Heath and Angles

[Turkish-Cowboy]

Heath's skillset > our coaches' player evaluation.

Now you tell me how competent are our coaches.

 

[bsbellomy]

How could he take a different angle?

People just keep repeating "bad angle" with regards to Heath, but on this play there really is not a different angle that he can take to make the play.

So what does it matter if it was a bad angle or if was his slow reaction and slow feet? The end result is still a 92 yard TD for the other team.

 

[Clove]

To be honest, Woods is trash, LVN & Smith are trash, along with the DTs. May as well throw Awuzie in there.

 

[PAPPYDOG]

I keep seeing people say that Heath took a "bad angle" on the big 92 yard play by the Jets.

I've superimposed 2 images of Heath onto the image of the field at the point the WR caught the ball.

The image of Heath with the black and red lines drawn from him to the WR is the actual location of Heath when he started to turn and run towards the WR.

The image with the blue lines is an example of where Heath would really have had a choice of angles.

As you can see, there is minimal change that Heath could have made in his "angle".

The black line is his actual path and the red line is where he might have gone.

The problem is that it would require several extra steps for him to reach the WR if he took the red path.


In the example image with the blue lines, he would have had the choice to intersect the WR at different points based on the angle he took and the distance would be similar with either path.

These plays happen even with the best defenses in the NFL.
Where was our offense to come back and make them eat the Joy?
NOWHERE!

 

[buybuydandavis]

I keep seeing people say that Heath took a "bad angle" on the big 92 yard play by the Jets.

I've superimposed 2 images of Heath onto the image of the field at the point the WR caught the ball.

The image of Heath with the black and red lines drawn from him to the WR is the actual location of Heath when he started to turn and run towards the WR.

The image with the blue lines is an example of where Heath would really have had a choice of angles.

As you can see, there is minimal change that Heath could have made in his "angle".

The black line is his actual path and the red line is where he might have gone.

The problem is that it would require several extra steps for him to reach the WR if he took the red path.


In the example image with the blue lines, he would have had the choice to intersect the WR at different points based on the angle he took and the distance would be similar with either path.

Looking back on the play, Heath was pretty hosed. At 0:45, he's looking at 2 guys who have beat coverage over the top of defenders (left and middle), and single coverage on the outside right which looks to be in hand.

He's holding on the free runner up the middle, and gets over on the guy on the left too late. It's not like the guy with Awuzie is hugging the sidelines and making Heath run the width of the field.

Tough row to hoe, but it's still on him. His job was to keep the play in front of him, he could have, and he didn't.

 

[Fastpitch Dad]

His play may be amongst the biggest drop off from last season.

Him and Jaylon have fell off a friggin cliff

I'm with you.

I thought both would be beasts this year. Chido seems to have great coverage skills and I was hoping this year he could be his head turned around and make some ints.

Really have no clue on what's wrong with Jaylon, it's hard to watch him this year.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Good point, I respect that view. He was standing on the 20, where did you want him at the 30? He was about 17 yards off the ball which is normal. I would just hate to see him any deeper than about 20 yards back. I think that the problem was just bad play calling to bring the safety up.

Not saying he should have lined up deeper, just stayed deeper. He takes that little false step and then, yes, I think his angle is a little off.

But even Chris Simms said in the thread about our simplistic defense (about 5:50 or so) that on that play, they knew Heath tends to get too aggressive and play the run too hard.

I also think Heath shows a touch of tight hips here. Doesn't look too fluid flipping his hips when he has that "Oh S" moment where he realizes he has to get deep ASAP.

I guess I'm surprised so many are blaming Awuzie in this thread. Yes,.he blew it losing his footing. But no DC expects any corner (except a top/top corner which Chido isn't) to stay with Anderson all over the field in M2M on that play. They'd always expect the safety to stay over the top.

 

[John813]

Not saying he should have lined up deeper, just stayed deeper. He takes that little false step and then, yes, I think his angle is a little off.

But even Chris Simms said in the thread about our simplistic defense (about 5:50 or so) that on that play, they knew Heath tends to get too aggressive and play the run too hard.

