2019 Film Sesh LOL.

Kontradiction

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Figured while Game Pass was free, and I had some time to kill, I would do a film session for every game in the 2019 season. For time's sake, I'm just going to break down the big plays for each game. Naturally, I'll start off with the ass kicking we delivered to Shitsdirt in Week 1. If you guys find that I'm off on anything (personnel, coverage, etc.), feel free to weigh in. I'm certainly no expert and am not infallible.

Q1:
1. 7:50/2nd and 10/NE ball: Patriots come out in 11 personnel on offense. Burkhead and Izzo to Brady’s right and Edelman, Dorsett, and Gordon are bunched to Brady’s left. The Steelers come out in straight Cover-2 formation and do a terrible job disguising it pre-snap. Brady isn’t fooled. Burkhead moves in motion pre-snap and is covered by Bush. Bush is exceptionally athletic, so it isn’t a terrible match-up for Pittsburgh. Burkhead runs a crosser while Izzo looks to run a quick out, but he’s only there to provide a pick for Burkhead. Bush was also taking outside shade on this one, so it left him at an immediate disadvantage anyway. Brady’s first read looks to be either Gordon or Edelman on this one, but there is too much traffic. Gordon with the crosser on the other side while Edelman and Dorsett both run vertical routes, clearing out the trash. Result is a 17 yard gain and a first down. Interesting that Izzo was immediately flagged for OPI on the play after this. Watching this one, it was clear that the refs knew they missed one and were watching him intently.
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2. 5:35/1st and 10/NE ball: Patriots are once again showing 11 personnel, with White on the field instead of Burkhead this time. Steelers once again respond with Cover-2, not even bothering to try to disguise this time around. Edelman, Izzo, and Dorsett are bunched to Brady’s right while Gordon is to Brady’s left and White is in the offensive backfield. Brady unloads it quickly to Edelman, with Dorsett and Izzo out in front as blockers. Both safeties take the cheese immediately and commit to bringing down Edelman. What’s interesting is that Edelman is actually looking deep here, and Gordon is wide open on the skinny post. Edelman has a touchdown there if he wants it. In the meantime, White has snuck out of the backfield and into the flats on the other boundary and now he has three linemen out in front of him with plenty of daylight. End result is a 32 yard gain.
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3. 4:55/1st and 10/NE ball: Same personnel on both sides – Patriots in 11 personnel. We just tore them up with this personnel package. Edelman, Izzo, and Dorsett are bunched to Brady’s right while Gordon, the Z, is just off the LoS to Brady’s left with White split out wide as the split end. This looked like a miscommunication on the Pittsburgh side of the ball. I say this because the FS drops and shades to the left boundary. Gordon’s man actually blitzes indicating he believes the coverage to be Cover-1 and expects the safety to come in underneath and pick up Gordon. He does not. Gordon runs a crosser and is wide open with a ton of daylight. Brady diagnosed this immediately, pre-snap. We’re going to miss that kind of recognition. Dorsett runs the 9-route while Edelman runs a deep corner. Gordon breaks a shoe string tackle and dives into the end zone. Touchdown.
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Q2:
1. 7:46/3RD and 1/Pittsburgh ball: Isolating this play because, prior to that, the Steelers were finding some success on the ground. Steelers come out in 11 personnel. Patriots are in a Nickel base. Lots of movement along the line of scrimmage for the Pats, disguising their coverage well here. Patriots playing Cover-1 with McCourty the single high safety in centerfield. Pouncey attempts a slide block on Collins, who has crossed the LoS free, but can’t get there quickly enough. We will miss that athleticism at LB. Collins knifes through the LoS and brings Conner down for a four yard loss.
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2. 3:54/1st and 10/NE ball: Pats once again attacking them in 11 personnel after a huge gain by Edelman the play before. Pittsburgh shows Cover-2 but this is really Cover-1 after the snap with the safety jumping up to help double Gordon, who had been a pain in the ass to this point, in man. Why the Steelers have three LBs on the field at this point is beyond me as White is the lone back and he’s not a between-the-tackles kind of guy, but I digress. Brady looks off the FS who moves toward Gordon as well and catches him flat footed as Dorsett blows by him on the 9-route. Easy pitch and catch. Touchdown.
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Q3:
1. 13:27/3RD and 10/Pittsburgh ball: Steelers come out in 11 personnel, Pats match this with their Nickel base. McCourty and Harmon are both on the field for this one. Pre-snap, Roethlisberger motions the TE into the backfield. Pats look like they’re coming on Cover-0 with both McCourty and Harmon up on the LoS. At the snap, they retreat back with McCourty taking on what looks like the Robber role. Roethlisberger catches Harmon peaking into the backfield, recognizes that he has Washington (who I think will be a very good receiver for them) one on one with J. McCourty, and uncorks a pretty deep ball. Harmon is late getting over to help and the result is a 45 yard gain for the Steelers.
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2. 8:13/3rd and 10/NE ball: Pats once again in 11 personnel and Steelers match that with Nickel. Izzo is now being used as an inline blocker in pass pro, lined up next to the RT. Brady sends Edelman in motion and forces the Steelers to declare zone coverage. Steelers tried to disguise with Cover-2 but this becomes Cover-4/Quarters after the snap with the two corners, FS, and SS all taking a quarter of the field. Dorsett absolutely blows by the FS, who was flat footed (not sure if he was expecting help here or not), on the skinny post. Touchdown. Easy pitch and catch.
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3. 4:39/2nd and 6/NE ball: Pats come out in 10 personnel this time and the Steelers match that with nickel. Brady motions Burkhead out of the backfield and out wide as the split end. Brady with an empty backfield. Pittsburgh shifts Bush (a LB) onto Gordon and the CB takes Burkhead. They were trying to disguise their coverage here, but Brady isn’t fooled. Bush is quick, but a LB on a WR is always a mismatch. This is man all the way. Steelers were in Cover-2 and both the safeties were deep at the snap. Gordon blows by Bush, who has inside shade, immediately. The FS comes up to double him and Gordon catches him flat footed and blows by him on the skinny post. The ball gets there before the SS does. Result is a 44 yard game and Brady’s 88th 300-yard passing performance all-time.
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Q4:
1. 4:24/1ST and 10/Pittsburgh ball: Steelers in 00 personnel as they try frantically to get something, anything going. Patriots are in Dime and are staying extremely aggressive in Cover-1 with McCourty as the single high safety. This is his play. This play is a great example of why McCourty has always been underrated by Pats fans, and the NFL community as a whole. Roethlisberger tries to look him off but McCourty stays home. Roethlisberger guns it back to the other side to Washington, running the 9-route. McCourty flips his hips as fluidly as they come, beats Washington to the spot, and picks off the pass. That’s game.
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---------- Post added at 02:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:37 PM ----------

