Who Done It???

Normally the day after a game I do my Tampa Bay defensive line critique "Bull Rush" post and my "The Good The Bad And The Ugly" post about the performance of the Buccaneers team as a whole. I decided not to do that today in light of how ugly things got yesterday against the Saints. Instead I wanted to highlight a few of the running plays on defense so as to place blame where necessary. Plenty of people will be blaming different people for the Saints gaining more than 200 yards on the ground against the Bucs defense yesterday but I thought maybe people would want to know exactly what happened.

Here are 8 plays that gained a total of 134 yards on the ground. You can look at the diagrams and follow along by the numbers. You can also go back and watch the game online at www.nfl.com for the next couple of days to see the plays for yourself.

1. First and 10, 11:49 in the 1st quarter and the first time the Saints touch the ball starting at their own 6 yard line. They come out in a one back set with a tight end and wide receiver to each side of the formation. The run a zone cutback that bounces outside for 18 yards. The Saints doubled the left end, Tim Crowder, with a tight end and the right tackle. The nose tackle, Roy Miller, is lined up in a G alignment just inside the right guard and the center and guard double him up to the Mike linebacker Barrett Ruud. The undertackle, Gerald McCoy, is double teamed by the left guard and left tackle up to the Sam Linebacker, Quincy Black. The tight end to his side tries to cut Stylez G. White off from the C gap between the tight end and the left tackle. The wide receiver to the defense's right blocks Ronde Barber.

Everyone fits up pretty well into their gaps but Barber gets a little too heavy into the wide receiver and isn't able to come off and make the tackle on the running back. Because he is the contain element of the defense, once the running back bounces it outside of him there is no one else to make the tackle until the Safety gets there. If Ronde keeps leverage and is able to either make the tackle or turn the running back inside to his help, the play probably doesn't gain much of anything. Instead the run gets the Saints off to a good start on the day.

Another note on the play is Roy Miller got pushed around and that would be a recurring theme all day.

2. First and 10, 8:27 in the 2nd quarter from the Saints' 24 yardline. The Saints come out in the same formation which they used quite a bit all game. This time they sealed the left end, Michael Bennett with the tight end, and they cracked on the Strong Safety, Sean Jones with the wide receiver on the defense's left side. When the wide receiver crack blocks the corner on that side is supposed to replace the Strong Safety's fit to the outside. Instead E.J. Biggers continued following the wide receiver and there was no one to turn the ball back inside. The Saints running back bounced it outside and gained 33 yards before he was taken down.

3. Second and 6, 7:05 in the 2nd quarter at the Bucs' 39 yard line. The Saints came out with one receiver to the defense's left and two to the defense's right with two backs in the backfield. The fullback was offset to the right. This was essentially an ISO running play with the fullback leading up on Ruud. The center and guard double teamed Miller up to Black and there was a lane between the fullback and the center. Jones had an opportunity to make the play but missed the tackle. The Saints gained 8 yards on that play.

4. First and 10, 6:33 in the 2nd quarter at the Bucs' 31 yard line. The Saints go back to a one back set with a tight end and wide receiver on each side. This time the Bucs used a line stunt where McCoy rips into the A gap from the B gap and Miller rips from the A gap to the B gap. The tight end on White's side gets inside of him and cuts him off from the C gap. The Left Tackle goes up to seal Black inside. The Saints running back starts to the defense's left and then cut's back to the C gap where White is supposed to be. Even though White isn't there, Jones has an opportunity to make a play on the running back but he loses sight of him and over runs the play. The result is the play earns the Saints another 16 yards.

5. First and 10, 12:10 in the 3rd quarter at the Bucs' 46 yard line. Same formation again with the one back set and a tight end and wide receiver on each side. The Bucs are in an under front this time with Black walked up on the line to the defense's right side. The Saints run the zone that way and once again Miller gets pushed around by the guard and center. McCoy gets a slip block with the guard and right tackle and the left end gets a cut off block by the tight end to that side. The truth is everyone is in pretty good shape on this play as far as being in their gap, but the Will linebacker, Geno Hayes, decided to try to run through his B gap to make the play. Instead the right guard cut him and the Saints' running back cut back into the hole he was supposed to be in. Instead of little to no gain, the runner ended up with 9 yards.

6. Third and 4, 3:07 in the 3rd quarter from the Bucs' 27. The Saints came out with a trips bunch set close to the formation with one running back and one wide receiver on the opposite side. The Bucs were in nickel personnel. It appears that because it was 3rd down Ruud and Black expected pass and didn't read the run right away. The tight end in the bunch formation closest to the right tackle came across the formation to kick out White which he did. The left tackle was able to get up to Black and seal him inside. That created a lane for the running back to run through for 16 more yards.

