Recap: Claiborne played well against St. Louis but was affected by missed calls

[itsaboat]

Watching live it looked like Claiborne was torched over and over. After watching the coaches film, I thought he had a pretty good game but got burnt because of a couple of missed calls rather than his actual play.

I only saw one glaring mistake.

For what ever reason, Claiborne wants to bluff off coverage (or wasn't sure what he wanted to do?) and tries to get back but the ball is snapped before he can. Luckily, Wilcox was over the top.

What about the sideline play?

He had tight coverage and was in good position to make a play on the ball. He didn't have enough time to take another step. He jumps and he gets one hand on the pass but it doesn't affect the ball enough because it still lands in the receivers hands. Sometimes a better throw and catch beats good coverage.

What about the two touchdown passes he gave up?

I already made a post about the last TD. STL sets an illegal pick, which was missed by the refs, and that frees up the receiver.

If you look at the receiver at the top of the screen you'll notice he sets an NBA worthy moving screen on Scandrick in the endzone. Claiborne is playing his man but once he sees what happened he tries to work back and cover Scandrick's assignment.

What about the other touchdown pass where he gets beaten badly?

Well the thing is, I know Quick isn't faster (pun?) than Claiborne so it confused me why he got a step on him. After watching the coaches film you can see how he does.

It might be hard to tell from the gif but as they are about to cross the 40 yard line Quick shoves Claiborne to get separation.

Sorry for the quality but you can see what I'm talking about. Claiborne is in good position. Quick fully extends his arm and shoves Claiborne. The pass from Davis was in stride so there was no way for Claiborne to make the tackle. Shoving happens, I get it but the receiver got full extension and with Quick's size and long arms (6'3 218 34.5") it affected Claiborne's ability to maintain his coverage. Looked like offensive pass interference to me.

Going through the coaches tape Claiborne showed tight coverage when Dallas played man. I disagree with the comments bashing him and calling him a bust. He's a talented player. He just needs to be in a man coverage based defense for more than a year. Don't forget he's played in three different schemes for three different defensive coordinators since he's been in the league. Claiborne seems like a guy who is a little slower to digest the playbook. If he can play the same scheme for more than a season I think his play improve greatly.

I believe if we had a more consistent pass rush we wouldn't be talking about the corners. I think they're good but they get exposed because the opposing QB's have time to scan the field.

 

[TimHortons]

Good post, thanks for the effort you put into that research. I understand that Quick pushed off, but it is disappointing to see that Mo couldn't close on him even a little bit while running downfield.

 

[bayeslife]

I wouldn't say that he played well but I do think that there is little he can do about some of these plays. Thanks for posting, much appreciated.

 

[jblaze2004]

Our dline sucks. We need guys that can get after the QB asap.

and on the bomb to quick it look like we are in cover 3 zone coverage. Why is Claiborne bumping him when he is responsible for deep coverage back there? Bad technique it seems. You cannot let the wr get that close to you so soon if you have to cover the deep third of the field. The push off should of been called but Claiborne should not have been in that position. He should of been in front of the wr with a 3-5 yard cushion until the ball was thrown.

 

[Future]

For the most part, I think you're right that Claiborne wasn't really as bad as people want to believe, but he got torched by Quick, there's no two ways around it. That little armbar or whatever you want to call it simply isn't going to get called, so he better learn not to let that sort of thing have such a big impact.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

Would Patrick Peterson, Revis or Sherman let any of the above happen to him?


thats the question I have as to whether or not I judge if he played well or not.

 

[JBS]

illegal screen or not...mo wasnt the man who was picked..sure the TD would have been called back...but Mo was still beaten and out of position

 

[DandyDon1722]

Thank you - lot of work went into that.

I think the rap on Mo is not this particular game but his body of work in general and where he was drafted. He simply has not met expectations due to - technique, fundamentals, toughness, intelligence in digesting the playbook (which you pointed out.) and he has a general lack of confidence at this point.

In addition, I don't know how Pro Football Focus breaks down their ratings but he is graded out 95 out of 96 so others see problems in his play play and that is unacceptable. Next, the coaching staff obviously feels that it's a bit more than some missed calls or bad luck. You just don't bench starters for that.

Finally, from a casual fan who has never had any coaching experience - he doesn't pass the eye test. Scandrick is aggressive and always around the ball, Sterling Moore has been too and Patmon in pre season was the same way. My eyes also tells me Wilcox is not around the ball.

