Film analysis of week 2
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 12:59 pm
Cassel vs Blitz (More than 4-man Pressure)
13 plays
5-for-9 85 YDS, 0TD, 0INT, 0FUM, 4SACK (1 net yds rushing), 4 1st downs
Cadence issues:2
Notes:
1st Quarter
1) 13:43 3rd & 10 at our own 20, Cassel out of the shotgun with 3 wide, and rudy split-
-Identified the 5-man pressure, executed the quick throw, got CREAMED by two guys, but stood and delivered a liner to rudolph for 16 yds -1st down.
2)13:12 1st & 10 at our own 36, Cassel under center with 2WR 1RB 1TE, rudolph in motion-
-Identified the 5-man pressure, had quite a bit of time, Stepped up and made a strong throw to rudolph for 9 yds.
3)11:50 1st & 10 at NE 49, Cassel under center, 2WR 1RB 1TE, Cordarrelle motions to the backfield behind Asiata
-On a play-action drop, Cassel quickly identified the 5-man pressure, lengthened his drop visibly, and lobbed a nice wide-open strike to Ellison for 24 yds -1st down.
----NOTE: On the 25-yard touchdown pass to Asiata immediately after the above play 3), We again went with play-action, fooled half of the defense, and when Cassel turned around for his bootleg, he saw he had only 3-man Pressure, even though one was steaming towards him rather quickly (since we pulled half the line), Finds Asiata as a defender is barreling down in his face. Good throw. Mainly a great playcall in my opinion- with the line pulling, and the great play-action.
----NOTE: On the 1st interception:
TERRIFIC BLOCKING ON THE PLAY
Matt Cassel had a ridiculous amount of time in the pocket, extremely clean back there, he held the ball for 4 1/2 seconds, and just made a terrible read on Devin McCourty, he saw McCourty closer to the other side of the field and threw up an abysmal hanging duck, WAY BEHIND Jarius, easily sniped by an athletic FS like McCourty. This play STILL PISSES ME OFF. Jarius had 2 steps on the CB and if the ball was placed correctly its a TD. That said, It was only one play, only one bad read, Cassel should be able to bounce back..... P.S. almost a pick 6, this is what started the cascading landslide of a game for us.. huge momentum shift
4) 0:30 1st & 10 from our own 20, Big set Cassel under center, although the initial push was only with 3 men, our line crumbled for the FIRST TIME WATCHING THIS FILM. once the 3 guys started getting in there, 2 more guys swarmed in to try to close off the pocket gaps resulting in a 5-man delayed pressure. Play-action, matt just got flushed out immediately and got down for the sack. Could have been uglier, nice job MC.
2nd Quarter
5) 14:21 3rd & 10 from our own 20, Cassel out of the gun, 3WR- Rudy split. Identified 6-man pressure, but although he made the throw on time, and wasn't hit, the Hurry affected his throw. It was an easy wide-open out to Rudolph, and he just threw it too long. Bad throw, good pocket. I think the pick(almost)6 affected him mentally there.. just my observation and opinion.
6) 14:13 1st & 10 from our own 25, Cassel under center 2WR 2TE 1RB
-On play-action, Cassel quickly Identifies 6-man pressure upon turning around. As the pocket collapses around him, he wastes no time stepping up and abandoning it-scampering to the left for a gain of 13 yds -1st Down.
-----NOTE: 2nd Interception
13:37 2nd & 10 from our own 38, Cassel out of the shotgun, 3WR Rudy split.