I also think Heath shows a touch of tight hips here. Doesn't look too fluid flipping his hips when he has that "Oh S" moment where he realizes he has to get deep ASAP.

I guess I'm surprised so many are blaming Awuzie in this thread. Yes,.he blew it losing his footing. But no DC expects any corner (except a top/top corner which Chido isn't) to stay with Anderson all over the field in M2M on that play. They'd always expect the safety to stay over the top.

Richard made the comment of fixing the run defense, so I wonder if certain players, especially the LBs and safeties, had more of a mindset to cheat up. Especially for the field position of the time and they were facing Bell and a QB who had been sick for weeks.

Darnold figured out what coverage we were running when Woods came up and the play action got enough hesitation out of Heath for the deep ball to be successful. IMO

Even if Awuzie and Heath played it perfectly, the LBs got sucked deep inside and he would of had an open guy running across the field.

 

[xwalker]

Looking back on the play, Heath was pretty hosed. At 0:45, he's looking at 2 guys who have beat coverage over the top of defenders (left and middle), and single coverage on the outside right which looks to be in hand.

He's holding on the free runner up the middle, and gets over on the guy on the left too late. It's not like the guy with Awuzie is hugging the sidelines and making Heath run the width of the field.

Tough row to hoe, but it's still on him. His job was to keep the play in front of him, he could have, and he didn't.

No, he had to cover the slot WR that nobody else covered.

He can't vacate the area until the QB has started his throwing motion to Anderson.

The concept of the deep Safety staying deeper than everyone is just NOT how the Cowboys coverage scheme functions.

It's not how the Seattle Legion of Boom functioned either. They often did the same thing where if Richard Sherman was on the WR that was on the side of the formation with 1 receiver, they would have Earl Thomas shaded over to the side with 2 receivers. That scheme was dependent on that concept. Richard Sherman was a big part of the success of Earl Thomas because Thomas had leeway to do things most single-high Safeties can't because they are trying to cover the entire width of the field.

Unfortunately, Awuzie is not Richard Sherman. I think Awuzie is a decent CB in most schemes, but they are putting too much on him in this scheme. That's why I suggested that they have Byron Jones move based on being the boundary CB (side with 1 receiver) like Nick Saban does with his CBs.

The other difference is that in the Legion of Boom coverage, when Richard Sherman didn't have true deep help (Thomas shaded to the other side), they at least had inside help on the intermediate area. Awuzie moved inside when the WR faked an inside cut. The Legion of Boom coverage normally had either LBs or the SS in that area to pick up the inside move which allowed Richard Sherman to focus on the vertical route. If Awuzie didn't bite on that inside fake, then he would not have fallen down and would at least be in position to contest the throw. Awuzie probably should have looped wider behind the WR when he thought he was going inside. If you watch Byron Jones that is how he tends to do it. It does result in some completions but Jones prevents the big play.

The Cowboys are in the mode of trying to "cheat" to improve their run defense. They had 8 players over-focused on the run or at least I think that's why Nickel CB Lewis didn't cover anybody. It's definitely why no LBs or the box Safety were in the area when the WR Anderson faked the inside cut.

The Cowboys with Kris Richard as the pass defense coordinator and calling the plays but with Marinelli still the DC and coaching the DL have become a Frankenstein defense of mismatched parts. Marinelli's DL scheme just does not appear to fit with Richard's coverage scheme.

 

[xwalker]

Richard made the comment of fixing the run defense, so I wonder if certain players, especially the LBs and safeties, had more of a mindset to cheat up. Especially for the field position of the time and they were facing Bell and a QB who had been sick for weeks.

Darnold figured out what coverage we were running when Woods came up and the play action got enough hesitation out of Heath for the deep ball to be successful. IMO

Even if Awuzie and Heath played it perfectly, the LBs got sucked deep inside and he would of had an open guy running across the field.

You are correct Sir.

The Cowboys are in the mode of "cheating" to improve their run defense. They are putting the CBs in difficult situations to allow the other defenders to focus on the run.

