take a zone drop over the middle. This shows it's cover -1 man with a "lurk". You can also see this by the corners. At the top the corner takes inside leverage, using the sideline as his "help" defender and at the bottom the corner has squared up with Miller to defend routes either in or out. If the corners were in zone, they'd take outside leverage and open their hips to the QB(just think about how you see Dick Sherman play all the time. He opens his hips to the QB at the snap - they play zone a LOT.) So, because it's man-coverage, you have Boldin on a safety for the corner route. It's a great job of the QB to recognize that from his play and know that he should alert to the man-coverage corner route and good design by Roman to get Boldin isolated on a safety. If it's zone coverage, Miller will be wide open for an 8 yard gain too(we did this exact same thing later in the game and got Miller for 8 yards).


You see why the corner route beats the man-coverage.


Good protection by the O-line lets Kap make the throw.

Guys, I'm working on getting the coaches film up as right now and it should be done in a few hours. I'll probably also put up the coaches film from the Cardinals @ Seahawks game so we can do some scouting as well. I hope to have it up on a video site by tonight.

WRT the 2nd down analysis, the data seems a bit skewed by the fact that we had 27 first downs and only 21 second downs. So on 6 first downs the play resulted in another first down (by gaining 10+ yards or defensive holding penalty etc) or we scored a touchdown yet those plays aren't included in the 2nd down stat that makes the claim that we are on average going backwards on first down.

Originally posted by jonnydel:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by jonnydel:
My only issue - I know I'm nitpicking, is that I don't think a 3 yard gain on first down is bad or negative. To me, a negative or no gain on 1st down has to be <or=2. 2nd and 7 or 3rd and 4 still leave you a good chance of converting. If you count 2nd and 7(since you look at >7) as positive, 12 of 21 times were negative and 9 of 12 positive on 1st down. It's closer to 50% then.

Totally a matter of preference. But the stats guys consider 4+ yards a 1st down success so I stay with that. But I'll keep posting like this so you all can come up with your own operational definition of success. What I found is that we and the Lions are, respectively, #31 and #32 worst in the NFL on 1st down production. But doesn't this make sense when you consider our offensive mentality of "chunk play"-abilities off PA?

Sticking with your positive theme, I was very happy with the two plays where we ended in 2nd and 1, back-to-back b/c it appeared that we had a short primary read, passed around the 2 second mark IIRC and b/c of Crabtree & Boldin's ability to get YAC, a simple 3 yard pass turned into a 9 yard gain or just stopped there (for 9). So I was very thankful for that!

Agreed. My biggest concern this week is: how will we function with those throws mostly taken away? Seattle, by coverage, tries to take away all your short, timing throws over the middle. They defend your short throws with the coverage and your deep throws with the rush. So, the only throws they give you are in the 7-8 yard range by the sideline - the longest short throw on the field.

That and they always spy us with a LB which means Miller/Carrier, Hyde and Gore will be completely covered out of the backfield (NFCCG) esp. on delayed flare outs and chip-and-go routes. I'd consider making many of these the primary read in designs. Chiefs exploited them in the short game all day long and took some calculated shots off PA and their successful run game. It's going to be a fun X's and O's game to watch!

Originally posted by thl408:
Nice opening thought about how much we have to be thankful for. It's funny that we have to give a disclaimer before pointing out things the team needs to work on to get better. That said, I wanted to echo the same disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER: I am a Kap fan. Just because I critique his game, it does not mean I am a hater. From a coaches point of view, it is good to strive for perfection while hoping for excellence. The assessments may be harsh, but as we watch Kap develop, these cut ups provide a way for us to monitor his progress. As the years go by, we can see him get better in certain areas and look back and point to where he has grown.


WAS came with a healthy mix of man and zone coverage. A bit more man coverage than I expected considering how other teams have defended the 49ers by playing majority zone. Often, WAS would load the box with 8 and play man coverage. This is a compliment to the run game and a disrespect to the passing game. Some of that could be on Kap, but I think a lot of it is on the WR corp's lack of a deep threat. WAS didn't feel the need to fear being beat deep. This is why the 49ers took some deep shots even with no deep threats. That was what WAS dared the 49ers to do, beat them deep. It worked on the first drive and that caused the 49ers to try a few more times throughout the game.

