Playbook - Play Action Defense
In this installment of Playbook, we'll be looking at Russell Wilson's game-winning TD pass to Sidney Rice. The play design by The Seahwaks is brutally simple, which makes the lack of execution by The Patriots Defense all the more flabbergasting and painful. Seattle only sends out 2 targets for Wilson while the RB, FB, and TE stay in to block. The Patriots have 2 deep Safeties with 7 men in coverage, but The Seahawks outside WRs Rice and Tate still get open deep. Lets take a look:
Seattle started with great field position after a 25 yard Leon Washington punt return. After a first down, Seattle found themselves on the midfield logo. Facing 1st and 10, Pete Carroll elects to take a shot at the endzone. The Offense shows a running formation with 2 RBs and a TE. The Patriots counter with their base Defense, keeping 2 deep Safeties to guard the long pass.
Russell Wilson fakes to Marshawn Lynch and rolls out of the pocket away from the play action. #59 Bobby Carpenter and #55 Brandon Spikes get sucked in to the run fake, but neither #43 Nate Ebner or #27 Tavon Wilson are distracted by the play action. At this point, The Patriots DBs are in good position to defend the deep pass.
Unfortunately, Tavon Wilson misreads the timing of the play, biting on the double move. Tavon Wilson sees that Russell Wilson has time to throw, and the QB steps up as Sidney Rice fakes toward the outside. The action of the QB Wilson causes the S Wilson to anticipate the throw incorrectly. So far this year, Tavon Wilson's biggest downfall is that he's allowed himself to be manipulated by the QB's eyes/actions. Peyton Manning did it to him in week 4, and Russell Wilson did it here.
The timing between QB and WRs made the play, but the design of the routes also contributes to the spacing downfield. Sidney Rice (right) fakes a corner and runs a post while Golden Tate (left) fakes a post and runs a corner. This concept forced the Safeties to separate, and with one Tavon Wilson misstep, its all over. Ebner stayed preoccupied with Tate for too long to help with Rice. Ebner needs to be more decisive, but credit Seattle's route running for forcing him into a tough spot.
Ultimately The Patriots have 4 DBs to cover 2 WRs, but they can't get it done. The bulk of the blame lands on Wilson for getting caught out of position, but the pass rush needs to take some heat as well. Jermaine Cunningham blew his assignment just as badly as Tavon Wilson. Devin McCourty didn't completely blow his assignment, but he did rotate underneath Rice when he could have stayed with him down the field.
In a previous post, I showed how the pass rush can bail out the coverage by taking advantage of blocking mismataches. In this instance Jermaine Cunningham gets a favorable match-up: 1-on-1 against a TE. Earlier in the game, Chandler Jones was able to beat a 1-on-1 block from a TE to cause a fumble, but Cunningham isn't able to do the same here. Cunningham doesn't even get a sniff of the QB, allowing Russell Wilson to step up and into his throw. With injuries in secondary, The Patriots need to get better play up front by the pass rushers. The Defense must play complimentary football.
*Note: not sure if the player labelled as #24 is indeed Arrington or if its #37 Dennard. The camera is too far away to get a clean look. Initially I thought it was Arrington because of his pink armbands, but now I realize that Dennard had them on as well.
Seattle started with great field position after a 25 yard Leon Washington punt return. After a first down, Seattle found themselves on the midfield logo. Facing 1st and 10, Pete Carroll elects to take a shot at the endzone. The Offense shows a running formation with 2 RBs and a TE. The Patriots counter with their base Defense, keeping 2 deep Safeties to guard the long pass.
Russell Wilson fakes to Marshawn Lynch and rolls out of the pocket away from the play action. #59 Bobby Carpenter and #55 Brandon Spikes get sucked in to the run fake, but neither #43 Nate Ebner or #27 Tavon Wilson are distracted by the play action. At this point, The Patriots DBs are in good position to defend the deep pass.
Unfortunately, Tavon Wilson misreads the timing of the play, biting on the double move. Tavon Wilson sees that Russell Wilson has time to throw, and the QB steps up as Sidney Rice fakes toward the outside. The action of the QB Wilson causes the S Wilson to anticipate the throw incorrectly. So far this year, Tavon Wilson's biggest downfall is that he's allowed himself to be manipulated by the QB's eyes/actions. Peyton Manning did it to him in week 4, and Russell Wilson did it here.
The timing between QB and WRs made the play, but the design of the routes also contributes to the spacing downfield. Sidney Rice (right) fakes a corner and runs a post while Golden Tate (left) fakes a post and runs a corner. This concept forced the Safeties to separate, and with one Tavon Wilson misstep, its all over. Ebner stayed preoccupied with Tate for too long to help with Rice. Ebner needs to be more decisive, but credit Seattle's route running for forcing him into a tough spot.
Ultimately The Patriots have 4 DBs to cover 2 WRs, but they can't get it done. The bulk of the blame lands on Wilson for getting caught out of position, but the pass rush needs to take some heat as well. Jermaine Cunningham blew his assignment just as badly as Tavon Wilson. Devin McCourty didn't completely blow his assignment, but he did rotate underneath Rice when he could have stayed with him down the field.
In a previous post, I showed how the pass rush can bail out the coverage by taking advantage of blocking mismataches. In this instance Jermaine Cunningham gets a favorable match-up: 1-on-1 against a TE. Earlier in the game, Chandler Jones was able to beat a 1-on-1 block from a TE to cause a fumble, but Cunningham isn't able to do the same here. Cunningham doesn't even get a sniff of the QB, allowing Russell Wilson to step up and into his throw. With injuries in secondary, The Patriots need to get better play up front by the pass rushers. The Defense must play complimentary football.
*Note: not sure if the player labelled as #24 is indeed Arrington or if its #37 Dennard. The camera is too far away to get a clean look. Initially I thought it was Arrington because of his pink armbands, but now I realize that Dennard had them on as well.
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