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View Full Version : Play by Play analysis of offense in first half-O line not as bad as I once thought



Craic
09-13-2013, 06:19 PM
I see a number of different names thrown around. This person had a bad game, we need someone else at that position, etc. etc. So I decided to go back through and break down the players.

First play from scrimmage looks good to start out. A nice pocket forms. Adams is pushing his guy wide and around Ben. The problem is that DeCastro came across to help on the defensive right tackle and didn't keep an eye out for the LB on a delayed blitz. Nevertheless, Ben had four seconds before he through that ball. Manny should have caught it. So, all in all the line got about a C on that play. The pocket collapsed as Ben was throwing, but he had four seconds get rid of the ball to

Second play was a run to the right by LSH. The right side of the line performed absolutely fine. The run went for two yards because Cotchery couldn't come in and seal off the LB. Said LB forced LSH wide and the trailing LBs came in and cleaned up. Had Cotchery made that block, it would have gone for probably four to seven yards. Maybe more if he made a man miss. Also, Marcus Gilbert sealed off left DT beautifully. Every D. lineman was taking out of the play. Our O line played it very well. They get an A.

Third play was a pass to Cotchery. Ben had three and a half seconds before someone was pressuring him. RT came straight and Adams blocked him, then the Def. RG stunted around to the outside. Adams passed off the tackle and came out to meet him, but because of the hard inside line the RT took, he had some distance to make up. However, Adams still pushes him around Ben and Ben didn't have to step up in the pocket. The right side of the line was solid. While not perfectly executed, the line did it's job here. I'd give them a C+ overall on this play. Cotchery had a nice catch, but Ben did miss Johnson (I believe it was) who was open over the middle for another eight plus yards. Of course, the safety was about eight yards away and may've broken it up, so all in all a good third down play.

First down play, Redman runs to the right of the TE spot (Beachum reported as eligible and is playing there). Once Redman gets to the line, the DLman sheds Beachum and gobbles him up. On the other side, David Johnson has his man sealed off. This all falls on Beachum for not letting Redman get to the second level. It looks like he take slide step to the inside as the ball is snapped. Why? Shoot out here and seal the outside of his man. It would've opened a nice hole.

Second down. Short pass to Sanders was incomplete (over his head). Ben just rushed this one. He had time, the line was doing a good job blocking for him. This falls on Ben.

Third and nine. Ben scrambles to his right and hits Brown for a 20 yard pass and run play. Why did Ben have to come up and scramble? Three people are rushing. The three interior lineman all converge on the inside rusher. The tackles are left to face off with their counterparts on defense. Gilbert's guy puts a spin on him about seven yards in the backfield. Adams is still in front of his guy pushing him around the back. Ben however, sees a massive hole open up to his left and right. He's right handed, so he steps through the hole and moves to his right. In short, this isn't a scramble as much as it's Ben just moving to cleaner real estate. the pursuit comes because Ben steps to move to his right, right in the middle of the spin move on Gilbert, and Gilbert's counterpart is now staring at Ben running away from him, and Gilbert is still between the DLman and where the pocket should be. The pursuit comes because Ben moved, not because he was forced out. I don't blame him, however, because he's good when he's on the move and it also helps buy even more time. No problem here with the line play or with Ben's play. On the other side. Antonio Brown's a stud.

First down. End around by Brown. Fake handoff to Redman. The entire defense is moving to the right. I almost wished ths was a true handoff because it looks like Redman might have gotten a few yards on this play. Titans defense played this well and didn't overcommit to the fake up the middle. A LB or CB stayed in tight just behind the D line and waited for Brown to come around right. Paulson didn't see him until he was already by (I dont' blame him for that, as the Titan's player seems to have been using his lineman as a shield. Paulson does pick him up and comes back to block him, but it stretches out the play. Brown is ran out of bounds for four yards. On reg. speed, I can't even blame Paulson. He picks him up pretty quickly. So all in all, this is just a decent four yard run. Nothing spectacular, but 2 and 6 isn't a bad place to be.

Second Down. Run to the inside left. THis is the play that Pouncey gets hurt in. The problem however, is that Pouncey is getting pushed like there's no tomorrow, driven back and shutting up any hole before DeCastro can even get there. He falls, his guy goes down on top of Decastro, there's no where else to go to the left. A smaller, fleet of foot guy maybe could've broken it back to the right. This entire play looks like it was designed to be ran with DeCastro cutting down the lineman and opening a hole, but when Pouncey got manhandled, it put a crimp in it. When Decastro took Pouncey out, it broke down the play completely.

