Just thought Breeland should get some kudos for his performance tonight.
His INT in the first half resulted in Kelce's rushing TD (1st by a TE in the NFL this season), and his swat of TB12's pass was the dagger in the Patriots' evil heart to end the game.
Great job, Breeland. Keep up the good work . . . [Reply]
Originally Posted by -King-:
If not Breeland, someone definitely messed their assignment up on that play
Sure looks like Ragland. And if Ragland was really in man on the TE there, then it looks like Hitchens has just hit the back of his 'drop' and is starting to come downfield to blast anyone on the cross (though he's late) and he reads Brady's eyes so he starts to bail.
Hard to really be positive at all, but it looks like MAYBE Hitchens took a false step to stick with the inside slot guy (probably supposed to drop him off to Wilson with Mathieu maybe providing help over the top) and it let Edelman get clean out of his break. If Ragland wasn't supposed to be dropping off the TE there to take that short zone, then it almost has to have been Hitchens that ended up responsible for it.
Ward is clearly in man on the bottom of the field but that doesn't mean that Breeland was supposed to be up high. He could been in a zone there and passing Edelman to Hitchens fairly easily. [Reply]
After watching that clip about a hundred times, it's pretty obvious that Breeland wasn't supposed to follow Edelman across the field. It was subterfuge; he was always supposed to fall up-field. It was a trap and it worked.
Though it seems obvious that someone was supposed to cover Edelman (can't leave him just wide open?), but not sure who that was supposed to be.
Not Ragland; he's not in any position to cover Edelman once he turns up-field to trail the TE. It's an impossible ask for him, or really any LB from where the play starts.
Originally Posted by Megatron96:
After watching that clip about a hundred times, it's pretty obvious that Breeland wasn't supposed to follow Edelman across the field. It was subterfuge; he was always supposed to fall up-field. It was a trap and it worked.
Though it seems obvious that someone was supposed to cover Edelman I(can't leave him just wide open?), but not sure who that was supposed to be.
Not Ragland; he's not in any position to cover Edelman once he turns up-field to trail the TE. It's an impossible ask for him, or really any LB from where the play starts.
Maybe Hitchens?
Well unless Ragland was never suppose to trail the TE and it was supposed to be Breeland picking him up on an exchange just like he did. If he was supposed to just pop the TE off the line to knock him off his route and then stay in a short zone on the left side, that would seem to cover Edelman out of his break, then Hitchens takes him as he comes across.
That puts a TON of stress on Thornhill because the inside guy from the bunch formation (81?) got behind Mathieu as Mathieu picked up the RB and Ward was in man, so if Brady had seen Breeland and waited out that route, Thornhill would've had a touch choice on who to provide help to, the deep crosser or the possible deep flag from the TE.
But that's the kind of thing you can risk when you have Thornhill's speed and Tom Brady's wobble-launcher of an arm.
That Patriots offense has some REAL problems if they can't get their running game picked up in a big way. Anything beyond a 3rd and 5 means they need to get deep into their bag of tricks or hope for a busted coverage (or penalty). They hardly have anything to attack even the intermediate areas with. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ChiliConCarnage:
All thanks to a 3000 post CP thread that directly lead to us signing this piece of shit a year or so later. It was meant to be; he’s the chosen one.
Have we given this piece of shit a new contract yet [Reply]
Our corners and safeties have been fantastic. Get Fenton healthy, and we're set in the back end. With our front four playing really well and our linebackers looking better, of course our D is going to look good. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
The safeties have made such a big difference.
The CBs can play team defense and actually get help when/where they expect it. So they cut back on freelancing and they just play.
It's impossible to overstate the damage that safety unit did to this defense last season.
The truly sad thing is that we KNEW our safeties were garbage last year. It's awesome that they addressed the position for THIS season, but what could have been... [Reply]
He only made the INT because he was so hilariously out of position after being beaten by Edelman on a simple slant.. the 4th down swat to save the game was a great play, though. He easily could have panicked and gotten really grabby trying to go over top of the receiver to get a hand on the ball.
I mean, that's not even close to correct. They've been passing guys off well for weeks now. How do you watch that and see Breeland at fault? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla:
I mean, that's not even close to correct. They've been passing guys off well for weeks now. How do you watch that and see Breeland at fault?
Are you serious? Watch the play. There’s a lot of shit going on. We’ve got some dudes playing man, others playing zone, some trailing, guys late to fill their zone.
I was wrong for making the assumption that he fucked up. You’re just as wrong for assuming he was right.. we can’t know for sure without knowing the play call. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Well unless Ragland was never suppose to trail the TE and it was supposed to be Breeland picking him up on an exchange just like he did. If he was supposed to just pop the TE off the line to knock him off his route and then stay in a short zone on the left side, that would seem to cover Edelman out of his break, then Hitchens takes him as he comes across.
That puts a TON of stress on Thornhill because the inside guy from the bunch formation (81?) got behind Mathieu as Mathieu picked up the RB and Ward was in man, so if Brady had seen Breeland and waited out that route, Thornhill would've had a touch choice on who to provide help to, the deep crosser or the possible deep flag from the TE.
But that's the kind of thing you can risk when you have Thornhill's speed and Tom Brady's wobble-launcher of an arm.
That Patriots offense has some REAL problems if they can't get their running game picked up in a big way. Anything beyond a 3rd and 5 means they need to get deep into their bag of tricks or hope for a busted coverage (or penalty). They hardly have anything to attack even the intermediate areas with.
This is possible also.
It's hard to say, because Ragland just turns and takes off after the TE ASAP; which is kind of weird, because there's no way he has the speed to keep up. In fact, he's beaten almost immediately off the line. Not to mention that Ragland isn't a coverage LB at all. At all. AT ALL. The only way I see Ragland being effective at all on that play is if he were lined up at least two yards farther up-field than he actually was at the snap. Then MAYBE he has a chance to jump Edelman as he catches the ball, assuming it's delivered at about the same time of the actual pass. But even then it'd be tough for Ragland to make that tackle, wouldn't it? I mean, Tom's not an idiot, so he would've delivered the ball when Edelman was even or past Ragland, and then Ragland really has no chance of catching Edelamn, so . . .
Is it possible that Edelman was really Hitchens/Wilson's responsibility? I mean they were both right there in the middle, and if the ball came to Edelman instead of to the TE, one of them would've probably been in a position to make the tackle.
I don't know. But Edelman wasn't Breeland's man on that play, that much is for certain.
Afterthought:
Maybe Ragland was supposed to chase the TE as part of the trap? Make TB think "well look at that ridiculous match-up, I just have to take that." Would Spags create a design that subtle? Would any DC? If he did, the man's a certifiable lunatic genius. [Reply]