7. First and 10, 5:35 in the 4th quarter from the Bucs' 45 yard line. The Saints came out with two tightends and two running backs with one wide receiver. Both tightends lined up to the defense's left and the wide receiver lined up to the opposite side of the formation. This was actually a play that the Saints had success against the Bucs with last year. So much so that the Carolina Panthers copied the play and ran it against the Bucs last year after the fact. But its still a good play design and its hard to defend.

The tightend furthest from the ball and off the line of scrimmage takes off for the flat giving the impression that it is a passing play and pulling the corner away from the formation. The tightend lined up on the ball avoids the defensive end inside to get up on the linebacker but to the defensive end it looks like a pass route. For that reason the defensive end's first instinct is to get up the field and pass rush. But the fullback takes a step to the defense's right and then runs right behind the offensive line almost hiding till the last moment to kick out the defensive end. And that's exactly what happened to Bennett. He has to get under that block and either make the play or make it bounce outside. Ryan Sims was in at undertackle and he is also partially at fault because they initially double teamed him with the right tackle and guard but the right tackle eventually came off to block Ruud. Sims however had been knocked out of his gap at that point and couldn't get back in it in time to make a play on the running back. This play netted the Saints another 7 yards.

8. Second and 3, 4:52 in the 4th quarter at the Bucs' 38 yard line. The Saints keep the same personnel but this time they start off with a tight end on each side and the wide receiver to the defense's right. Before the snap the tightend on the defense's right side steps off the line and motions all the way across the formation. Once the ball is snapped he goes out to block the corner. The stationary tight end comes off and base blocks Bennett. Sims gets double teamed by the right tackle and guard. The fullback comes to kick out the Free Safety, Cody Grimm. The left guard pulls to block Ruud. Hayes' fit is inside the fullback's block and he actually gets there. But the running back ran inside off the fullback's block and for whatever reason Hayes wasn't able to make the tackle on him. That one was all on Geno and I'm sure he knows it. Unfortunately because he didn't make the play in his gap and because Jones and Black also weren't able to bring the runner down, the Saints picked up another 27 yards at the end of the game.

So what do we make of all this? Well first of all aside from Roy Miller getting tossed around on several plays which is unacceptable, we mostly gave up the big yardage because guys weren't on the details or missed tackles rather than having been physically manhandled. Second of all there are some problems that we are having that are recurring. Our defensive ends aren't getting underneath kick out blocks like they should and that's all about technique and using your eyes. That's something that can definitely be fixed but you have to wonder why it hasn't been to this point. Thirdly you will notice that aside from the one line stunt, these were plays where the Bucs just lined up in front of the Saints like it was drawn up on a chalkboard. I don't know that movement or blitzes would have solved all of our problems but I have to wonder when we will at least TRY to start helping ourselves on early downs with a few zone blitzes to give offenses a different look to block.

It was a terrible day for our defense, make no mistake about it, but in watching the replay online I didn't get the sense that we were physically dominated anywhere but our nosetackle position. The Bucs tried to play a lot of G with Miller which is something I thought might be useful, but with his outside hand down and outside foot back I think he was going to have a hard day regardless. Still you can't make any excuses, he HAS to play better. Otherwise I'm pretty sure that it won't be long before Price is out there with the starters. After all if we are going to suck on defense against the run we might as well suck with our rookie 2nd round pick in there getting some good experience.

I have some other random thoughts about the game in general so here goes.

- I thought Josh Freeman was off just a little all game. He made some nice throws but at times his accuracy wasn't what I was used to seeing this year. I did love it that he went after the Saints player who went after his knee. That's the kind of fight you have to have to lead a team.

- The 3-3-5 may be a useful tool but we are using it too damn much. And Coach Morris can't keep using the excuse that Quincy Black is a good rusher because he isn't. As I have said time and again he is a good BLITZER not a good rusher and there is a helluva difference. I went back and looked at my notes and aside from that sack against Carolina, Black has only had two pressures by my count. And those were on plays where he ran a pass rush game with Gerald McCoy. I don't believe that I have seen him win a single one on one pass rush against an offensive lineman this year. And I doubt I WILL see him win one because he for as strong and as fast as he is, he doesn't have any moves. Every time he is out there as a rush end that is a play where a true pass rushing defensive end is on the bench, our two rookie defensive tackles aren't pass rushing from their normal alignments, and there is zero chance to run a pass rush game unless its on his side.

We are cutting off all of that potential pressure just to get Black on the field. Hey, I have a novel idea. Why not just sub him in for Ruud or Hayes? If he is really THAT indispensable then why not allow him to play what he is best at? Hell you can blitz him from those positions too! You can even call Bark and have a FIVE man rush!

But here's what you CAN'T do. You can't say you want more pressure on the quarterback if you continue to refuse to use four defensive lineman for a four man rush. You can't say you want more pressure when you refuse to call overload blitzes to either side. You can't complain about not getting pressure when you aren't allowing guys to pass rush from their more natural positions.

