Film analysis

Originally posted by jonnydel:

Originally posted by Niners816:

Originally posted by thl408:
Here is classic SJ at work using unorthodox methods to win a clean release off the line of scrimmage.

The 49ers are running a zone busting concept on the right (more on that route combo later), and SJ "the one man man coverage buster" on the left.


Kap takes the snap and looks right, he will red light (determine it is not open) the zone busting concept. Also, by looking right, Kap holds the Curl defender (the defender 4 yards in front of Iupati) from blocking the throwing lane to SJ's slant.


Kap looks to his left towards SJ and is shown starting his throwing motion. Notice the CB on SJ and how the CB's hips are turned toward the sideline. SJ has set up his man for a hard inside break on the slant.


Look right, then come back to the left to SJ.


This is how SJ sets up his man. SJ was not in pre-snap motion. So all his movements shown below is done post snap. What WR starts off with two sidesteps? By doing this, he tricks the CB into thinking SJ wants an outside release off the line of scrimmage, only to break inside and get separation.


By initially looking to his right, Kap is giving time for SJ to do his shake and back. Once Kap comes back to his left, it is on rhythm to throw the backside slant to SJ.

I was wondering what was on the concept side of that play. It's like an all curls/spacing with a go to create both a vertical and horizontal stretch.

It's a horizontal stretch, we had run it a couple times during the game, both times we hit VD for a 6-7 yard gain. This time, Dallas tries to take VD out of the play - you can see the double team. This is one reason CK flashes back to Johnson.

Agreed, it's a horizontal stretch. The two curl routes are a miniture All-Curls concept, while the vertical route is just to clear out a defender. The 49ers ran this route combo in plays #7, 17 , and 22. #7 and #22 resulted in completions to one of the Curl routes. #17 is the SJ slant when DAL played man coverage.

Originally posted by Niners816:

Originally posted by jonnydel:
It's a horizontal stretch, we had run it a couple times during the game, both times we hit VD for a 6-7 yard gain. This time, Dallas tries to take VD out of the play - you can see the double team. This is one reason CK flashes back to Johnson.

I get that the all curls is a horizontal stretch, but with the go route between the two curls you do get sort of a triangle developed that can act as both a vertical and horizontal stretch type situation.

Hm that's a good point. I'll show the GIFs to the plays in a bit. Then we can see how it worked against zone coverage.

Originally posted by NCommand:
Damnit you guys...now you made me do more work! LOL.

Hope this adds to the excellent knowledge of this thread (if someone wants to cover Iupati, that would be great...we can add to the Offensive Line Analysis thread/post of WRATH as well). This isn't a "homer" post as I fully expect Boone to start against Chicago at RG.

I'll just highlight plays that were relative to the success or lack of success and shy away from plays where Looney played little to no part in the play (i.e. whether run blocking or pass protection, although these are still very important):

Negative:
1Q (6:46) – Looney blocks down solo on the NT and then passes him off to Kilgore. As he passes him off, LB McClain shoots the middle gap and Looney is late to picking him up and gets a clean shot on CK just after he releases it. The OL held up for 4 seconds though and we get a huge play to Boldin down to their 39.

2Q (11:35) – Looney in PP and loses his man. Entire OL caved and CK had to throw it away at the 3-second mark. All 4 DL were in the backfield at the same time but Looney was the last one still "blocking" (for perspective).

4Q (11:25) – On 3rd and 17, darts out of stance down field to block on a designed middle run by CK; 10-12 yards down field not quick enough to block the DB's.

Positive:
2Q (12:59) – Looney's pull from right-to-left springs Gore for 21 yards.

2Q (8:20) – Washes out DL clearing the right side for the option play with James but there was a free runner so the play blew up.

2Q (1:27) – Pull block frees Gore for 7 yards.

2Q (:52) – Throws DL to the right on a drive block while Hyde runs off his backside for 13 yards down to the 4 yard line.

3Q (12:11) – This one is epic! Here he pulls RIGHT around Martin and VD and seals off the edge for Hyde from our own 10 yard line and Hyde picks up 6 (one move right of Boldin here and Hyde may still be running down the sidelines; he's almost TOO fast).

4Q (15:00) – Pulls again and opens up a hole for Gore and a gain of 7 for a first down. This is the phantom "holding call" on a textbook pull and block out (see NinerNation article).

