Coaches Film Notes week 4 2016

By Bryan Steimetz

Cinn vs Miami

Cinn was pretty predictable when it came to running the ball. Most of the game when Cinn decided to run the ball, Miami's defense read it and had between 7-9 men in the box. This made it hard for RB Jeremy Hill to find an open hole to run through. When Cinn passed the ball, Miami backed off and only had 4-7 men in the box. This did help with coverage but A.J. Green was still able to get open.

Miami tried to run the ball with Isaiah Pead, Jay Ajayi, Damien Williams, and rookie Drake. Pead showed why he has been released by multiple teams as he ran the wrong direction and has zero vision/instinct. As for Williams who showed good vision but is way to slow and not enough power to get positive yards on most plays. Rookie Drake is clearly a year away from being productive. He has the physical skills but looks lost out there. RB Jay Ajayi actually looked really good. He has the vision, agility, and speed to make big plays. There must be some kind of issue with him and the coaches because he was clearly the best back in this game. QB Ryan Tannehill scanned both sides of the field on his progressions which is something he has struggled to do in the NFL. The problem he had in this game was he failed to see a wideout coming open. He is only throwing to the wideout when open instead anticipating the wide out is about to be open.

Colts vs Jags in London.

In the 1st half of the game the O-line for the Colts was not giving QB Andrew Luck time to throw the ball. Most of the time, Luck was touched or sacked within 2.5 seconds from the snap of the ball. Half of those times happened before 2.0 seconds. If Luck was not touched he would wait sometimes up to 4.5 seconds for his receivers to get open. But after re-watching the wideouts to find out why they were not getting separation, I came to realize that the routes being run did not give the wideouts the chance to create separation. This game was lost before they even played, thanks to the OC who is calling which routes to run. These routes are the type of routes built for slower, tall, and big wideouts. This explains why TE Jack Doyle has played so well this season.

Baltimore Ravens only issue on offense this week was the left side of the line. The pass blocking was atrocious. WR Mike Wallace is still the first read in the endzone. RB Terrance West got in rhythm early but the Oakland Raiders still struggled with gap protection in the run game.

Houston vs Tenn

The Texans were given 10 days to create a better game plan and it looked like they noticed that QB Brock Oswalter is not accurate in throwing over 15 yds. So most of the 1st half they ran lots of short passing plays with occasional long throw to keep the defense honest. This did two things in this game. 1st, WR Will Fuller has been knocked for his stone hands. So throwing short passes increased his chance of catching the ball, which let him use his speed and agility after the catch to get yds. 2nd, QB Oswalter was able to get in rhythm with all the short completed passes. He did struggle out of the pocket and on the run. But when in the pocket he was able to step into his throw.

The Titans passing offense struggled but looked the best they have all season. This was likely due to having WR Kendall Wright and TE Delaine Walker healthy. The running game is doing a great. The only issue right now on this offense is QB Marcus Mariota. He is struggling to throw the ball where only his wideouts can catch the ball. In the 1st half in this game the Texans had a chance for four interceptions due to off-target throws.

Redskins vs Browns

This was QB Kirk Cousins best game this year. He was throwing the ball only were his wideouts could catch it. Except one throw where he miss read the defense as man coverage and threw an interception. The offense in this game ran the best when it was a balanced attack of run and passing. They struggled moving the ball when they throw the ball too much. QB Cousins only looked at WR DeSean Jackson on plays that were designed to go to him. There were about 7 plays that Jackson was open but Cousin is not even looking his way on his progressions. Jackson did act like a baby several times in this game when he was open and did not get the ball. But to be fair to Cousins, some of those times when Jackson got open was after Cousins had already made the throw to someone else. Pierre Garcon had a really good game this week and not because it looked like the plays were designed to get him the ball. He actually looked a lot quicker and better able to make a move after the catch. I don't know if he was injured or out of shape the 1st three games.

Seahawks

C.J. Spiller did nothing to show that he will be on the team when Rawls or Prosise come back from injury. He did score a TD but it was on a broken play. WR Tyler Locket in this game was not in the game plan. The 1st look and catch he got was half way through the 3rd quarter and it was on a broken play. It looks like in this game that QB Russell Wilson is tired of getting hit since he released the ball very quickly on almost every play.

Bears

I don't know if it is because QB Brian Hoyer was on the 2nd team with WR Kevin White in the preseason or because the Bears just want to try to get White the ball. But he again was the most targeted guy in this offense against the Lions. White is still struggling to get separation on routes due to lack of experience. Many times he will make a cut off the wrong foot or give off a signal that he is about to make a cut. The Bears seem to understand this and had many gadget type plays designed to get him open. As for rookie RB Jordan Howard who ran fast and hard, struggled with finding the correct hole to run into. He is a part of the passing game and one of the better rookie receiving backs in this class. He did get some positive runs on plays that would have been negative or no yards and with his power, turned them into positive plays. (Kevin White Is expected to miss an extended period of time with an ankle injury.)

Broncos

QB Trevor Sieman got injured around half time in this game. So, in the 3rd quarter, rookie Paxton Lynch came into the game. Lynch was slow to react to the open receiver and behind on his throws. A better defense would have made some picks in the 3rd quarter. In the 4th Quarter it looked like a switch flipped on. He was anticipating his throws and throwing the ball ahead of his receivers instead of behind them. WR Emmanuel Sanders had another TD late in this game that he pushed off to get open.

49ers

WR Jeremy Kerley scored early in this game due to nobody covering him. The player that has been getting more plays every week and the WR who got the first target/reception in this game was rookie Aaron Burbridge. He was on the 2nd team in the preseason practicing with mostly QB Colin Kaepernick. He did only play 9 of the offensive snaps.

Dallas Cowboys (Mexico's Team)

WR Brice Butler has flashed in the past and led the team in targets against the 49ers. All of his targets in this game came when he pushed off of the player covering him except one catch where he was left uncovered. WR Cole Beasley is still getting separation and led the team in receiving yards. WR Terrance Williams stepped up in this game and used his speed and acceleration to get open.