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Week one vs Colts Game Notes

1-10-IND 31 (5:53) M.Schaub sacked at IND 38 for -7 yards (D.Freeney).

2-17-IND 38 (5:24) M.Schaub pass short left to A.Foster pushed ob at IND 31 for 7 yards (J.Powers).

3-10-IND 31 (4:53) (Shotgun) M.Schaub pass incomplete short left to J.Jones.

4-10-IND 31 (4:48) N.Rackers 49 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-J.Weeks, Holder-M.Turk.

After a sack and a short pass to Foster, Schaub and JJ misconnected as the receiver turned inside while Schaub threw to the outside on third and ten.
It would have been enough for a frist down.

As it was, the Texans had to settle for another FG.

The sack was not really anybody's fault.
The Texans faked a run toward Freeney from the straight I formation.
Freeney was set in his mind to run the arc to rush the QB and paid no attention to the run.
 
............
Indianapolis Colts at 4:43, (1st play from scrimmage 4:37)
1-10-IND 27 (4:37) J.Addai left tackle to IND 28 for 1 yard (M.Williams).

LDE Mario stopped Addai on a one-yd run.
Good penetration by RDT Okoye forced the run back to the left.

2-9-IND 28 (4:02) (Shotgun) P.Manning pass incomplete deep left to R.Wayne.

On second down, Barwin came in from the WOLB position to put pressure on Manning.
The pass sailed high and out of bound as Pollard tried for an unsuccessful INT.

Texans in 3-man front; Mario and Smith were the DEs;
Okoye as NT got a good push up the middle against a double team.

TE (on the right of the formation) released; RB picked up the SOLB Diles.

Barwin originally stood up inside LDE (or WDE - weak side DE) Smith, but then moved back to normal LB depth.

This caused Manning to change the call.

However, at the last minute, Barwin got back on the LOS outside Smith.

This is an example of how the movement of a LB can affect the protection call as I see it.
The RT thought that he would take on the WDE Smith and might have been a hair slow to slide out on Barwin.

At any rate, Barwin's movement was fluid and deceptive.


Texans were in 2-deep, man under coverage.

Everybody had good coverage, including Demeco on Clark (note - so far, Demeco was good in coverage).

Manning actually had to pull the ball back and then probably decided to throw the ball away (it was such a tight window between Pollard and McCain).

Either that or Barwin might have affected the throw as he jumped Manning from behind.
 
3-9-IND 28 (3:54) (Shotgun) P.Manning pass deep middle to R.Wayne to 50 for 22 yards (G.Quin). P3
PENALTY on HST-G.Quin, Unnecessary Roughness, 15 yards, enforced at 50.

On 3rd and 9, Manning completed a 22-yd pass to Wayne in the soft spot between four defenders in a 3-deep, 5-underneath zone.

(Dlies at LB, McCain at RCB, Pollard the deep outside 1/3 right safety, and Quin as the middle 1/3 safety.)

Quin got called for a 15-yd penalty leading his helmet into Wayne's helmet.

Pollard nearly fell down as he squeezed his zone inside.

This one at least should be shared between Pollard and Quin.
However, it's quite possible to charge it to Pollard instead of splitting responsibility since Wayne was the only threat to Pollard.
(Here is a sign of Pollard's inflexibility in the hips.)
 
1-10-HST 35 (3:31) J.Addai left tackle to HST 33 for 2 yards (A.Okoye; B.Pollard). HST-C.Barwin was injured during the play.

Good pursuit by Okoye. Diles missed a tackle.


2-8-HST 33 PENALTY on HST-A.Smith, Defensive Offside, 5 yards, enforced at HST 33 - No Play.


2-3-HST 28 (2:35) J.Addai right tackle pushed ob at HST 22 for 6 yards (D.Ryans).
PENALTY on IND-M.Pollak, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at HST 28 - No Play.
Penalty on IND-J.Addai, Illegal Shift, declined.
 
2-13-HST 38 (2:07) (Shotgun) P.Manning pass incomplete short right to A.Gonzalez [M.Williams].

Mario decked Manning again, forcing a poor throw out of bound.