4Q (12:43) – Washes out his DL and Gore runs up his hole on 2nd and 12 for 5.

4Q (9:18) – Gets the DL turned again and washes him out along with Kilgore and Hyde hits this hole off Iuptai for (want to give all credit for this one) for 17 yards.

Neutral:
2Q (10:53) – Looney drives block from right to left as defenders slides down the line and assist on the tackle left of the LT for a 3 yard run by Gore.

3Q (14:56) – Clears out the DL for a hole where Gore runs up in but multiple defenders closed quickly for no gain (Gore yelling at Miller).

3Q (11:34) – Pulls again, does his job but Miller has two guys to block for Gore and one of the defenders tackles him for no gain.

3Q (9:51) – Another pull but doesn't completely wash out his man; enough to pick up 4 yards though.

4Q (13:15) – He slides his DL down the line to the left but doesn't fully block out…as does the entire OL/TE and Gore runs right into the pile. I'm assuming the design was to create a backside hole there?

4Q (7:50) – He and Kilgore wash out the right side and Hyde hits it up that hole for 5.

4Q (7:08) – Walls off his man perfectly and Gore into that hole but 3 defenders were waiting for no gain.

4Q (6:25) – Blocks out his man enough but Hyde has to make 3 yards out of a TFL there on 3rd and 6 (missed FG). Odd design on this running play; hard to assess. I think he and Davis were to create a hole for an edge run but the defenders filled quickly.

More Notes:
Pass Protection: Ranged from very good to good enough (i.e. he held up long enough for the pass play to be completed) all game long save for the aforementioned; spent a lot of time punching his man out and then sliding over to help Martin or Kilgore. Sometimes he was free. He was also the point-man for communication with Kilgore and when to snap the ball.

Run Blocking: Looked very effective blocking out his DL even when calls weren't made right up his backside or to his holes and felt I should point that out. His leverage has gotten so much better from day 1 where he started out getting too high. Showed good strength or washed out effectively on the final run-drive to milk the clock and get the last first down on 3 straight runs.

You and WRATH add a lot to the trench play. Good stuff!

Originally posted by SoCold:

Originally posted by jonnydel:
It's not a problem at all - we actually talked about how we wanted to do this earlier in the week.

what are you guys film ninjas?

I liked both threads his with all the pics of the plays and yours with specific breakdowns.

carry on then.

ps
still waiting for more Skuta

There's not a whole lot on film to show much of, after the first play where Murray fumbled, they didn't run a whole lot right at him. It was either up the middle or away from him. Then, when it was more passing situations - like the 2nd half, it was mostly Lemonier.

But there is this play, which is a mix of him and Reid.


We're running a zone - which is why Skuta has to come out on the 3 receivers. Dallas is going to run a WR screen to the inside receiver with 2 blockers.

The 2 receivers try and block - Culliver gets blocked, by Skuta takes Dez Bryant - who's trying to block him, and drives him into the ball carrier. Reid's closing speed on this play was scary, he fired like a missile to the ball carrier.


More of the same - Skuta dominates Bryant(who got penalized on this play) and Reid closes super fast.


Together, they make a great play.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by jonnydel:

Originally posted by Niners816:

Originally posted by thl408:
Here is classic SJ at work using unorthodox methods to win a clean release off the line of scrimmage.

The 49ers are running a zone busting concept on the right (more on that route combo later), and SJ "the one man man coverage buster" on the left.


Kap takes the snap and looks right, he will red light (determine it is not open) the zone busting concept. Also, by looking right, Kap holds the Curl defender (the defender 4 yards in front of Iupati) from blocking the throwing lane to SJ's slant.


Kap looks to his left towards SJ and is shown starting his throwing motion. Notice the CB on SJ and how the CB's hips are turned toward the sideline. SJ has set up his man for a hard inside break on the slant.


Look right, then come back to the left to SJ.


This is how SJ sets up his man. SJ was not in pre-snap motion. So all his movements shown below is done post snap. What WR starts off with two sidesteps? By doing this, he tricks the CB into thinking SJ wants an outside release off the line of scrimmage, only to break inside and get separation.


By initially looking to his right, Kap is giving time for SJ to do his shake and back. Once Kap comes back to his left, it is on rhythm to throw the backside slant to SJ.

