Video: Bradie James & Roy Williams

[theogt]

Linebackers are suppose to cover tight ends. It’s part of their job. It’s not like Bradie is covering Chad Johnson 30 yards.



You mean like on this play? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvs9JNGiNaQ

Ouch. But I would still say he is pretty good at stuffing the run, even if he looked pretty sad in that play.

That was Fowler's side. That was Fowler who went wide of the whole rather than fill it.

Fowler wasn't even on the field. Ayodele was blocked out by the pulling guard, but James still had the responsibility of scraping, plugging the hole, and making the tackle. That was just a wussified tackle.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Fowler wasn't even on the field. Ayodele was blocked out by the pulling guard, but James still had the responsibility of scraping, plugging the hole, and making the tackle. That was just a wussified tackle.

Akin Ayodele is number 50 not Fowler excuse me. it was Ayodele who went wide and was lined up on the side the play went to. Look at it again and youll see Ayodele about a yard to the outside of the hole on the replay.

 

[CF74]

James still had the responsibility of scraping, plugging the hole, and making the tackle. That was just a wussified tackle.

He just over pursued and lost his balance. Damn it took 3 linebackers to make that tackle

 

[theogt]

Akin Ayodele is number 50 not Fowler excuse me. it was Ayodele who went wide and was lined up on the side the play went to. Look at it again and youll see Ayodele about a yard to the outside of the hole on the replay.

I don't think Ayodele took a bad angle. He didn't know whether Alexander was going to cut outside or in. He wanted to keep him contained inside. Actually, I think it was a pretty good play by Ayodele in that he actually pushed the blocker back and disengaged very well.

He just over pursued and lost his balance. Damn it took 3 linebackers to make that tackle

I don't think he overpursued or lost his balance. I think it was just a piss poor tackle on his part.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I don't think Ayodele took a bad angle. He didn't know whether Alexander was going to cut outside or in. He wanted to keep him contained inside. I think he did it was a pretty good play by Ayodele in that he actually pushed the blocker back and disengaged very well.

I don't think he overpursued or lost his balance. I think it was just a piss poor tackle on his part.

Sorry but blaming James for that one when Carp, Canty and Ayodele got blocked and James is having to come in at a 45 degree angle because hes lined up on the far side of the formation just doesnt make sense.

That was just superb blocking by the Seahawks.

 

[theogt]

Sorry but blaming James for that one when Carp, Canty and Ayodele got blocked and James is having to come in at a 45 degree angle because hes lined up on the far side of the formation just doesnt make sense.

That was just superb blocking by the Seahawks.

What? I think you're confused. Who is blaming James for the play? It was a piss poor tackle but he wasn't to blame for the play.

Ware got owned by a TE and Roy Williams got owned by the FB, though I would say that Matt Strong is a pretty good blocker.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

What? I think you're confused. Who is blaming James for the play? It was a piss poor tackle but he wasn't to blame for the play.

Ware got owned by a TE and Roy Williams got owned by the FB, though I would say that Matt Strong is a pretty good blocker.

The title of the video is James misses tackle. Ayodele hit him first anyway and James was coming in at a 45 degree angle. I dont see what the big deal was.

 

[theogt]

The title of the video is James misses tackle. Ayodele hit him first anyway and James was coming in at a 45 degree angle. I dont see what the big deal was.

The point was that James has the reputation of being a hard-nosed run-stuffing big-hitting linebacker, but in this play he bounced off Alexander like a brick wall. Like I said earlier, James is clearly a good run-stopper, but this clip is pretty sad. James should have leveled him.

He's not to blame for losing the first down. No one even suggested that.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The point was that James has the reputation of being a hard-nosed run-stuffing big-hitting linebacker, but in this play he bounced off Alexander like a brick wall. Like I said earlier, James is clearly a good run-stopper, but this clip is pretty sad. James should have leveled him.

He's not to blame for losing the first down. No one even suggested that.

