What happened? A deeper look at the two plays that ended the Baltimore game

[Juke99]

Great analysis....and, if you look at the replays....we've got guys getting absolutely blown up at the LOS on both plays.

 

[cbartel81]

Great stuff Cbartel.

It seems from your analysis that guys would need to score 30 on the Wunderlic just to understand gap responsibility. Amazing.

Question: With all your insight, what might be responsible for these miscues? ... lack of coaching detail, lack of reps, outright failure to make players aware of these things, or what? Is stuff pretty elementary?

Question 2: Are you a coach yourself?

There are a lot of things that can happen on defense that leads to big plays on offense. Bad alignment, bad technique, missed assignment, missed tackles, ect. Personally as a coach (yes I am a coach and have been for 5 years in college and high school. Played in college) I have always felt that f you do not spend enough time practicing your run fits vs. different sets it can lead to problems come gametime. There is always the possibility that someone did not get all of the dfensive playcall. Sometimes when you are in the huddle, you are in such a hurry to get lined up and play that you only listen to part of the playcall and not the whole thing. There is a possibility that thomas heard the front and coverage but did not hear the Eddie call. This is one of the drawbacks of not receiving a signal from the sideline and using the helmet mics that James wears. As a coach I know that if the defense is looking at me and I do not give a signal for a call it is on me (I rarely miss a signal but it does happen). If I speak it into a mic and my backer doesn't hear the whole thing with 60,000 people screaming it causes problems and miscommunication. Perhaps thomas did not get the whole call and missed the "Eddie" tag. If that is the case he would not have known that he was to play the A gap instead of the B gap. In the end it is inexcusable and players have to make plays especially vets.

To question 2: Again, yes I am a coach and have coached Secondary and Wide Receivers in some capacity for 5 years now. I grew up as a coaches son and have been around D1 college football all of my life.

 

[Juke99]

There are a lot of things that can happen on defense that leads to big plays on offense. Bad alignment, bad technique, missed assignment, missed tackles, ect. Personally as a coach (yes I am a coach and have been for 5 years in college and high school. Played in college) I have always felt that f you do not spend enough time practicing your run fits vs. different sets it can lead to problems come gametime. There is always the possibility that someone did not get all of the dfensive playcall. Sometimes when you are in the huddle, you are in such a hurry to get lined up and play that you only listen to part of the playcall and not the whole thing. There is a possibility that thomas heard the front and coverage but did not hear the Eddie call. This is one of the drawbacks of not receiving a signal from the sideline and using the helmet mics that James wears. As a coach I know that if the defense is looking at me and I do not give a signal for a call it is on me (I rarely miss a signal but it does happen). If I speak it into a mic and my backer doesn't hear the whole thing with 60,000 people screaming it causes problems and miscommunication. Perhaps thomas did not get the whole call and missed the "Eddie" tag. If that is the case he would not have known that he was to play the A gap instead of the B gap. In the end it is inexcusable and players have to make plays especially vets.

To question 2: Again, yes I am a coach and have coached Secondary and Wide Receivers in some capacity for 5 years now. I grew up as a coaches son and have been around D1 college football all of my life.

So, if I may ask a question.

We've all, to one degree or another, played football. Some on different levels....and certainly none of us on the NFL level.

That said, isn't there a point where when you KNOW the other team is going to run out the clock that pure football common sense and instincts come into play? I understand play calls, etc...but it's still a game of tackle the guy with the ball. I understand that might be a simplistic approach...and sure, if the game was in the second quarter with plenty of options for the offense, it would be a different case.

But in this case, everyone on the planet KNEW in both cases the Ravens would try to run out the clock.

I guess I'm over simplifying...but I'd think that at some point, athletic ability and instincts would take over...especially when the offensive options were so limited. They were going to run out the clock. There was nothing fancy about either play. Those plays are plays these guys have seen since they were in peewee football.

 

[Clove]

The Ravens come in with 6 OLmen and a rookie QB and the Boys respond with a base 3-4!


nice

Great point, why didn't we have our goal line package in?

 

[cowboys2233]

So no responsibility at all for anyone else who missed a tackle on that play?

This is what I don't understand, this in-depth analysis is total overkill. There were like five guys in position to make the tackle on the McClain run. It wasn't a lack of gap responsibility or poor schemes -- it was totally a matter of god awful tackling.

