HB Breakdown - Game 2 2009 vs. Philly

Each series starts with the score before it began and the result of the drive. Each play involving significant play from a HB will include pertinent play information as well as comments on how/why the play happened the way it did and each series will be followed by general thoughts.

1st Series - 0-0 - Touchdown
1st-10 - PHI 41 - Q1 13:18 - I - Bell 4-yard run - good blocking, Bushrod and Nicks 2nd-level blocks
2nd-6 - PHI 37 - 12:45 - I - Bush 2-yard run - TE Thomas beat by RDE Cole at LOS, WLB Jordan gets off H. Evans' block quickly
1st-10 - PHI 15 - 11:00 - Empty Back - Colston 15-yard reception - Bush goes into motion from wide right to behind Brees, PA toss, all 3 LBs and SS Mikell move toward him, Colston catches pass behind Mikell

--Good start to the game; Bush's movement on the TD reception opened up Colston in the back of the endzone, where Mikell was supposed to be guarding

2nd Series - 7-7 - Punt
None

--Brees backs up into a sack after Bushrod blocks RDE Cole away from pocket; Colston almost picks up the 19-yard 3rd-down

3rd Series - 7-7 - Field Goal
2nd-10 - NO 47 - 5:11 - I - Bell 23-yard run - SLB Gocong comes on outside blitz and overruns Bell and is blocked by H. Evans, Bell cuts back right, Stinchcomb seals edge, huge hole for Bell
1st-10 - PHI 30 - 4:48 - Strong I - Bell 2-yard run - Nicks pulls right and misses block on tackler (LB)
2nd-8 - PHI 28 - 4:15 - Weak I - Bell 9-yard reception - Meachem motions left, PA, checkdown to Bell
1st-10 - PHI 19 - 3:39 - Single Back - Bush 9-yard reception - PA, Bush breaks 1 tackle
2nd-1 - PHI 10 - 3:14 - Strong I - Bush 3-yard run - no hole up the middle, Bush bounces outside right, stiffarms CB Samuel, gets to edge
1st-Goal - PHI 7 - 2:45 - I - Bell -1-yard run - TE Thomas motions right, SS Mickell makes tackle untouched (would've been blocked had Thomas stayed next to Stinchcomb)
2nd-Goal - PHI 8 - 2:10 - Single Back - Incomplete pass - PA toss to Bush, swing pass to Bush, Brees throws too early due to pressure from LDT Bunkley

--Moved the ball well overall; if Bunkley is blocked on the final play, Bush probably could've scored

4th Series - 10-7 - Interception
1st-10 - NO 20 - 0:57 - I - Bell 4-yard run - Meachem and Stinchcomb seal edges of the hole, Stinchcomb 2nd-level block, LDE Abiamiri fights off block to make tackle
1st-15 - NO 43 - Q2 14:08 - Single Back - Bush -4-yard run - Draw, TE Thomas is beat by LDE Abiamiri at the LOS and forces Bush to cut left, Bushrod pushes RDE Cole into Bush's way, Bush goes further left, CB Sheldon Brown shoots upfield and forces Bush even further left, Devery stands around and doesn't block anyone, Bush cornered at the sideline
1st-10 - PHI 37 - 12:19 - I - Bush 6-yard run - good blocking, Stinchcomb blocks LDE Abiamiri away from LOS, H. Evans clears the hole
2nd-4 - PHI 31 - 11:41 - Bell 2-yard run - Strief at TE blocks LDE Abiamiri away from LOS, H. Evans doesn't engage SS Mikell who drags Bell down

--Good blocking on several plays; Blocking on the draw was horrible, 2 defenders in the backfield and killed any chance for the play to be successful; Dumb interception thrown by Brees, TE Thomas had someone close underneath and over top

5th Series - 10-10 - Punt
None

--Brees fumbled on a sack; almost got the 1st down with Shockey

6th Series - 10-10 - Touchdown
1st-10 - NO 46 - 1:20 - Shotgun 1RB - Bush 29-yard reception - Brees started to scramble, LB came up for the stop and left Bush by himself near the sideline, Bush cuts back left, makes 2 tacklers miss and breaks 1 tackle

--Very good run after the catch from Bush and good heads-up play by Brees; Play immediately put us in scoring position with 40+ seconds to go; Next play was a TD to Colston

7th Series - 17-13 - Touchdown
1st-10 - PHI 22 - Q3 14:54 - Shotgun 1RB - Bush 4-yard reception - Bush in left flat, no pressure from Brees
2nd-6 - PHI 18 - 14:30 - I - Bell 7-yard run - Henderson motions left, Bushrod Nicks and Goodwin open hole, Bell knocks 1 defender backwards, Bell moves the pile

