TBB Video: Isolated Review Series

[barrett]

Here's the remainder of our break downs from the week that was. We've got many positives and 1 glaring negative.

Some great examples of Schaub's pocket awareness as well as Foster's second move can be found here:

http://www.texansbullblog.com/isolat...ured-articles/

Houston's most glaring weekness could cost us the game against Dallas. You can read about Adibi here:

http://www.texansbullblog.com/dallas...olated-review/

[drs23]

Originally Posted by barrett

Here's the remainder of our break downs from the week that was. We've got many positives and 1 glaring negative.

Some great examples of Schaub's pocket awareness as well as Foster's second move can be found here:

http://www.texansbullblog.com/isolat...ured-articles/

Houston's most glaring weekness could cost us the game against Dallas. You can read about Adibi here:

http://www.texansbullblog.com/dallas...olated-review/

Great compilation as usual. DM and yourself do a great job with your blog and I always enjoy it. Keep up the great job. Rep your way.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by barrett

Here's the remainder of our break downs from the week that was. We've got many positives and 1 glaring negative.

Some great examples of Schaub's pocket awareness as well as Foster's second move can be found here:

http://www.texansbullblog.com/isolat...ured-articles/

Houston's most glaring weekness could cost us the game against Dallas. You can read about Adibi here:

http://www.texansbullblog.com/dallas...olated-review/

What were the time of those plays involving Adibi?
I'd like to review them again.

I actually think all 3 LBs were weak in coverage last week.
And I'm not so sure I'd put the big play to Cooley on him.
It was a great call by the Skins and a great move by Cooley.
Adibi was brushed by Diles to start the play and may have lost his step a bit.
I think I am more concerned with Pollard; it was pretty rough going for him coverage-wise.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

What were the time of those plays involving Adibi?
I'd like to review them again.

I actually think all 3 LBs were weak in coverage last week.
And I'm not so sure I'd put the big play to Cooley on him.
It was a great call by the Skins and a great move by Cooley.
Adibi was brushed by Diles to start the play and may have lost his step a bit.
I think I am more concerned with Pollard; it was pretty rough going for him coverage-wise.

Yeah, I love Pollard but he's got to learn that when he's playing the deep zone, he needs to get his ass BACK there.

Personally, I see us going to a nickel and taking Adibi off the field as much as possible.

[TimeKiller]

I sure wish the football instinct matched the physical gifts Adibi has. He would be a badass then. Hasn't happened though, he just doesn't hold his assignment down. Hey 76, what did you think of Wilson's game?

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

What were the time of those plays involving Adibi?
I'd like to review them again.

I actually think all 3 LBs were weak in coverage last week.
And I'm not so sure I'd put the big play to Cooley on him.
It was a great call by the Skins and a great move by Cooley.
Adibi was brushed by Diles to start the play and may have lost his step a bit.
I think I am more concerned with Pollard; it was pretty rough going for him coverage-wise.

76,

I don't have my notes in front of me, but I believe it was 9:03 left in the second quarter and then about 7:00 left in the fourth.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by drs23

Great compilation as usual. DM and yourself do a great job with your blog and I always enjoy it. Keep up the great job. Rep your way.

Thank you. Appreciate the readership.

Originally Posted by 76Texan

What were the time of those plays involving Adibi?
I'd like to review them again.

I actually think all 3 LBs were weak in coverage last week.
And I'm not so sure I'd put the big play to Cooley on him.
It was a great call by the Skins and a great move by Cooley.
Adibi was brushed by Diles to start the play and may have lost his step a bit.
I think I am more concerned with Pollard; it was pretty rough going for him coverage-wise.

76,

I think the first one is @ 9:45 in the 2nd. (sorry my notes are chicken scratch)
The 2nd portion of the clip (where Adibi crashes down too aggressively) is @ 7:50 in the 4th.

I don't disagree with you about the coverage difficulties of the LB's. Demeco is always a liability there and Diles, just like Adibi was beaten several times by a very good offensive scheme. I think what John was saying about Adibi in coverage is that it's not much of an issue since he's off the field in nickle situations. I have absolutely no faith that the Cowboys are smart enough to keep us in a 4-3 and exploit our LB's in coverage.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

I sure wish the football instinct matched the physical gifts Adibi has. He would be a badass then. Hasn't happened though, he just doesn't hold his assignment down. Hey 76, what did you think of Wilson's game?