Poor tackling = lack of effort

Lack of effort = no heart (from some players, including Ken Hamlin.) Sorry, that guy is in my doghouse right now -- I'll come right out and say it, I've NEVER been impressed with that guy, even when he was making a Pro Bowl last year and getting a big contract extension. It was one where I actually deferred to supposedly more knowledgeable people and said "well, there must be something to this guy."

I NEVER saw it. He is an average player at best.

 

[zeromaster]

I disagree with the analysis is overkill. What we too often get here is statistical and media overkill. Little mistakes get magnified in crucial situations, much like being slightly off in setting a ship's course at night and only realizing it when you hear the waves crashing on the shore.

There's definitely room for this sort of thing here. The drama can stay at the DMN for all I care. No one's putting a a gun to anyone's head here and demanding it all be read or agreed with.

 

[AKATheRake]

What HAPPENED!? A deeper look at the two plays that ended the Baltimore game
It has always been said that the difference between winning and losing in the NFL always comes down to the team that makes the big plays. You never know when they are going to happen and which one will be the big play. That is why you have to play all of them 100% and to the best of your ability all the time. The most important play in football has and always will be... the next one. The two touchdown runs in the 4th quarter sealed the game in the Ravens favor. Many of us were wondering what happened and who was to blame. I will (as any coach does) go through the tape with you to disect what happened to our defense on these two critical plays. Here we go:

The McGahee Run

The formation is Baltimore's Tackle-over left (unbalanced) set. In ordinary fashion Dallas sets the strength to the overloaded side (their right). Spears is lined up in a weak 1 shade on the right eye of the Center. Ratliff is in a strong 3 (outside eye of the left Guard). Canty in a 9 outside of the over Tackle. Ware in a loose 9 outside of the 3rd Tackle (the TE Heap is on the offensive right with the Guard). Spencer is in a 5 outside Heap. By alignment Thomas (55) is responsible for the weak-side B gap. This is the gap between the Right Guard and TE. James has the strong-side C gap between the 2nd and third tackle. Hamlin should be the extra fitter on James' side and Davis the extra fitter on Thomas' side. The formation looks like this:
............................TB
.
............................QB.................... ........................Z
X.................. /Y..G..C..G./T..T/.T/
C..................L../../.E_/..N.../.E...R.............................C
....................../..W...........S
...................../..................\
...................SS...................._FS

When the ball is snapped, Dallas runs an "Eddie" line slant to the strength. This tells the End (Spears) he is responsible for the strong-side A gap (between the C and Guard on the right side). Now gap assignments move over 1. This tells Thomas he must now take the weak-side A gap and Davis has to fit into the weak-side B gap. Then we see the problem. As Thomas sees the double-team on Spears he must attack the Guard that gets up to his level with his left shoulder and spill the ball to the unblocked defender Davis. But he doesn't. He engages the Guard with his right shoulder, tries to look behind him, and re-direct too late. As Davis comes to fill his gap he finds Thomas in his way, whom while turning essentially blocks him. Hamlin takes a bad angle and misses and McGahee is off to the races. Spencer is also bad on this play. When he gets this base block by Heap, he needs to bench-press him off of him, fold over, and come flat down the line of scrimmage to make a play on the ball-carrier. He could have easily made this play, but he spends too much time mucking with Heap and not getting down the heel-line. As for Thomas, when he takes in the Guard with the wrong shoulder and not keeping his inside shoulder free, he creates a north-south seam through the heart of the defense. At this point the only thing that will stop McGahee is the goalpost if he hits his head on it. First Thomas, then Spencer, then Hamlin. DO YOUR JOB! PLAY YOUR GAP!