As a follow-up, as I was going over the film from this game and, in essence, re-watching it, the one thing that stood out to me was how explosive Dorsett was when he was healthy. The dude can flat out fly when he's got two good wheels.
 
BUMP: Would you all like me to keep doing this? A couple of you up-voted it, so if people find it educational, I'll keep taking it week by week. Obviously, as we go on, there will be more of an analysis of what went "wrong" (particularly on offense) that would be good to chew on and then compare that roster with this roster. But it's a lot of work, obviously, so I'd like it to be able to generate some discussion. And also, can I take the link and the times and turn these particular plays into GIFs? You have to have an account for Game Pass, so I wasn't 100% sure.
 
BUMP: Would you all like me to keep doing this? A couple of you up-voted it, so if people find it educational, I'll keep taking it week by week. Obviously, as we go on, there will be more of an analysis of what went "wrong" (particularly on offense) that would be good to chew on and then compare that roster with this roster. But it's a lot of work, obviously, so I'd like it to be able to generate some discussion. And also, can I take the link and the times and turn these particular plays into GIFs? You have to have an account for Game Pass, so I wasn't 100% sure.

I think its great. Love that stuff.
 
Week 2 @ Miami. The Antonio Brown game. Hard to really find a lot wrong with a game in which we stomped the other team 43-0. When Brown was on the field, the Pats saw a lot more Cover-3 and even some Cover-4 to try to keep everything in front of them. I saw a lot more man looks when Brown was off the field. Something I'll pay attention to, moving forward.