Jackson with good coverage on Gozalez.
 
3-13-HST 38 (2:02) (Shotgun) P.Manning pass incomplete deep right to A.Gonzalez.
Indianapolis challenged the incomplete pass ruling, and the play was Upheld. (Timeout #1.)

Okoye collapsed the pocket, forcing an inaccurate throw by Manning.

On this play, Jackson's critics probably claimed that he got lucky since it looks like Jackson allowed the receiver to run free.; to that I disagree.

The Texans dropped Demeco back deep in the middle together with the two safeties on each side in a 3-deep, 4-underneath zone.

Jackson redirected the receiver inside then settled in his underneath outside zone, just beyond the first down marker (about 14 yards deep.

Wilson's job was the outside deep third and there was only one vertical threat which was the receiver Gonzalez.

The slot receiver (who ran a shorter route) was Demeco's responsibility (as the middle safety) with Quin playing underneath.

Wilson lingered way too long and broke very very late on the ball.
The fault here, if it was a completion, would have lied with Wilsom.
Lucky for him, Okoye was good with the pressure.

Here, I want to note that if Wilson can't defend a third of the field against one single vertical threat, how would he look defending one half of the field, and how would he look defending the entire width of the field, especially with more than one vertical threat!?!

Cotls punted again. Touch back.
 
Houston Texans at 1:45

1-10-HST 20 (1:45) A.Foster left tackle to HST 25 for 5 yards (G.Brackett; A.Johnson).

2-5-HST 25 (1:07) A.Foster right end to HST 29 for 4 yards (A.Bethea).

3-1-HST 29 (:29) A.Foster left guard to HST 33 for 4 yards (M.King, K.Dawson). R4

Three solid runs by Foster brought the end of the first quarter.

END OF QUARTER
 
Second Quarter

1-10-HST 33 (15:00) A.Foster right guard to HST 34 for 1 yard (D.Muir; F.Moala).

2-9-HST 34 (14:17) M.Schaub pass short right to J.Jones pushed ob at IND 43 for 23 yards (K.Hayden). P5

RCB Powers followed JJ across the field and terribly missed an attempt at a tackle near the side line (and of course, fell down).

JJ turned a short 3-yd catch into a 23-yd gain.

Powers was saved by his teammates on this play.
 
1-10-IND 43 (13:50) M.Schaub pass deep middle to A.Johnson to IND 22 for 21 yards (G.Brackett, P.Wheeler). P6

AJ exploited the 4-3 zone for a 22-yd catch.

The RCB Powers would have been the critics' choice for failing to cover a receiver while what happened was simply the result of an offense attacking the dead spot in the zone.

Texans ran a hi-lo with Jacoby on a post route deep from the slot and inserted AJ on an up-and-in route underneath.

Bethea slipped and nearl fell as he overran the play, but the deep middle safety finally came up to slow down AJ for the LBs to make the tackle in pursuit.
 
1-10-IND 22 (13:06) M.Schaub pass deep middle to K.Walter for 22 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

RCB Powers followed Walter across the field, but it looks like the Colts made a quick D-call to change from man to a 3 deep -4 under zone coverage.

The middle safety Bethea bought the shoulder fake by Schaub (looking toward JJ on the left) and had no chance when Schaub went back to the right for Walter in the seam for a 22-yd TD pass.

Again, I imagine some people would blame the CB here.

But as I see it, the FS Bethea was at fault in the middle of the 3-deep zone.

The CB Powers let Walter run free to settle into his short zone.

The Colts kept with Tony Dungy's playbook and employ a lot of cover 2, tampa 2, not unlike Richard Smith's scheme and what the Texnas used quite a bit under Bush.

Texans led 13-0
 
Indianapolis Colts at 13:01, (1st play from scrimmage 12:55)

1-10-IND 24 (12:55) (Shotgun) P.Manning pass short right to P.Garcon to IND 31 for 7 yards (S.Cody, Z.Diles).

Texans dropped Jackson back as the left 1/3 deep safety.

Quin didn't take the greatest angle to his outside zone, missed a tackle and therefore fell down.
Or you can call it a good move by Garcon.

