Playbook - Jets D vs WR Screens
Last week, The Jets put a hurtin' on Andrew Luck's Colts in The Meadowlands. Nevertheless, after watching some tape it is obvious that The Jets Defense is not as aggressive or talented as they were in 2010 or even 2011. The loss of Darrelle Revis cuts into Rex Ryan's ability to scheme creatively. Likewise, Kyle Wilson and Ellis Lankster are not nearly as proficient at jamming receivers at the line as Revis. The Colts were able to exploit this man-off technique by sending a T.Y. Hilton in motion, and running a bubble screen to him. Lets have a look:
The Colts line up with Trips-right before motioning Hilton across the formation to the left. The motion forces #26 Ellis Lankster to maneuver around the LBs, giving Hilton a little extra space. In years past, Revis would cut between the DL and LBs to stay closer to his man. Revis has the speed and strength to jam WRs without becoming a liability on the deep ball, but its obvious that Lankster is a bit more conservative.
Not only is Lankster 7 yards off his man, he's a step behind him (to the inside) as the ball is snapped. Hilton's first move is to the outside, a hard first step that looks like a wheel route. Lankster is forced back onto his heels to the outside before Hilton comes back toward his QB.
Luck fakes a slow-developing sprint-draw, and his throw is on time and on target to Hilton. The first few steps by Hilton and the play-action by Luck allow the TE and the LT to pick up blocks downfield. The TE seals off Lankster, and the LT picks up #30 Laron Landry. Hilton splits his blockers, and gains 14 yards before being pushed out of bounds by #37 Yeremiah Bell.
LB Bart Scott sees the fake block and release by the LT and TE, and so he reads screen pass. At that moment, he rushes the QB through the vacated space. He is a step late though. Bart Scott may have made a great play to read and react, but really Ellis Lankster needs to get himself in better position pre-snap.
The drop off in talent from Revis to #20 Kyle Wilson is not immense, but in Nickel and Dime situations Lankster can be a liability. The Jets have been forced to play a lot more zone coverage because the injury to Revis takes them out of their physical, press-man style. Here they try to man-up, and they get burned. I expect The Patriots to exploit Lankster whenever there's sub Defenses on the field, especially if Brady reads man coverage.
Moreover, I expect The Patriots to spread the field with a RB in the backfield. This strategy will force The Jets to match-up with Welker, Lloyd, Gronk, and Hernandez in the passing game while occupying the LBs with the run threat. When The Jets LBs get sucked up against play-action, there will be a lot of empty space in front of the Safeties for Gronk and Hernandez to get open. The Jets will be hard-pressed to play man-coverage, so this makes pump-fakes and play-actions more important to the game plan because they work best against zone defenses.
The Colts line up with Trips-right before motioning Hilton across the formation to the left. The motion forces #26 Ellis Lankster to maneuver around the LBs, giving Hilton a little extra space. In years past, Revis would cut between the DL and LBs to stay closer to his man. Revis has the speed and strength to jam WRs without becoming a liability on the deep ball, but its obvious that Lankster is a bit more conservative.
Not only is Lankster 7 yards off his man, he's a step behind him (to the inside) as the ball is snapped. Hilton's first move is to the outside, a hard first step that looks like a wheel route. Lankster is forced back onto his heels to the outside before Hilton comes back toward his QB.
Luck fakes a slow-developing sprint-draw, and his throw is on time and on target to Hilton. The first few steps by Hilton and the play-action by Luck allow the TE and the LT to pick up blocks downfield. The TE seals off Lankster, and the LT picks up #30 Laron Landry. Hilton splits his blockers, and gains 14 yards before being pushed out of bounds by #37 Yeremiah Bell.
LB Bart Scott sees the fake block and release by the LT and TE, and so he reads screen pass. At that moment, he rushes the QB through the vacated space. He is a step late though. Bart Scott may have made a great play to read and react, but really Ellis Lankster needs to get himself in better position pre-snap.
The drop off in talent from Revis to #20 Kyle Wilson is not immense, but in Nickel and Dime situations Lankster can be a liability. The Jets have been forced to play a lot more zone coverage because the injury to Revis takes them out of their physical, press-man style. Here they try to man-up, and they get burned. I expect The Patriots to exploit Lankster whenever there's sub Defenses on the field, especially if Brady reads man coverage.
Moreover, I expect The Patriots to spread the field with a RB in the backfield. This strategy will force The Jets to match-up with Welker, Lloyd, Gronk, and Hernandez in the passing game while occupying the LBs with the run threat. When The Jets LBs get sucked up against play-action, there will be a lot of empty space in front of the Safeties for Gronk and Hernandez to get open. The Jets will be hard-pressed to play man-coverage, so this makes pump-fakes and play-actions more important to the game plan because they work best against zone defenses.
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