TD to Kennison?

[wsmith_1972]

Roy normally plays that side of the field. On this play, Davis was on that side of the field. But, the Kennison TD was definately not his fault.

KC was out to stretch the safety. The linebacker (Fujita?) should have carried his guy into the deep zone. Davis was outnumbered in the deep zone. If he picked up Kennison, Gonzo would have waltz into the endzone. Davis had to make a decision on which receiver to take...since Fujita released his receiver first, he had to take Gonzo. but neither decision would have yield a good result in this situation. Newman saw the RB come out of the backfield so he released Kennison to cover his 1/5 of the underneath zone. one of theses guys needed to carry their receiver into the deep zone.

The safeties play 1/2 of the deep zone. If three receivers release into the deep zone, one of the underneath players has to follow their receiver into the deep zone or the safety will be outnumbered. This was the case here. Davis could not make a correct decision on this play because of the error by the LB or the corner.

The blame has to go either newman or Fujita.

A very well designed play on KC's part.

We should really be playing the Cover 2 man under variation of the cover two. In this defense the corners are lock on their man. But i think because of the 'Chefs' strong running game, we had to stay with the normal cover 2 to help out on the run.

 

[AdamJT13]

If the WR released to the outside shoulder of the CB then it's the CB's (Newman) man.

For whatever reason my Tivo didn't record the game some I couldn't see the replay.

Newman jammed Kennison, released him to the inside, then played zone in the left flat -- all exactly as he should have. There was another receiver in Newman's zone, so he couldn't cheat and drop any deeper. Kennison caught the pass 34 yards past the line of scrimmage, which obviously makes him the safety's responsibility in a cover 2. Even if he doesn't get there in time to break up the pass, he has to get there in time to tackle the receiver when he catches it.

 

[AdamJT13]

Roy normally plays that side of the field. On this play, Davis was on that side of the field. But, the Kennison TD was definately not his fault.

KC was out to stretch the safety. The linebacker (Fujita?) should have carried his guy into the deep zone. Davis was outnumbered in the deep zone. If he picked up Kennison, Gonzo would have waltz into the endzone. Davis had to make a decision on which receiver to take...since Fujita released his receiver first, he had to take Gonzo. but neither decision would have yield a good result in this situation. Newman saw the RB come out of the backfield so he released Kennison to cover his 1/5 of the underneath zone. one of theses guys needed to carry their receiver into the deep zone.

The safeties play 1/2 of the deep zone. If three receivers release into the deep zone, one of the underneath players has to follow their receiver into the deep zone or the safety will be outnumbered. This was the case here. Davis could not make a correct decision on this play because of the error by the LB or the corner.

The blame has to go either newman or Fujita.

The blame goes to Davis. If the tight end runs a deep post and the outside receiver runs a deep corner route, it's the middle linebacker's responsibility to drop deep enough to cover the tight end, and Davis' responsibility to cover the outside receiver. If the safety covers the inside guy, it's an easy TD to the outside receiver. If he covers the outside guy, the quarterback still has to get the ball over the middle linebacker's head, and the other safety (in this case, Roy) still could get there in time to make a play or the tackle, unless he also has an outside receiver running deep on his side -- which I'm pretty sure wasn't the case.

In a cover 2 against that offensive formation, there's no situation in which the cornerback has primary responsibility for a deep pass.

 

[wsmith_1972]

The blame goes to Davis. If the tight end runs a deep post and the outside receiver runs a deep corner route, it's the middle linebacker's responsibility to drop deep enough to cover the tight end, and Davis' responsibility to cover the outside receiver. If the safety covers the inside guy, it's an easy TD to the outside receiver. If he covers the outside guy, the quarterback still has to get the ball over the middle linebacker's head, and the other safety (in this case, Roy) still could get there in time to make a play or the tackle, unless he also has an outside receiver running deep on his side -- which I'm pretty sure wasn't the case.

In a cover 2 against that offensive formation, there's no situation in which the cornerback has primary responsibility for a deep pass.

Roy was completely out of the picture because the receiver on his side of the field ran a post-corner route.
Kennison ran a post-corner route on the other side of the field (Newman jammed him inside). The middle LB didn't drop deep enough to pick up the TE. Gonzo was released by Fujita and there was no way (James) the MLB was going to get to him. Thereby putting Davis in a a no win situation. Since Fujita released his guy first, he had to take the TE and hope newman carry his guy to the deep zone. Three guys were out of position, the SLB, corner, and MLB.

If they did the play over and Davis took the receiver...it would have been a TD to Gonzo down the middle. That being said....fujita should have made the pattern read and carried the TE to the deep zone. If you had to blame one person Fujita would be the guy to put the dunce cap on. I think fujita is very good at the LOS but get him in coverage and offenses will exploit him.