I want to go over a few things again before I think I can have a decent take on Wilson. Haste makes waste, what I try to remind myself of.

I think he was clean, but as I said, give me a little more time, please!

At the moment, I have a different opinion on Adibi than quite a handful of "you guys" (ie. folks whom I discuss football with).

See next post!

[76Texan]

In the two plays involving Adibi that Barrett mentioned, I think we were playing a gap control defense.

In the first play, the Skins schemed a run off the play action pass.

Their linemen (and the TE) didn't fire off the LOS; instead, they acted as if they were pass blocking.
I think this froze Pollard a bit such that he didn't fly to his gap sooner.
(This may or may not apply to Quin.)
It resulted in a 6yd run for the Skins, which was not all that terrible for us.

The Skins lined up in straight-I formation, with the TE Cooley strong left.
Two receivers on their right.

We had KJ on the wide-out and Diles on the slot receiver (let's just think of Diles as a CB).
Wilson was deep to help out on this side.

Now, the Skins have 5 linemen, the TE, and the FB; that makes 7 guys.
We counter with 8 defenders to control the gaps.

In our alignment, we had Quin on the TE Cooley.
We can think of Quin as the SAM.
Adibi now becomes the MIKE and Demeco, the WILL.

Smith lined up outside the RT and controlled the weak side C gap.
The RG was uncovered.
Cody was in the weak side A gap.

Okoye was in the strong side B gap.
Mario lined up outside the TE and controlled the alley.
If the TE released, he would be Quin's responsibility.
In this case, Cooley stayed, so Quin was looking at the strong side C gap.

The FB led through the weak side B gap (this creates an additional gap on the LOS).
Demeco and Adibi would flow toward that side, toward their gap assignments.
We clogged up that side such that the only gap remained for the RB to cut back toward was the weak-side B gap.
This gap, IMO, was Pollard's responsibility.
He finally got there to tackle the RB after a 6yd gain.

IMO, it was simply good execution by the Skins.
It might be too much to ask of Pollard, as the SS, to read the TE (in order to help Quin in coverage) while also checking his key (the RB) better and quicker than he (Pollard) did.
A freakish SS might be able to recognize Cooley's first steps, trust in Mario's ability to jam the TE on the way into the backfield (and therefore didn't have to worry about helping Quin.

Then he can really shoot off toward his gap to make a big play.
The same goes for Quin.
Soon as he saw that Mario was able to control both the alley and the C gap, he could have taken flight toward Pollard's gap (knowing that his SS can still be his back-up.)
However, the coaches might have specific instructions for him to stay true with his gap until he can be surely sure that it was secured.
That was just my guess since I don't know the Texans' intentions in their D-scheme.

I hope to get to the second play soon, but basically, it looks to me that the players stayed with their gap assignments in both occasions.
Quin might be a little iffy in the second play (more so than in the first).

Or somebody can get to it... Fine by me... Another point of view is always good!

[76Texan]

I might as well get to it!

....


In the second play, the Skins were in a 2-TE set, both on their left side.
Straight-I with a lone wide out on their right.

KJ and Wilson would cover the wide-out.

That left us with 9 defenders on 8 blockers.

They led with the FB thru the weak side A gap.
Again, we controlled this side.
The RB would cut back to the strong side where they had both TEs.

We had Quin lined up on the outer edge; and IMO, he stayed with it, but didn't do a great job. A 4yd gain wasn't terrible, but he was in position to do better (I think).

Cooley was the outside TE.
Adibi was on him, jamming him while working to the inside gap.
The alley (the edge) was for Quin to defend.

The inside TE released.
As Quin passed him (Davis) off to Pollard, the edge remained Quin's responsibility. (Or Davis was Pollard's responsibility throughout.)

We controlled the weak-side, but the Skins got a little push in the middle.
This might have enticed Quin to try to help inside rather than stayed truer to his assignment on the edge.
Also, he might have underestimated Portis' ability to cut on a dime.
Or perhaps he was a little overconfident about his own ability to adjust (???)

At any rate, Quin did recover and get a piece of Portis to cause him to stumble to a fall a yard short of the first down.