Basically all of the big plays Awuzie has given up are with him as the boundary CB (side with only 1 WR). This is significant because they shade the deep Safety to the side with 2 WRs and Awuzie does not get true deep help.

Heath might have looked at play-action initially, but it was the fact that the Nickel CB Lewis didn't cover his man and released the slot WR with only Heath there to cover him. Heath had to stay behind the slot WR until it was clear that the QB was throwing to Anderson.

I can only assume that Lewis was over-focused on the run as the reason he didn't cover the slot WR. It was man coverage by the outside CBs and Lewis followed the slot WR when he moved sides pre-snap. Both of those indicate that the Nickel CB should be in man coverage, but Lewis played it as if he was in zone.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Heath was the FS and he cheated up before he could be sure it was run. That was where he screwed up.

 

[buybuydandavis]

No, he had to cover the slot WR that nobody else covered.

He can't vacate the area until the QB has started his throwing motion to Anderson.

The concept of the deep Safety staying deeper than everyone is just NOT how the Cowboys coverage scheme functions.

It's not how the Seattle Legion of Boom functioned either. They often did the same thing where if Richard Sherman was on the WR that was on the side of the formation with 1 receiver, they would have Earl Thomas shaded over to the side with 2 receivers. That scheme was dependent on that concept. Richard Sherman was a big part of the success of Earl Thomas because Thomas had leeway to do things most single-high Safeties can't because they are trying to cover the entire width of the field.

Unfortunately, Awuzie is not Richard Sherman. I think Awuzie is a decent CB in most schemes, but they are putting too much on him in this scheme. That's why I suggested that they have Byron Jones move based on being the boundary CB (side with 1 receiver) like Nick Saban does with his CBs.

The other difference is that in the Legion of Boom coverage, when Richard Sherman didn't have true deep help (Thomas shaded to the other side), they at least had inside help on the intermediate area. Awuzie moved inside when the WR faked an inside cut. The Legion of Boom coverage normally had either LBs or the SS in that area to pick up the inside move which allowed Richard Sherman to focus on the vertical route. If Awuzie didn't bite on that inside fake, then he would not have fallen down and would at least be in position to contest the throw. Awuzie probably should have looped wider behind the WR when he thought he was going inside. If you watch Byron Jones that is how he tends to do it. It does result in some completions but Jones prevents the big play.

The Cowboys are in the mode of trying to "cheat" to improve their run defense. They had 8 players over-focused on the run or at least I think that's why Nickel CB Lewis didn't cover anybody. It's definitely why no LBs or the box Safety were in the area when the WR Anderson faked the inside cut.

The Cowboys with Kris Richard as the pass defense coordinator and calling the plays but with Marinelli still the DC and coaching the DL have become a Frankenstein defense of mismatched parts. Marinelli's DL scheme just does not appear to fit with Richard's coverage scheme.

If you want to argue that The Scheme made Heath do it, that's something to leave to an argument with Richard. Fact is that Heath lined up to the right and didn't get over in time to make the play left. The play on the left wasn't even hugging the sideline. It was well inside the numbers. Is The Scheme designed to to simply give up on over a fourth of the width of the field?

https://cowboyszone.com/threads/38-is-the-weak-link-on-defense.443233/page-6#post-9586432

 

[Cowboysheelsreds053]

He was never any good a Geometry.

 

[Dre11]

I keep seeing people say that Heath took a "bad angle" on the big 92 yard play by the Jets.

I've superimposed 2 images of Heath onto the image of the field at the point the WR caught the ball.

The image of Heath with the black and red lines drawn from him to the WR is the actual location of Heath when he started to turn and run towards the WR.

The image with the blue lines is an example of where Heath would really have had a choice of angles.

As you can see, there is minimal change that Heath could have made in his "angle".

The black line is his actual path and the red line is where he might have gone.

The problem is that it would require several extra steps for him to reach the WR if he took the red path.


In the example image with the blue lines, he would have had the choice to intersect the WR at different points based on the angle he took and the distance would be similar with either path.

Coaches said it was his depth was wrong.

 

[Dre11]

Ok so he was fine on this play. I appreciate you sharing your analysis of this play.