You can't, you simply CAN NOT. Oh you can tell a few beat writers here in Tampa but its not going to fly with me. I SEE what's happening on the field and what isn't. McCoy didn't have a great day but he did make one helluva move when he was rushing from his undertackle spot and got a pressure. I can only wonder how many more times that happens if he gets more opportunities to rush from that position. Or hell maybe he gets to run a true TEX game with a defensive end instead of being a crash test dummy trying to free everything up for Black. Or maybe he can run a TOM game inside with Price where they create pressure up the middle on the quarterback who now can't step up and gets sacked by our defensive ends coming around the horn.

Or.....maybe we keep running that bullshit 3-3-5 and then complaining after the games about how much time the quarterback had.

- I am still waiting to determine what our bread and butter running plays are. One thing that makes watching a team run up and down the field against the Bucs defense even more frustrating is then watching our offense and never or rarely seeing them use similar blocking schemes. I know it isn't actually that way, but I swear at times it looks like every running play we run during a game only gets run once. A zone, then a split belly, then a sweep, then an iso, then a counter (if we're lucky). Never any rhyme or reason to it. Almost like we are just pulling running plays out of a hat.

We hardly ever double team defensive linemen up to the second level, we hardly ever cut block the backside defensive tackle or defensive end, we hardly ever just punish people in our running game. And that's the major problem we are having right now. People can say its Caddy all the want to. I want y'all to watch the replay of the game and tell me where you see any holes that he's missing. Better yet I want you to tell me what he's supposed to do when he keeps seeing the defense in the backfield play after play. Yeah maybe he could get another yard or two a game, but I can tell you this much unless we sign King Kong, nobody we put back there is going to put up big numbers on the ground until we fix our schemes and play calling.

Period.

- I'm really sad to hear about Kareem Huggins tearing his ACL and being out for the rest of the year. The kids worked his way up from the bottom and was finally about to get his chance to shine. Hopefully he takes his rehab seriously and can come back next year in time to give it another shot. Also we are really thin at running back now with Earnest Graham hurting his hamstring. Along with the fact that Huggins was our only true "scat" back I would say we are in the market for a guy with some speed. It will be interesting to see who the Bucs bring in, if anybody.

- Connor Barth...WTF MANNNNNNN?!

- Not sure what Aqib Talib's deal was yesterday but his effort both times he got bombed on left a lot to be desired. I believe Talib is a Pro Bowl player but he has to PROVE it every week.

Welp that's all for now, As always if you have questions just leave them in the comments section.

A Blast From The Past And A Quick Scouting Report

Back in the day a staple of our defense was Over Stick. Its a simple line stunt where the defensive end to the weakside shoots inside to the B gap on the snap. In the event that its a pass the nosetackle gets off the ball in the A gap, reads the pass block and then loops around for contain. The nose could usually afford to be a little late because most of the time the weakside of the defense would be to the quarterback's blind side. And if it isn't a pass the nosetackle just plays his normal technique.

See, simple!

But as simple as the call is, it gave the defense many potential advantages.

For one it gave the weakside defensive end the chance to get in the backfield and create some havoc. If a team tries to go play action pass then there's a chance that defensive end can get some really quick pressure on the quarterback. If there is a trap it gives the defensive end the chance to push the offensive tackle down inside so they can't get up to the linebacker before they get under the pulling guard or fullback. It also helps can help the Will linebacker by allowing him to be slower on running plays strong just in case a team tries to sneak a bootleg or a reverse in.

On the flip side you don't really give up much by calling Over Stick.

So why did the Bucs ever stop calling Over Stick?

Well this guy by the name of Simeon Rice came over in free agency and he wasn't a big fan of Over Stick. And when a guy who averages 10+ sacks a season speaks, people tend to listen.

But now I think is as good a time as any to bring it back. Teams have already seen the strong side defensive line stunts but they haven't seen the Buccaneers do much stunting on the weakside unless we were blitzing. So there is no reason to believe that the Saints offensive line would be ready for it.

But for me honestly the motivation has a lot to do with Stylez G. White. Because he plays right end it would usually be him running the Stick call. So far this year Stylez has all but refused to make any inside pass rush moves and its really hurting his game. This would pretty much force him to come inside and give the offensive tackle more to think about. It would also afford him the opportunity to get quick pressure on Drew Brees who doesn't tend to hold on to the ball very long nor take very deep drops. And the Saints are in fact a team that likes to run a lot of misdirection plays and reverses. Over Stick would allow Geno Hayes to hold his water a little bit and not get caught out of position.

And while Stylez is primarily the guy I think the call will help the most, whomever is in at defensive end on the weakside will have an opportunity to make plays with this call.

If you ask me it really is a no brainer about putting it back into the playbook, but hell what do I know?

Now as far as the Saints' offensive line, I had the opportunity to watch their game against the Panthers several times and I picked up on a couple of things I would like to share.

