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By Gary Horton
Scouts Inc.
(Archive)
Updated: December 2, 2008
After breaking down film, Scouts Inc. runs down what jumped out at us, including a well-prepared Dolphins corner, Anthony Gonzalez's role in Indy and why the Cowboys defense has been so dominant lately.
• Miami CB Will Allen deserves a lot of credit for his play and preparation versus the Rams. He made a lot of pre-snap calls and knew what play the Rams were going to run. He always studies a lot of film, and evidently the Rams offense is easy to dissect with basic tendencies and formations.
• Arizona is struggling on defense right now because it's not getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Cardinals don't get enough sacks from the guys up front, so SS Adrian Wilson is forced to blitz more than he should to create pressure. Arizona's secondary is not good enough in coverage to hold up if the ball doesn't come out of the quarterback's hands quickly.
• Ravens QB Joe Flacco seems to get better each week and the offense is actually starting to catch up with Baltimore's vaunted defense. His play-action fakes, which are important in a run-heavy offense, are really improving. Plus, the chemistry and trust between Flacco and his receivers is clearly starting to emerge.
• Carolina's run game continues to be very effective, yet underrated, with basic blocking up front -- especially pulling and trapping.
• The Rams have a lot of weaknesses, but their red zone offense may be the most glaring. They are not explosive or creative in the red zone, and have only scored one touchdown in the past four games.
• Denver uses a lot of motion and exotic pre-snap looks on offense, which seemed to force the Jets to be a little less aggressive than we are used to seeing.
• The Ravens are not only physical on defense with their pass rush, but they also do an excellent job of getting their hands up, which leads to a lot of tipped and deflected passes. As the defensive front pushes the offensive line back with two-gap techniques, they read the quarterback's eyes, get those hands up and restrict the throwing lanes.
• Philadelphia really emphasized its running game versus Arizona with a unique approach -- a lot of draw plays, some shovel passes and even a little bit of the Wildcat formation. The Eagles certainly do not have a between-the-tackles rushing attack, but the offensive line did a good job with one-on-one blocks and RB Brian Westbrook found the right holes.
• The Bucs continue to play excellent defense and are almost perfect in their Cover 2 zones. They usually only bring a four-man rush (occasionally they will bring their corners off the edge in a fire blitz) that leaves seven defenders in coverage (five across underneath and two safeties in the deep half).
• San Francisco is playing more conservatively on both sides of the ball under interim head coach Mike Singletary. The 49ers actually had more rushes (29) than passes (23) versus the Bills in playing a safe, ball-control offense.
• The Seahawks are almost totally unwilling to attack offenses with the blitz because they have marginal confidence in their back-end coverages. Almost all of their sacks come from their front four with seven defenders in coverage, and that allows the opposing quarterback to make easy reads versus minimal pressure.
• No. 3 WR Anthony Gonzalez is really starting to look like a solid offensive weapon for the Colts. He loves to work out of the slot, and he does a nice job of running wheel routes. He circles wide, while the outside receiver runs an inside route to basically screen the defender moving with Gonzalez -- almost like a pick play. This is especially effective for the Colts on third down.
• The Chargers have no physicality on offense, and their offensive line gets no push at the line of scrimmage. They always seem to have at least one breakdown on run plays, leaving them one block short of a big play. That hurts their time of possession and forces QB Philip Rivers to carry the offense.
• The Giants offense does a great job of recognizing the blitz and then exploiting it. It seems like every time the Commanders brought pressure, QB Eli Manning read it and went to his hot read, usually to the opposite side of the pressure. That is really frustrating for a defense that almost gets there, especially when it sends overload blitzes.
• Miami's defense did not show many blitzes, but the Dolphins played a lot of zones designed to force the Rams to throw underneath and drive the length of the field. This was a smart game plan because the Rams make too many mistakes to put a long drive together.
• The Patriots did not handle the Steelers' edge blitzes or inside X-stunts very well. Pittsburgh really mixed up its defensive looks and had a great feel for what plays the Pats were calling, and the Steelers hit QB Matt Cassel more than anyone has this season.
• The Eagles' game plan was designed to move the chains, avoid taking a lot of chances and limit the hits that QB Donovan McNabb took. When the Eagles threw the ball, the passes were short and safe from three- and five-step drops. And most of those passes were not beyond 10 yards.
• Pittsburgh's running game really attacked the edges of the aging Pats' defense. The Steelers ran off-tackle power plays, used draw plays that cut to the edge and took advantage of the Pats' overpursuing by calling some counters and misdirections. New England seemed off-balance all day.
• The Cowboys have produced 18 sacks over the past four games. The pressure is coming from all levels, and their blitz package has become very creative. However, it also helps that they have jumped out to early leads, forcing the opposing offense to abandon the run and allowing the defense to tee off on the quarterback.
• Titans FB Ahmard Hall is an underrated part of Tennessee's outstanding run game. He is an excellent lead blocker with good instincts and is really good at finding defenders on the second level.
Gary Horton, a pro scout for Scouts Inc., has been a football talent evaluator for more than 30 years. He spent 10 years in the NFL and 10 years at the college level before launching a private scouting firm, The War Room..
