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Chidi29
02-07-2011, 05:10 PM
First off, congrats to the Green Bay Packers for the win. They outplayed us, we hurt ourselves, and Green Bay deserves the win.

I'm reminded of the Chuck Noll quote that goes something along the line of, "To win a game, you first have to not lose it." Three turnovers without creating any on your own and we should be "lucky" that the game was as close as it was.

I usually just take notes on the game but I want to do something different this time. Maybe it'll be a little cathartic, who knows. I'm going to break down each play. It'll only be a little at a time because it's time consuming, but it might be better to add a little instead of posting it all at once and you guys having to read a wall of text.

If you'd like any additional pictures about sets or actions during the play, I can post them to create further clarification.

First Half

Pittsburgh Ball

1. Kickoff: Ball bounces in end zone and Brown picks it up. A little hesitation fro him, but he is a straight-line runner and doesn't waste any time once he leaves the end zone. Good block from one of the wedgemen Eason and Brown returns it 37 yards.

2. 1st and 10: 14:54 left in 1st - Own 36.
Formation: Under center, 3 TE, 2 right, 1 WR, 1 RB.
Play: Quick throw to Ward. Spaeth had a good block. 4 yard gain.

3. 2nd and 6: 14:15
Formation: 3 WR, Bunch right (2 WR, 1 TE off line in a two point stance) 1 RB.
Play: Draw play. Looks like a good call based on the defense. Just two down lineman, no one over the "C" gap over LG and the ILBs are playing a good 5 yards deep. However, Raji is able to get under Kemoeatu and Scott has a really poor punch of the weakside outside linebacker. He needs to be more forceful and drive the OLB upfield, meaning behind Scott. The 'backer makes the tackle for a 4 yard loss.

4. 3rd and 10: 13:35
Formation: Shotgun, 4 WR, 1 RB to the left.
Play: Four man rush. Jenkins comes in clean on a stunt although Ben is able to get the ball out of his hand and doesn't take a shot. The stunt between Jenkins and Raji should have been recognized and was a mistake on Kemoeatu's part. There were two giveaways.

- Jenkins and Raji are heavily shaded to our left side. Raji is normally shaded over the center. Instead, he's inbetween the LG and LT. Jenkins is kicked out wide where you would normally see a 4-3 RE line up on a normal down.

- An even bigger giveaway is Jenkins feet. They appear to be normally staggered so that Jenkins' right foot is in front of his left. As you can see here on the first play of the game.

http://i56.tinypic.com/v8mrh2.jpg (Jenkins is the RE)

That's not the case on this play as you can see by this picture.

http://i52.tinypic.com/r2nnuh.jpg

By Jenkins' third step, he stunts to the inside. By having his left foot in front of his right, his third step will be with his right (Right, left, right) making it easier to push off to the inside rather than pushing off with the inside foot.

Kemoeatu should have been reading stunt the whole way. He didn't and took the bait when Raji crashed to his outside.

Heath, in the backfield, is so concerned with Matthews who is either spying on Ben or in a blitz/man scheme based on what Heath does, that Miller never sees Jenkins.

As for the throw, Ben likely has to hurry it since he's feeling the heat. Tried the comeback down the right sideline with Brown, who doesn't get his head around quick enough to pull up.

Plays like what happened with Kemoeatu want me to pull my hair out.

5. 4th and 10: Punt - 13:24. Battle, Mundy, and Allen are all in the backfield. Hangtime by Kapinos is 3.66 seconds. Williams muffs the punt but Green Bay recovers.

Green Bay Ball

6. 1st and 10: 13:13 - Own 21
Formation: We use a 2-4-5 (getting out of our base which is something Tomlin said he normally doesn't try to do) against their 4 WR set with the lone back Starks also being motioned out to put the Packers in 5 WR empty set. Play: We bring a four man rush. Woodley does a nice job flipping his hips and getting in front of a skinny post intended for the slot man Jennings. Incomplete.

7. 2nd and 10: 13:10
Formation: 2-4-5 vs 3 WR, 1 RB, 1 TE (Quarless is lined up in the backfield to Rodgers' right and about two yards deep. A wrinke they like to use).
Play: Draw play. Woodley gets under Bulaga and chases Starks down for a 1 yard gain.

