Steelers Video Rewind

The Eagles finally ran the defense against the Steelers we thought we'd see all year:  an aggressive blitzing front backed by what could be the top cornerback threesome in the league. 

Better late than never.

Recall that in the first game against the Rams, the Eagles spent most of the day in their base defense.  This was surprising -- given what we saw last year and the addition of Asante Samuel -- but made sense since the Rams' entire offense seemed to revolve around running the football.  When Johnson did bring in extra DBs, he rolled out a three-cornerback/three-safety dime package, sitting both his outside linebackers. 

Against the Cowboys we saw more of that 3x3 look, albeit not with great success.  Apparently Eagles fans weren't the only ones annoyed by Sean Considine's performance against Dallas -- the guy didn't make it onto the field against the Steelers, except on special teams.

What we saw instead was a traditional nickel package, with Bradley and Gaither staying on in passing situations and Lito Sheppard subbing in for Chris Gocong.  The handful of times the Eagles went with the dime, they brought in Joselio Hanson, not Considine.

I did some snap counts this week.  Out of about 60 defensive plays, I counted:

Nickel -- 36
Dime -- 5
Blitz -- 22

Which means we're right back to 2007 with the personnel groupings and blitz tendencies. 

- - - - - -

The interesting wrinkle in all of this is that the coverage in the secondary wasn't actually that great.  Asante Samuel, in particular, had a number of balls caught on him (two right after I was telling a couple visitors how outstanding he was). 

But I think the reason for that performance is that Johnson told his guys to avoid the big play, allow the underneath stuff, and just tackle well.  The few times we got to see the corners in coverage, it certainly looked like they were bailing deep, content to give up the short stuff if necessary.

- - - - - -

Of course, it wouldn't be a Jim Johnson defense if he didn't pull something crazy out of his hat.  This week, the nutty thing was a 3-4 look using 4-1-6 personnel.  Explaining it would take all the fun out of it, so just watch this video, noting early on that 1) Juqua Parker is stationed as the MLB pre-snap, 2) the line slants left to get penetration and flush Ben from the pocket, and 3) JP is just waiting for that to happen so he can crash down and get a free path to the QB:

- - - - - -

I also want to single out Bunkley for some of the work he did, particularly early when the Eagles weren't playing quite as much nickel (a package in which he usually comes out for Darren Howard).  Maybe the difference was just the offensive line he was facing, but Bunkley seemed much more active. 

On his fumble recovery, watch how far back he pushes Hartwig, completely collapsing the pocket and putting himself in great position to recover the fumble:

Now that's the Bunkley I remember seeing a couple preseasons ago. 

- - - - - -

Here's an interesting game.  Take a look at the following screenshot (click to enlarge) and see if you notice anything a little off:

The blue line makes it easier to see.  Notice how JP is set up a little bit off the line in comparison to the other three guys?  I saw that and immediately thought "zone blitz," which is exactly what came on this play.  Watch the tipping, JP.

- - - - - -

Other thoughts on the defense:

• The difference between Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown couldn't have been more clear in this game.  Samuel's amazing, leaping interception was a huge play.  Meanwhile, Roethlisberger basically threw one right to Brown late and he couldn't hang on to it.  Doesn't make him a bad corner, but he sure doesn't have Asante's ball skills.
• One or both Eagles safeties were in the box for what seemed to be the vast majority of this game.  Those two are great up there.  Several nice plays in the run game.
• As natural as Stewart Bradley looks playing linebacker ... that's how unnatural Gocong looks next to him.  Again, I'm not knocking a guy for being midway through a tough transition.  But he's not there yet.
• Both Cole and Parker are much better at dropping into coverage than they used to be.  Last year they looked like fish out of water.  This year, much more comfortable.
• This defense never gives up.  All 11 guys hustle to the football on every play.  Missed tackles aren't as important when three guys are there to pick you up.  Patterson in particular is a sideline-to-sideline defensive tackle, which sounds nuts but it's true.
• Trevor Laws looks like he belongs out there, but still haven't see him make a play.  He's not getting that much time though.
• Couple really good plays on that last Pittsburgh drive, including the knockaway by Asante and the great sideline tackle by Mikell to keep his man inbounds.

- - - - - -

With the special teams, I skipped the kickoffs.  Keeps the blood pressure down.