When the WRs were covered downfield - no surprise there - there were indeed options underneath to throw to. Kap instead, scrambled for minimal gains. If the deep option is not there, Kap needs to be fast with adjusting his eye level to the short routes. Whether this is on the coaching to drill it into his head or on Kap to do it because that would be the logical thing to do, it needs to be done. There was one play on the final drive of the 1st half where there were 4 routes going out, both deep routes were double covered and Kap waited for it to become open. All the while the two underneath routes were open. I'll show a few plays regarding this.

I thought Marcus Martin didn't have a good game run blocking. He failed to recognize his block and that led to a few bad runs. Aldon's presence was felt up and down the Dline. The RayMac sack was a direct result of Aldon as Fangio moved Aldon around the Dline. Alfred Morris' big day was mainly a result of some missed assignments and shoddy tackling. This needs to get fixed for Thursday's game. I consider Morris like a mini-Lynch, big RB with good quickness, tough to bring down. RG3 is terrible and if you want to see a QB that doesn't know wth he's looking at when he drops back, RG3 is that guy. I'm sure a lot has to do with the 49er pas rush, but he is going down Micael Vick's career path if he doesn't shape up - good athlete, poor football IQ.

Agree on all points. I saw the same things across the board. There were times where Kap had receivers that were open(if only for a milisecond - which is often the case when facing zone coverages) and he either missed the receiver breaking open or scrambled for a small gain. I thought the article this week with Steven Young was an excellent interview with Steve on the topic. I think he really nailed it on the head with what I've been seeing from Kap and our offense. One thing he said really stuck with me though and made me think about why our offense seems to be "just a litlle off" and why we're not fully meeting our talent expectations.

He talked about how, when coaches got a hold of him that really forced him to work on the mental aspects of the game and learn the progressions, learn patience and learn everything, that it was a long process and a process that had a lot of growing pains. He talked about how, they could've tailored the offense more to his strengths as a runner and all, but it would've hampered his long term development. They could've gotten better results in the short term but would've seen regression in the long term as he wouldn't have developed all the skills necessary to become an elite QB(think of Cam Newton or Michael Vick - great early success, great struggles down the road).

What I see with Kap this year is that he's having a hard time knowing when to exhaust a play and know all his options. Some of this was due to the WR depth last year. Last year, he didn't have a whole lot of work with multiple receiving threats. So, for him, if the first read wasn't there, there truly were no other options. We also had to simplify the playbook to what our receiving corps could do. This hurt his development as a pocket passer.

This year, he's got more weapons than he's ever had - which is a good thing, but, it also means the information that he has to digest has grown and the speed at which he must do this has to increase. So, while it's easy to say, "we have all these weapons, we should be awesome" it doesn't always work that way, especially with a guy who is a developmental guy. Right now, he's having to work from a lot more whole field reads than half field reads. in the end, it'll make our offense much better and truly scary, but the process to get there won't be an easy, or quick one. Our coaches could make the offense simpler and could make it easier on everybody and probably get a little bit more production out - but the end product will not be a franchise QB, it'd be a short run QB.

That Steve Young article is really good in that regards and I'd recommend anyone to read it. It really helped me see our offense differently.

In case you didn't get a chance to read it, here it is: http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2014/11/21/steve-young-and-the-art-of-molding-a-mobile-quarterback/

Originally posted by All22:
Guys, I'm working on getting the coaches film up as right now and it should be done in a few hours. I'll probably also put up the coaches film from the Cardinals @ Seahawks game so we can do some scouting as well. I hope to have it up on a video site by tonight.

WRT the 2nd down analysis, the data seems a bit skewed by the fact that we had 27 first downs and only 21 second downs. So on 6 first downs the play resulted in another first down (by gaining 10+ yards or defensive holding penalty etc) or we scored a touchdown yet those plays aren't included in the 2nd down stat that makes the claim that we are on average going backwards on first down.