+ Show all quotes
I was wondering what was on the concept side of that play. It's like an all curls/spacing with a go to create both a vertical and horizontal stretch.

It's a horizontal stretch, we had run it a couple times during the game, both times we hit VD for a 6-7 yard gain. This time, Dallas tries to take VD out of the play - you can see the double team. This is one reason CK flashes back to Johnson.

Agreed, it's a horizontal stretch. The two curl routes are a miniture All-Curls concept, while the vertical route is just to clear out a defender. The 49ers ran this route combo in plays #7, 17 , and 22. #7 and #22 resulted in completions to one of the Curl routes. #17 is the SJ slant when DAL played man coverage.

I think the go route was to try and create space for Davis to work after the catch, that way they're able to get a bigger stretch by removing one defender from the underneath coverage. - Just my opinion though.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Damnit you guys...now you made me do more work! LOL.

Hope this adds to the excellent knowledge of this thread (if someone wants to cover Iupati, that would be great...we can add to the Offensive Line Analysis thread/post of WRATH as well). This isn't a "homer" post as I fully expect Boone to start against Chicago at RG.

I'll just highlight plays that were relative to the success or lack of success and shy away from plays where Looney played little to no part in the play (i.e. whether run blocking or pass protection, although these are still very important):

Negative:
1Q (6:46) – Looney blocks down solo on the NT and then passes him off to Kilgore. As he passes him off, LB McClain shoots the middle gap and Looney is late to picking him up and gets a clean shot on CK just after he releases it. The OL held up for 4 seconds though and we get a huge play to Boldin down to their 39.

2Q (11:35) – Looney in PP and loses his man. Entire OL caved and CK had to throw it away at the 3-second mark. All 4 DL were in the backfield at the same time but Looney was the last one still "blocking" (for perspective).

4Q (11:25) – On 3rd and 17, darts out of stance down field to block on a designed middle run by CK; 10-12 yards down field not quick enough to block the DB's.

Positive:
2Q (12:59) – Looney's pull from right-to-left springs Gore for 21 yards.

2Q (8:20) – Washes out DL clearing the right side for the option play with James but there was a free runner so the play blew up.

2Q (1:27) – Pull block frees Gore for 7 yards.

2Q (:52) – Throws DL to the right on a drive block while Hyde runs off his backside for 13 yards down to the 4 yard line.

3Q (12:11) – This one is epic! Here he pulls RIGHT around Martin and VD and seals off the edge for Hyde from our own 10 yard line and Hyde picks up 6 (one move right of Boldin here and Hyde may still be running down the sidelines; he's almost TOO fast).

4Q (15:00) – Pulls again and opens up a hole for Gore and a gain of 7 for a first down. This is the phantom "holding call" on a textbook pull and block out (see NinerNation article).

4Q (12:43) – Washes out his DL and Gore runs up his hole on 2nd and 12 for 5.

4Q (9:18) – Gets the DL turned again and washes him out along with Kilgore and Hyde hits this hole off Iuptai for (want to give all credit for this one) for 17 yards.

Neutral:
2Q (10:53) – Looney drives block from right to left as defenders slides down the line and assist on the tackle left of the LT for a 3 yard run by Gore.

3Q (14:56) – Clears out the DL for a hole where Gore runs up in but multiple defenders closed quickly for no gain (Gore yelling at Miller).

3Q (11:34) – Pulls again, does his job but Miller has two guys to block for Gore and one of the defenders tackles him for no gain.

3Q (9:51) – Another pull but doesn't completely wash out his man; enough to pick up 4 yards though.

4Q (13:15) – He slides his DL down the line to the left but doesn't fully block out…as does the entire OL/TE and Gore runs right into the pile. I'm assuming the design was to create a backside hole there?

4Q (7:50) – He and Kilgore wash out the right side and Hyde hits it up that hole for 5.

4Q (7:08) – Walls off his man perfectly and Gore into that hole but 3 defenders were waiting for no gain.

4Q (6:25) – Blocks out his man enough but Hyde has to make 3 yards out of a TFL there on 3rd and 6 (missed FG). Odd design on this running play; hard to assess. I think he and Davis were to create a hole for an edge run but the defenders filled quickly.