- The right tackle, Jon Stinchcomb, is a guy who likes to take a wide pass set rather than a deep one. His deal is getting his punch in on you and trying to make you widen right off the snap and or run right into him. The way to attack him is to run the hoop on him and don't stop. Running into him is what he wants so just be prepared to work a hands move off the snap and burn the corner because he is not good and recovering on quick speed rushers. The key is as I said running the hoop with your hips turned into the quarterback while you turn the corner. If you just run straight up the field with your hips parallel to the line of scrimmage then he is going to push you out and away from Brees, but if you can keep those hips turned in then its going to be harder for him to move you off your track.

He is also susceptible to a quick spin right off the line because he wants to use his punch so bad and because he opens up the B gap inside of him right off the snap. Those two moves will win all day quite honestly and there is no need to try to do much else.

- The two guards, Carl Nicks and Jahari Evans, are almost mirror images of each other. Both are really big guys. Both like to try to stun rushers at the line of scrimmage. And both are maulers in the run game.

To rush them you HAVE to stay on an edge. I'm sure our defensive tackles are strong, but its hard as hell to bull rush 350+. The good news is because they are quick setters most of the time, edge rushes can beat them right away. The also aren't necessarily all that good at blocking movement. So making a quick and decisive inside move also has a good chance of success.

In the run game its going to be imperative this week for guys to rip off their blocks inside. Evans and Nicks will get their hands on you and then throw you on the ground and the refs rarely call it. The one way to make it more obvious is to actually try to rip off the block and get to the ball. Then when you fall the jersey tug is a lot more noticeable.

- The center is Johnathan Goodwin and while he is big he is more of a finesse guy. He will wide reach a nosetackle and on double teams he seems to hesitate for a count to allow the nosetackle to get into him right before a guard comes and cleans them up. If ever there was a week to play a lot of G technique with the nosetackle over the guard instead of the center I would say its this one. But I also still believe that the G technique should be played with the inside hand down and the inside foot back but so far no one has tried it.

- The left tackle is Jermon Bushrod and he's good but you can definitely beat him like a drum with the right pass rush plan. What he does is get depth off the snap and tries to keep his shoulder's square to the line of scrimmage, then when you finally get to him he turns his shoulders and tries to ride you by the quarterback.

Because he doesn't turn his shoulders early and he gets depth off the snap a quick spin isn't really advisable on the right side. Maybe a quick rip or arm over inside where you can recover if you don't beat him clean, but if you try a quick spin he is in all likely hood going to own you.

The key to beating him on the edge is to get into him sooner rather than later and then quickly get off of him with a rip. He is already getting back pretty good on the snap and if you can go directly at him you should get to him before he has a chance to set up. You push him back a step or two and then rip off and you are right at the level Drew Brees likes on his five step drops. If you, however, try to run up the field and then bull rush him he will have set up by then and when you rip off you will end up behind Brees most of the time.

The other move is to use his set against him. Go speed rush around the corner and then right the level of the quarterback when you feel him trying to ride you by you plant hard and spin inside. At the point where he turns his shoulders he opens the door for the spin move. The fact that he wants to ride you by the quarterback means he is going to have a lot of his weight leaning forward. The first couple of times you do it he may well fall down.

Of course Drew Brees likes to get the ball out of his hands quick so even when guys win their one on ones it doesn't mean they will get sacks. But if they have a good rush plan we can get a lot of hits on Drew Brees this week. After watching their offensive line against the Panthers I don't see any reason why the Bucs can't go out there and dominate them. But they won't do it if they end up just running down the middle of the O Line.

Upon Further Review

Ok, I will admit that I was pretty bummed out about the Superbowl last night. I just really didn't see the Saints beating the Colts, and definitely not in such a resounding fashion. Then to make matters worse I hear the talking heads after the game spewing all manner of hyperbole about the game that I knew even at first glance was BS. So I figured I would watch the game again and post about what actually happened and why.

Here goes.

First of all, if I had a vote for the MVP of this game it wouldn't go to Drew Brees, although he played one helluva game. No, my MVP would have to be Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Over the years I have heard both offensive and defensive coordinators hyped up to unrealistic levels so I generally take it all with a grain of salt. But after watching the game a second time there is no doubt that Williams came out on top of his chess match with Peyton Manning. So that is where I will start this discussion.

The Saints began the game with a true 3-4 defensive alignment and personnel. That means they had one less defensive lineman than usual, and one more linebacker than normal. They inserted linebacker Kevin Mitchell into the line up and for the first quarter or so they stayed with it when the Colts came out with their two wide receiver packages. Now anybody will tell you that switching from a 4-3 defense to a true 3-4 in a matter of two weeks is almost impossible. This wasn't the Saints just going with a 3 man rush. They also had their outside linebackers, guys who were used to playing 5 yards off the ball most plays, up on the line and either pass rushing outside or covering the Colts tight end Dallas Clark and being physical with him.

When the Colts went to their 3 wide receiver sets, then the extra linebacker would go out and a defensive back would come in. The defensive back would then play over the slot receiver while both outside guys still lined up on the line which left Johnathan Vilma as the only inside linebacker in the box.