The McClain Run

This is one of the most common running plays in the game. 24 Power-O. Every lineman blocks down, pull the backside Guard to kick the End, and lead with the Fullback. This one is 90% on Spencer and 10% on James. Spencer is reading the outside knee of Heap. As soon as he blocks down, Spencer has to close on the pulling Guard, take his helmet and put it in the knee-cap of the pulling Guard. this will cause a road block and force the ball to bounce outside. James should be there to make this tackle. You can see that James is expecting this to happen and it doesn't because Spencer tries to run around the block to make the tackle. You never ever do this and the end result is why. It allows the hole to expand and allow the Fullback to lead up on the backer and he does. James gets too high on the block, doesn't stay square, and is blasted to the ground. Davis is bad here because he has to come in from outside-in and attck with his inside shoulder. Hamlin has to get lower and take the runners legs out from him. His effort here is pathetic. Above all though, Spencer is aweful. He has to sacrifice his body here to allow James to make this play.Again, DO YOUR JOB! PLAY YOUR GAP! Also, Bradie James you have to decide if you are the hammer or the nail. The nail always loses.

In conclusion these are only two plays in many, but two costly plays nonetheless. I can only think that had the offense been more productive and kept the ball longer over the course of the game, the defense would have been better late. There are only so many bullets an NFL offense can fire at a defense before they hit you on one of them. The less they have the ball the fewer opportunities they have to do so. Outside of these two plays the defense played well. They are directly responsible but they cannot face anybody in this league for that many plays and not expect to give up one or two big plays when they are provided no rest and relief from Romo and company. These are fixable problems but they are running out of time to do so. God-willing they will use this week in practice to cure these problems and get to the playoffs via a Philadelphia win. But, they can do this if the injury bug keeps them from practicing this week. Get out and practice. They will have the whole offseason to heal up if they don't. I hope this clears things up a bit.

This is why I say Zach Thomas played the worst game I have ever seen him play. No one has blamed him 1 bit and he was the main culprit on the McGahee run. He was physically over matched on most running plays through out the night. Very good post!

 

[AKATheRake]

So, if I may ask a question.

We've all, to one degree or another, played football. Some on different levels....and certainly none of us on the NFL level.

That said, isn't there a point where when you KNOW the other team is going to run out the clock that pure football common sense and instincts come into play? I understand play calls, etc...but it's still a game of tackle the guy with the ball. I understand that might be a simplistic approach...and sure, if the game was in the second quarter with plenty of options for the offense, it would be a different case.

But in this case, everyone on the planet KNEW in both cases the Ravens would try to run out the clock.

I guess I'm over simplifying...but I'd think that at some point, athletic ability and instincts would take over...especially when the offensive options were so limited. They were going to run out the clock. There was nothing fancy about either play. Those plays are plays these guys have seen since they were in peewee football.

Absolutely correct! 110%. The worst part twice in a row. The odds and the stupidity are absurd.

 

[JordanTaber]

The OP is way off.

On the McGahee run, aside from the safeties, it's on Marcus Spears, who was flat-out awful. Not only did he get completely blown off the ball by the double team, but he didn't HOLD it. He got moved 5 yards off the ball and BOTH the "post" AND "drive" man got out on the linebackers and cleaned them out (Thomas and James).

Spears should have been cut after this play alone, period. You can't play it any worse than that. Literally, any person on this board could have done just as well (awful) as Spears on that play. He was completely worthless...you might as well have not even had him on the field...would've been the same exact result.

On the McClain run, Spencer did his job in forcing the run to the inside. Had he forced it outside, Neal would've simply led to the outside and blocked Bradie James there, setting up a long run ANYWAY should the safeties have not made the play.

 

[cowboyjoe]

cbartel81
i have a friend that has a blog, can he post this on his blog? let me know as quick as you can, thanks joe

 

[Juke99]

Absolutely correct! 110%. The worst part twice in a row. The odds and the stupidity are absurd.

Yep...I think sometimes things are made too complex...

Everyone knows they're gonna run...man up, and do your job. This guy, filling that gap, with this guy's cut back responsibility, with that guy with his helmet 6 degrees to the inside of the outside linebackers left foot...

Geezlouise. It's a running situation. Line up...and tackle the guy with the ball.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's not forget, it's still football.

A guy who will go down in history on every list as one of the top three coaches of all time, Vince Lombardi, would not have had a team give up those two runs on back to back plays.

Line up....and do your damn job.

My lord. Why is it necessary to get THIS complex in a situation that is 100% a run situation....and TWICE!

Run blitz my backside.

Line up, in as basic a defense as possible with no stunts.

Ya know why they run stunts in a situation like that? Because they can't beat the other guy in front of them, straight up. Plain and simple.