More Notes:
Pass Protection: Ranged from very good to good enough (i.e. he held up long enough for the pass play to be completed) all game long save for the aforementioned; spent a lot of time punching his man out and then sliding over to help Martin or Kilgore. Sometimes he was free. He was also the point-man for communication with Kilgore and when to snap the ball.

Run Blocking: Looked very effective blocking out his DL even when calls weren't made right up his backside or to his holes and felt I should point that out. His leverage has gotten so much better from day 1 where he started out getting too high. Showed good strength or washed out effectively on the final run-drive to milk the clock and get the last first down on 3 straight runs.

You and WRATH add a lot to the trench play. Good stuff!

agreed

This is the Reid INT.

49ers are in Cover 6 (half the field is Quarters, half the field is Cover2). Refer to the Coverages and Concepts thread for more detail on Quarters coverage.. That's what Cox and Reid are playing here. Forget about Bethea playing Cover2 for now.

At this point in the game, DAL has established its running game. Any safety playing Quarters (Reid) is asked to be a strong run supporter when he reads 'Run play'.


Reid sees that #2 stays in to block, he is free to Read #1, or support the run if he reads 'Run'. Based on how hard he bites on the play action, it can be assumed that he read 'Run' play.


Once Reid realizes it's a pass, he immediately gets his head on a swivel and identifies the closest threat. It's DBryant on an intermediate crossing route. This is a smart reaction from Reid. Some defenders will simply drop to gain depth while trying to read the QB's eyes. Reid actually turns around to spot any routes threatening his area.


Same moment as pic above.


Romo gonna Romo

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:

Originally posted by SoCold:
let it be know that I'm not happy with you biting jonny's style and asking to merge the threads

not cool bro

How could it be done more appropriately? I think it's great people post these breakdowns as long as they are informed and knowledgeable and don't re-analyze the same plays. I like reading both posters. I don't get an "I'm the nfl-expert-and-no-one-else-is" vibe from these threads. Do you?

I think jonny should have his own thread for each game. It's far too much to scroll through esp. on mobile.

Originally posted by jonnydel:
agreed

Thanks man! Like he said in the other thread, we love the fat guys! And what a great comprehensive perspective we get when you two add in the skill positions and passing concepts!

Originally posted by thl408:
This is the Reid INT.

49ers are in Cover 6 (half the field is Quarters, half the field is Cover2). Refer to the Coverages and Concepts thread for more detail on Quarters coverage.. That's what Cox and Reid are playing here. Forget about Bethea playing Cover2 for now.

At this point in the game, DAL has established its running game. Any safety playing Quarters (Reid) is asked to be a strong run supporter when he reads 'Run play'.


Reid sees that #2 stays in to block, he is free to Read #1, or support the run if he reads 'Run'. Based on how hard he bites on the play action, it can be assumed that he read 'Run' play.


Once Reid realizes it's a pass, he immediately gets his head on a swivel and identifies the closest threat. It's DBryant on an intermediate crossing route. This is a smart reaction from Reid. Some defenders will simply drop to gain depth while trying to read the QB's eyes. Reid actually turns around to spot any routes threatening his area.


Same moment as pic above.


Romo gonna Romo

I did this play here: http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/niners/179447-film-analysis/page7/ I saw it a little bit differently - you might be right on the cover 6 though, it's hard to tell afterwards if it's cover 6 or cover 3 because of the way Bethea drops in coverage.... We did run a bit of cover 6 in this game though - it really confused Romo when we did too :)

Originally posted by jonnydel:

I think the go route was to try and create space for Davis to work after the catch, that way they're able to get a bigger stretch by removing one defender from the underneath coverage. - Just my opinion though.

Originally posted by thl408:

Hm that's a good point. I'll show the GIFs to the plays in a bit. Then we can see how it worked against zone coverage.

I've pretty much only seen that side of the on your cut ups, so we really will have to see if that vert was a viable option. It is most likely how you guys described as a clearing route. However, kap's arm strength is one of the few in the league that could stick that vert throw in a curl-go-curl type scenerio.

I just kinda noticed the triangle in the play diagram and thought it was interesting.