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=horton_gary&id=3737045
Scouts Inc.
(Archive)
Updated: December 2, 2008
After breaking down film, Scouts Inc. runs down what jumped out at us, including a well-prepared Dolphins corner, Anthony Gonzalez's role in Indy and why the Cowboys defense has been so dominant lately.
• Miami CB Will Allen deserves a lot of credit for his play and preparation versus the Rams. He made a lot of pre-snap calls and knew what play the Rams were going to run. He always studies a lot of film, and evidently the Rams offense is easy to dissect with basic tendencies and formations.
• Arizona is struggling on defense right now because it's not getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Cardinals don't get enough sacks from the guys up front, so SS Adrian Wilson is forced to blitz more than he should to create pressure. Arizona's secondary is not good enough in coverage to hold up if the ball doesn't come out of the quarterback's hands quickly.
• Ravens QB Joe Flacco seems to get better each week and the offense is actually starting to catch up with Baltimore's vaunted defense. His play-action fakes, which are important in a run-heavy offense, are really improving. Plus, the chemistry and trust between Flacco and his receivers is clearly starting to emerge.
• Carolina's run game continues to be very effective, yet underrated, with basic blocking up front -- especially pulling and trapping.
• The Rams have a lot of weaknesses, but their red zone offense may be the most glaring. They are not explosive or creative in the red zone, and have only scored one touchdown in the past four games.
• Denver uses a lot of motion and exotic pre-snap looks on offense, which seemed to force the Jets to be a little less aggressive than we are used to seeing.
• The Ravens are not only physical on defense with their pass rush, but they also do an excellent job of getting their hands up, which leads to a lot of tipped and deflected passes. As the defensive front pushes the offensive line back with two-gap techniques, they read the quarterback's eyes, get those hands up and restrict the throwing lanes.
• Philadelphia really emphasized its running game versus Arizona with a unique approach -- a lot of draw plays, some shovel passes and even a little bit of the Wildcat formation. The Eagles certainly do not have a between-the-tackles rushing attack, but the offensive line did a good job with one-on-one blocks and RB Brian Westbrook found the right holes.
• The Bucs continue to play excellent defense and are almost perfect in their Cover 2 zones. They usually only bring a four-man rush (occasionally they will bring their corners off the edge in a fire blitz) that leaves seven defenders in coverage (five across underneath and two safeties in the deep half).
• San Francisco is playing more conservatively on both sides of the ball under interim head coach Mike Singletary. The 49ers actually had more rushes (29) than passes (23) versus the Bills in playing a safe, ball-control offense.
• The Seahawks are almost totally unwilling to attack offenses with the blitz because they have marginal confidence in their back-end coverages. Almost all of their sacks come from their front four with seven defenders in coverage, and that allows the opposing quarterback to make easy reads versus minimal pressure.
• No. 3 WR Anthony Gonzalez is really starting to look like a solid offensive weapon for the Colts. He loves to work out of the slot, and he does a nice job of running wheel routes. He circles wide, while the outside receiver runs an inside route to basically screen the defender moving with Gonzalez -- almost like a pick play. This is especially effective for the Colts on third down.
• The Chargers have no physicality on offense, and their offensive line gets no push at the line of scrimmage. They always seem to have at least one breakdown on run plays, leaving them one block short of a big play. That hurts their time of possession and forces QB Philip Rivers to carry the offense.
• The Giants offense does a great job of recognizing the blitz and then exploiting it. It seems like every time the Commanders brought pressure, QB Eli Manning read it and went to his hot read, usually to the opposite side of the pressure. That is really frustrating for a defense that almost gets there, especially when it sends overload blitzes.
• Miami's defense did not show many blitzes, but the Dolphins played a lot of zones designed to force the Rams to throw underneath and drive the length of the field. This was a smart game plan because the Rams make too many mistakes to put a long drive together.
• The Patriots did not handle the Steelers' edge blitzes or inside X-stunts very well. Pittsburgh really mixed up its defensive looks and had a great feel for what plays the Pats were calling, and the Steelers hit QB Matt Cassel more than anyone has this season.
• The Eagles' game plan was designed to move the chains, avoid taking a lot of chances and limit the hits that QB Donovan McNabb took. When the Eagles threw the ball, the passes were short and safe from three- and five-step drops. And most of those passes were not beyond 10 yards.
• Pittsburgh's running game really attacked the edges of the aging Pats' defense. The Steelers ran off-tackle power plays, used draw plays that cut to the edge and took advantage of the Pats' overpursuing by calling some counters and misdirections. New England seemed off-balance all day.
• The Cowboys have produced 18 sacks over the past four games. The pressure is coming from all levels, and their blitz package has become very creative. However, it also helps that they have jumped out to early leads, forcing the opposing offense to abandon the run and allowing the defense to tee off on the quarterback.
• Titans FB Ahmard Hall is an underrated part of Tennessee's outstanding run game. He is an excellent lead blocker with good instincts and is really good at finding defenders on the second level.
Gary Horton, a pro scout for Scouts Inc., has been a football talent evaluator for more than 30 years. He spent 10 years in the NFL and 10 years at the college level before launching a private scouting firm, The War Room..
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=horton_gary&id=3737045