Identifies STANDARD 4-MAN RUSH, had ALL THE TIME A QB SHOULD NEED in the clean pocket (5 seconds). Horribly overthrows Greg Jennings, and Darrelle Revis says thank you for the early birthday present. This play Pisses me off during re-watching -the decision was worse than the throw (Revis was blanketing Jennings the whole time) ..... It is now obvious that Cassel's confidence is going down the drain
7) 8:05 3rd & 4 from our own 24, Shotgun, 3WR rudy split, Identifies 6-man pressure quickly, Checks down to the outside hitch to Cordarrelle for a gain of 10 -1st down. (The throw was very risky barely got it to the outside shoulder, and if the DB turned his head around quicker, could have been ugly) (On the VERY NEXT PLAY, he had a 4-man pressure, and threw the ball to CP again in the same area - Bad throw almost picked)
8 ) 2:00 3rd & 3 from our own 24, shotgun 3WR rudy split
-Identifies 5-man Pressure, as the pocket collapses around him, he delivers a nice strike as he gets hit to Cordarrelle (WHO MADE A GOOD ADJUSTMENT ON THE ROUTE TO GET OPEN) Gain of 26 yds - 1st down.
9) 0:56 2nd & 1 from NE 28, Shotgun 3WR Rudy split, Identifies 5-man pressure rather quickly. Had AMPLE TIME IN THE CLEAN POCKET (yet again). Able to step into his throw cleanly. OVERTHROWS Rudy by at least 6 yards. (Rudolph had 2-steps on the defender)
This is a SIMPLE EASY TD if Cassel doesn't overthrow him. Very Frustrating to watch.....
----NOTE: 2 plays after 9) Cassel Faces a 3-man pressure, and delivers another overthrow, about 6 feet above Asiata's head.... (Minimal pressure)
----NOTE: FG BLOCK, our whole right side of our line just got BLOWN UP.... Sad to re-watch (15 seconds before half).... I ultimately, yet unfairly put this on Cassel. This whole drive he has made bad throws in clean pockets and not been decisive (holding on to the ball WAY too long)
3rd Quarter
----NOTE: 3rd INTERCEPTION (Most Frustrating) 9:47 2nd & 10 from our own 26
Shotgun 3WR Rudy split
-on a standard 4-man pressure, In the Midst of the CLEANEST POCKET you can imagine, (No joke 4-seconds, and when he released the ball, the closest guy was just getting worked by Phil Loadholt 3 YARDS AWAY from Matt) Matt Just made a terrible decision. The CB completely just baited him into the throw, and Cassel threw a bad ball behind Cordarrelle over the middle to compound the situation.... Just so ugly on this one guys n' gals... After this play, and quite curiously- A lot of dropped balls started occurring...
10) 7:39 3rd & 8 from our own 34, Shotgun 3WR Rudy split (this is clearly our favorite formation)
Cassel Identifies 6-man pressure, and once again holds the ball to long. (after his first read is covered he looks lost and just hangs out back there. DECENT BLOCKING IN THE MIDST OF A BIG BLITZ - Cassel had 4.2 seconds....) Cassel sacked for -8 yds
4th Quarter
----NOTE: ( See above play for description) 14:37 2nd & 7 from our own 24 (man I've typed this alot) Shotgun 3WR rudy split
Sack, for -2 yds after a standard 3-man pressure, Cassel holds on to the ball for 5 1/2 seconds.... just abysmal...
11) 14:05 3rd & 10 from our own 20
Shotgun 3WR Rudy split (wouldn't ya know it?)
Cassel Identifies 5-man pressure, and with Ample time in the pocket, delivers a good throw to Greg Jennings. Which hits him perfectly in stride over the middle in both hands- which he curiously drops... I'm beginning to wonder if this offense is sending our coaching staff a message.. just sayin. Kyle and Greg don't drop these balls..
12) 7:26 1st & 10 from our own 33
Shotgun, you know which formation by now
an Obvious overload blitz pre-snap, NE only ends up sending a delayed 5th man on the pressure, Which Cassel clearly having Gorilla glue on his hands at this point. After 4 seconds in the pocket, Cassel just stands there and gets strip-sacked. Luckily Matt Asiata had good awareness to recover. Gain of 0.
----NOTE: 4th Interception (Typing that makes me CRINGE for our team)
On the very next play after 12) on a 4-man pressure, Cassel takes another 4 1/2 seconds, and finds a way to make a bad throw to Asiata over the middle. He was literally 4 yards in front of him, and Cassel threw it way behind a slanting Asiata, who tipped the ball up because it hit him around the head) INT
----NOTE: almost 5th interception 1:27 on 1st & 10 in the midst of another clean pocket, this is ridiculous. Although a Pass interference was called.