As promised to the Aussies, here's a clip package for Sav Rocca in the 4th quarter.  (Apologies for the awful sound.  Found a recording workaround but it's stopgap at best)

Also, I timed that 64-yarder with my trusty online stopwatch.  Numbers were clustered in the low fives.  That's awfully rare.

- - - - - -

On the offensive side of the ball, let's just skip right to Kevin Kolb.  The INT clearly wasn't his fault.  It clearly wasn't LJ's fault either, since the cornerback made contact way before the ball got there and should have been called for pass interference.

But check out this throw on the next drive:

See that linebacker, #56, dropping back into coverage?  Kevin Kolb sure didn't. 

That right there is the problem with young quarterbacks.  There's too much they haven't seen and they're too easily tricked into those kinds of mistakes. 

On each of Kolb's three passes, he appeared to make a pre-snap read and then go right to his number one option.  That's not a bad way to play for a young guy, but it's kind of like plinking out chopsticks while McNabb is playing the Rach 3 next door. 

Oh yeah, and he completed that pass.  Nice zip on that ball. 

- - - - - -

We'll give equal time to a McNabb screwup next.  Remember the low ball to LJ in the end zone?  He had to squeeze it in there because the coverage was all over the tight end ... which means it wasn't in the middle of the field, where Booker was breaking across for what would have been an easy catch and run (click for full size):

Everyone was flowing into the end zone.  Booker had an easy first down and possible touchdown if McNabb had stuck around for one more read. 

I bet if that running back lined up wide had been Brian Westbrook, he would have gotten the football.

- - - - - -

The Eagles are doing something strange in blitz pickup that I think they need to get rid of soon.  My brother was in town this weekend and picked up on this in real time.

Twice the Eagles had running backs go right past a blitzing linebacker to run pass patterns in the flats.  The first time, with Booker, McNabb tried to get him the ball but couldn't with the LB in his face.  The second time, with Buckhalter, McNabb was looking to the other side of the field and ended up getting drilled by the unblocked LB.

I get the whole "put everyone in the pattern and make them stop us" philosophy, but they're going to get McNabb killed doing this.

- - - - - -

And that's not even mentioning the awful missed blitz pickup by Booker that caused the McNabb interception.

- - - - - -

Sometimes you can tell a team just isn't fooled by a play.  The Eagles came out on one play in four wide with a solo back, trips right.  The back then motioned to the outside of the single receiver side, my guess would be in hopes of sliding the cornerback out and a linebacker over into coverage.  The Steelers instead brought the safety down on to the slot, keeping everyone else in place.  The Eagles then tried to run a WR screen to Jackson on the trips side, and while it picked up a few yards, Pittsburgh shut it down quickly, the in-place linebackers crashing outside hard and looking for all the world like they knew what was coming.

- - - - - -

Reggie Brown didn't seem to be close to 100 percent.  He's taken some hits in the local press this week for not appearing to want to leave his feet for a couple passes, but in truth they were nowhere near him.  He just looked two steps slower than McNabb was used to and you could even see in his running stride that he wasn't cutting it loose.  Hopefully he's good to go by Sunday night.

- - - - - -

I'm constantly amazed by the extent to which the smallest decisions can have such a huge impact on a football game.  The Eagles' second drive of the third quarter -- the McNabb Returns drive -- ended on a third-and-nine play where at first glance it looked like Don overthrew Avant, but on the replay seemed to be because Avant stopped his route.  I'm sure both guys had their reasons for what they did, but if completed, that pass would have put the Eagles in field goal range.

- - - - - -

Here's a neat little variation on the Eagles' typical screen play.  In real time I thought Buckhalter had just made a great move and read.  But watching it a few times again, you can actually see that the screen action is totally different from the usual.

Generally, the Eagles' (and all other teams') linemen hustle to the outside on a screen play to get in front of the back and wall of potential tacklers.  On this play, however, the two screen blockers waited a little longer, then ran out to screen guys off from the outside in and set up an interior cutback lane.  Buckhalter sells the play with a hard outside fake before coming back inside:

- - - - - -

Other offensive notes:

• After seeing Troy Polamalu tackle DeSean Jackson with his back I now think I've seen everything.
• I've mentioned the problems with Hunt at fullback a couple of times.  The nice thing is that he's a much more effective weapon with the football than the typical guy in his position.  First drive, Hunt turned a little swing pass into a seven-yard gain and first down because he didn't just lower his shoulder on the first guy to come tackle him, the way real fullbacks are contractually obligated to do.
• Max Jean-Gilles continues to not be Shawn Andrews.  I saw one play in particular where the center Jackson made an initial block on the lineman in MJG's A-gap, then went to the next level.  The problem is that MJG isn't as quick as Andrews, so he couldn't seal the guy off in time quick enough to make the play, as he seemed to be trying to explain to Jackson after the fact.  MJG also wasn't road-grading as many guys as his reputation would suggest.
• Pittsburgh brought a couple of three-man rushes at McNabb.  He burned both of them for big gains.  I don't think we'll be seeing much of that this year.
• On the flea-flicker, the problem for the Eagles is that the backside linebacker stayed put and attacked his gap, rather than flowing over to playside.  So when Westbrook flipped the ball back to McNabb, there was someone bearing down on him almost immediately.
• DeSean Jackson and Donovan McNabb seem to have good chemistry when it comes to hitting the outside soft spot in cover-2 coverages.  We saw another completion in that area this week.
• I want to call out a really great playcall.  On the McNabb Returns drive, the Eagles ran Booker up the middle for five yards on first down.  Second and five is a throwing down for this offense, so the Steelers brought a double blitz right up the middle ... only Marty (or Andy) had dialed up an off-tackle running play that then went for 11 yards.  Sweet, sweet playcall.
• I hold my breath every time Buckhalter gets tackled low.  I also hold it every time McNabb gets tackled anywhere.

Comments

[Colin]

Glad you pointed out the protection problem on the interception. On talk radio they're trying to figure out whether the pick was Don or Avant's fault. Just goes to show you can't trust the radio monkeys because they don't watch the whole play.

[JD]

i hope hunt makes a good recovery. we're going to need him this weekend.

klecko, bunkley, and patterson might be the best DT combo i have seen in midnight green in a LONG time.

especially bunkley-looked like someone was cattle-prodding him out of his stance at the snap. every play the center/guard combo had to take a few steps back just to adjust.

one play in particular comes to mind-at the end of the first half, the eagles rushed three down lineman, and still got to ben.

[Derek]

JD, if you're talking about the Steelers' last play before the field goal, the Eagles were in that funky formation with JP as a linebacker, as described above. I have in my notes: "The JP as linebacker thing worked here" and JP is listed as the guy making the hurry in the official play-by-play.

The Steelers seemed to have trouble figuring that thing out all day.

[jd]

and there ya go.

i say stay with the 3-4. gives JJ so many more options on how to bring the blitz.

[johnnyshaka]

Maybe Bunkley likes to read blogs...and took this one to heart. :p

[MetroG]

Another fantastic analysis my man. A question, if I may - if Westbrook isn't able to play this weekend, do you see a possible silver lining in the fact that Andy/Marty will have to scheme a more traditional game offensively? Buck just can't do all the same things as BWest, and I don't think they trust Book enough yet. So only using Buck primarily, means they'll have to scale back the play book a bit. Considering how badly some of the "gadget" plays have worked this year, I personally think this is somewhat of a good thing against a cagey veteran team like Chicago.

I hope Buck gets a full 20 carries and 5 or 6 catches (inc screens). If he does, I our chances in this game. No real evidence to back this up or anything. Just a gut feeling that I have. Let's call it the KISS method of playcalling. Everybody knows what the KISS method is, right?

[danny]

Best
blog
on
the
internet.

[Derek]

Honestly, I don't think Westbrook being out changes a single thing they'll try to do. The virtue of Buckhalter is that he can do all the things Westbrook does in this offense, he just does them at the level of "very good" rather than "Hall of Fame."

If BW is out, it WILL change the way Chicago plays defense. Basically take away the big play and see if the replaceable parts can string enough plays together to put up points.

[Sudhir]

Hey Derek,
what does this statement mean:
"After seeing Troy Polamalu tackle DeSean Jackson with his back I now think I've seen everything."
I am kinda lost on that one.

[Derek]

Text wouldn't do the play justice. I've got the video, but youtube's uploading is down right now. I'll pop a link up in the morning.