8. 3rd and 9: 12:30
Formation: 1-4-6 Dime with Madison as the dimeback vs 4 WR. Deep off coverage on the right side that has 3 WRs, McFadden and Madison's side. Usually don't press on sides that have multiple WRs because of potential combination routes that can beat jams and close coverage. Tight coverage on 1 WR side (Ike's side).

Play: Farrior starts to blitz but gets a little antsy and is offsides. A skinny post completed to Driver for a gain of 24 yards. With just 2 CBs on the side with 3 WRs and blitzes from Farrior and Woodley, we roll Timmons over to the far inside slot guy on the 3 WR side (Nelson).

9. 1st and 10: 12:05
Formation: Base (First time used of the game, came on the 4th play) vs I-Form.
Play: Playaction pass is too high for Nelson on hitch route. Falls incomplete. Clark in the box as the strong safety. Keisel gets in free, gets a shot on Rodgers.

10. 2nd and 10: 12:03
Formation: 2-4-5 vs Strong I (no TE in the set but I'm saying strong I since it's to the side with multiple WRs) and 3 WRs. Two to the left and 1 to the right. DL is shifted to the FB side (our right).
Play: Green Bay runs up the middle. Hood with a nice job of crashing down to his left to eliminate a huge running lane. Timmons and company stop Starks after a 3 yard gain.

11. 3rd and 7: 11:20
Formation: 1-5-5 (Kesiel has hand up so counting him as LB) vs 4 WR and 1 RB (right).
Play: Bring five. Keisel and Hood stunt. Woodley and Farrior are lined up strongside. Farrior is to the outside of Woodley. Woodley crashes down on the RT, letting Farrior around the edge and get a good matchup on the FB Hall. Creates pressure. Pass falls thought Nelson's hands on the streak down the right sideline. Had a step on McFadden with Gay trailing. Troy looks to be the single high safety. Clark is covering the slot to the left side of the field. Gay looks like the SS. Playing medium depth.

12. 4th and 7: 11:13 - Punt. El lets it go, bounces at the 3 and goes into the end zone for a touchback.

Chidi29
02-08-2011, 04:57 PM
Pittsburgh Ball

13. 1st and 10 - 11:05 - Own 20.
Formation: Strong I, Johnson in 2 point, TE left, 2 WR (narrow split between Miller and Ward).
Play: Trap block with Kemoeatu and Johnson leading the way. Good blocks from both. Kemo wipes out Hawk and Johnson on Matthews. Flozell has trouble getting a good shove on the LE and keeping him from getting penetration but the DE gets into the backfield too late and doesn't mess up Kemo's pull. 15 yard gain from Mendenhall.

14. 1st and 10 - 10:23.
Formation: 2 TE, each side, 1 FB (left) 1 RB, 1 WR (Wallace).
Play: Trap block. Alley created by Flo and Heath. Johnson and Kemo clearing out room. 9 yard gain from Mendenhall.

15. 2nd and 1 - 9:42. False start on Johnson.

16. 2nd and 6 - 9:42.
Formation: 3 WR, 2 left (no split between Miller and Ward). TE left. Singleback.
Play: Quick throw to Wallace. 4 yard gain.

17. 3rd and 12 - 8:33.
Formation: 3 TE, 2 left. 1 WR, two yards behind the line. Narrow split. Singleback.
Play: Pass intended for Miller down the seam, who gets to the inside of the DB. Too high for Heath. Spaeth on 5 yard curl to the middle of the field. Johnson attempts a 3 yard curl between numbers and hashes. Ends up being rerouted. Wallace with a quick out just beyond the sticks. Kemo bullrushed by Raji but Ben still had a clean pocket.

18. 4th and 2 - 8:26. Punt. Hangtime of 5.02 seconds. Hits at 1 and bounces for a touchback. Keenan Lewis couldn't track the ball.

