- Joined:
- Sep 28, 2014
- Posts:
- 8,618
- Liked Posts:
- 10,236
- Location:
- Chicago, IL
1ST HALF
It wasn’t complete domination by any means, but the defense didn’t necessarily lose this game. It did feel at times like death by a thousand paper cuts. Things did begin on the shaky side, as the Eagles offense made a resounding statement to begin the game. It was the 2nd play, and a brilliant play call by Doug Pederson. The Bears were in a cover 1 man coverage, with Amos playing the robber out of strong safety into the middle of the field.
Because this is man, Fuller has to follow his man across the field, leaving the entire side of the field empty against the eventual screen pass...
There was only 1 bear on that side of the field who had any chance of stopping this play, and it was Trevathan. But this is where the statement comes in, as the Eagles center absolutely levels him to wipe him out of the play. That’s how you make a statement...
That play withstanding, the Bears inside linebackers were the stars of the show putting together a dominating performance. Rookie Roquan Smith, in his first playoff game, stepped up and carried the defense...
But the Eagles did drive the field with relative ease on their first possession. And this is because of a big risk Doug Pederson took in his gameplan. All season, teams have been keeping extra blockers in on passes, or at least using TE’s/RB’s to chip. So even if the pass rush didn’t get home, they were still affecting the game by making life easier on the secondary as a whole. Pederson decided to go with basic 5 man protections, sending 5 targets out immediately. This opened up holes in the Bears secondary.
The Bears are in cover 1 man coverage again, with Amos playing the robber in the middle of the field. But the RB is sent out into the flat immediately at the snap, forcing Amos to go cover him.
The TE Ertz also released immediately. Not slowed down by any chipping assignments, Ertz is able to beat Fuller to the open space down the middle...
A few plays later, Foles did a great job of averting disaster. Ertz is the primary read on this play, and Amos is giving him too much space underneath. Foles sees an easy completion, but he does not see a lurking Roquan Smith hidden behind the front. At the last possible moment, Foles does catch himself and adjust. Roquan Smith looked like he was 2 moves ahead of everyone in this game...
Khalil Mack was not getting to the QB early in the game. He made up for it in the run game. On these kinds of runs, the defense doesn’t even bother to block the defender on the opposite side because he’s usually out of the play. Unless he’s Khalil Mack...
Here Mack gets around the RT twice to make the stop...
Yes, this was a reception, but the coverage by Smith was so damn good on this play. I can’t stress enough how great he was in this game...
DEFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS
Vic Fangio answered the opening drive tactics swiftly. If the Eagles are not going to help their offensive line, he would force their hand by blitzing into it. The adjustments came on the very next possession, following this nice tackle by Deon Bush to stifle a potential big run. He was 20+ yards away from the LOS at one point, and closed in to keep the run to minimal yards...
A 5 receiver set against a ferocious pass rush working against crowd noise pinned deep near your end zone is bordering on arrogance. Fangio sends Trevathan on the blitz and forces Foles into a dangerously erratic pass...
The Eagles look to have called a screen out of the perfect coverage again...
But this time Trevathan will not be denied...
Hicks with a rather violent maneuver to free himself up...
Here the Bears are in cover 3 zone with the SS Amos playing underneath coverage. Amos is responsible for picking up anything handed off to him underneath, but he also has to keep proper depth. Amos bites inside hard off the snap and gets sucked in too far underneath, opening up a huge open zone in which Alshon Jeffery enters...
At the LOS, a scraping Trevathan actually cuts this play short before it’s fully developed. But Amos leaves such a huge void that Foles has the luxury of rainbowing this ball up into space. If Amos maintained the proper depth, this pass would never have been attempted...
But on the very next play, Roquan Smith bailed Amos out. He has to choose between the RB and the TE here, and he reads Foles like a book...
Here is a cover zero blitz from the Bears. It looks like they send 7, but Eddie Goldman of all people backs into coverage. LOL..
I now understand the term “Foles magic”. I have no idea how he completes some of these throws, especially in the face of pressure, with his weak arm and awkward short armed throws...