13) 1:23 1st & 10 from NE 40
You know which formation.
Identifies a 5-man pressure quickly, this time the line gave up. Cassel only had 3 seconds before he got sacked..
----NOTE: 0:45 Jarius Wright drops an easy TD , on a good throw from Matt...
Extra notes: Although he made some plays against the blitz early, Matt's struggles were just as often when he had a completely clean pocket as opposed to the alternative. Overthrows, staring down receivers, etc...
At times the line allowed <4-man pressures to blow up the pocket and on a few occasions Cassel was hurried by 1-3 guys-That being said, there are way more gaps to step-up and avoid the pressure by climbing the pocket in those situations, which Cassel rarely did. After the first 2 picks, you can clearly see Cassel is rattled. He overthrows guys when he has 3-6 seconds in clean pockets and he just looks more tense...
Overall Takeaways.. I have heard since sunday afternoon that our O-Line was to blame.. Well this simply isn't true upon re-watching the game a few times, and observing critically. EVERY one of Matt's INTs came against a non-blitz situation. And today, more often than not, Cassel was putting himself in bad situations by holding on to the ball too long. It was clear that he got rattled early on and struggled to find his rhythm thereafter. Ultimately this was not the o-lines fault, this was not the receivers' fault, this was not the defenses fault. This result can be directly attributed to Cassel's decision and accuracy issues.I HOPE THAT HE CAN HAVE A SHORT MEMORY AND GO OUT THERE AND BE A STUD FOR US NEXT WEEK
I have some confidence that he can put this week behind him, work with Norv this week and try to correct the issues. It is only ONE week guys... and almost everything that happened this week is correctable. (believe it or not) Even though this game was 30-7, it really was only a couple of plays that changed the game.
Our defense wasn't as terrible as it may have seemed on the surface either..
If anyone would like a defensive analysis or another metric observed, please let me know as I will try to do this for our forum. I like watching the Viking's and analyzing how close we are to being good ;D
13 plays
5-for-9 85 YDS, 0TD, 0INT, 0FUM, 4SACK (1 net yds rushing), 4 1st downs
Cadence issues:2
Notes:
1st Quarter
1) 13:43 3rd & 10 at our own 20, Cassel out of the shotgun with 3 wide, and rudy split-
-Identified the 5-man pressure, executed the quick throw, got CREAMED by two guys, but stood and delivered a liner to rudolph for 16 yds -1st down.
2)13:12 1st & 10 at our own 36, Cassel under center with 2WR 1RB 1TE, rudolph in motion-
-Identified the 5-man pressure, had quite a bit of time, Stepped up and made a strong throw to rudolph for 9 yds.
3)11:50 1st & 10 at NE 49, Cassel under center, 2WR 1RB 1TE, Cordarrelle motions to the backfield behind Asiata
-On a play-action drop, Cassel quickly identified the 5-man pressure, lengthened his drop visibly, and lobbed a nice wide-open strike to Ellison for 24 yds -1st down.
----NOTE: On the 25-yard touchdown pass to Asiata immediately after the above play 3), We again went with play-action, fooled half of the defense, and when Cassel turned around for his bootleg, he saw he had only 3-man Pressure, even though one was steaming towards him rather quickly (since we pulled half the line), Finds Asiata as a defender is barreling down in his face. Good throw. Mainly a great playcall in my opinion- with the line pulling, and the great play-action.