Green Bay Ball

19. 1st and 10 - 8:17.
Formation: 3-4-4 but with nickel corner, Gay, with Clark off the field. Just Troy as single high. Packers in same set as play #7.
Gay and McFadden on opposite sides of the field. Gay in close coverage, B-Mac in off coverage.
Play: Rush 7. Deep ball to Jennings down left sideline. Ike has inside position, pass overthrown. No pressure on Rodgers.

20. 2nd and 10 - 8:11.
Formation: 3-4 vs I-Form, 3 WR (2 to left).
Play: Rush five. Three down lineman and RILB/ROLBs, Farrior and Woodley. Drop left LBs back. Driver free on route in the flats though it looks like Troy is man coverage on him and attempts to close as quickly as possible. 10 yard curl. McFadden on coverage.

21. 3rd and Inches - 7:25.
Formation: Base with nine in the box (Ike, Troy). Weak I, 2 TE left, 1 WR right. CB three yards off. DL shifts to left with Harrison sliding down once the #3 TE on the left motions to weakside.
Play: Run by Starks. Timmons gets blocked by Crabtree. No room between guards so back bounces outside. Clark pushes him out of bounds after a gain of 7.

22. 1st and 10 - 7:00.
Formation: Base vs Weak I. TE right, 2 WR with one to each side. Ike close on Jennings and working as LCB when he's usually played the RCB spot. McFadden off coverage on Nelson as RCB.
Play: Look right from Rodgers, slant left to Nelson for 9 yards. McFadden definitely trying to keep everything in front of him, flips his hips as soon as the snap occurs. Ike might be in man coverage, trys to bump Jennings. (this is key for later). Troy looks like he's man on the TE. Went with him as he motioned to FB. Did Rodgers pick it up and knew there would be off man coverage, leaving the slant open? No chance of the CB coming down in a shallow zone.

23. 2nd and 1 - 6:52.
Formation: Base vs Full House (TE lined up as he did in #7). 2 WR, one to each side. Hoke and Eason in for Hamp and Hood.
Play: Run left. 2 yard gain.

24. 1st and 10 - 5:53.
Formation: 2-4-5 vs Weak I (no TE, TE motioned to FB). 3 WR, 2 to the right.
Play: Four man rush. Woodley dips under RT Bulaga. Harrison collapes double-team of Clifton and Crabtree. Looks like Troy is man on Nelson who runs a wheel. No one covers back. Farrior drops away, Rodgers flicks it to Starks. Gay makes stop after 15 yard gain. McFadden's last play for the time being. Hip injury. Maybe that's why he was so quick to turn and run so he wouldn't have to turn at full speed playing press and possibly get beat.

25. 1st and 10 - 5:15.
Formation: 2-4-5 vs Strong I. 3 WR, 2 to the left.
Play: Run. Kuhn with a really good block on Farrior. Drives him off ball. Starks up the middle. Clark comes up to make the tackle.

26. 2nd and 13 - 4:35.
Formation: Base vs I-Form. TE left. Ike on Jennings at LCB. Gay at RCB and 1 yard off line. WR is off the line. Ike is four off. WR on LOS.
Play: 4 man rush. Harrison drops. Woodley gets past Bulaga, puts heat on. Rodgers dumps down to FB. Timmons closes quickly. Starks also comes out, no one man on him.

27. 3rd and 1 - 3:50.
Formation: Base vs Weak I. 1 WR, Quarless split out in slot. 8 in the box for us. Gay as LCB tight on Nelson.
Play: No press coverage thought. Clark on Quarless on corner route. Gay left one-on-one with Nelson. Rodgers throws it perfectly to Nelson for a TD.

Rodgers could have known it was man pre-snap and knew he'd get favorable coverage. Woodley steps outside when Quarless motions though ultimately takes FB on flat. Gay is close on Nelson as Ike was in play #22 when it looked like man. Knowing the SS Clark would take the TE, he'd have a one-on-one with Nelson on Gay. It could have been zone under and man over the top. Either way, it had Gay one-on-one. Pictures of the play will be up later.

28. 3:44. XP Good. End players on the kicking team don't cut block. Just sorta push.

Chidi29
02-10-2011, 04:55 PM
Pittsburgh Ball

29. 3:49. Kickoff. Brown catches it one yard deep. Good return out to the 40 but Mundy has a block in the back early on the return to the right, the same side Brown ran up. Brought the ball back to the 7.