 

[cowboyeric8]

All in all, I think it was just a well designed play by KC to exploit our defense.

 

[AdamJT13]

Roy was completely out of the picture because the receiver on his side of the field ran a go route down the sideline.
Kennison ran a post-corner route (Newman jammed him inside). The middle LB didn't drop deep enough to pick up the TE. Gonzo was released by Fujita and there was no way (James) the MLB was going to get to him. Thereby putting Davis in a a no win situation. Since Fujita released his guy first, he had to take the TE and hope newman carry his guy to the deep zone. Three guys were out of position, the SLB, corner, and MLB.

If they did the play over and Davis took the receiver...it would have been a TD to Gonzo down the middle.

I just watched the replay again, and Davis clearly was the only one out of position by any significant degree. When Gonzalez was at the 25-yard line between the hashes (with the ball in the air headed toward Kennison), James was at the 28, right behind Gonzalez, as he should have been. Roy was moving toward the middle and was at the 23, right at the hash mark. If the ball was thrown to Gonzalez, either of them or Davis (if he had played it properly) could have gotten there in time to make a play and/or tackle Gonzalez. Davis should have stayed true to his zone and even shaded toward Kennison, since he had help to the inside. Instead, he turned and followed Gonzalez to the middle, leaving him completely out of position to do anything against Kennison.

 

[wsmith_1972]

I just watched the replay again, and Davis clearly was the only one out of position by any significant degree. When Gonzalez was at the 25-yard line between the hashes (with the ball in the air headed toward Kennison), James was at the 28, right behind Gonzalez, as he should have been. Roy was moving toward the middle and was at the 23, right at the hash mark. If the ball was thrown to Gonzalez, either of them or Davis (if he had played it properly) could have gotten there in time to make a play and/or tackle Gonzalez. Davis should have stayed true to his zone and even shaded toward Kennison, since he had help to the inside. Instead, he turned and followed Gonzalez to the middle, leaving him completely out of position to do anything against Kennison.

If Davis had gone to cover the receiver, Gonzo would have run into the space vacated by Davis. Wide open TD. No one would be within 10 yards of him.

 

[parchy]

If Davis had gone to cover the receiver, Gonzo would have run into the space vacated by Davis. Wide open TD. No one would be within 10 yards of him.

If Davis plays that play like he's supposed to, he's not going to be on-top of either guy, he's going to be in between them, able to make a play on either should Gonzalez or Kennison make the catch. A good FS would have made Green think twice about throwing to Gonzalez because he's still in the proximity to make the play, all the while limiting Kennison's catch to a minimal gain. Eddie was going to catch that ball, but it didn't have to be a TD. Instead Davis drifted too far and couldn't reach Kennison. He should have factored in that Eddie is 10x as fast as Tony and therefore demands more respect from his positioning.

 

[wsmith_1972]

If Davis plays that play like he's supposed to, he's not going to be on-top of either guy, he's going to be in between them, able to make a play on either should Gonzalez or Kennison make the catch. A good FS would have made Green think twice about throwing to Gonzalez because he's still in the proximity to make the play, all the while limiting Kennison's catch to a minimal gain. Eddie was going to catch that ball, but it didn't have to be a TD. Instead Davis drifted too far and couldn't reach Kennison. He should have factored in that Eddie is 10x as fast as Tony and therefore demands more respect from his positioning.

Davis had to pick a guy...no way could he cover both guys. If he tried that, both guys would be open. They ran in different directions. Fujita had to take Gonzo. That's where it all started. If he would have taken Gonzo...Davis would have taken Kennison and Newman would have covered the back. If Davis drifted over to Kennison's side...you can bet the ball is going over the top to Gonzo.

 

[AdamJT13]

If Davis had gone to cover the receiver, Gonzo would have run into the space vacated by Davis. Wide open TD. No one would be within 10 yards of him.

James and Williams were both within 5 yards of him. And Davis could have been, too, if he had played his zone correctly. Everyone played the defense correctly but Davis. I should be able to post photos in a few hours.

 

[parchy]

Davis had to pick a guy...no way could he cover both guys. If he tried that, both guys would be open. They ran in different directions. Fujita had to take Gonzo. That's where it all started. If he would have taken Gonzo...Davis would have taken Kennison and Newman would have covered the back. If Davis drifted over to Kennison's side...you can bet the ball is going over the top to Gonzo.

You don't "cover guys" in a Cover 2, you cover space, and that is where Keith Davis flubbed.