TO's, penalties, FG's, etc. Not sure why but I copied/pasted directly from the Play-By-Play. Perhaps an extra set of eyes could help cross-reference to ensure I didn't miss anything? http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/playbyplay?gameId=400554365&period=0

I checked again...seems right/penalties/FG's 1st down, etc.
1st and 10 at SF 41 (13:31) C.Kaepernick pass incomplete deep left to M.Crabtree.
2nd and 10 at SF 41 (13:25) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick scrambles right end pushed ob at SF 48 for 7 yards (K.Robinson).
1st and 10 at WSH 34 (12:04) F.Gore left end to WAS 30 for 4 yards (T.Murphy).
2nd and 6 at WSH 30 (11:20) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass deep right to A.Boldin for 30 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Caught at WAS 3. 3-yds YAC P.Dawson extra point is GOOD, Center-K.Nelson, Holder-A.Lee.
1st and 10 at SF 5 (8:21) F.Gore up the middle to SF 9 for 4 yards (R.Clark).
2nd and 6 at SF 9 (7:38) C.Hyde left tackle to SF 11 for 2 yards (P.Riley).
1st and 10 at SF 21 (6:12) F.Gore left guard to SF 24 for 3 yards (B.Meriweather).
2nd and 7 at SF 24 (5:28) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass short right to B.Miller to SF 44 for 20 yards (B.Breeland). Caught at SF 26. 18-yds YAC
1st and 10 at SF 44 (4:46) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass incomplete short left to B.Lloyd.
2nd and 10 at SF 44 (4:38) C.Kaepernick FUMBLES (Aborted) at SF 42, and recovers at SF 42. C.Kaepernick to SF 42 for no gain (R.Kerrigan).
1st and 10 at SF 46 (1:41) C.Kaepernick scrambles left end ran ob at SF 47 for 1 yard.
2nd and 9 at SF 47 (1:06) F.Gore up the middle to SF 49 for 2 yards (J.Hatcher).
1st and 10 at WSH 41 (15:00) C.Hyde to WAS 41 for no gain (B.Meriweather). FUMBLES (B.Meriweather), RECOVERED by WAS-R.Clark at WAS 40. R.Clark to WAS 40 for no gain (M.Martin). 1-yd of loose ball yardage.
1st and 10 at SF 5 (13:22) C.Kaepernick scrambles left guard to SF 6 for 1 yard (K.Robinson).
2nd and 9 at SF 6 (12:44) F.Gore up the middle to SF 14 for 8 yards (P.Riley).
1st and 10 at SF 7 (5:27) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass short left to M.Crabtree to SF 16 for 9 yards (R.Clark). Caught at SF10. 6-yds YAC
2nd and 1 at SF 16 (4:51) F.Gore up the middle to SF 19 for 3 yards (K.Robinson).
1st and 10 at SF 19 (4:07) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass short right to A.Boldin to SF 28 for 9 yards (B.Breeland). 0-yds YAC
2nd and 1 at SF 28 (3:30) C.Kaepernick scrambles left tackle to SF 33 for 5 yards (K.Robinson).
1st and 10 at SF 33 (2:44) F.Gore left end to SF 30 for -3 yards (T.Murphy).
2nd and 13 at SF 30 (2:03) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass short left to B.Miller to SF 42 for 12 yards (T.Porter). Caught at SF 38. 4-yds YAC
1st and 10 at SF 44 (1:31) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass incomplete short left to M.Crabtree.
2nd and 10 at SF 44 (1:30) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick sacked at SF 40 for -4 yards (R.Kerrigan).
1st and 10 at WSH 23 (:05) P.Dawson 41 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-K.Nelson, Holder-A.Lee.