Maybe the most interesting and important note though is that the Saints decided to play a lot of man to man defense against the Colts. Whether it was 2 man under, Cover 1 or some form of matchup Cover 3, the Saints weren't afraid at all to get up on the Colts receivers and challenge them at the line of scrimmage. The Saints played 2 man in particular a large part of the game and its the main reason why Reggie Wayne didn't have a big day. They tried to funnel him outside and then roll Darren Sharper over the top of him and it worked most of the game.

Of course Peyton Manning is no slouch either so as the game went on he started to make adjustments too. It became apparent that when the Saints went to their nickel version of the 3-4 and Vilma was all alone in the middle that the Colts would be able to run the ball against that set up. So Manning started leaning on Joseph Addai and Donald Brown when he saw the Saints lined up that way. And when the Colts got their running game going then they were able to make the Saints respect their play action pass. On the touchdown to Pierre Garcon the Saints were in some form of Cover 2 or 2 man but Peyton noticed that the safety Roman Harper was rolled up closer to the line of scrimmage than normal. Once Garcon got inside the cornerback it was just a foot race between he and Harper and it was obvious who would win that one. Peyton puts the ball on the money and the Colts have a touchdown.

At that point Coach Williams makes an adjustment. Instead of having Vilma in the middle by himself when they run their 3-4 look with the nickel back in, he pulls one of the outside rushers back off the line with him, in most cases Scott Fujita, and he leaves the backside of the Colts formation open run fit wise. To be honest with you, the adjustment wasn't fundamentally sound at all. I mean eventually Williams made a little tweak and rolled down the safety to open side of the formation, but the truth is had the Colts noticed or been able to predict when the Saints would go with that defensive alignment, they could have gotten the corner on running plays with ease for big runs. But alas it didn't happen and Williams was able to get away with it. Its part of the reason why the Saints had more success against the run in the second half.

Its important to note here that even with all the personnel and alignment adjustments, Gregg Williams was still blitzing the hell out of Peyton. They didn't sack him and they didn't get any of the big hits he talked about before the game, but I did think a few time he had to rush some throws and maybe not put it where he would have liked.

Having said that Peyton was still masterful most of the game. One one drive he noticed that the Saints were in 2 man a lot and he ended up featuring Dallas Clark the whole way down the field. That is when they scored their second and final touchdown to go up 17-13 and things were still looking up for them.

Another thing the Saints did was go to their base 4-3 defense when the Colts were backed up or in the red zone. That is partly the reason why the Colts were unable to convert on 3rd and 1 before halftime because the Saints had their 4 man line plus a linebacker walked up and they were really stout against the run there. Of course running a fullback dive probably wasn't the best call in that situation either.

The Saints were also great at changing up their coverages at odd times and throwing Peyton some curve balls. He just about threw a pick right to Tracy Porter on an out route to Wayne when Porter, who was lined up on the slot receiver inside of Wayne at the snap, buzzed underneath the Wayne and ened up directly in the throwing lane. If that ball wasn't low and outside the Saints would have had two picks last night instead of one.

Now on the play that sealed the deal for the Saints I have to say that was the worst decision of the night for Manning. The Colts were down at that point 24-17 and driving to tie the score up. The Colts had Collie and Reggie Wayne on the same side with Collie out wide. For whatever reason they decided to motion Collie inside and have both he and Wayne run slant routes. Williams decided to send all 3 linebackers and rush Peyton with 6 guys. What that meant is that there were 5 guys left to defend the pass and the Colts had 3 wideouts and their tight end all out on routes. In theory this was Cover 1 where the two corners, the nickelback and a safety were in man to man with one safety back deep helping on go routes. In reality the one deep safety, Darren Sharper, actually came up to jump the slant route by Collie. Now the reason the decision for Manning to throw the ball to Wayne was a bad one is two fold.

For one, all game the Saints corners had been playing inside of the Colts wide receivers when they took an outside release. Because of the design of the play Wayne stemmed outside first and then tried to slant across Tracy Porter's face. But Porter was already sitting inside of the route and the truth is it didn't really take much of a break for him to pick it off and take it to the house.

For two, and more importantly, on the other side of the formation Garcon had one on one coverage with a rolled up corner who had no safety help. He beat his guy off the line and he was wide open for the deep ball. Peyton's protection held up and he had the time to throw that ball up to Garcon for a big play if not a touchdown. Instead he made the blind throw to Wayne and that didn't work out so well for him.

Now when it comes to the Colts defense against Drew Brees and the Saints offense, all I can say is that it looked like somebody kidnapped Larry Coyer and the ghost of Ron Meeks was coaching the Colts D yesterday. I am probably being generous if I say the Colts blitzed five times the whole game yesterday. And on a couple of those blitzes the nickelback didn't even really rush Brees, but instead kind of got caught in no man's land. Half way into a rush and half way trying to stay back in coverage.