Remember when people (Brett Kollmann) were saying Roquan Smith had a fatal flaw in that he wouldnt be able to shed blocks in the NFL...
Here the Bears are in cover 2 man coverage...
Both outside receivers run sideline routes to widen the safeties and open up the middle of the field, where McManis is beaten badly by the slot receiver...
At the LOS, Khalil Mack is rushing inside on a stunt.
And because of a heads up decision by Trevathan, he penetrates the line. Once Trevathan reads that
the RB is not releasing immediately, he threatens a blitz through the A gap. This forces the center to account for him and leaves an open lane for Mack to attack...
Once Mack is through, Trevathan bounces back out to cover the RB...
Because of the pressure up the middle, Foles is unable to step up into his throw. With a weak arm to begin with, he definitely can’t get much on throws without the use of his lower body. So he is forced to throw up an incredibly wreckless floater down the middle of the field that could have gotten his wr killed. But somehow he got away with another one. #folesmagic
THE BRILLIANCE OF FANGIO
Year after year, new rules are put in place which make it easier and easier to score points and almost impossible to slow even an adequate offense. I believe the only way to survive these mounting odds is to think outside the box. But if you look around the league, most defensive coordinators still have the same generic philosophy. An emphasis on stopping the run (a lot of cover 1 and cover 3), playing to their strengths (same coverages all game), pressure the qb (blitz). But year over year, these philosophies become less effective in the new NFL...
Stop the run —> Teams now pass more than ever on early downs
Playing to strengths —> defense becomes way too predictable against good QB’s
Sending pressure —> easily beat nowadays unless it’s out of an unexpected formation
In comes Vic Fangio. He seems like an old school type of coach that is perceived to lean on his talent because he doesn’t take “risks” (blitz). In actuality, it’s quite the opposite. Fangio is actually hyper agressive, just not in the traditional old way. Fangio actually reminds me a lot of Bill Belichick, an outside the box thinker with a defense that evolves from game to game. While most defensive coordinators are trying to simply stop offenses, Fangio already knows he can stop you. So he goes one step further and tries to dictate the offense/defense exchange.
It’s 2nd down and 9 at the Bears 21 yard line. The Eagles are in a 3 x 1 receiver set, and the Bears appear to be in cover 2 man Coverage.
Peyton Manning, when asked how he reads defenses presnap, remarked that he first figures out what sort of defense it simply cannot be based on the defensive alignment. The Eagles #1 WR, Alshon Jeffery, is lined up alone on the short side of the field. Note the way Prince Amukamara is covering him presnap. He is right at the line of scrimmage in a press man technique. This almost confirms to Nick Foles that this cannot be cover 1 man coverage post snap, because you would not leave Alshon Jeffery 1 on 1 with no help over the top with a CB that is going to try to jam him at the snap. There is just no way. The safety over the top is specifically what allows the cb to play this tight. This could be cover 2 as it already looks, or it could be cover 3 if Amukamara immediately bails from his press position to cover a third of the field.
Nick Foles proceeds to bark out a hard count in order to see if Prince is going to bail out of his press coverage position, but he doesn’t move in the slightest. This confirms to him that this is cover 2 man.
After diagnosing the Coverage presnap, Foles decides to completely eliminate Alshon Jeffery as a viable progression, as he will be double teamed on a short field. As the ball is snapped, and through the progression of the play, Foles never looks to Jeffery. Instead, knowing that his only play is to his right, Foles takes the first open lane he can find to move to his right and make the throw easier for him. Had he not eliminated Alshon presnap, he had enough time and space to stand in the pocket and progress to his left...
But this was not cover 2. Fangio actually did leave Alshon 1 on 1 off of a jam at the LOS. If Foles were to look his way, he’d see Jeffery making short work of Amukamara. But he didn’t, and Fangio somehow knew that. Fangio was baiting Foles to throw the ball to a specific area of the field, and he deployed both safeties to converge at that very point of the field. He sent Amos to Bush’s side to undercut the route...