30. 1st and 10 - 3:34. Own 7.
Formation: Singleback, 2 TE with one to each side. 2 WR left. Wallace outside, Ward inside with narrow split between Ward and TE. Packers have nine in the box. Picture of play pre-snap: http://i56.tinypic.com/29bfwx4.jpg
Play: Wallace on a go. Ward and Spaeth with deep crossing patterns. Miller on deep corner. Kemoeatu is bullrushed by Howard Green, pushed into Ben as he throws the ball. Lame duck, pick six by Collins. Flozell injured by Kemoeatu after he ran into Flo's shoulder.

A lot of people will point to that as the fault. And that's true. But let's look at the other aspects. Ben and the receivers.

I will say that I wish the design would have called for a more shallow cross by Spaeth. He and Ward are fairly bunched and I would have liked to see more spacing over the middle. Spaeth actually gets more separation than Ward. Granted, Ward is working on Woodson by he can't really separate.

Here's what Ben seems to be thinking. It looks like a run set. 1st down, near own end zone, 2 TE, narrow split between WR and TE. In response, the Packers put nine in the box. All they have deep is a corner playing off on Wallace and a single high safety in Collins. If the safety stays in the middle and floats to the crossing routes, he can go one-on-one with Wallace. If the safety goes to Wallace, he can hit a crossing route. The only person Ben has to manipulate is Collins.

Unfortunately, Ben doesn't do it. He actually helps Collins. He pumps to Wallace and lets Collins get a running start over to the left. He's leading him to the receiver. It would have been smarter to pump to Wallace and then come back across the field to Heath or wait and hit Spaeth on the cross. Even with a clean pocket and throw, Collins might still be able to make a play on it. At the very least, there was no benefit in pump faking.

31. 3:20. XP Good.

Pittsburgh Ball

32. 3:20. Kickoff. Green Bay backed up 15 yards on a penalty following Collins' celebration. Ball bounces to Moore who picks it up and returns it for a small gain.

33. 1st and 10 - 3:13. Iwn 35.
Formation: Singleback. 3 WR. two the left. Ward lined up behind the TE.
Play: Run up middle. FS drops down, Sanders can't wall him off cleanly because he's dropped down too close. Safety makes the tackle. It looked like we gave away a run by lining up Ward behind the TE.

34. 2nd and 6 - 2:36.
Formation: Singleback, 3 WR, 2 left (Originally 3 WR left but Ward motions left to right before the snap). 1 TE right.
Play: Trap block. Good double team from Legursky and Foster on Raji. Kemo blows up the LB. Mendenhall to second and third level before firvt contact. Around a 10 yard gain.

35. 1st and 10 - 1:55.
Formation: Singleback, 1 TE left. 2 WR left, 1 WR right. Quick throw to Sanders. Heath and Kemoeatu are only down lineman who go out and move. Heath comes out wide and throws a good block on Williams. Kemoeatu only moves directly upfield and only gets to second level. 4 yard gain. Kemoeatu block in back called it back, 10 yard penalty.

36. 1st and 16 - 1:20.
Formation: Shotgun, 3 WR, 2 RB (Heath and RB) on each side.
Play: Heavy blitz, lots of pre-snap movement. Picked up well by Essex, moved inside rusher inside and fluidly moved to outside to get outside rusher. Really good job by him, who was replacing the injured Flozell Adams. Legursky was CRUSHED by Jenkins, put on his butt. Ben steps up, dumps it off to Mendenhall for a 7 yard gain.

37. 2nd and 9 - :35.
Formation: Singleback, 2 TE (one on each side). WR (each side, Ward narrow split on right). Good time. Heath on out route but Ben slips and the pass skips. Ben comes up a little gimpy.

38. 3rd and 9 - :26.
Formation: Empty set, 4 WR, 1 TE. Brown, Ward, and Sanders on the right starting from sidelines and moving in. Miller and Wallace on left from sideline in although both players are inside the numbers.
Play: Brown runs a go, Sanders a deep out, Ward into the flats (likely to open up deep out), Heath on crossing route, Wallace on 15 yard dig. Pretty good coverage, Ben takes off for a first down.

