2Q 2nd & 10
jd, thoughts on this play.
This is the play immediately after the cutup above. It's the play where Kittle could have gotten blasted by the safety. There was a blown coverage on this play and I want to see if we can figure out why Jimmy didn't see it.
With the safeties at 10 yard depth, that suggests Quarters coverage. If it is Quarters, then the CBs will match #1 if vertical. Pettis originally lines up in the slot, then shifts to the backfield. Purple CB is following Pettis this entire time presnap.
Pettis orbits around Jimmy at the snap and purple follows. Man or zone?
LBs take a zone drop. Safeties do not gain depth. I think they are in Quarters. Red CB looks like he's playing the flat, which is not what a CB should be doing in Quarters. Does red think it's a Cover2 call?
James runs right by the CB. At the bottom, orange CB on Bourne matches his vertical like a CB playing Quarters should. There are many different variations to Quarters. The blue safety here does not go to help with #1 and instead stays in his zone.
With the safeties playing shallow, the area behind the LB and in front of the safeties is condensed.
Jimmy is waiting for Kittle to get into the passing lane. Blue is shallow.
It doesn't seem like Jimmy looks to the CB squatting on James with no safety help. I think it's because when he saw Quarters, he felt the area to attack was middle of the field, not sideline fade from the far hash on a rainy day. The CB on James blew his coverage and should have stayed over top of James not squat.
WAS makes a nice adjustment here on how to handle the motion from Pettis. Pettis' motion is supposed to draw the attention of the blue safety once Pettis becomes the new #2 at the snap, but it doesn't. It doesn't because WAS had purple follow the motion player so that the blue safety wouldn't be drawn away from his area.
The past two games, we saw Kyle use presnap motion to break Quarters and get Kittle on a LB with no help. Here the safety stays in his area because he doesn't care about any presnap motion and so he's able to defend that area of the field.