----NOTE: On the 1st interception:
TERRIFIC BLOCKING ON THE PLAY
Matt Cassel had a ridiculous amount of time in the pocket, extremely clean back there, he held the ball for 4 1/2 seconds, and just made a terrible read on Devin McCourty, he saw McCourty closer to the other side of the field and threw up an abysmal hanging duck, WAY BEHIND Jarius, easily sniped by an athletic FS like McCourty. This play STILL PISSES ME OFF. Jarius had 2 steps on the CB and if the ball was placed correctly its a TD. That said, It was only one play, only one bad read, Cassel should be able to bounce back..... P.S. almost a pick 6, this is what started the cascading landslide of a game for us.. huge momentum shift
4) 0:30 1st & 10 from our own 20, Big set Cassel under center, although the initial push was only with 3 men, our line crumbled for the FIRST TIME WATCHING THIS FILM. once the 3 guys started getting in there, 2 more guys swarmed in to try to close off the pocket gaps resulting in a 5-man delayed pressure. Play-action, matt just got flushed out immediately and got down for the sack. Could have been uglier, nice job MC.
2nd Quarter
5) 14:21 3rd & 10 from our own 20, Cassel out of the gun, 3WR- Rudy split. Identified 6-man pressure, but although he made the throw on time, and wasn't hit, the Hurry affected his throw. It was an easy wide-open out to Rudolph, and he just threw it too long. Bad throw, good pocket. I think the pick(almost)6 affected him mentally there.. just my observation and opinion.
6) 14:13 1st & 10 from our own 25, Cassel under center 2WR 2TE 1RB
-On play-action, Cassel quickly Identifies 6-man pressure upon turning around. As the pocket collapses around him, he wastes no time stepping up and abandoning it-scampering to the left for a gain of 13 yds -1st Down.
-----NOTE: 2nd Interception
13:37 2nd & 10 from our own 38, Cassel out of the shotgun, 3WR Rudy split.
Identifies STANDARD 4-MAN RUSH, had ALL THE TIME A QB SHOULD NEED in the clean pocket (5 seconds). Horribly overthrows Greg Jennings, and Darrelle Revis says thank you for the early birthday present. This play Pisses me off during re-watching -the decision was worse than the throw (Revis was blanketing Jennings the whole time) ..... It is now obvious that Cassel's confidence is going down the drain
7) 8:05 3rd & 4 from our own 24, Shotgun, 3WR rudy split, Identifies 6-man pressure quickly, Checks down to the outside hitch to Cordarrelle for a gain of 10 -1st down. (The throw was very risky barely got it to the outside shoulder, and if the DB turned his head around quicker, could have been ugly) (On the VERY NEXT PLAY, he had a 4-man pressure, and threw the ball to CP again in the same area - Bad throw almost picked)
8 ) 2:00 3rd & 3 from our own 24, shotgun 3WR rudy split
-Identifies 5-man Pressure, as the pocket collapses around him, he delivers a nice strike as he gets hit to Cordarrelle (WHO MADE A GOOD ADJUSTMENT ON THE ROUTE TO GET OPEN) Gain of 26 yds - 1st down.
9) 0:56 2nd & 1 from NE 28, Shotgun 3WR Rudy split, Identifies 5-man pressure rather quickly. Had AMPLE TIME IN THE CLEAN POCKET (yet again). Able to step into his throw cleanly. OVERTHROWS Rudy by at least 6 yards. (Rudolph had 2-steps on the defender)
This is a SIMPLE EASY TD if Cassel doesn't overthrow him. Very Frustrating to watch.....
----NOTE: 2 plays after 9) Cassel Faces a 3-man pressure, and delivers another overthrow, about 6 feet above Asiata's head.... (Minimal pressure)
----NOTE: FG BLOCK, our whole right side of our line just got BLOWN UP.... Sad to re-watch (15 seconds before half).... I ultimately, yet unfairly put this on Cassel. This whole drive he has made bad throws in clean pockets and not been decisive (holding on to the ball WAY too long)
3rd Quarter
----NOTE: 3rd INTERCEPTION (Most Frustrating) 9:47 2nd & 10 from our own 26
Shotgun 3WR Rudy split
-on a standard 4-man pressure, In the Midst of the CLEANEST POCKET you can imagine, (No joke 4-seconds, and when he released the ball, the closest guy was just getting worked by Phil Loadholt 3 YARDS AWAY from Matt) Matt Just made a terrible decision. The CB completely just baited him into the throw, and Cassel threw a bad ball behind Cordarrelle over the middle to compound the situation.... Just so ugly on this one guys n' gals... After this play, and quite curiously- A lot of dropped balls started occurring...