Third down. Two receivers out right, one to the left. Tennessee brings five outright, a sixth on a two-second delay. The CB on the right side of the field is eight yards off the WR. The main pressure comes when Gilbert tries to cut his man and the guy just jumps over him and keeps coming. However, this looks like it's a hot route due to the blitz. So nice recognition from Ben and/or playcalling. Back work on Gilbert on not cutting his guy down. The rest of the line performed absolutely fine. Cotchery does a good job of catching and stretching for the first down.

First down. Redman goes left, looks like he was going between he guard and tackle, but then breaks it outside and gets stymied. Bad choice. There wasn't much real estate, but Redman is not an outside runner. Had he put his head down and drove through the line, he could've had three Yards. This is a run that we were used to seeing Bettis doing, hitting the hole and bowling people over for a couple more yards. Heck, this is a run we're used to seeing Redman do in the past, but not anymore. Sad. I also say this is a bad play call. It is clear here that we should have had a TE come in and take up the FB position.


Second down. Good pass protection until Gilbert's man works inside him. Anyone else seeing a theme? First down, ball on five yard line. Had that hand off been clean, Redman had one LB to walk over for a Td. The line sealed off the hole nicely. Wasted opportunity.

So, on this drive here's my count:

Gilbert: D+ Too many plays where he's beat. I didn't like him his rookie season, and it looks like he still has problems. Matter of fact, it looks like he's regressing from last year a little. Granted, it's a first game, but I'm not liking what I'm seeing here.

Inside lineman are okay. Pouncey got worked once, DeCastro made a mistake, really the inside looks like it has a couple young lineman that are trying hard, but still making sophomore mistakes. Since DeCastro is a sophomore, I figure he's batting for average here.

Adams played well in this series. A couple places he could've blocked better, but he had no breakdowns.

Redman is not the old Redman. He's not putting his head down and hitting the pile anymore. He's looking to break runs and keep his starting job, IMO. Bad choice.

Sanders had a drop and wasn't really heard from again. Brown had a nice catch. Cotchery had a missed block, but came through nicely on a few catches for us. He really is taking up the "Hines Ward" role on the field. Nice to have him.

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Drive 2

Starts on three yard line. First play is pass to Brown for 13 yards. There's not a guy around Ben. This is the best protection he's had all day. A+ for the line on protection at our goal line.

First down again. Redman goes hard into the line. DeCastro literally gets thrown to the side, but the way it happens, the DLman had to have taken a couple handfuls of jersey and whipped him around. The refs missed it however. That helped narrow the hole and let the LBs close in on Redman quicker. I'm quickly growing not to like this kind of modified zone blocking thing (not the new scheme that's been all the talk, but the old stuff that this team has done for quite a few years). It's time, IMO, for them to either fully go to a zone block, or come of the line and drive on a player.

Second down. Pass, ball knocked own at LOS. No one is around Ben when he throws up. This is one of Ben's weaknesses. The ball is three-quarter armed, rather than his throwing motion coming straight up by his ear. This play is ALL on Ben. DeCastro's guy knocked the ball down, but he's four plus yards away from Ben when Ben throws it (side note, my geometry teach would be proud of me. I used the pythagorean theory to figure out the distance. First, last, and only time I'll probably due that in this decade).

Third down. Fast, bang bang pass to Brown up the middle for 12 yards. It's hard to even gauge how the line did since it was so fast, but it was a well called and executed play.

First down. This is a playaction to the right. When Ben curls around, he has a trailing LB in his face. Beachum's responsible for pealing back to block him, but just isn't fast enough to get to him. However, Ben still gets the ball away to D. Johnson. Nice effort by Ben. Mike Adams's guy moves inside on him and would've been able to pressure Ben if he kept the ball and the LB wasn't already bearing down. However, if Beachum had picked up the lB, Ben could also have easily stepped to his left. Beachum failed to get his man and Adams wasn't the best here. Other than that, everyone else played it well. David Johnson is running Right to left across Ben's field of vision and against the grain of the playaction. It's a nice pass for and catch for 11 yards. This is another play that stands out as well called.

First down. ??? Redman fumbles, but this entire play is a display of what is wrong. It's a run play to the right. Someone please tell me why, as the handoff is happening, the only offensive lineman that is still on the LOS blocking is Mike Adams. Gilbert comes into the second level to block, but he has no one else to block until he gets there. Everyone else is literally two to three yards in the backfield. Alright, even with that said, there's a space to run to the right. That however closes up quickly. Redman then tries to spin back to the inside and fumbles. Redman gets an F on this play, most of the line gets a D on this play. Adams gets a C+. Sure, he hasn't given up ground, but his man is still on his inside right, which means he's not in the best position to continue to block. Oh, and Beachum is literally turned almost 180 degrees. Sad, sad, sad.