I still think Heath still is not a starting level safety in the NFL. If Jeff Heath is one of your starters, you’re in trouble.

If he is your #3 safety, you’re probably in good shape.

Heath has mediocre ball skills, and struggles badly in deep coverage. He also takes poor angles at times in run support.


This defense needs better safety play to take the next step.

He was not fine, he was the single high safety he has deep half of field to himself. His job is to not get beat deep. His depth was to shallow, it also was pointed out by coaches.

 

[Dre11]

Not his angle, his ability to adjust.

His depth.

 

[Dre11]

Okay, I made another observation and can't put my finger on it. I think we both agree on Heath from prior threads. I agree that Heath took the only angle possible.

1) Heath is on the right side of the formation and when the slot motions to his side. Woods drops down in the box to cover Bell and Heath drops as deep safety. Unless I am crazy, I think Woods is the Mike on that play. Is that what you see?

2) Lewis motions with the slot receiver which means man-to man. However, at the snap of the ball it appears that he drops back and completely loses his man. Which makes me think that Jaylon has inside and Lewis has outside, or either Lewis completely blows coverage. Jaylon and Lewis completely turn the wrong way on the release of the pass. Awkward to watch. Did you notice this?

3) the slot receiver route which was blown by Lewis and lost by Jaylon was during Heath's back pedal. Heath did not blink on the play-action. What I did notice though was that it appears to me that Heath had to focus on what was blown on underneath by Jaylon and Lewis.. Are you seeing this also?

4) Heath breaks on the ball at the release. However, Chido already blew his assignments.

I observed that LVE and X Woods looked perfect attacking the gap for Bell and Quinn made the Qb step up.

Watch the presnap movement on the all-22 and see if you see the same thing. Then listen to the broadcast version of the cadence. I am sure that the QB audibles for double 9s off of play-action. Robby Anderson stated on the interview that they saw the look before and knew he had a 9 route. I believe the 2nd kill was for Byron's man to go 9 and the QB was going to throw opposite of where Heath was. They saw the coverage before and schemed to beat it when they saw it again.

After dissecting the play tonight, I realize how Lewis and Jaylon helped screw the play up. Do you see that as well now?

I'll say it again. They are playing cover 1, Heath has deep half of field by himself, he has 1 major job, don't get beat deep. End of story.

 

[Seven]

I keep seeing people say that Heath took a "bad angle" on the big 92 yard play by the Jets.

I've superimposed 2 images of Heath onto the image of the field at the point the WR caught the ball.

The image of Heath with the black and red lines drawn from him to the WR is the actual location of Heath when he started to turn and run towards the WR.

The image with the blue lines is an example of where Heath would really have had a choice of angles.

As you can see, there is minimal change that Heath could have made in his "angle".

The black line is his actual path and the red line is where he might have gone.

The problem is that it would require several extra steps for him to reach the WR if he took the red path.


In the example image with the blue lines, he would have had the choice to intersect the WR at different points based on the angle he took and the distance would be similar with either path.

"Angles" is just another way for the sheep and arm chair QB's to try and seem football smart with NO idea of what happens in a game. Yes,angles do matter but Heath was behind the receiver....... the "angle"is chasing? Really? Angle?

Where was the FS? What was the coverage called? The DC, who ever that is, called the wrong formation, expecting a run. In that regard......amazing Heath was even close to the ball as a SS .

It's like "elite. The new keyword spewed from those who don't know a football is brown.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Yes, on some plays that is an issue.

Obviously on this play, he just couldn't get there in time.

Because he has slow recognition.

 

[CowboyRoy]

The High End Zone Camera view is in the video below.

Note: There is a slow-motion version starting at 0:16 of the video.

The DTs are now gun-shy about defending the run.

The Jets are under center on and it's 1st and 10.

Woods is focused on getting over to his left where the RB might be going if he gets the hand-off.

Collins delays a little bit before rushing. He is also cognizant of the run.

I think they have to blitz if they're going to allow Awuzie to be isolated with no help.

Is there a video of the play showing the entire field so the rest of us can make their own analysis. If it was not Heath's fault, I will have no problem saying so.