1st and 10 at SF 25 (14:54) F.Gore left tackle to SF 28 for 3 yards (B.Cofield).
2nd and 7 at SF 28 (14:15) C.Kaepernick pass incomplete deep right to S.Johnson (B.Breeland) [T.Murphy].
1st and 10 at SF 10 (11:37) C.Kaepernick pass short right to V.Davis to SF 26 for 16 yards (B.Breeland). Caught at SF21. 5-yds YAC PENALTY on SF-A.Boone, Ineligible Downfield Pass, 5 yards, enforced at SF 10 - No Play.
1st and 15 at SF 5 (11:05) F.Gore left tackle to SF 5 for no gain (T.Murphy). WAS-T.Porter was injured during the play. He is Out.
2nd and 15 at SF 5 (10:35) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass short right to B.Miller to SF 13 for 8 yards (G.Ducre). Caught at SF9. 4-yds YAC
1st and 10 at SF 27 (9:13) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass deep right intended for A.Boldin INTERCEPTED by G.Ducre at WAS 26. G.Ducre to WAS 33 for 7 yards (V.Davis).
1st and 10 at SF 8 (7:25) F.Gore up the middle to SF 11 for 3 yards (P.Riley).
2nd and 7 at SF 11 (6:43) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass short right to A.Boldin to SF 18 for 7 yards (P.Riley; R.Kerrigan). Officials to measure for 1st Down. Caught at SF 15. 3-yds YAC
1st and 10 at SF 18 (6:09) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass incomplete short left to A.Boldin.
2nd and 10 at SF 18 (6:06) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass short left to M.Crabtree to SF 27 for 9 yards (B.Breeland; P.Riley). WAS-B.Breeland was injured during the play. Caught at SF 24. 3-ds YAC
1st and 10 at SF 27 (:25) C.Kaepernick pass incomplete short left to V.Davis.
2nd and 10 at SF 27 (:20) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass short middle to M.Crabtree to SF 32 for 5 yards (K.Robinson). 0-yds YAC
1st and 10 at SF 29 (10:12) F.Gore left end to SF 35 for 6 yards (T.Murphy). FUMBLES (T.Murphy), RECOVERED by WAS-P.Thomas at SF 38. P.Thomas to SF 36 for 2 yards (A.Boldin). 3-yards of loose ball yardage
1st and 10 at SF 25 (7:36) C.Kaepernick sacked at SF 19 for -6 yards (J.Hatcher).
2nd and 16 at SF 19 (6:51) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass short left to A.Boldin pushed ob at SF 29 for 10 yards (G.Ducre).
1st and 10 at SF 37 (4:43) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass deep right to A.Boldin to WAS 34 for 29 yards (B.Breeland). WAS-R.Clark was injured during the play. PENALTY on WAS-R.Clark, Unnecessary Roughness, 15 yards, enforced at WAS 34. Caught at WAS 40. 6-yds YAC
1st and 10 at WSH 19 (4:34) (Shotgun) C.Hyde up the middle to WAS 14 for 5 yards (T.Robinson).
2nd and 5 at WSH 14 (3:47) (Shotgun) C.Kaepernick pass short left to A.Boldin to WAS 4 for 10 yards (P.Riley). Caught at WAS 7. 3-yds YAC
1st and 4 at WSH 4 (3:03) (Shotgun) C.Hyde up the middle for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN. P.Dawson extra point is GOOD, Center-K.Nelson, Holder-A.Lee.
1st and 10 at SF 22 (1:57) C.Hyde left guard to SF 29 for 7 yards (B.Meriweather).
2nd and 3 at SF 29 (1:52) C.Hyde right guard to SF 29 for no gain (J.Jenkins).
1st and 7 at WSH 7 (:52) C.Kaepernick kneels to WAS 8 for -1 yards.
2nd and 8 at WSH 8 (:26) C.Kaepernick kneels to WAS 9 for -1 yards.