Like Tony Siragusa said, "We never ran slants and jumped around a lot. The minute a team does that, you know they're telling you that they can't beat you straight up"

 

[bbgun]

Whatever Tony was telling the defense before the McClain TD, it didn't work.

http://img525.*************/img525/2930/ch81satdec202008103602pqr9.jpg

 

[el_chevo]

What HAPPENED!? A deeper look at the two plays that ended the Baltimore game
It has always been said that the difference between winning and losing in the NFL always comes down to the team that makes the big plays. You never know when they are going to happen and which one will be the big play. That is why you have to play all of them 100% and to the best of your ability all the time. The most important play in football has and always will be... the next one. The two touchdown runs in the 4th quarter sealed the game in the Ravens favor. Many of us were wondering what happened and who was to blame. I will (as any coach does) go through the tape with you to disect what happened to our defense on these two critical plays. Here we go:

The McGahee Run

The formation is Baltimore's Tackle-over left (unbalanced) set. In ordinary fashion Dallas sets the strength to the overloaded side (their right). Spears is lined up in a weak 1 shade on the right eye of the Center. Ratliff is in a strong 3 (outside eye of the left Guard). Canty in a 9 outside of the over Tackle. Ware in a loose 9 outside of the 3rd Tackle (the TE Heap is on the offensive right with the Guard). Spencer is in a 5 outside Heap. By alignment Thomas (55) is responsible for the weak-side B gap. This is the gap between the Right Guard and TE. James has the strong-side C gap between the 2nd and third tackle. Hamlin should be the extra fitter on James' side and Davis the extra fitter on Thomas' side. The formation looks like this:
............................TB
.
............................QB.................... ........................Z
X.................. /Y..G..C..G./T..T/.T/
C..................L../../.E_/..N.../.E...R.............................C
....................../..W...........S
...................../..................\
...................SS...................._FS

When the ball is snapped, Dallas runs an "Eddie" line slant to the strength. This tells the End (Spears) he is responsible for the strong-side A gap (between the C and Guard on the right side). Now gap assignments move over 1. This tells Thomas he must now take the weak-side A gap and Davis has to fit into the weak-side B gap. Then we see the problem. As Thomas sees the double-team on Spears he must attack the Guard that gets up to his level with his left shoulder and spill the ball to the unblocked defender Davis. But he doesn't. He engages the Guard with his right shoulder, tries to look behind him, and re-direct too late. As Davis comes to fill his gap he finds Thomas in his way, whom while turning essentially blocks him. Hamlin takes a bad angle and misses and McGahee is off to the races. Spencer is also bad on this play. When he gets this base block by Heap, he needs to bench-press him off of him, fold over, and come flat down the line of scrimmage to make a play on the ball-carrier. He could have easily made this play, but he spends too much time mucking with Heap and not getting down the heel-line. As for Thomas, when he takes in the Guard with the wrong shoulder and not keeping his inside shoulder free, he creates a north-south seam through the heart of the defense. At this point the only thing that will stop McGahee is the goalpost if he hits his head on it. First Thomas, then Spencer, then Hamlin. DO YOUR JOB! PLAY YOUR GAP!

The McClain Run

This is one of the most common running plays in the game. 24 Power-O. Every lineman blocks down, pull the backside Guard to kick the End, and lead with the Fullback. This one is 90% on Spencer and 10% on James. Spencer is reading the outside knee of Heap. As soon as he blocks down, Spencer has to close on the pulling Guard, take his helmet and put it in the knee-cap of the pulling Guard. this will cause a road block and force the ball to bounce outside. James should be there to make this tackle. You can see that James is expecting this to happen and it doesn't because Spencer tries to run around the block to make the tackle. You never ever do this and the end result is why. It allows the hole to expand and allow the Fullback to lead up on the backer and he does. James gets too high on the block, doesn't stay square, and is blasted to the ground. Davis is bad here because he has to come in from outside-in and attck with his inside shoulder. Hamlin has to get lower and take the runners legs out from him. His effort here is pathetic. Above all though, Spencer is aweful. He has to sacrifice his body here to allow James to make this play.Again, DO YOUR JOB! PLAY YOUR GAP! Also, Bradie James you have to decide if you are the hammer or the nail. The nail always loses.