Ward didn't have a lot of "flashy" plays, just played solid defense within the scheme. But one play I can highlight is this:



Here, it was about halfway through the 3rd quarter, we are playing cover 2-man. This is a tough job for the slot because the receiver can go any number of directions and he's not getting the safety help like the outside guys are. The outside guys have the sideline, and safety help over the top. The slot guy can't give up the middle of the field and has to also protect against all short in/out routes - it's tough duty.


He starts off well with inside leverage. He knows the safety is going to be available to the up and outside, so he uses an inside leverage from the get go.


You see how he only really has safety help for anything deep and out and that the middle of the field is open. So he does a good job of maintaining his inside leverage even though the receiver tries to make a little out/in move.


He stays right in the receivers hip pocket - perfect man coverage.


He's in perfect position for the post route.

He's even made up ground on the receiver

Incomplete pass

Originally posted by Niners816:

Originally posted by jonnydel:
It's a horizontal stretch, we had run it a couple times during the game, both times we hit VD for a 6-7 yard gain. This time, Dallas tries to take VD out of the play - you can see the double team. This is one reason CK flashes back to Johnson.

I get that the all curls is a horizontal stretch, but with the go route between the two curls you do get sort of a triangle developed that can act as both a vertical and horizontal stretch type situation.

This is a continuation of this convo and how that zone busting route combo seen on the SJ slant was also ran two other times. Both of those times against zone coverage. Both these plays below were ran on 2nd down and were completed to set up very manageable 3rd downs.

The route combo discussed is the two Curl routes sandwiching a Go route. The way it busts zone coverage is by utilizing a miniture All Curls concept to horizontally stretch the LB level defenders. The Go route is designed to push a defender upfield, buying more room for the Curls. The pushing back of the defender is more illustrated in play #22.

Play #7 from thumbnails (2nd Quarter). The route combo is ran to Kap's right hand side of the formation.
-Versus Cover3 with 5 underneath defenders (3 pass rushers)




Completed for +6 yards on a 2nd & 7. 49ers go on to convert the 3rd down.

---------------------------------------

Play #22 from thumbnails (4th Quarter). Here is a better illustration of how the Go route is used.
-Versus Tampa2


The Go route (red) pushes the blue defender back to earn space for the Curl routes. Completed to yellow (VD).


Gain of +7 on 2nd & 10. This is ball control passing used to set up manageable 3rd downs. They go on to convert the 3rd down.

Originally posted by jonnydel:
I did this play here: http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/niners/179447-film-analysis/page7/ I saw it a little bit differently - you might be right on the cover 6 though, it's hard to tell afterwards if it's cover 6 or cover 3 because of the way Bethea drops in coverage.... We did run a bit of cover 6 in this game though - it really confused Romo when we did too :)

Oh I must have skipped over page 7 or something. I think the fact that it's hard to determine what coverage it is speaks to Fangio. I can see why you see it as cover3.

Based on the alignment of Reid, I think he is to Match #2 if #2 goes vertical. Only because I've seen the 49ers run this coverage a lot. Bethea's drop also doesn't seem urgent towards the middle of the field. It's only when Bethea sees Dez crossing is when he starts to move towards the center of the field. I actually don't see the 49ers run cover 3 a lot. When they do, they drop 8 into coverage. When I was compiling all the coverages, I had to dig hard to find them in cover3.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by jonnydel:
I did this play here: http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/niners/179447-film-analysis/page7/ I saw it a little bit differently - you might be right on the cover 6 though, it's hard to tell afterwards if it's cover 6 or cover 3 because of the way Bethea drops in coverage.... We did run a bit of cover 6 in this game though - it really confused Romo when we did too :)

Oh I must have skipped over page 7 or something. I think the fact that it's hard to determine what coverage it is speaks to Fangio. I can see why you see it as cover3.

Based on the alignment of Reid, I think he is to Match #2 if #2 goes vertical. Only because I've seen the 49ers run this coverage a lot. Bethea's drop also doesn't seem urgent towards the middle of the field. It's only when Bethea sees Dez crossing is when he starts to move towards the center of the field. I actually don't see the 49ers run cover 3 a lot. When they do, they drop 8 into coverage. When I was compiling all the coverages, I had to dig hard to find them in cover3.

I think it's because they run a combo coverage where it starts as cover 3, but then they switch to man if the receiver goes vertical through their zone, I've seen that in some playbooks. Cause you'll see a lot of that, where it'll be zone underneath but looks like man on the backend.