Not the all 22 thread but...

I couldn't wait to see the all 22 on this play and now I wish that I hadn't watched it to a certain extent. This play illustrates the single biggest issue that I have with Russ's play style. Waits entirely too long at times for guys to "be" open before he lets the ball go.

Please keep in mind that this is one play. It's not something that we see on every down but we do see it on some pretty significant downs.



If he lets this go when Graham is around the 47 yard line, he can hit him in stride with no defender within a few yards at the time of the catch (imo). Rather than an inc pass, it's probably caught around the Dallas 45 and run for another 10-15 yards minimum.

Here's the glass half full me though; If they can coach him out of this habit, we're going to see some really cool plays to Graham and Lockett at some point. He saw it, he just didn't pull the trigger until the defense saw it as well.

Here is the broadcast version of the play.

Jimmy wasn't looking for the ball until he was past where he should have caught the ball. I think the play design should change and Jimmy should start looking for the ball as soon as he makes the cut. That ball should have been caught on the freaking star in the center of the field.

Looks to me this was going to be Lockett's ball, but Lockett was double teamed at the time that Russell had pressure he went for the safe route with Graham. It looked like the Defense knew it was going to either one of them, as the flow of the defense all went to that side. They should have split Graham on the other side, would of been a much better concept imo which would of left Lockett with one on one with his defender. I could also be totally wrong.

theincrediblesok":3n7q5jt9 said:

Looks to me this was going to be Lockett's ball, but Lockett was double teamed at the time that Russell had pressure he went for the safe route with Graham. It looked like the Defense knew it was going to either one of them, as the flow of the defense all went to that side. They should have split Graham on the other side, would of been a much better concept imo which would of left Lockett with one on one with his defender. I could also be totally wrong.

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The safety is over the top the entire time and is keying on Lockett initially. I don't see why Russ would wait to see what happens with Lockett's route while Jimmy is wide open for a huge gain. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm wrong all the time, hoping someone will explain why in this case.

Looks like it should be an easy decision to me.

I saw this play real time and agree(d) with you Laloosh: the ball was out too late, and he also hung it up too high.

This is my biggest problem with Russ: he doesn't anticipate guys being open. The truly elite guys (like Brady, Brees, P. Manning) throw their guys open. The guy makes his break, looks up, and the ball is on the way. The receiver then adjusts to it before the defense can. This is also why the saying "a perfect pass beats perfect coverage" has a lot of truth to it.

We can go back and finds dozens of these, just this year. Lockett is open a ton, but Russ won't lead him or anticipate it. Richardson coming back likely won't help this: PRich gets great separation and is clearly open a lot. Defenders respect his speed so much, that come backs and outs worked really well for him, as the CB was already 7 yards off of him.

That said, it's not a huge knock on Russ. This might be the hardest thing a QB has to learn: not hitting a guy when he's there, but hitting a spot where your guy SHOULD be, and hoping he sees it the same way you do and gets there. Personally, I couldn't just throw a ball up to an open spot without the WR right there. I'd feel like I was hanging a ball up there for an INT.

Unfortunately this highlights an issue I see constantly with Bevell's play design.

We send two receivers deep, but both of them are in the same area of the field. Each has two defenders with him, but when the ball is thrown, one of the guys on Lockett moves in to be the third defender on Graham.

I get that having them in the same place helps Wilson to see both routes, but with such a long pass, the defenders have time to adjust to the active receiver, so all this really accomplishes is to send more defenders to the actual receiver. Double-coverage on Graham became triple by the time the ball arrives.

How many times have we seen two or more receivers in the same place when the ball arrives, such that they could fight each other for it?

Wilson can't look off the coverage, because both of his guys are in the same place. Defenders can't tell if he's looking at the shorter or longer option, but what does that matter when the play is far enough down field to allow them to adjust?

I think separating the routes more would give this play a better chance of success.

Or the other part, maybe this whole play was design to get Jimmy the ball even if Lockett was going to be open. He looked right only for a second and turn his head to the other side until he had to release it.

I would of actually like for Wilson to scramble to his right on this play, evade the pressure that was coming his way and then hit Lockett deep, but then he would of gotten criticized for not staying in the pocket.

I think I'm the only one that don't care if Wilson ever becomes known as a pocket QB, and many times I wish he used those feet in the first Quarter to get the defense to back off a bit to give him room to operate in the passing game.

theincrediblesok":3rehf6c5 said:

Or the other part, maybe this whole play was design to get Jimmy the ball even if Lockett was going to be open. He looked right only for a second and turn his head to the other side until he had to release it.

I would of actually like for Wilson to scramble to his right on this play, evade the pressure that was coming his way and then hit Lockett deep, but then he would of gotten criticized for not staying in the pocket.

I think I'm the only one that don't care if Wilson ever becomes known as a pocket QB, and many times I wish he used those feet in the first Quarter to get the defense to back off a bit to give him room to operate in the passing game.

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I'd have criticized him for leaving the pocket. The play, the first down, the 6'7'' TE were all there for the taking. As I said, I think it's a process to get Wilson to see it and act on it but it's there. No need to scramble (or even take a hit) if the ball comes out earlier.

One of the things Wilson will get better at over the years is quickly visualizing where the receiver and defenders will be once he releases the ball, rather than waiting for a receiver to get in position and cross-examining himself about whether it is a "safe" throw before he releases the ball. He's already damn good and will only get better.

Russ has developed a hesitation that he didn't have before the Superbowl. I don't know how to get him over it or past it. We have coaches and staff for that so hopefully he will get back to playing with confidence.