To make matters worse not only did the Colts not switch up their coverages much all game, but they also allowed the Saint's wide receivers and tight ends to get free releases for the overwhelming majority much of the game. It was as if they were so afraid of them that they were scared to touch them.

So they didn't send any pressure to try to disrupt Brees' rhythm AND they didn't chuck the receivers to try to disrupt their rhythm either.

Who the hell thought that was a good idea?!

It got so bad that after spending much of the first half keeping guys in to chip on the Colts' rushers and leak out late as well as putting in a back up tackle at tight end to help out on protections, in the 4th quarter the Saints started releasing 5 guys out into routes on a regular basis without even a hint of chipping. Aside from the one big sack by Dwight Freeney, the Colts didn't sniff Brees for most of the game. And I will tell you this much, if they ever hope to be able to win another Superbowl, they are going to have to get some inside guys who can pass rush.

Also it was embarrassing to see the Colts defense get caught not lined up and confused several times during the game. I mean its not like they were running anything new but yet and still the Saints were able to quick count them and get cheap first downs just because they couldn't get lined up correctly before the snap. And while I am on the subject starting outside linebacker Phillip Wheeler looked like confused damn near the whole game.

That's not about talent. That's poor coaching, plain and simple.

I don't want to take anything away from Brees' performance last night because it was truly awesome. But I bet you dollars to donuts that by the 4th quarter he had to be feeling like he was throwing against a scout team. He had plenty of time on most of his throws and he was hitting guys who were wide freaking open. Marques Colston was killing the Colts in the seams, especially when he lined up in the slot, but you never saw the Colts adjust and try to get physical with him at the line of scrimmage. In short the Colts defense made it too easy for a quarterback like Brees and an offensive mind like Saints head coach Sean Payton to march up and down the field.

Still even with the performance by the Saints offense, I would have to give my game ball to Coach Williams. The reasons are as follows.

1. Sean Payton called another silly ass end around that lost 8 yards and almost took his team out of scoring range. It ended up not being a big deal per se because they picked up a first down on the next play putting them on the 3 yard line. But from there they weren't able to get the ball in with 4 tries and had to turn the ball over on downs.

2. Even the folks who picked the Saints to win probably never could have imagined that they would hold the Colts to just 17 points. I know I didn't. Coach Williams' ability to adjust as the game went on was the deciding factor in the game in my opinion.

Now for all of the bullshit analysis you will hear over the next few days about how the Saints "dominated" the Colts and out played them for three quarters, lets be clear about a few things. For the overwhelming majority of the first 3 quarters the Colts were leading the game. In fact going into the 4th quarter the Colts were still up a point. And with a little over 5 minutes left they were driving to tie up the score at 24 all. In fact one play in particular in the 2nd quarter could have changed the whole complexion of the game. On 3rd and 2 the Saints blitzed Peyton again and played man to man but this time the Colts had the perfect play on. They ran a bunch of crossing routes and had Garcon run a crossing route in the opposite direction underneath them. He got off the line well and Peyton hit him in stride right in his hands. If he doesn't drop that ball he had nothing but green grass in front of him. Sharper, was going in the opposite direction trailing one of the deeper crossing routes and was in no position to make a play on him. It would have been a foot race at that point that would have ended in either a touchdown or a very long gain.

That didn't happen of course and instead of going up 17-3 or even 13-3 the Colts ended the half only up 10-6. And because of that the onside kick they recovered right out of the halftime took on a much bigger significance.

All in all it was a great game and the Saints went out and took that win. But don't be fooled by the chattering classes, that loss fell on more than just Peyton Manning for the Colts. I hope at some point someone asks Coyer what the rationale was for not blitzing Brees especially when his best pass rushing defensive lineman was less than 100%. It made no sense to me and contributed greatly to the Saints not only scoring but possessing the ball for long stretches of time.

On the flip side my hats off to Gregg Williams. On the biggest stage in the NFL going against one of the best quarterbacks to ever do it, he is the one who ended up with checkmate.

A Tale Of Two Halfs

The first half of the Superbowl went almost exactly how I envisioned it. The Saints moved the ball but couldn't get in the endzone. Dwight Freeney started the game and got a big sack. The Saints ran another ill advised reverse/end around that ended up not hurting them but still lost 7 yards. The Colts got up 4 points on them and they were going to get the ball first in the second half probably to go up 11 points. And then, with an onside kick to start the second half, the game totally changed.

Once the Saints were able to turn the tables and go up on the Colts everything worked in reverse. Not only did Peyton end up throwing a pick six with his team down seven and him pressing to make a play, Matt Stover missed a field goal while his counterpart on the Saints Matt Hartley made all 3 of his. I was even right/wrong about the winning team winning by a touchdown or more. Just in this case it was the Saints, not the Colts, winning it going away.