Amos even stops at one point, even though there is no threat coming into the deep middle, just to stay out of Foles’ line of sight until the ball is thrown. Great strategic work by Fangio...
It wasn’t complete domination by any means, but the defense didn’t necessarily lose this game. It did feel at times like death by a thousand paper cuts. Things did begin on the shaky side, as the Eagles offense made a resounding statement to begin the game. It was the 2nd play, and a brilliant play call by Doug Pederson. The Bears were in a cover 1 man coverage, with Amos playing the robber out of strong safety into the middle of the field.
Because this is man, Fuller has to follow his man across the field, leaving the entire side of the field empty against the eventual screen pass...
There was only 1 bear on that side of the field who had any chance of stopping this play, and it was Trevathan. But this is where the statement comes in, as the Eagles center absolutely levels him to wipe him out of the play. That’s how you make a statement...
That play withstanding, the Bears inside linebackers were the stars of the show putting together a dominating performance. Rookie Roquan Smith, in his first playoff game, stepped up and carried the defense...
But the Eagles did drive the field with relative ease on their first possession. And this is because of a big risk Doug Pederson took in his gameplan. All season, teams have been keeping extra blockers in on passes, or at least using TE’s/RB’s to chip. So even if the pass rush didn’t get home, they were still affecting the game by making life easier on the secondary as a whole. Pederson decided to go with basic 5 man protections, sending 5 targets out immediately. This opened up holes in the Bears secondary.
The Bears are in cover 1 man coverage again, with Amos playing the robber in the middle of the field. But the RB is sent out into the flat immediately at the snap, forcing Amos to go cover him.
The TE Ertz also released immediately. Not slowed down by any chipping assignments, Ertz is able to beat Fuller to the open space down the middle...
A few plays later, Foles did a great job of averting disaster. Ertz is the primary read on this play, and Amos is giving him too much space underneath. Foles sees an easy completion, but he does not see a lurking Roquan Smith hidden behind the front. At the last possible moment, Foles does catch himself and adjust. Roquan Smith looked like he was 2 moves ahead of everyone in this game...
Khalil Mack was not getting to the QB early in the game. He made up for it in the run game. On these kinds of runs, the defense doesn’t even bother to block the defender on the opposite side because he’s usually out of the play. Unless he’s Khalil Mack...
Here Mack gets around the RT twice to make the stop...
Yes, this was a reception, but the coverage by Smith was so damn good on this play. I can’t stress enough how great he was in this game...
DEFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS
Vic Fangio answered the opening drive tactics swiftly. If the Eagles are not going to help their offensive line, he would force their hand by blitzing into it. The adjustments came on the very next possession, following this nice tackle by Deon Bush to stifle a potential big run. He was 20+ yards away from the LOS at one point, and closed in to keep the run to minimal yards...
A 5 receiver set against a ferocious pass rush working against crowd noise pinned deep near your end zone is bordering on arrogance. Fangio sends Trevathan on the blitz and forces Foles into a dangerously erratic pass...
The Eagles look to have called a screen out of the perfect coverage again...
But this time Trevathan will not be denied...
Hicks with a rather violent maneuver to free himself up...
Here the Bears are in cover 3 zone with the SS Amos playing underneath coverage. Amos is responsible for picking up anything handed off to him underneath, but he also has to keep proper depth. Amos bites inside hard off the snap and gets sucked in too far underneath, opening up a huge open zone in which Alshon Jeffery enters...
At the LOS, a scraping Trevathan actually cuts this play short before it’s fully developed. But Amos leaves such a huge void that Foles has the luxury of rainbowing this ball up into space. If Amos maintained the proper depth, this pass would never have been attempted...
But on the very next play, Roquan Smith bailed Amos out. He has to choose between the RB and the TE here, and he reads Foles like a book...
Here is a cover zero blitz from the Bears. It looks like they send 7, but Eddie Goldman of all people backs into coverage. LOL..
I now understand the term “Foles magic”. I have no idea how he completes some of these throws, especially in the face of pressure, with his weak arm and awkward short armed throws...
Remember when people (Brett Kollmann) were saying Roquan Smith had a fatal flaw in that he wouldnt be able to shed blocks in the NFL...