Well i agree with the dude. He wqas coming up right behind Ayodele at a 45 degeree angle to Alexander and went by him after Ayodele hit him when he got off his block. It looks like James was taking that angle in case Akin missed and Alexander wasnt forced back inside.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Great job on the video. Unfortunately, people will always blame Roy. It's either because they really don't understand Coverage responsibilites and/or it's a controversial thing to say or write by NFL analysts, "experts", and writers. Controversy = ratings, Web site clicks, and newspaper buys.

One of the good things is that under Phillips we'll likely play a lot less Cover 2. Also, history has shown that if we stay reasonably healthy, the pass rush is likely to get better. But still, there's a problem with James.

Last season when I charted games, from *week one* against Jacksonville I noticed that the Jags were able to hit underneath passes to their running backs with pretty good success. It's tough to tell whose responsibility it is, but I was pretty sure it was James'. After that, other teams would occasionally have success, but mostly they concentrated on throwing the ball deep against Dallas instead of hitting the short passes. It wasn't until we faced the Saints that Sean Payton knew James' major weakness and exploited it as much as he could (only 6 passes in that game traveled more than 9 yards in the air). Then you had James getting exploited against Atlanta with Justin Griffith and others, the Eagles, and then the Lions got the idea of using Mike Furrey against James with great success (11 catches for over 100+ yards).

Jon Kitna said it best "#56 doesn't look like he knows what he's doing out there" and this video proves it. He either seems to do one of three things:

1. Not drop far back enough.

2. Get fooled into thinking the receiver is going short over the middle when they are going long.

3. Just getting burned from the beginning.

Perhaps Phillips can work his magic with James, but this is probably the most important problem to solve on defense or the second most important next to a pass rush. I actually think Carpenter can play ILB very well, if not be a dynamic player at the position. Hopefully Phillips won't be afraid to yank James despite his recent contract extension and will find an OLB in the draft.





YAKUZA

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I've thought for a while now that Bradie is by far the most likely guy on our D -- and probably the whole starting team -- to get benched. He was a Parcells prototype guy in that he was a 6-3, 250lb run slugger who looked the part. But he can't do much of anything else. Wade's ILBs are smaller, quicker, more athletic, and smarter. Add in the comments from Newman and Jon Freaking Kitna, and unless there was some injury we didn't know about last year, it's not good news for Lady James. (Apologies to KSLATE.)

I've wondered for a while now if a team like Cleveland that plays a style similar to Parcells' might be interested in him for a mid-round pick. But I'm sure they can see how one-dimensional he is, too.

This is why I'd still have some interest in Randall Godfrey. He doesn't have too much left in the tank, but he'd be cheap, he wants to be here, he knows Wade's system, and he's an all around better linebacker than Bradie ever thought about being.

 

[CF74]

I don't think he overpursued or lost his balance. I think it was just a piss poor tackle on his part.

I guess you didn't see the bannana peel on the field

 

[theogt]

I've thought for a while now that Bradie is by far the most likely guy on our D -- and probably the whole starting team -- to get benched. He was a Parcells prototype guy in that he was a 6-3, 250lb run slugger who looked the part. But he can't do much of anything else. Wade's ILBs are smaller, quicker, more athletic, and smarter. Add in the comments from Newman and Jon Freaking Kitna, and unless there was some injury we didn't know about last year, it's not good news for Lady James. (Apologies to KSLATE.)

I've wondered for a while now if a team like Cleveland that plays a style similar to Parcells' might be interested in him for a mid-round pick. But I'm sure they can see how one-dimensional he is, too.

This is why I'd still have some interest in Randall Godfrey. He doesn't have too much left in the tank, but he'd be cheap, he wants to be here, he knows Wade's system, and he's an all around better linebacker than Bradie ever thought about being.

Probably not the Browns. They've got Andra Davis at jack and Leon Williams at mike. Davis is a very good tackler and Leon has potential because of his has amazing size/speed/strength combination (6'3", 245, 4.54, 25 reps). Apparently he came on pretty well last year.

Maybe San Francisco or the Jets. The 49ers definitely need some ILBs. The Jets have Jonathan Vilma and Victor Hobson who are both very good linebackers, but they're undersized for the 3-4. They've also got Anthony Schlegel, who they just spent a 3rd on, but that was probably a huge reach. Being such a reach may mean that they think very highly of him, though.