Jackson came back up for the stop, but was bumped off by Demeco as both tried to wrap up the receiver.
Garcon's momentum was stopped anyway, and there was plenty of time for recovery.
Demeco fell down; Jackson didn't.
At any rate, Demeco would have been better taking more of an inside positon to start with.

Cody and Diles piled on for the tackle.
 
2-3-IND 31 (12:29) J.Addai right tackle to IND 37 for 6 yards (A.Okoye, Z.Diles). R5

Mario sustained the double team TE/RT.
Okoye took on the combo. RG/C

SLB Demeco (in the Texans usual 4-2/nickel package against the Colts) read play-action pass and was late to fill.
The fact that Diles pursued from WLB to the ball showed that.

Okoye held the double team long enough for Diles to come across.
As the RG came off the double team, Okoye got in on the tackle.

Quin was cleared to the side by the slot receiver Collie.
Either Demeco or Quin could have defended the play better as they were on play side.
 
1-10-IND 37 (11:58) (Shotgun) P.Manning pass short left to A.Collie to IND 47 for 10 yards (B.McCain). P6

Once again, Quin worked out of the shuffle in the slot facing to the outside (he can't see the QB).

Collie ran past the first down marker then cut to the outside.
It's just difficult to react back.

Collie caught the quick pass beween Quin and McCain and was tackled by McCain.
 
1-10-IND 47 (11:22) (Shotgun) J.Addai left guard to HST 49 for 4 yards (D.Ryans).

RDE Mario, NT Cody, and LDT Mitchell did their job, forcing Addai to cut back.

However, LDE Smith turned his shoulder and got cleared out by the LT.

Ryans (unblocked on the back side) made the tackle.



2-6-HST 49 (10:45) (Shotgun) P.Manning pass short middle to D.Clark to HST 45 for 4 yards (Z.Diles).

Good reaction from the zone and good tackle by Diles.
 
3-2-HST 45 (10:05) (Shotgun) P.Manning pass incomplete short middle to P.Garcon.

Garcon dropped the ball on a quick/short slant route.

The Texans were in man under coverage, but McCain (most inside) simply stayed put and got in the way of Jackson.

If McCain wanted to switch, he needed to jump quickly on the slant route; if he decided to stay in man, he should have turned back and quickly followed his receiver.
(Whether there was any communication between the two, we don't know).
It was a difficult route to defend anyway.

And no, Jackson did not have problem running with the receiver; it was his own teammate (McCain) that got in the way, unintentionally, of course!

Some pics (if I have time) will show that McCain basically picked off Jackson.
It would have been a short gain for a first down, nothing drastic.

As it was, the Colts had to punt again.
 
Houston Texans at 9:50

1-10-HST 14 (9:50) A.Foster left end to HST 21 for 7 yards (R.Mathis, C.Session).

2-3-HST 21 (9:11) A.Foster right end to HST 31 for 10 yards (A.Bethea, K.Hayden). R8

(8:31) M.Schaub pass deep middle intended for A.Johnson INTERCEPTED by M.Bullitt at IND 46. M.Bullitt to
HST 35 for 19 yards (S.Slaton).


The Texans gained 7 and 10 yards on the ground with Foster, only to have Schaub thowing the ball into double coverage for an INT.
 
(8:31 in the second) On first and 10, the Texans went with a double TE formation in the straight I.
Andre was the lone receiver in the left slot.

The Colts brought 9 in the box.
The Texans faked hard on the run, with AJ the only receiver running a deep crossing route across the middle, right toward the lone safety Bullitt.

I have no idea what kind of play call that was.
You can check out the low-light on nfl.com, or maybe not!

The only way that play can work is for the safety to completely abandoning his post and come up in run support or simply stay back more than 30 yds deep and do not react or disappear (like Wilson); otherwise, Schaub would have to just throw the ball away.

It was Schaub's only mistake in the game.

Bullitt ran the ball back to the Houston 37, but the refs marked the ball at the 35, WTH?

Here you can see the role of the deep safety in the middle of the field.
 
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