Not to say he can't rebound, Sean Payton just benched his first round corner and talked to him about former good corners who came back from rough starts to have good careers. I hope he rebounds and plays sound football for the Cowboys at some point.

 

[speedkilz88]

Would Patrick Peterson, Revis or Sherman let any of the above happen to him?


thats the question I have as to whether or not I judge if he played well or not.

Yes, if the WR fully extends his arm for separation they to would be beat.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

Yes, if the WR fully extends his arm for separation they to would be beat.

id bet money that patrick peterson would STILL make the play.

You think WR's dont try and get advantages and extend arms on those CB's all the time? you better believe it.

 

[speedkilz88]

Good post, thanks for the effort you put into that research. I understand that Quick pushed off, but it is disappointing to see that Mo couldn't close on him even a little bit while running downfield.

He dove for the guy and came close to getting him by the foot.

 

[speedkilz88]

id bet money that patrick peterson would STILL make the play.

You think WR's dont try and get advantages and extend arms on those CB's all the time? you better believe it.

You are not playing with a full deck dude. Peterson gets beat just like they all do.

 

[LandryFan]

Thank you - lot of work went into that.

I think the rap on Mo is not this particular game but his body of work in general and where he was drafted. He simply has not met expectations due to - technique, fundamentals, toughness, intelligence in digesting the playbook (which you pointed out.) and he has a general lack of confidence at this point.

In addition, I don't know how Pro Football Focus breaks down their ratings but he is graded out 95 out of 96 so others see problems in his play play and that is unacceptable. Next, the coaching staff obviously feels that it's a bit more than some missed calls or bad luck. You just don't bench starters for that.

Finally, from a casual fan who has never had any coaching experience - he doesn't pass the eye test. Scandrick is aggressive and always around the ball, Sterling Moore has been too and Patmon in pre season was the same way. My eyes also tells me Wilcox is not around the ball.

Not to say he can't rebound, Sean Payton just benched his first round corner and talked to him about former good corners who came back from rough starts to have good careers. I hope he rebounds and plays sound football for the Cowboys at some point.

Kind of off-topic, but I was listening to SIRIUS NFL Radio a day or two ago, and they talked about how it would be practically impossible for PFF (or anyone else) to adequately grade every player on every team, in all games unless they had 1000 employees working a lot of hours. For that reason, I don't put a lot of credence in their ratings.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

You are not playing with a full deck dude. Peterson gets beat just like they all do.

hell even the mouth of the northwest was beaten on the tying 2 point conversion last Sunday

 

[speedkilz88]

Kind of off-topic, but I was listening to SIRIUS NFL Radio a day or two ago, and they talked about how it would be practically impossible for PFF (or anyone else) to adequately grade every player on every team, in all games unless they had 1000 employees working a lot of hours. For that reason, I don't put a lot of credence in their ratings.

Talkin' Cowboys said something on this also. They said the group was out of Ireland and that they had 7 people on staff. So how do they grade all these positions so quickly without all-22 being out?

 

[LandryFan]

Talkin' Cowboys said something on this also. They said the group was out of Ireland and that they had 7 people on staff. So how do they grade all these positions so quickly without all-22 being out?

Exactly. Even with the All-22, there's no way.

 

[adamknite]

It's kind of annoying that the pick play didn't get called... I'm really starting to hate those plays, but in that situation Mo has to know that he has to take Scandrick's man faster than that. I can't say I fully blame him for it, but I certainly feel that he has to make that decision to peel off and take the other WR quicker.

However, I will say at least Mo doesn't give up. I have seen plays in other games like that and other CBs wouldn't do that running desperation dive to try and break up the pass knowing it wouldn't work... of course it's a part of his getting confused/beat so bad that necessitated that kind of effort, but still... it's nice to see he doesn't quit on the play until it's over.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Then why is he getting demoted?

Also... He needs to be in a man-based system for more than a year? One, you can't play man every play. Every corner has to play at least some zone.

And two, he's played man his whole life. Why would he need to somehow re-learn it under Marinelli? Way too much is made of DC changes -- there aren't that many coverages out there.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

You are not playing with a full deck dude. Peterson gets beat just like they all do.

Morris got beat in one game as much as peterson does in a season. So yes, playing with a full deck.

 

[Doomsday101]

All I can say if Rams were picking on Claiborne quite a bit and having success. Mo knows his play stunk and I think Garrett and staff knows it stunk. If ever a guy needed a turnaround in his career it is Mo and this week he likely will get some opportunities to make plays. I hope he does