Originally posted by jonnydel:
Here's our first TD in the game. Love this play from top to bottom. Design, execution and timing.

11:20 1st QTR


Here's our play design. I've seen plays very, very similar to this(like one route is slightly different, but it accomplishes the same thing) in Jon Gruden's playbook so I've also included overlay of what the play would have written out in the playbook as directions for the QB. You see that at the top you have a cover 2 zone/man beating combo and the corresponding progression and at the bottom, you have a cover 3 zone/cover 1 man beating combo with corresponding progression. The progression is for cover 3 zone and there's an alert for man-coverage to the corner route.

We go into the huddle with 21 Personnel(2 backs 1 TE). Since DC's usually base their playcall off of the personnel grouping of the other team(you see 2 RB's and 2 TE's go into the game on 1st and 10 - you're gonna make a run D call. Likewise, you see 4 WR's check in on 3rd and 12 - you're gonna make a pass call) this will put the defense into more of a base defense call.(unlikely to call a fire zone blitz or exotic blitz as runs can often exploit those) Furthermore, we then flare Miller out wide and motion Hyde out as well.


From the snap you see the LB take a zone drop over the middle. This shows it's cover -1 man with a "lurk". You can also see this by the corners. At the top the corner takes inside leverage, using the sideline as his "help" defender and at the bottom the corner has squared up with Miller to defend routes either in or out. If the corners were in zone, they'd take outside leverage and open their hips to the QB(just think about how you see Dick Sherman play all the time. He opens his hips to the QB at the snap - they play zone a LOT.) So, because it's man-coverage, you have Boldin on a safety for the corner route. It's a great job of the QB to recognize that from his play and know that he should alert to the man-coverage corner route and good design by Roman to get Boldin isolated on a safety. If it's zone coverage, Miller will be wide open for an 8 yard gain too(we did this exact same thing later in the game and got Miller for 8 yards).


You see why the corner route beats the man-coverage.


Good protection by the O-line lets Kap make the throw.

Nice cutup. Just wanted to add one keyframe. Like you mentioned, by lining up Miller wide and with WAS not adjusting, it puts the safety SS Merriweather on Boldin while a CB covers Miller - this is the reverse of what the defense wants with regards to matchups. In this key frame, we can see how Merriweather does not use his safety help. He needs to play with outside leverage and funnel Boldin to the middle where his team mate is patrolling the deep middle. Merriweather instead allows Boldin to take outside leverage and that's a win for the Corner route. Had Merriwether used his help properly and taken outside leverage, he has a better chance at defending the Corner route.

Johnny, I to love everything about our td play. I've always loved the smash concepts and I love the little wrinkle we added by splitting miller out to run the hook. It really was a great job by kap recognizing the coverage and roping the throw. This play really is stealing.

Kind of going backwards here, but this is the first play from scrimmage for the 49ers as they open the game by taking a deep shot.

WAS: cover1 man


Playaction to sell the flow of the play to the left. Kap then starts to roll to his right. This looks like a play the 49ers have run many times before as the hit the FB/TE going against the flow of the playaction.


Kap halts his rollout to the right and looks to throw back across the field. Crabs had been running as if to follow Kap's rollout to the right to influence the deep safety (blue). Crabs will also turn back towards the left.


Kap is mid windup.


Just missed.


The rollout right as well as the nice route by Crabs gets the deep safety to flow away from where the play is designed to go. In this case, Crabs was open. This won't be the case in the other times that the 49ers look for the deep shot.

I wonder if Kap's long release affects his ability to go from the first read to the second read and make a quick throw before the coverage has a chance to close in along with the DL closing the pocket.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone that's involved in putting these threads together.

I hope everyone, and their families, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Ah, its the "make zoners look foolish thread." Woo hoo!

Thanks again Johnny and THL.

dbl

Originally posted by thl408:

The Anquan TD was preceded by a good mixture of short passing and off tackle runs. As Colin learns to draw the defense in with the short passing an runs, these long passes should open up. With good pass protection, as JD said these plays should be common place in the near future. It all depends on Colin's continued progression.

Here's a type of play that I don't remember the 49ers ever using. Normally, the 49ers beat the blitz by keeping in additional blockers to pick up the blitz. Here the 49ers beat the blitz by sending out 5 routes.

WAS: cover 1 (6 man pressure). The numbers don't add up. When sending 6 man pressure, there are 5 defenders left in coverage. When using one of those 5 defenders to play deep zone, if the offense send out 5 routes, someone's not going to be covered. The orange defender is the unblocked blitzer.
49ers: Notice that neither Hyde or Miller will stay in to pick up the blitz as they both flare out to the flats.


Kap starts his dropback. Hyde will be the uncovered route.


The throw has to be quick because the unblocked blitzer is coming. The safety on Miller's side of the field takes a misstep towards the middle of the field as he follows VD. Kap is mid windup targeting Miller.


Gain of +20. This is a great changeup to how the 49ers usually deal with the blitz. Instead of relying on blitz pickup, allow the a free rusher, but send out more routes. The throw has to be quick, and here, it was.

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by thl408:

The Anquan TD was preceded by a good mixture of short passing and off tackle runs. As Colin learns to draw the defense in with the short passing an runs, these long passes should open up. With good pass protection, as JD said these plays should be common place in the near future. It all depends on Colin's continued progression.

That mixture sucked, there was no one open...so colin took his only option if it was already designed to go to Boldin