Pollard was good on this play as he still had to make sure the TE Davis didn't sneak out to catch a pass.
And he was quick enough to get off him (the TE) to support the run.

Other viewpoints ???

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Other viewpoints ???

I'll take a look at them tonight.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Hey 76, what did you think of Wilson's game?

I've been reviewing the 63 yd pass to Galloway in which KJ was the nearest defender.

Problem is the camera angles didn't give enough clues.

We definitely were not in man coverage.
Initially, KJ line up on the wide-out.
This guy went in motion and faked a reverse.
KJ never followed him.

So we were in some sort of zone coverage.
But I can't tell whether it was 2-deep, 3-deep, or some sort of modified zone coverage.

My questions are these:
1. Why did Wilson come up so quickly?
2. Why did Demeco drop back so quickly?

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

I've been reviewing the 63 yd pass to Galloway in which KJ was the nearest defender.

Problem is the camera angles didn't give enough clues.

We definitely were not in man coverage.
Initially, KJ line up on the wide-out.
This guy went in motion and faked a reverse.
KJ never followed him.

So we were in some sort of zone coverage.
But I can't tell whether it was 2-deep, 3-deep, or some sort of modified zone coverage.

My questions are these:
1. Why did Wilson come up so quickly?
2. Why did Demeco drop back so quickly?

Everything about the play looked like Cover2, except the fact that the safeties were nowhere to be found. I watched it 10 times, at least, and concluded that Wilson blew his assignment (or perhaps Pollard did). There is no way the Texans dropped 7 into coverage and Kareem Jackson was intended to have the deep middle of the field, all alone.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

In the two plays involving Adibi that Barrett mentioned, I think we were playing a gap control defense.

In the first play, the Skins schemed a run off the play action pass.

Their linemen (and the TE) didn't fire off the LOS; instead, they acted as if they were pass blocking.
I think this froze Pollard a bit such that he didn't fly to his gap sooner.
(This may or may not apply to Quin.)
It resulted in a 6yd run for the Skins, which was not all that terrible for us.

The Skins lined up in straight-I formation, with the TE Cooley strong left.
Two receivers on their right.

We had KJ on the wide-out and Diles on the slot receiver (let's just think of Diles as a CB).
Wilson was deep to help out on this side.

Now, the Skins have 5 linemen, the TE, and the FB; that makes 7 guys.
We counter with 8 defenders to control the gaps.

In our alignment, we had Quin on the TE Cooley.
We can think of Quin as the SAM.
Adibi now becomes the MIKE and Demeco, the WILL.

Smith lined up outside the RT and controlled the weak side C gap.
The RG was uncovered.
Cody was in the weak side A gap.

Okoye was in the strong side B gap.
Mario lined up outside the TE and controlled the alley.
If the TE released, he would be Quin's responsibility.
In this case, Cooley stayed, so Quin was looking at the strong side C gap.

The FB led through the weak side B gap (this creates an additional gap on the LOS).
Demeco and Adibi would flow toward that side, toward their gap assignments.
We clogged up that side such that the only gap remained for the RB to cut back toward was the weak-side B gap.
This gap, IMO, was Pollard's responsibility.
He finally got there to tackle the RB after a 6yd gain.

IMO, it was simply good execution by the Skins.
It might be too much to ask of Pollard, as the SS, to read the TE (in order to help Quin in coverage) while also checking his key (the RB) better and quicker than he (Pollard) did.
A freakish SS might be able to recognize Cooley's first steps, trust in Mario's ability to jam the TE on the way into the backfield (and therefore didn't have to worry about helping Quin.

Then he can really shoot off toward his gap to make a big play.
The same goes for Quin.
Soon as he saw that Mario was able to control both the alley and the C gap, he could have taken flight toward Pollard's gap (knowing that his SS can still be his back-up.)
However, the coaches might have specific instructions for him to stay true with his gap until he can be surely sure that it was secured.
That was just my guess since I don't know the Texans' intentions in their D-scheme.

I hope to get to the second play soon, but basically, it looks to me that the players stayed with their gap assignments in both occasions.
Quin might be a little iffy in the second play (more so than in the first).

Or somebody can get to it... Fine by me... Another point of view is always good!

Hmmm... I'm going back and forth on this.

