Coaches Film Notes week 3 2016

By Bryan Steimetz

Jags @ Ravens

QB Blake Bortles struggled to read the zone coverage by the Ravens defense. He performed better out of the pocket when the play extended and/or the defense thought Bortles was going to run the ball. The Jags Oline broke down late in the game against just a 4 man rush. RB Chris Ivory ran hard.

Wideouts Wallace, S Smith, and Pitta all showed veterans moves to get open all game. Wallace seems to be Flacco first look in the end zone and a deflected ball prevented a TD by Wallace. WR Breshad Perriman did not finish some of his routes and missed some blocks but is a mismatch to defenses as the 5th option for Flacco. The RBs and FBs are still Flacco's safety value.

Broncos @ Bengals

All of the big runs from the Bengals came with Denver defenders over pursuing their gap protection.

QB Trevor Siemian’s first two TDs to Emmanuel Sanders should have been offensive pass interference. Sanders pushed off on both of them to get separation. The long TD to Demaryius Thomas was thrown short and Thomas out muscled the defender. Siemian struggled in the 1st half with accuracy and seemed rushed, throwing early than needed. Denver spread the ball around by getting the ball to the FB, both TEs and 4 other wide receivers besides Sanders/Thomas. RB Devontae Booker did not see any time in the 1st quarter but was heavily involved late in the game.

Raiders @ Titans

This game was one of two opposite philosophies. The Titans ran the ball and if needed to passed the ball. Where the Raiders were pass first and run to change things up. The Titans forced the ball into coverage when they threw it. But they ran the ball well enough to move the chains. The Raiders would have dominated this game if it weren't for all the dropped passes. QB Derek Carr was getting the ball within reach of his wideouts. DeAndre Washington squeezed through some tight holes for some big runs. RB Latavius Murray had one really good run early in the game. All four RBs were involved in the passing game and run game.

Cardinals @ Bills

The Bills out game planed the Cardinals. 1st thing the Bills did on defense was to put pressure on Carson Palmer with disguised blitzes. RB David Johnson could not figure who to block and when he did, he was out of position to block. When Arizona ran the ball they were stopped as the the Bills played great gap defense. With all the pressure to the QB, Palmer tried to force the ball in coverage without looking to see who was open.

Offense for the Bills was all about change of direction. QB Tyrod Talyor running the ball forced the Cardinals defense to play a defender as a spy. Then they just let the shifty RB LeSean McCoy get in open space to make defenders miss. Due to the spy, the defense had one less player stopping the run and Bills had one more player blocking. The Bills also threw some deep balls to keep the safeties from cheating up to stop the run.

Lions @ Packers

The three RBs in this game that were used the most were DET Theo Riddick, DET Dwayne Washington, and GB Eddie Lacy. Eddie Lacy and Theo Riddick both performed better in the 2nd half of the game. Where RB Dwayne Washington ran better in the 1st half. The Packers are using a WR in the RB position, early in pages this years, because Eddie Lacy has no acceleration before he takes four steps or makes a cut. As long as he can take four steps in one direction, he is able to get up to full speed and defensive players struggle to tackle him.

The Lions ran the ball with Theo Riddick for most of the 1st half even though he struggled to just get to the line of scrimmage. RB Washington was a better rushing fit for this game. Theo Riddick was more effective as pass catching. The game plan for the Lions seemed to be look for Eric Ebron and Marvin Jones on the longer passing routes. Golden Tate, Boldin, and Riddick in the shorter routes. But in the end zone and 3rd downs, Stafford looked at TE Eric Ebron or Boldin as his 1st two reads. WR Jordy Nelson had no problems getting open but WR Randall Cobb did struggle getting separation. The 3rd WR for GB is Devonte Adams and he did make some really good moves to get open.

Small Observations

Cam Newton did not look Kelvin Benjamin way on most passing downs.
Benjamin ran a lot of routes into double coverage
Fozzy Whittaker was impressive as a receiving back in open space
Carolina lost 3rd down conversions due to penalties
Tolbert seems like the short yardage back