Q1:
1. 12:58/2nd and 7/NE ball: Pats with 10-personnel, AB lined up in the slot. Dolphins are Nickel. I’ll give Miami credit, they certainly disguised a lot better than the Steelers did in Week 1. That might not seem like it’s the case with 43 points on the board, but they did a much better job of it. It was a lot harder for me to diagnose what I believe is the coverage prior to the snap. This particular play, they show a Cover-2 look before the snap but the corners taking outside shade gives away that it’s probably going to be a zone coverage prior to the snap. White motions in next to Brady (he had previously been the flanker) to confirm zone coverage for Brady. After the snap, Brady is decisive. He knows exactly where he wants to go with this. Cover-4, unlike Cover-3 (which is susceptible to passes to the outside and the in the flats) is weak in the middle of the field, between the hashes. That’s where Brady wants to go with the ball. Miami gets a bit creative, dropping #93 into the middle hook after the snap when he had previously shown blitz. Had Brady gone to Edelman here, it probably would have been picked. Unfortunately for them, Brady went to Brown, wide open in the middle of the field and exploiting the hole that is ultimately the downfall for that coverage. Result is 18 yards and a first down. The second still shows how they exploit the coverage after the snap. It also does a good job of showing how teams would have had to play the Patriots (unless they were a very good defense and could man up with this offense). Look how many bodies are around Brown. This game is both very exciting and very frustrating to break down because it shows you what we could have had. Oh well.
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2. 3:50/3rd and 9/Miami Ball: Patriots showing their Big Nickel base here, with all three safeties on the field. McCourty and Harmon are opposite of where they normally are, likely an attempt to disguise who will be the deep safety on this snap. This is also to counter the Dolphins, who have gone heavy (on 3rd and 9, no less) with 22 personnel on the field. Miami motions Ballage out of the backfield, and he lines up in the slot. Chung switches and is now lined up on the TE. Patriots don’t make a great deal of effort to disguise the coverage they are in, which is 2-robber (with Harmon playing the role of the Robber and McCourty essentially being responsible for the deep half of the field on the other side). You can see this coming at the snap. What they do well, however, is disguise who is coming and who will be dropping into the middle hook. Naturally, this ends up being Collins after the snap. His loss in 2020 is one of my biggest concerns as we need a LB who can cover. With Collins dropping into coverage, this leaves Winovich and KVN on the edges and Butler and Hightower (shooting the B-gap) as the three rushers. Wino easily beats the LT with a quick first step at the snap and a mean swim move. This forces Fitz to step up in the pocket and into Butler, who came on a stunt after the LG came up to seal off Hightower. Sack followed by a punt. Since I can’t host GIFs with Game Pass, I have circled the key roles in the second pic. Red circle is Harmon, the robber, blue circle is Collins, black circle is Butler.
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Q2:
1. 11:49/2ND and 4/NE Ball: 20 personnel is the order of the day for the Pats here. Burkhead is in the offensive backfield behind Brady while White is split out wide as the flanker. The three receivers are Edelman and Dorsett, both operating out of the slot, while Gordon is the split end. Miami has nickel personnel on the field. Cover-1 is what they show before the snap and Cover-1 is the coverage of choice after the snap. Dorsett draws multiple bodies in his area as the safety is shading toward his side of the ball. Aside from deep throws, the main weakness of Cover-1 is that it is possible for offenses to do a ton of damage with YAC. That’s why the Patriots don’t deviate from the original plan here – screen to Burkhead. Miami doesn’t quite take the cheese here (they’re only rushing three), but New England’s play design is brilliant. Knowing they’ll concentrate on Dorsett and Edelman, the Pats have those two plus Gordon running arounds that lead the traffic to the other side of the field. Edelman runs a crosser and takes his man with him while Dorsett and Gordon run straight into their men and engage them. At this time, the Pats already have both guards and Karras out in space and leading the way for Burkhead on the screen. Shout out to White for his key block downfield. Result of the play is 15 yards and a first down. This drive eventually ended in a Gost FG.
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2. 1:24/1st and 10/NE Ball: Patriots are back in 10 personnel with White the loan back. He motions out of the backfield and lines up as the flanker before the snap. Dorsett and Edelman are both lined up in the slot (with Edelman lined up off the LoS) with Brown in the slot on the other side and Gordon the split end. Dolphins naturally are in nickel. Seeing that the deep safety is shading to Edelman and Dorsett’s side, and that Brown will be 1-on-1, Brady changes the play at the LoS. Brown already had the playbook down cold in his first week. He knew exactly what to do based on the coverage Miami was showing us before the snap. While this looked like Cover-1, it wasn’t. Good attempt at a disguise by Miami, but you can’t get much past the GOAT. And, in doing this, I’ve grown even more respect for Brady. I have the ability to watch the coaches film from above, over and over and over again. And, at first blush, I would have called this Cover-3 Buzz or 3-Buzz. But, in looking at what Miami did after the snap, with the FS retreating and with the corners in man, I would be hard-pressed not to call this 2-robber again. The reason I originally thought this was 3-Buzz is because the deep thirds of the field all seem well defended at first blush, but man gives away that this can’t be the coverage. Brady, as maniacal as he is in the film room, immediately recognized this coverage from field level. Brown runs the 9-route. His man has taken inside shade, so Brady his him on a beautiful back shoulder throw for 7. Man, to think of what these two could have done. Oh well.