I think it was a matter of reading keys. When I initially watched this play (the first 2-3 times), I was of the opinion that Adibi made a mistake in following Demeco into Demeco's gap.

But after watching it a few more times, I think that both Adibi and Demeco were keying off the FB. They saw the FB go to a particular hole and Demeco's job was to take on the FB and Adibi's job was to clean up and make the tackle after Demeco took the FB down.

But in this case, the FB was a decoy and it caused a pre-assigned hole to open up that Portis squirted through. I think it may have been Pollard's job to come up and close that hole. I don't see how Okoye could have been expected to close it because of the double team.

I think this was a case of the right run called against the right defense. Shanahan knew what we like to do with our LBs and he took advantage of it. I don't consider this a mistake by Adibi although on initial looks I did.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

I might as well get to it!

....


In the second play, the Skins were in a 2-TE set, both on their left side.
Straight-I with a lone wide out on their right.

KJ and Wilson would cover the wide-out.

That left us with 9 defenders on 8 blockers.

They led with the FB thru the weak side A gap.
Again, we controlled this side.
The RB would cut back to the strong side where they had both TEs.

We had Quin lined up on the outer edge; and IMO, he stayed with it, but didn't do a great job. A 4yd gain wasn't terrible, but he was in position to do better (I think).

Cooley was the outside TE.
Adibi was on him, jamming him while working to the inside gap.
The alley (the edge) was for Quin to defend.

The inside TE released.
As Quin passed him (Davis) off to Pollard, the edge remained Quin's responsibility. (Or Davis was Pollard's responsibility throughout.)

We controlled the weak-side, but the Skins got a little push in the middle.
This might have enticed Quin to try to help inside rather than stayed truer to his assignment on the edge.
Also, he might have underestimated Portis' ability to cut on a dime.
Or perhaps he was a little overconfident about his own ability to adjust (???)

At any rate, Quin did recover and get a piece of Portis to cause him to stumble to a fall a yard short of the first down.

Pollard was good on this play as he still had to make sure the TE Davis didn't sneak out to catch a pass.
And he was quick enough to get off him (the TE) to support the run.

Other viewpoints ???

I'm not hating Adibi's work on this play. I think he could have played it better but I think he basically did what he was asked to do.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

Everything about the play looked like Cover2, except the fact that the safeties were nowhere to be found. I watched it 10 times, at least, and concluded that Wilson blew his assignment (or perhaps Pollard did). There is no way the Texans dropped 7 into coverage and Kareem Jackson was intended to have the deep middle of the field, all alone.

It's possible that Wilson simply blew the coverage, but it's really difficult to imagine that scenario. Everything in front of him seems to be pretty clear cut.

The guys up front (Diles, Adibi, and Demeco) did not bit the run fake.
They were in good position to defend both the run and the short pass (as well as the reverse.)
There was no need for Wilson to rush forward.

Perhaps he slipped somewhere along the line?
The camera angle certainly was not able to show that.

There's the possibility that Pollard was supposed to drop deeper.
However, with the reverse and Cooley on his side, Pollard thought that he shouldn't drop too far off?

There's also the possibility that Wilson was supposed to come up while both Demeco and Pollard were supposed to drop back along with KJ into a 3-deep zone. The reason I raise this possibility was that Demeco dropped back pretty quickly. But this scenario seems a bit far fetch.

Oh well, I really can't be sure of anything!

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by The Pencil Neck

I'm not hating Adibi's work on this play. I think he could have played it better but I think he basically did what he was asked to do.

We are pretty much on the same page then!

What I think is that with this gap control defense, all the players need to get to their gap really quick to make a big play or a good stop. Hesitation probably hurts more than helps.

[76Texan]

Anybody at the game saw whether Wilson slipped on the passing play in which Galloway got past KJ?

[JB]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Anybody at the game saw whether Wilson slipped on the passing play in which Galloway got past KJ?

I can't find Wilson anywhere on the field on that play. Looks like we got 10 unless he is very deep starting the play.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by JB

I can't find Wilson anywhere on the field on that play. Looks like we got 10 unless he is very deep starting the play.

Darn it, I think you're right!
There's a recap with about 8:35 to go in the 2nd quarter.
They showed a different shot and Wilson wasn't in there either.

In the earlier shots, on the drop back, I thought Adibi was Wilson.