I take my hat off to the Saints, they made the plays when they had to. They showed incredible moxy coming out down against the vaunted Colts offense and doing what they had to do to change the game. Drew Brees was almost flawless and Pierre Thomas had a HUGE day for them. Their defense also made big plays at critical times including stopping the Colts on 3rd and 1 right before the half which forced them to punt and set up their second field goal to cut the Colts lead down to 4.

I admit I called this one wrong, it happens to everybody I guess. But I don't have to like it!

LOL

Superbowl Prediction, Colts Vs Saints

I had too much to say so I had to break it up into two videos. Enjoy.

Bull Rush

My latest edition of Bull Rush is up over at joebucsfan. Check it out and leave a comment!

Bucs Win Bucs Win Bucs Win!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah I called it but like I told yall I am still a fan at heart. I was up in here doing my touchdown celebration when that FG went in just like I am sure some of you were. I don't give a damn about what happened the rest of this season or what they will do with Coach Morris after next week, but got dammit this win made me proud. Talk about Buc ball baby. I will put something else up after I calm down a little but this is the best I can do right now.

I can't wait to hear how people will try to explain away THIS win away!!!


YESSIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Live Blogging The Bucs Vs Saints #2 Week 16

Bull Rush

My latest edition of Bull Rush is up over at joebucsfan.com. Go check it out and let me know what you think!

Who Done It?

If there is one thing that I hate almost as much as the Bucs losing this season, its the chattering of sports pundits and some fans who really don't know a lot about football. Every single week these pundits say and those fans repeat some of the most erroneous reasoning you can imagine about why we didn't play well on offense or defense. Today is yet another example of this phenomenon.

The Saints ran the ball down our throats in the second half today but diagnosing WHY they ran the ball down our throats is always harder than just saying this group or that group got their ass kicked. Unfortunately nowadays people LOVE to blame one group or another whether its really their fault or not. Hell I even saw a play today where the Saints got a big run against the defense and the announcers showed the replay and totally missed who was actually responsible for the run breaking because they were too busy trying to give credit to a Saints offensive lineman who in reality didn't even make all that great of a block.

So I have decided to go through and break down the big runs that happened in the second half and tell you who was at fault. At least then after you have read this post you can speak more intelligently about what our problems are on defense at least for this game.

1. 3rd Quarter 6:55

The Saints were in a one back set. They had a tight end and two wide receivers to the defense's right and one wide receiver to the defense's left. The tight end backed off of the line and then motioned to the left and then motioned back out to the right so that he was just outside of our right defensive end, Tim Crowder, on the snap.

Defensively our defensive line was in a strong right call which meant that our right end, Crowder, was in a head up position initially on the tight end. The right defensive tackle, Chris Hovan, was in the B gap outside of the left guard, the weak tackle, Ryan Sims was head up on the right guard, and Jimmy Wilkerson was lined up outside of the right tackle. The defensive call told both Crowder and Hovan to slant inside. We were in nickel defense with Ronde Barber on the inside receiver on the defensive right side of the formation and Torrie Cox lined up at corner to that side. And we were in some form of cover 2 with both safeties deep.

On the snap of the football the receivers on the right side of the formation both blocked the Cox and Barber. The tight end blocked down on the slanting Crowder. The left tackle pulled outside of the tight end. The left guard and center double teamed the slanting Hovan, the right guard blocked inside on Sims and the right tackle went up to the safety.

Now on this play when the tackle pulls Barrett Ruud has to spill that block which he did a good job of. But then Geno Hayes has to be fast over the top of that block in order to make the tackle. He took a bad angle and missed the tackle so instead of holding the running back, Pierre Thomas to about a 3 or 4 yard gain it ended up being an 18 yard gain.

Culprit: Geno Hayes.

2. The very next play.

The Saints come out with another one back set initially. There is a tight end in a two point stance on the line to the defense's left and one wide receiver on that side. And there is a tight end lined up off the ball to the defense's right side and one wide receiver to that side as well.

The Bucs called the strength to the defense's left. That meant Wilkerson was lined up outside of the tight end on the defense's left, Sims was lined up in the B gap on the right guard, Roy Miller in for Hovan was head up on the left guard and Crowder was lined up on the outside shoulder of the left tackle. We had base defense in so Quincy Black was back in at Sam linebacker to the left. The coverage was once again some form of cover 2 with both safeties deep.

Before the snap the tight end off the ball motioned back into the backfield creating an I set. On the snap the tight end to the defense's left base blocked Wilkerson to the outside in the D gap. The right tackle and right guard double teamed Sims. The center and left guard double teamed Miller. The left tackle attempted to base block Crowder but he made a pretty good move to defeat the block and slide off inside. The tight end now playing fullback led up on Ruud who took it on with his left shoulder. Black filled the frontside A gap because of the fullback's block. And Hayes filled the backside B gap.

There was just one problem, nobody was in the C gap inside of Wilkerson. And because of that the running back, Mike Bell, cut back in said C gap and took off for 28 yards.