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Q3:
1. 12:35/3RD and 10/Miami Ball: Patriots once again have their Big Nickel personnel on the field to match Miami, who has 22 personnel on the field. McCourty is the deep safety while Harmon shows blitz before the snap and then sinks back into the Robber role. Everyone else is either coming or covering someone. Fitzpatrick first looks to the TE, who is well covered by J. McCourty – smartly taking inside leverage and stopping him in his tracks with an excellent jam at the LoS. Fitz then comes back across to Parker, who is being covered one-on-one by Gilmore. This is definitely a Fitzpatrick Special. He should have taken the sack. I have no clue why he thought he could force this ball in there. Gilmore is in the trail technique but he’s still in Parker’s hip pocket. McCourty is also up top with this particular match-up right in front of him, since Parker is now the deepest man on the field for Miami. Parker is not open in the least, but Fitz throws it anyway. Gilmore gets a hand on it and pops it up into McCourty’s waiting arms. INT.
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2. 6:53/2nd and 7/NE Ball: Let’s just use this one to grieve the loss of our dear, old friend – James Develin. He makes this play. Patriots come out in 21 personnel. Miami comes out in a traditional 3-4 with a 0-tech lined up opposite Karras’ nose. Four LBs on the field. Develin seals the B-gap by completely swallowing up his man. Sony has the Red Sea part for him as a result since both the B and C gaps are wide open for business. His extra gear, when he gets to the next level of the defense, is definitely impressive.. when he’s healthy. Unfortunately, I don’t think he’s going to be a prime candidate to get a second contract from the Pats. His knees have taken a beating. But this play shows how quickly he can shift into that extra gear when he’s feeling good. Gain of 12 and a new set of downs on the play. The drive would eventually lead to a Brady sneak for a TD.
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3. 1:28/3rd and 14/Miami Ball: Pats come out in their traditional dime package. McCourty and Harmon are the two safeties on the field. Hightower and Collins are the two LBs. Everyone is up at the LoS before the snap, probably trying to disguise. Looks like Cover-0 prior to the snap of the football. Miami is in 11 personnel. Just before the snap, Harmon retreats back into the FS role while McCourty comes up and takes on the Robber role. Harmon shades to the strong side. Fitzpatrick’s first read here is clearly Gesicki here. His eyes are on Gesicki the entire time, and he might have had him on the deep post before Harmon would get there to clean it up. Too bad for Shitz that this was an opportunity to meet at the quarterback. Hightower, lined up on the strong side, stunts and blows his man up into the backfield. This makes it impossible for Fitz to climb the pocket. Next to him, Collins blows up both the guard and the center. His quick step basically won him this match-up before he pushed both of them into the offensive backfield. His athleticism was basically an unfair injection back into this defense. Finally, on the weakside, Winovich shakes free of the guard, who gets lost in traffic, with a simple rip. All three converge on Shitzpatrick for a 7 yard loss.
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Q4:
1. 10:56/3rd and 2/Miami Ball: This play was the most LOL play of the game. Here is the long and short of this play: Fitz was supposed to go to Ballage on a screen but Ballage gets chipped at the LoS by Van Noy so hard that he nearly falls on his ass. Fitz freaks out and throws it into heavy traffic (4 blue shirts in the area), Gilmore (the best CB in all of football) picks it off, and takes it the other way. When Fitz is bad, he is very bad. Miami is in 11 personnel while the Pats are in basic Cover-2. As soon as Ballage gets knocked off course, Fitz locks on to Parker and fires. Parker is nowhere near open. FFS, even Adam Butler is in the area. The right play is to throw the ball away here since you’re outside the tackle box. Nice play, Fitz. You idiot. You fucking moron.
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2. 5:09/1st and 10/NE Ball: This is after yet another Fitzpicksix, this time to Collins. The offense had gone a while since they had gotten the ball back. This drive eventually ended in a TD to White, but that’s a ho hum screen that went 10 yards. Miami had quit at that point. This is one of the plays that led to that score. More or less an example of what Brady sees on the field and why he probably did that. It’s incredible the amount of info he processes in his head before the snap about what the defense will do. I also have to tip my cap to the play design here. The Pats have 11 personnel on the field. Gordon is the flanker, Edelman is the split end on the other side. Dorsett is lined up in the slot to Gordon’s left and Burkhead is just off the LoS. The Dolphins are playing Cover-1 without any attempt to disguise what they are doing. Prior to the snap, Brady flips both Dorsett and Burkhead. Burkhead is now lined up in the slot to Gordon’s left while Dorsett is off the LoS. Burkhead is isolated with a LB out in space, meaning the FS is going to have to shade to that side, but it’s a harder commit because Dorsett could blow past him down the seam and shake loose. So he has to stay home. The route concepts freeze him even more and the Patriots take advantage of it. Burkhead runs the out and up while Dorsett runs the slant and go. Fitzpatrick shades over to Dorsett’s side of the ball and, by the time he realizes that Burkhead is the deep receiver and he’s beaten his man, it’s too late. 32 yard gain and the Patriots are in position to crush them. Had Dorsett and Burkhead had run their original routes, I don’t think this play has as much success since the FS would naturally shade to Dorsett’s side.
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