 

[AdamJT13]

I posted pictures and an explanation in this thread --

http://cowboyszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43476

 

[WilmingtonHeel]

Adam I couldn't get anything but it seems we are either blowing the coverages or getting outschemed, Don't you believe Gibbs is going to try this with Moss or Brown

 

[joseephuss]

I just watched the replay again, and Davis clearly was the only one out of position by any significant degree. When Gonzalez was at the 25-yard line between the hashes (with the ball in the air headed toward Kennison), James was at the 28, right behind Gonzalez, as he should have been. Roy was moving toward the middle and was at the 23, right at the hash mark. If the ball was thrown to Gonzalez, either of them or Davis (if he had played it properly) could have gotten there in time to make a play and/or tackle Gonzalez. Davis should have stayed true to his zone and even shaded toward Kennison, since he had help to the inside. Instead, he turned and followed Gonzalez to the middle, leaving him completely out of position to do anything against Kennison.

That is exactly what I thought when I first saw the play. If Davis sticks to his zone, it probably ends up still going to Kennison, but not for a TD.

Someone mentioned that the motion and shifting by KC kept confusing Dallas. It really shouldn't in a Cover 2 zone scheme. The Cover 2 is pretty basic and is used to limit confusion. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

 

[baj1dallas]

He should have factored in that Eddie is 10x as fast as Tony and therefore demands more respect from his positioning.

Kennison is 10x, but Gonzalez has 10x better hands. Maybe he didn't think Kennison could make the catch? It's almost a reasonable gamble.

 

[Duane]

I posted pictures and an explanation in this thread --

http://cowboyszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43476

Awesome Adam. This is one of the reasons I love this board,

 

[wsmith_1972]

This would make a good Jaw's playbook play. Maybe someone should ask Parcells who was at fault here. I bet he says that Fujita should have carried his player into the deep zone. It was some of his work.

I still don't think Davis is at fault here. There was nothing he could do to prevent a big play. When the ball was in the air the receiver and TE were 15 yards apart. Gonzo was not covered by the MLB or Roy Williams. Roy was 10 yards from the play when the ball was in the air. Bradie James was 5 yards off and there is no way he catches Gonzo to make any type of play. If Davis played like you said he should, Gonzo would have gone straight instead of cutting inside into the coverage.

 

[Doomsday101]

This would make a good Jaw's playbook play. Maybe someone should ask Parcells who was at fault here. I bet he says that Fujita should have carried his player into the deep zone. It was some of his work.

I still don't think Davis is at fault here. There was nothing he could do to prevent a big play. When the ball was in the air the receiver and TE were 15 yards apart. Gonzo was not covered by the MLB or Roy Williams. Roy was 10 yards from the play when the ball was in the air. Bradie James was 5 yards off and there is no way he catches Gonzo to make any type of play. If Davis played like you said he should, Gonzo would have gone straight instead of cutting inside into the coverage.

According to what they were saying on ESPN while showing the highlights they were saying "The LB needed to be dropping deeper in the zone. Dallas had the help over the top but the backers were not dropping back quick enough"

 

[wsmith_1972]

Since there was 3 receivers on that side of the field, they were not only stretching the safety but the corner also.

The correct way to play this would be for Fujita to carry his man into the deep zone. Newman I believe made the correct read here in that he jammed the receiver and prevented him from releasing outsde and stretching the safety. Davis should have taken the receiver but Fujita made the wrong play and didn't carried his man into the deep zone. He had to pick him up at this point because he had no choice. He knew the play was screwed up. Davis' mistake was that he stayed with the TE a little to long. When he saw Roy break off of his coverage and was within a 6-7 yards, he should have released off of the TE and moved over to the receiver. This wouldn't have prevented a big play but he might have been able to stop the receiver at about the 5 yard line.

 

[joseephuss]

This would make a good Jaw's playbook play. Maybe someone should ask Parcells who was at fault here. I bet he says that Fujita should have carried his player into the deep zone. It was some of his work.

I still don't think Davis is at fault here. There was nothing he could do to prevent a big play. When the ball was in the air the receiver and TE were 15 yards apart. Gonzo was not covered by the MLB or Roy Williams. Roy was 10 yards from the play when the ball was in the air. Bradie James was 5 yards off and there is no way he catches Gonzo to make any type of play. If Davis played like you said he should, Gonzo would have gone straight instead of cutting inside into the coverage.

Maybe a big play, but not necessarily a TD. He bit on the play action and on Gonzales wasy to quickly. I am sure he is not alone in blame, but he and Roy are the last line of defense, so they will get the most blame. It was on Keith's side and he wasn't even close to Kennison. Good play design by KC amplified by a bad play by Davis.