Now there are two choices here as to who is at fault. Either Wilkerson was supposed to be head up on the tight end in which case he would have C gap and he would be at fault, OR the defense was set up for him to be outside the tight end in which case the design of the defense was faulty and the defensive coordinator at fault. Now there is some evidence from the rest of the game that has me leaning in a certain direction on this one but I will split the difference and blame them both and let you figure it out.

Culprit: Jimmy Wilkerson or Jim Bates.

3. 5:17 still in the 3rd quarter 2nd down and 2 at our 16 yard line.

This was the same exact play literally as play number 2 however this time we had Kyle Moore in at right defensive end and Michael Bennett in as left defensive end. And just like Wilkerson Bennett played the tight end block to the outside and just like on the earlier play Bell cut back to the C gap and nobody was there. He ended up with 13 yard on that carry. Again I will let you decide who was ultimately guilty here.

Culprit: Michael Bennett or Jim Bates.

4. Very next play.

The Saints come out in an I back set with the tight end to the defense's left. There is one wide receiver to the left and one wide receiver to the right.

We had a strong left call on. Bennett at left end lines up outside the tight end. Sims was in the B gap outside the right guard. Miller was head up on the left guard. Moore was lined up outside the left tackle. We were still in base defense with Black in the game.

On the snap the tight end goes up to block Black who takes him on and sheds the block. The right tackle and right guard double team Sims. The center blocked back on Miller. The left guard pulled to the defense's left and went up on Ruud who correctly spilled the block. The left tackle hinge blocked on Moore. Hayes didn't read the pulling guard on his side and instead went up into the line and ended up getting caught up in the wash. He was the guy who Ruud thought he was spilling the play to. Once again Hayes wasn't there over the top and so Black along with Sabby Piscitelli and Tanard Jackson all tried to make the tackle but Bell ended up spinning off of them into the endzone.

Culprits: Primary Geno Hayes, Secondarily because of missed tackles Sabby Piscitelli, Quincy Black, and Tanard Jackson.

5. 3rd quarter 00:42 left 1st and 10

The Saints come out with an I backfield set. They have two tight ends to the defense's left with one on the ball and the other outside of him off the ball. They have a wide receiver to the defense's right. Before the snap the tight end off the ball motions to the defense's right until they are in front of our right defensive end.

The defense is in a strong left call. The left end is Bennett who lines up outside of the tight end. Sims lines up in the B gap outside of the right guard. Miller is lined up head up on the left guard. Moore was lined up outside of the left tackle. We were in base defense with Black lined up on the left side. The coverage looks to be some form of cover 3 with Sabby Piscitelli down in the box to the left side.

On the snap of the ball the tight end base blocked Bennett. The right tackle went up and blocked Black. The right guard base blocked Sims. The center went up to block Ruud. The left guard blocked down on Miller. The left tackle went up and blocked Hayes inside. The tight end who came over in motion cuts Moore at his inside leg and gets him on the ground keeping him from staying in the C gap. Ronde who came over with the motion ends up blitzing behind the tight end's block. The fullback led up on Piscitelli. Thomas starts behind his fullback then cuts back into the C gap where Moore is supposed to be. He ends up picking up 24 yards on that run.

Culprit: Kyle Moore

6. 4th quarter 12:15 3rd and 7

The Saints came out in an I back field with two wide receivers to the defense's left and one wide receiver to the defense's right.

We were in our 3rd down package with Bennett at left end, Wilkerson at left defensive tackle, Hovan at right defensive tackle, and Greg (Stylez) White at right end. In our 3rd down package both defensive tackles line up in the B gap outside the guards. Ruud and Hayes were both still in at linebacker.

Now in this case Bates dialed up a blitz. In this blitz Hovan takes an outside rush in his B gap. Ruud blitzed through the right side A gap. And White looped inside to the opposite A gap. Wilkerson rushes upfield in the B gap and Bennett rushes outside the offensive tackle.

The Saints had their offensive line take a pass set. And then the fullback led up on Hayes. He took the block on with his right shoulder and turned it back to the right side of the defense. White had chance to make the tackle in the backfield but I am not sure he saw Thomas carrying the ball till the last minute. So he missed the tackle. Then Corey Lynch had an opportunity to tackle Thomas for maybe a one yard gain. Instead Thomas ran straight through his tackle attempt. And finally at the end of the run Piscitelli had a chance to hold Thomas to about 10 yards on the carry but instead Thomas made a spin move and Piscitelli also missed the tackle. In the end he gained 18 yards all told.

Culprits: Greg (Stylez) White, Corey Lynch, and Sabby Piscitelli.

Well there you have it folks. Those 6 plays accounted for 104 rushing yards and a touchdown in yesterday's game against the Saints. Now I am sure it would be hard to condense all that information into a nice and neat soundbite for TV or radio but it is what it is. Just remember the next time you hear somebody saying X group was THE reason why we didn't perform on defense, more than likely they don't know what the hell they are talking about.

It is what it is.

Live Blogging The Bucs Vs Saints Week 11