In conclusion these are only two plays in many, but two costly plays nonetheless. I can only think that had the offense been more productive and kept the ball longer over the course of the game, the defense would have been better late. There are only so many bullets an NFL offense can fire at a defense before they hit you on one of them. The less they have the ball the fewer opportunities they have to do so. Outside of these two plays the defense played well. They are directly responsible but they cannot face anybody in this league for that many plays and not expect to give up one or two big plays when they are provided no rest and relief from Romo and company. These are fixable problems but they are running out of time to do so. God-willing they will use this week in practice to cure these problems and get to the playoffs via a Philadelphia win. But, they can do this if the injury bug keeps them from practicing this week. Get out and practice. They will have the whole offseason to heal up if they don't. I hope this clears things up a bit.

I wondered why spencer didn't rip the TE's head off and make a spectacular tackle on that play. No guts whatsoever...

 

[IlliniNation]

I have a question on the second run. My analysis is no where near the quality of the above mentioned. I am a HS defensive coordinator, so I have my own questions too. When Davis follows the slot in motion, why dont Thomas and James slide over. Davis follows the slot from the defensive left to right side of the field. We always try to stay as even as we can on our team. Also I was wondering about somethign else. When a OG pulls we teach the DT's to grab cloth and go with the pulling gaurd. Is that concept taught at the pro level?

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

wow. you've already said in 5 posts what most can't do in a lifetime of posting. appreciate the analysis w/o the drama.

true, he lost me after the first line, my analysis would have been, we screwed up, that is the extent of what I could have said about it.

 

[cbartel81]

So, if I may ask a question.

We've all, to one degree or another, played football. Some on different levels....and certainly none of us on the NFL level.

That said, isn't there a point where when you KNOW the other team is going to run out the clock that pure football common sense and instincts come into play? I understand play calls, etc...but it's still a game of tackle the guy with the ball. I understand that might be a simplistic approach...and sure, if the game was in the second quarter with plenty of options for the offense, it would be a different case.

But in this case, everyone on the planet KNEW in both cases the Ravens would try to run out the clock.

I guess I'm over simplifying...but I'd think that at some point, athletic ability and instincts would take over...especially when the offensive options were so limited. They were going to run out the clock. There was nothing fancy about either play. Those plays are plays these guys have seen since they were in peewee football.

Yes you are right. At that point in the game they did know that the Ravens were going to run out the clock. However, as a defense you still have to line up to their formation and play your assignment and gap to stop the ball carrier. I am simply showing you what happened on the plays in question. On the McGahee run in the formation there are 7 guys on the line of scrimmage in the box and 8 gaps to defend. A lot of people (for some reason or another) do not understand why gap control against the running game is so crucial. Gaps are running lanes nothing more. Regardless of what formation or defense called, you have to be able to have a defender in all of the gaps to cancel out these running lanes. You can all sit here and say it is just "tackle the guy with the ball" and in the end you may be right but the Baltimore offense had something to say about how that game was going to end also. When you play with poor gap-control and get out-muscled at the point of attack big plays happen for the opposition. So regardless of wether or not you know that the offense is going to run the clock out, you still have to line up to their formation and defend it. If you put all 11 in the box to defend the run and you don't send a DB out to cover one of their receivers, it doesn't matter if you can stop the run because the Quarterback wil just look up and see and uncovered receiver, throw him the ball and they will score. It comes down to defending the formation given to you, playing your gaps, and making tackles. The Cowboys failed to do these things and in the end game they failed.

What you are talking about with "athletic ability and instincts taking over" is the whole reason that McClain was able to score on the second run. Because rather that doing his job and playing proper technique, Spencer tries to make an athletic move, run around a blocker (pulling Guard) and reach for a tackle. This created a huge gap in the defense. James did what he was supposed to do if Spencer does his job. He is scraping outside to tackle the ball carrier which is where he would have gone if Spencer had taken out the knee of the puller and created a collision in the running lane. The FB would not have been able to get to him, but Specer didn't James had to redirect, didn't get his feet under him and was hammered out of position to make a play. Sure Hamlin sucked on the play but if Spencer does his job, the teams leading tackler would have had a legit chance to stop the runner for no-gain. In the NFL as a pro, you all do your job and we have success. You NEVER EVER abandon your responsibility, because you end up hanging your teammates out to dry.