The 49ers would probably be the best bet. THey're starving for linebackers.

 

[proline]

Why does the ILB have to drop back into coverage? Why can't he run up and put a lick on the receiver within the first five yards to mess the timing up? Seems like telling Bradie James to put a hat on a hat would be something he could understand and execute.

 

[TEK2000]

I've been pointing out these types of plays in all the Bradie James and Roy Williams discussions since the end of the season.

In my opinion, the plays in the original video that was posted are all shining examples of how our scheme did not fit our players.
1) Bradie James does not have the speed/athleticism to run 20-30 yards upfield that they were expecting him to do. A guy like Kevin Burnett would be MUCH better suited for this because he's a much better athlete. Bradie is a run clogger that should be restricted to short, small zone coverage as he does OK in that area.
2) James has a bad habit of losing track of recievers that are in his zone once they get behind him. On almost all of the plays in the video you can see that the QB/TE are waiting and looking for the hole in the zone for the TE to get open.
3) Roy does have a problem keeping track of multiple recievers AND the ball when he's out in the deep middle of the field. Troy Polamalu has this same issue. He can read the play VERY WELL if he only has 1 thing to focus on... but if he's got to keep track of multiple recievers and the ball... it presents a problem for him.

Yep, it does present a real problem for the coaching staff when you have multiple guys in your defense that are not the best at covering large zones. (Bradie, Roy, Keith Davis, Ellis)

HOPEFULLY Wade Phillips' new defensive style will put Roy in a position where he's playing on instinct rather than having to sit back there in a read... read... read.. then react position. Put Roy in a position where he's covering the flats or a short zone instead of a LARGE deep zone and you'll see a completely different player.
From what I've seen, Pittsburg uses Troy Polamalu in a similar fashion to what I'm talking about. If he is in a coverage responsibility its not a large area and he's in a position where he doesn't have to turn his hips and run with a reciever in many cases. The few times he does wind up in a deep zone coverage he loses track of recievers in his zone.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Why does the ILB have to drop back into coverage? Why can't he run up and put a lick on the receiver within the first five yards to mess the timing up? Seems like telling Bradie James to put a hat on a hat would be something he could understand and execute.

They dont have to be used like cover 2 linebackers regardless of what you read on this thread.

Levon Kirkland was a ILB for the Steelers for years and at 275 lbs if you think he was running down the field with TEs you are crazy. Bottomline is that Zimmer and Parcells didnt know how to mix anything up.

 

[TEK2000]

They dont have to be used like cover 2 linebackers regardless of what you read on this thread.

Levon Kirkland was a ILB for the Steelers for years and at 275 lbs if you think he was running down the field with TEs you are crazy. Bottomline is that Zimmer and Parcells didnt know how to mix anything up.

That's true... if they mixed up coverages more frequently then the offense wouldn't know EXACTLY what plays would work and which recievers would be open when they called them.

Problem is, with the limitations we had at FS and having to help Henry over the top, it really limited the kinds of coverages we could run.
You'll notice that up through the start of the Giants game 1... we ran a whole lot more coverage schemes because they trusted Pat Watkins with playing centerfield (yes it didn't turn out well against the Eagles) but its just an example of the limitations the coaching staff was under because of the players we had. Up until that point, they were moving Roy around a little and we weren't just in a cover 2 scheme all the time.

 

[theogt]

They dont have to be used like cover 2 linebackers regardless of what you read on this thread.

Levon Kirkland was a ILB for the Steelers for years and at 275 lbs if you think he was running down the field with TEs you are crazy. Bottomline is that Zimmer and Parcells didnt know how to mix anything up.

Point out someone saying that we have to run a Cover 2 and I'll hunt them down and smack 'em.

 

[TDH]

Point out someone saying that we have to run a Cover 2 and I'll hunt them down and smack 'em.

We have to run a cover 2. (punk)

 

[theogt]

We have to run a cover 2. (punk)

http://i32.***BLOCKED***/albums/d2/superpunk2884/bobbarker.gif

"The price is wrong *****!"