10) 7:39 3rd & 8 from our own 34, Shotgun 3WR Rudy split (this is clearly our favorite formation)
Cassel Identifies 6-man pressure, and once again holds the ball to long. (after his first read is covered he looks lost and just hangs out back there. DECENT BLOCKING IN THE MIDST OF A BIG BLITZ - Cassel had 4.2 seconds....) Cassel sacked for -8 yds
4th Quarter
----NOTE: ( See above play for description) 14:37 2nd & 7 from our own 24 (man I've typed this alot) Shotgun 3WR rudy split
Sack, for -2 yds after a standard 3-man pressure, Cassel holds on to the ball for 5 1/2 seconds.... just abysmal...
11) 14:05 3rd & 10 from our own 20
Shotgun 3WR Rudy split (wouldn't ya know it?)
Cassel Identifies 5-man pressure, and with Ample time in the pocket, delivers a good throw to Greg Jennings. Which hits him perfectly in stride over the middle in both hands- which he curiously drops... I'm beginning to wonder if this offense is sending our coaching staff a message.. just sayin. Kyle and Greg don't drop these balls..
12) 7:26 1st & 10 from our own 33
Shotgun, you know which formation by now
an Obvious overload blitz pre-snap, NE only ends up sending a delayed 5th man on the pressure, Which Cassel clearly having Gorilla glue on his hands at this point. After 4 seconds in the pocket, Cassel just stands there and gets strip-sacked. Luckily Matt Asiata had good awareness to recover. Gain of 0.
----NOTE: 4th Interception (Typing that makes me CRINGE for our team)
On the very next play after 12) on a 4-man pressure, Cassel takes another 4 1/2 seconds, and finds a way to make a bad throw to Asiata over the middle. He was literally 4 yards in front of him, and Cassel threw it way behind a slanting Asiata, who tipped the ball up because it hit him around the head) INT
----NOTE: almost 5th interception 1:27 on 1st & 10 in the midst of another clean pocket, this is ridiculous. Although a Pass interference was called.
13) 1:23 1st & 10 from NE 40
You know which formation.
Identifies a 5-man pressure quickly, this time the line gave up. Cassel only had 3 seconds before he got sacked..
----NOTE: 0:45 Jarius Wright drops an easy TD , on a good throw from Matt...
Extra notes: Although he made some plays against the blitz early, Matt's struggles were just as often when he had a completely clean pocket as opposed to the alternative. Overthrows, staring down receivers, etc...
At times the line allowed <4-man pressures to blow up the pocket and on a few occasions Cassel was hurried by 1-3 guys-That being said, there are way more gaps to step-up and avoid the pressure by climbing the pocket in those situations, which Cassel rarely did. After the first 2 picks, you can clearly see Cassel is rattled. He overthrows guys when he has 3-6 seconds in clean pockets and he just looks more tense...
Overall Takeaways.. I have heard since sunday afternoon that our O-Line was to blame.. Well this simply isn't true upon re-watching the game a few times, and observing critically. EVERY one of Matt's INTs came against a non-blitz situation. And today, more often than not, Cassel was putting himself in bad situations by holding on to the ball too long. It was clear that he got rattled early on and struggled to find his rhythm thereafter. Ultimately this was not the o-lines fault, this was not the receivers' fault, this was not the defenses fault. This result can be directly attributed to Cassel's decision and accuracy issues.I HOPE THAT HE CAN HAVE A SHORT MEMORY AND GO OUT THERE AND BE A STUD FOR US NEXT WEEK
I have some confidence that he can put this week behind him, work with Norv this week and try to correct the issues. It is only ONE week guys... and almost everything that happened this week is correctable. (believe it or not) Even though this game was 30-7, it really was only a couple of plays that changed the game.
Our defense wasn't as terrible as it may have seemed on the surface either..
If anyone would like a defensive analysis or another metric observed, please let me know as I will try to do this for our forum. I like watching the Viking's and analyzing how close we are to being good ;D