 

[dcfanatic]

The OP is way off.

On the McGahee run, aside from the safeties, it's on Marcus Spears, who was flat-out awful. Not only did he get completely blown off the ball by the double team, but he didn't HOLD it. He got moved 5 yards off the ball and BOTH the "post" AND "drive" man got out on the linebackers and cleaned them out (Thomas and James).

Spears should have been cut after this play alone, period. You can't play it any worse than that. Literally, any person on this board could have done just as well (awful) as Spears on that play. He was completely worthless...you might as well have not even had him on the field...would've been the same exact result.

On the McClain run, Spencer did his job in forcing the run to the inside. Had he forced it outside, Neal would've simply led to the outside and blocked Bradie James there, setting up a long run ANYWAY should the safeties have not made the play.

Spear stinks and I agree. But even if he holds his ground he isn't going to make the tackle while he's angaged. The tackle is up to the MLB's and the Safeties once McGahee gets past the LOS.

And on the second run. You want McClain going outside because he's a downhill runner. He isn't a cutback or a shifty runner at all. You think he's going anywhere near 82 yards if Spencer does his job abd pushes the lead and RB outside?

You are way off. Not the coach.

Go back to telling us how great T.O. is and stay away from the actual football stuff.

 

[khiladi]

Crap happens when your tired... Missed assignments, getting blown off the ball happen when your tired...

It happens all the time in football... It happened a lot in the era of Emmitt, when most of his big runs happened in the last quarters, after the defensive line was simply worn out. They constantly wore teams out...

Hell, they knew Emmitt was going to run and they stacked the lines to make plays, but they couldn't when the game was in the fourth...

 

[thechosen1n2]

my problem is you never put eleven in the box...you stopped the run all night

 

[cbartel81]

I have a question on the second run. My analysis is no where near the quality of the above mentioned. I am a HS defensive coordinator, so I have my own questions too. When Davis follows the slot in motion, why dont Thomas and James slide over. Davis follows the slot from the defensive left to right side of the field. We always try to stay as even as we can on our team. Also I was wondering about somethign else. When a OG pulls we teach the DT's to grab cloth and go with the pulling gaurd. Is that concept taught at the pro level?

Davis was wrong to follow the motion so far. In an over front where gaps for the front ar already predetermined The SS cannot go past the football pre-snap with motion across the formation. He should have stopped right behind James' alignment and keyed the Fullback. Hamlin should have changed his key to the TE. Davis was misaligned at the snap. If the TB and FB both go into the flat on the defensive left on a bootleg they cannot cover both of them because Davis is out of position. Spencer can only cover 1. Davis is wrong here and it cost them becaus ehe should be coming into the hole from outside-in with the near shoulder. The distributioon is wrong and we lose and extra run fitter they cannot account for when he goes across the formation. They have and unbalanced set with an extra Tackle on our left hand side. When the ball is snapped they have 4 (with the FB) to block 4 we have to have Davis there as the extra guy and he removed himseld with motion for no reason.
They do teach Dlinemen to get into the hip-pocket of the pulling guard and cover the heel-line, but if you look at the play. Canty is lined up in a 1 and the center blocks back on him. Ellis in a 5 cant go with the Guard because of his 5 alignment. In this set they are running the play to the 3 tech. This way the OG can get out to pull. If there were a 3 in front of him he could grab him or get in his hip before the Center could block back on him. The main thng that makes this play is Spencer not taking out the puller. As a defensive lineman or 3-4 OLB you MUST SEEK RESISTANCE! If you are coming unblocked on a run there is always a reason for it. Your getting trapped. You have to be disciplined enough to peek inside and not run up the field because your about to get earholed and created a running lane if you do. Don't take the cheese and never run around blocks. He needs to come upfield 1 yard deep, look inside, see that pulling Guard, take his helmet and thrust it into the pulling Guards left knee and roll like he is on fire. This causes a collision and with the roll he make take out the legs of the FB. This leaves James open for the free hit. Some people do not like to sacrifice 1 for 1 and would rather Spencer go attack the Guard with his inside shoulder with his shoulder square to the ball carrier. Get low, take on the block, and persure the ball inside-out with outside help from the scraper. But you NEVER run around a block!