Ill tell you EXACTLY what would fix this play. Willson should never had motioned right. It was PA anyway, there was no need to sell the play anymore. He could have ran out into the flat and kept the LB's closer to the LOS.

Instead, Graham and Lockett are the only recievers. The Linebackers can drop back while shifting with Graham to the left. This makes RW hesitate. Where he would have been able to thrown a nice clean pass to Jimmy otherwise.

The anticipation throw seems to be a sticking point for Russ. I wonder if 1) he really is just reading things a bit late and is not yet in tune with what an "about to be open" receiver looks like, OR 2) he's been so rigorously trained to not turn the ball over, he intentionally waits just a bit longer to confirm a receiver is breaking open.

For almost any developing QB in his first few years, a certain number of interceptions are expected, and even accepted, as part of the growth process. Russell was never allowed that leeway because our team was a contender. I wonder how different Russ would look if a certain amount of interceptions were tolerated. He might be a better QB now, but we also might not be wearing rings.

theincrediblesok":jq52vb49 said:

Or the other part, maybe this whole play was design to get Jimmy the ball even if Lockett was going to be open. He looked right only for a second and turn his head to the other side until he had to release it.

I would of actually like for Wilson to scramble to his right on this play, evade the pressure that was coming his way and then hit Lockett deep, but then he would of gotten criticized for not staying in the pocket.

I think I'm the only one that don't care if Wilson ever becomes known as a pocket QB, and many times I wish he used those feet in the first Quarter to get the defense to back off a bit to give him room to operate in the passing game.

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I hear what you're saying, but the biggest issue I have with Wilson bailing from a good pocket early is that he pulls the ball down and loses his vision down field. He didn't used to do this, but with our OL woes, he tends to think "run first" or even "escape first" before he looks down field. In previous years, he was scrambling with his eyes always down field.

I can live with Wilson scambling, but I think he's missing way too many open guys for easy completions and first downs. Move the chains first, then worry about the big play.

These things happen and prob more so considering the mantra Wilson has learned under (no turnovers).

I don't like that the deep safety can essentially "cover" two receivers before breaking on a pass. It means Lockette has little impact on the safety, if Jimmy is the go to.

He should have released it earlier and not tried to "touch" it in there (hangs). Even so, I doubt the other QBs referenced were much better at year four. It's not an either he gets it or he can't. Rather it's can he keep improving with this skill, since he has done it.

If they didn't have to keep so many guys in to block they could have run an underneath route from left to right to prevent the LBs from getting so much Depth

Definitely had too many (two) people deep in roughly the same area for an across the field throw. That ball needs to hit Graham about mid-field (I believe somebody above said the Star, which is about right, if not even a bit before). A problem pointed out as well, Graham isn't looking for the ball at the time. With the way the line blocks, there should always be at least 1 receiver who is looking for the ball right at the snap.

HawkGA":3cgcqpcn said:

Definitely had too many (two) people deep in roughly the same area for an across the field throw. That ball needs to hit Graham about mid-field (I believe somebody above said the Star, which is about right, if not even a bit before). A problem pointed out as well, Graham isn't looking for the ball at the time. With the way the line blocks, there should always be at least 1 receiver who is looking for the ball right at the snap.

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That's what your slant and drag routes are for.

Its like everything that could go wrong did.

1. Graham should have looked back or signaled for the ball at his cut.
2. Russ could have anticipated throwing Graham open better with a quicker, tighter throw.
3. Britt could have made better effort on Hardy? who worked his way through two blocks and Britt was last line of defense.
4. Russ could have easily moved to his left away from the pocket, away from the pressure, drawing Graham's underneath coverage towards him, perhaps with a well timed pump fake to Graham, you could have still sucked the other defender off Lockett's route to Graham and bought time for Lockett to shake his defender for a huge score with the across the body throws we were so accustomed seeing with Sidney Rice.

timmat":31xqfdi8 said:

The anticipation throw seems to be a sticking point for Russ. I wonder if 1) he really is just reading things a bit late and is not yet in tune with what an "about to be open" receiver looks like, OR 2) he's been so rigorously trained to not turn the ball over, he intentionally waits just a bit longer to confirm a receiver is breaking open.

For almost any developing QB in his first few years, a certain number of interceptions are expected, and even accepted, as part of the growth process. Russell was never allowed that leeway because our team was a contender. I wonder how different Russ would look if a certain amount of interceptions were tolerated. He might be a better QB now, but we also might not be wearing rings.

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I have been thinking about this same thing. Wilson didn't have the luxury to make mistakes and have an open playbook right from the start like most rookies. Also I have mention before that they have slowly progressed Wilson each year, adding new responsibilities. Who knows how much that has hindered his development.

Pandion Haliaetus":16bi9b7f said:

Its like everything that could go wrong did.

1. Graham should have looked back or signaled for the ball at his cut.
2. Russ could have anticipated throwing Graham open better with a quicker, tighter throw.
3. Britt could have made better effort on Hardy? who worked his way through two blocks and Britt was last line of defense.
4. Russ could have easily moved to his left away from the pocket, away from the pressure, drawing Graham's underneath coverage towards him, perhaps with a well timed pump fake to Graham, you could have still sucked the other defender off Lockett's route to Graham and bought time for Lockett to shake his defender for a huge score with the across the body throws we were so accustomed seeing with Sidney Rice.

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5. Russ could have put the pass where he was supposed to (along the sideline) so that it hits Graham in stride instead of having to slow down and reach back for the pass. One of several terrible throws by Russ in this game.

- bsd