Second down. LSH rushes for five yards. Very nice play. A nice hole opens up, the entire line save the left tackle is at the LOS or beyond it. Adams's man comes off the line to the outside, so he stands him up there. This is a well executed, straight ahead run play. The biggest difference I see is (1) lineman are coming up off the line to meet the DL/LB, and the RB is fast enough to get to and through the hole.

Third and eleven. here is the pass for -2 yards to Sanders. On gameday I was befuddled why they called this. It is a lot clearer now. Johnson's role is to come from the TE slot out to block the CB. that would free Sanders. If he gets there, this play is a first down and so much more. The problem is that half way to the block Johnson hesitates. It gives the CB just enough time to fly in and get the stick for a two yard loss. DB was lined up 5-7 yards off the line as well. This was NOT a bad play, not at all. Matter of fact, it looks to be a well called play for the alignment of the defense. The problem is that either (1) Johnson hesitated too much and/or (2) they overestimated Johnson's speed vs. the CB.

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Drive three

First down. Ben has almost five seconds to throw the ball. He doesn't move at all. If he backs up out of the pocket, he'd have even more time. Finally, Foster's guy spins on him and hits Ben just after he throws the ball. The line isn't dominant, but they are getting the job done. Ben throws the ball to what looks like Sanders on a curl route. Sanders doesn't sell any kind of inside move enough to shake the defender that way. Even so, the CB literally lays out in the air to make this catch. The throw is high and to Sander's back shoulder, which isn't a good thing on a curl route. Ben and Sanders both share the blame here. Ben for the throw, Sanders for not selling any kind of inside slant.
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Overall thoughts on first half of offense.

For all the abuse this line has taken on these boards, watching it again and breaking it down shows that it just isn't as warranted as originally thought. Beachum and Gilbert are the weak links. Beachum has been replaced for this week at center. Gilbert, well, we'll see. Foster and Adams are playing decently well. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to earn them a nice contract either.

IMO, here's what I see as our MAJOR problems (for the first half, at least):

1. We're using a RB that is too slow for the blocking scheme/system we're running.
2. We're using a blocking scheme/system that isn't matching our players' ability at the moment.
3. We should be doing more straight ahead blocking with a faster RB that can hit the holes.
4. I don't believe in a dedicated FB, it's a waste of a roster spot in today's NFL. However, they need be lining Johnson up in the FB spot a lot more. Let run swing routes or go in motion, but line him up there. That way, they CAN also run a FB/HB up the middle play when they want.

KeiselPower99
09-14-2013, 06:42 AM
Will Johnson didnt play so David Johnson our TE was playing fullback. A move I dont like. How did DeCastro look overall?

Craic
09-14-2013, 04:59 PM
Will Johnson didnt play so David Johnson our TE was playing fullback. A move I dont like. How did DeCastro look overall?

Overall, he looked like he was in his latter half a rookie season. Honestly, that's where he really is as well, if you think about it. Again, nothing to write home about. He was worked over a few times, but didn't get manhandled out of position except for the one time he was literally thrown to the ground. I think most of his mistakes are growing mistakes...he'll learn and move on.

KeiselPower99
09-14-2013, 10:20 PM
He is still learning the NFL game. Thats why I think we will be better as the season goes on. DeCastro and Adams didnt have full rookie seasons and Gilbert missed time last year. Season goes on they will get better.

Psycho Ward 86
09-14-2013, 11:28 PM
i dont feel reassured. basically what it sounds like youre trying to say is a number of players on most plays were doing fine except for one or some that werent. That would be called a failed play if it ruins what our offensive intention was. which it did. we scored 7 points. there are zero ways to spin that positively, especially when we had to go for it on 4th down to score offensively at all. Against one of the shittiest defenses from last season at that.

Mistah Q
09-15-2013, 01:52 AM
Thnroughn thne seaeolbu thne olikl9inme is nog goihng gto bhe our weatknets

tube517
09-15-2013, 07:35 AM
Thnroughn thne seaeolbu thne olikl9inme is nog goihng gto bhe our weatknets

This ^^^

steeldawg
09-15-2013, 08:41 AM
This ^^^

LOL

KeiselPower99
09-15-2013, 11:50 AM
Thnroughn thne seaeolbu thne olikl9inme is nog goihng gto bhe our weatknets

Arnold? Is that you?