Here the Bears are in cover 2 man coverage...
Both outside receivers run sideline routes to widen the safeties and open up the middle of the field, where McManis is beaten badly by the slot receiver...
At the LOS, Khalil Mack is rushing inside on a stunt.
And because of a heads up decision by Trevathan, he penetrates the line. Once Trevathan reads that
the RB is not releasing immediately, he threatens a blitz through the A gap. This forces the center to account for him and leaves an open lane for Mack to attack...
Once Mack is through, Trevathan bounces back out to cover the RB...
Because of the pressure up the middle, Foles is unable to step up into his throw. With a weak arm to begin with, he definitely can’t get much on throws without the use of his lower body. So he is forced to throw up an incredibly wreckless floater down the middle of the field that could have gotten his wr killed. But somehow he got away with another one. #folesmagic
THE BRILLIANCE OF FANGIO
Year after year, new rules are put in place which make it easier and easier to score points and almost impossible to slow even an adequate offense. I believe the only way to survive these mounting odds is to think outside the box. But if you look around the league, most defensive coordinators still have the same generic philosophy. An emphasis on stopping the run (a lot of cover 1 and cover 3), playing to their strengths (same coverages all game), pressure the qb (blitz). But year over year, these philosophies become less effective in the new NFL...
Stop the run —> Teams now pass more than ever on early downs
Playing to strengths —> defense becomes way too predictable against good QB’s
Sending pressure —> easily beat nowadays unless it’s out of an unexpected formation
In comes Vic Fangio. He seems like an old school type of coach that is perceived to lean on his talent because he doesn’t take “risks” (blitz). In actuality, it’s quite the opposite. Fangio is actually hyper agressive, just not in the traditional old way. Fangio actually reminds me a lot of Bill Belichick, an outside the box thinker with a defense that evolves from game to game. While most defensive coordinators are trying to simply stop offenses, Fangio already knows he can stop you. So he goes one step further and tries to dictate the offense/defense exchange.
It’s 2nd down and 9 at the Bears 21 yard line. The Eagles are in a 3 x 1 receiver set, and the Bears appear to be in cover 2 man Coverage.
Peyton Manning, when asked how he reads defenses presnap, remarked that he first figures out what sort of defense it simply cannot be based on the defensive alignment. The Eagles #1 WR, Alshon Jeffery, is lined up alone on the short side of the field. Note the way Prince Amukamara is covering him presnap. He is right at the line of scrimmage in a press man technique. This almost confirms to Nick Foles that this cannot be cover 1 man coverage post snap, because you would not leave Alshon Jeffery 1 on 1 with no help over the top with a CB that is going to try to jam him at the snap. There is just no way. The safety over the top is specifically what allows the cb to play this tight. This could be cover 2 as it already looks, or it could be cover 3 if Amukamara immediately bails from his press position to cover a third of the field.
Nick Foles proceeds to bark out a hard count in order to see if Prince is going to bail out of his press coverage position, but he doesn’t move in the slightest. This confirms to him that this is cover 2 man.
After diagnosing the Coverage presnap, Foles decides to completely eliminate Alshon Jeffery as a viable progression, as he will be double teamed on a short field. As the ball is snapped, and through the progression of the play, Foles never looks to Jeffery. Instead, knowing that his only play is to his right, Foles takes the first open lane he can find to move to his right and make the throw easier for him. Had he not eliminated Alshon presnap, he had enough time and space to stand in the pocket and progress to his left...
But this was not cover 2. Fangio actually did leave Alshon 1 on 1 off of a jam at the LOS. If Foles were to look his way, he’d see Jeffery making short work of Amukamara. But he didn’t, and Fangio somehow knew that. Fangio was baiting Foles to throw the ball to a specific area of the field, and he deployed both safeties to converge at that very point of the field. He sent Amos to Bush’s side to undercut the route...
Amos even stops at one point, even though there is no threat coming into the deep middle, just to stay out of Foles’ line of sight until the ball is thrown. Great strategic work by Fangio...