End of First Quarter

Chidi29
02-13-2011, 12:45 PM
Start of the Second Quarter

39. 1st and 10 - 15:00 left in the 2nd
Formation: Singleback, 2 TE (right), 2 WR (each sde, Ward to the right with no split).
Play: Everyone seals down to the left, Mendenhall bounces it to the outside. Woodson, who followed Ward on pre-snap motion, makes the tackle. Worth noting that Ward did throw a good block on the CB that was already over there. Either way, there was going to be a free DB.

40. 2nd and 12 - 14:17.
Formation: Shotgun, 3 WR (2 left), 1 TE (left), 1 RB (right).
Play: Routes on the left side. Wallace runs an out to the marker, Ward runs a 7/8 yard curl, and Miller runs a post. On the right side, Sanders runs an out route to the sticks. Williams makes a good break, gets a hand on the ball.

41. 3rd and 12 - 14:13.
Formation: 3 WR (2 left) 1 TE (left) 1 RB (right).
Play: Heavy blitz look from the Packers but it doesn't come. Heath goes out as safety valve after chipping. Curl route by Sanders. Play where he broke his foot. Looks to have happened when he slipped making his break.

42. 1st and 10 - 13:28.
Formation: Weird pony formation. Here's a picture. Mendenhall on the right and Redman on the left. http://i56.tinypic.com/2ufu3ix.jpg 2 TE (one to each side) 1 WR (right)
Play: Playaction. Doug gets beaten to outside by Raji. Ben has to scramble. A short gain by #7.

43. 2nd and 8 - 12:45.
Formation: Singleback, 1 TE (right) 3 WR (2 left). Sanders back in the game, in obvious pain. This would be his last play. Ben audibles, yelling "Abort!"
Play: Stretch to the right. Matthews pushes Miller back some, Wallace didn't have much of a block on DB coming down. Maybe he didn't want to hold since he was blocking from an angle. Mendenhall taken down after a minimal gain.

44. 3rd and 7 - 11:53.
Formation: Shotgun, 3 WR (2 left), 1 TE (left, off line in 2 point stance). RB right. El replaces Sanders.
Play: Lots of crosses underneath, Ward with a 10 yard curl in the middle of the field. Ben hits Wallace underneath, tackled right away.

45. 4th and 3 - 11:10.
Formation: FG attempt. 33 yards, on the left hash.
Play: Kick is good, sneaks through right upright.

Green Bay Ball

46. Kickoff, 11:08.
Hangtime is 4.27 seconds. Caught four yards deep. Really good kick. Like the Carolina game, Ike seems a little too eager to crash down being the outside contain guy. Ends up chasing the KR. Maybe he just didn't want to give him a lane up the middle and it'd be smarter to have him bounce it. Don't know. Madison gets off block, makes tackle.

47. 1st and 10 - 11:01. Own 25.
Formation: 2-4-5 vs Shotgun, 3 WR.
Blitz: CB blitz from Gay (shows it pre-snap) with the rest of the pressure, Farrior and Harrison also blitz, pinches to the inside. Gay comes in free but Rodgers feels the rush and gets the ball out of his hand, trying back shoulder throw. Incomplete, Ike on the coverage.

48. 2nd and 10 - 10:58.
Formation: 2-4-5 with Madison as #4 CB and Clark off the field vs Shotgun, 4 WR. Off coverage all around. McFadden returns to game.
Play: Inside blitz, curl to James Jones. Ike closes quickly and makes the tackle. Gay bites on double move from Jennings, got lucky.

49. 3rd and 5 - 10:16.
Formation: 2-3-6, Timmons off the field. Madison as dimeback. 5 WR, empty set.
Play: We bring five, dual CB blitz from our left (McFadden, Gay). McFadden comes in free, blitzing from inside with Gay going outside and Woodley crashing down to take the guard. Farrior and Harrison drop. Looks like man coverage. Curl to Driver. Farrior changes direction and closes quickly, stopping Driver short. Driver hurt.

50. 4th and Inches - 9:35.
Punt, Brown with the catch at the 19. Short return.

Pittsburgh Ball