[Eagles Fan in San Fran]

Great analysis again, Derek - love the nuances that you pick up on, especially why certain plays REALLY worked (or didn't).
A few things:
- I Guess all that screaming by various folks about Considine was true.
- Did you spot Chris Clemons at all (was he even out there?)
- Were they keeping the TE in to block most of the time? (Scary stat of the week: Last 2 weeks, total TE production: 2 catches for 29 yards).
- I agree with you that AR will keep doing what he's always done even without BWest, but I see him looking at the combo of Buck AND Booker as replacing BWest - run call, Buck, pass call Booker.
- Finally, thanks for the Rocca highlights. He's currently tops in the entire NFL in net punting average at 44.1, which is a good 10 yards better than the bottom of the "punting pile" out there - thus, he certainly qualifies as a weapon, a la Shane Lechler of the Raiders.

[Aussie Bob]

On behalf of the Aussies, thanks for the Sav highlights.

With only 14 return yards all year, hopefully he won't be asked to be as defensive against Devin Hester as he was last year.

Field position could be key again against the Bears.

[Pat]

Do you have a better screenshot on the LJ/Booker non-TD?

The reason I ask is that in that one, the ball's already in flight. Obviously McNabb can't change the target by then, so the question is what was the coverage right before the ball was thrown?

Given the position of the players in the photo, I don't think it'd necessarily be an easy pitch-and-catch for Booker at all.

I was just more ticked at that play because they had a chance to gain a first down, and the only guy they ran on a pattern near the first down marker was Booker.

[Derek]

Yeah, there's an extent to which I only want to stick up so many videos each time, so I'm trying the screenshot thing to break that up a bit. The problem of course is that there's no sense of movement there and you can't see just how hard everyone is dashing to the end zone.

Anyway, as to your question, there's not a great view of the coverage on Booker at the time of the throw. It's the typical TV angle that tracks the pocket and then the ball.

With that said, it's not an exaggeration to say that the entirety of the underneath coverage vacated on this play. If McNabb reads that just a bit differently, this one is there.

Somewhat related point: I think this ties into McNabb's whole thing with getting rid of the ball quicker this year, especially down by the goal line. That's a net positive in the end, but maybe at times it comes up a little short.

[Pat]

and you can't see just how hard everyone is dashing to the end zone.

The question is the timing: are they dashing because McNabb's started a throwing motion, or are they dashing just because of LJ's position?

To me, I look at that and see the bigger mismatch on the outside in the end zone, where there's a WR matched one-on-one. Obviously, can't see what the defense was doing before the throw, so I don't know if he's only one-on-one because the other defenders bailed.

[Derek]

I should just concede the point because then it would mean I was being too hard on McNabb -- which would do wonders for perceptions of my objectivity.

But no, here's the play. You actually _can_ get a better view of Booker in the initial look at the play, rather than the replay. Look at that massive cushion he's getting.

You can also see that he would have to clear that one short linebacker, and there's a guy bringing a little pressure on McNabb's back side, but still, Booker would have been a better option:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGLipex4cXM

[Pat]

Thanks for the clip!

But, look a little closer at the replay - specifically, when McNabb made that decision to throw to LJ: it happens at about 0:22 in on that video. LJ fakes an inside move *right at the first down marker* and the defender bites on it - he's way late turning to run with LJ.

You can also see that right at the instant the defender reacts to LJ's move is when McNabb makes the decision and starts his throw.

Now, consider what would've happened if the defender *didn't* bite. He would've turned earlier, and been a little deeper - which means Booker would've been wide open with an easy first down.

In other words, I think McNabb was following the play call. If the defender bit on LJ's move, go to LJ in the end zone for a touchdown. If he doesn't bite, go to Booker for the first down.

So I think I'm going to blame the playcall on that one. The window that McNabb has to hit, even if the defender bites on LJ's move, is tiny. If this play was run in the middle of the field, say, on the 50, that move would give LJ plenty of time to gain separation, and he'd be pretty wide open since the safeties would most likely be deeper.

Now, I could be wrong, and LJ's move there could be to specifically turn the defender around and free up Booker, and McNabb just decided to go to LJ instead for some reason. If so, yeah, bad move. But it really doesn't look like Booker was the first option there. I think McNabb was keying on the response of LJ's defender, and I think he read the key right. It's just not a great playcall.

[Derek]

Not sure I buy that considering the Buckhalter TD came on a very similar play call. He ran his route from the backfield and not split right, but it's the same action: two clear routes, one crossing.

Again, I'd equate something like this to maybe a strikeout in baseball. It's a negative play, but not hugely so.

[Derek]

Notwithstanding the good breakdown of the read itself, which I do buy.