--Drive started thanks to Malcolm Jenkins and Chris Reis causing and recovering a fumble on the 2nd-half opening kickoff; Bell went head-to-head with a defender and knocked the defender back a couple yards, nice lick by Mike

8th Series - 24-13 - Touchdown
2nd-10 - PHI 24 - 12:53 - I - Bell 6-yard run - Philly defense crashes to their left, Bell cuts back left and breaks an ankle tackle
1st-Goal - PHI 7 - 11:44 - I - Bell 7-yard run - counter to right, no one for H. Evans to block, Bell gets right behind Evans, untouched to the 1-yard line, Bell leaps head-over-heels into the endzone

--Drive started thanks to a Scott Shanle INT; Bell had 2 impressive runs and a nice Reggie-esque leap

9th Series - 31-13 - Field Goal
1st-10 - NO 23 - 10:26 - Shotgun 1RB - Thomas -4-yard reception - screen, defense read it well and were all over PT
2nd-14 - NO 19 - 9:47 - I - Bell 3-yard run - LDE Abiamiri lines up at LB and gets by Goodwin before Goodwin can block him and makes the tackle
1st-10 - PHI 40 - 8:26 - I - Bell 3-yard run - not much room behind Nicks and Goodwin, Bell runs into the pile
1st-10 - PHI 24 - 7:12 - I - Bell 2-yard run - not much room behind J. Evans and Stinchcomb, Bell runs into the pile
2nd-8 - PHI 22 - 6:35 - I - Bell 2-yard run - not much room behind Nicks and Goodwin, Bell runs into the pile
1st-Goal - PHI 8 - 5:03 - I Bell 1-yard run - Philly DL pushes OL backward, 8 in the box, no room to run
3rd-Goal - PHI 7 - 4:19 - Single Back - Incomplete pass - PA toss to Bush, swing pass to Bush, Brees throws too early with no pressure

--Not good or bad blocking by the OL, just pedestrian; Another incompletion on a swing pass, either Brees is throwing too early (definitely true for the 1st one due to pressure) or Bush isn't looking soon enough but something's up

10th Series - 34-20 - Punt
2nd-10 - NO 27 - 0:14 - I - Bell 1-yard run - RDT Patterson worked off Goodwin's block for the tackle, just a good defensive play

--Nothing got going on this drive

11th Series - 34-20 - Touchdown
1st-10 - NO 48 - Q4 12:50 - I - Bell 16-yard run - cuts back right, Strief at TE seals edge, CB Macho Harris overruns Bell, Bell untouched for 12 yards, Bell breaks 1 tackle
1st-10 - PHI 36 - 12:10 - I - Bell 4-yard run - good block by H. Evans, Bell pushes pile, Bell injured
2nd-6 - PHI 32 - 11:41 - I - Bush 7-yard run - counter to right, TE Thomas cuts off CB Harris on pursuit, Bush goes airborne for 1st down
1st-10 - PHI 26 - 11:07 - I - Bush 1-yard run - LDT Bunkley doubled by Goodiwn and J. Evans, Gaither shoots through hole for tackle
3rd-4 - PHI 19 - 9:41 - I - Bush 19-yard TD run - cuts back left, Bushrod seals backside edge, RDE Cole dives/falls down and TE Thomas keeps him down

--Bell's 16-yard run was exceptional, showing great vision and hard running; Bush sacrificed his body for the 1st down, further evidence he will take the hits when a 1st down or TD is on the line; Bush FINALLY shows the vision you'd expect from someone with his talent on his 19-yard TD, we need to see more of this

12th Series - 41-20 - Safety
1st-13 - NO 2 - 5:12 - I - Bush 0-yard run - CB Brown makes tackle untouched, too many defenders
2nd-13 - NO 2 - 4:29 - I - Bush 1-yard run - no room, too many defenders
3rd-12 - NO 3 - 4:23 - I - Bush -2-yard run - no room, too many defenders

--Up by 3 TDs late in the 4th and pinned inside our own 2, Philly knew what we were going to do and stuffed us; intentionally took safety to not punt out of our own endzone


Stats:

Rushing
Bell - 17 carries, 86 yards, 5.1 YPC, 1 TD, 23L
Bush - 10 carries, 33 yards, 3.3 YPC, 1 TD, 19L

Receiving
Bell - 1 reception, 9 yards, 9.0 YPC, 9L, 1 target
Bush - 3 receptions, 42 yards, 14.0 YPC, 29L, 5 targets
Thomas - 1 reception, -4 yards, -4.0 YPC, -4L, 1 target


Runs for Loss
3 (Bell 1, Bush 2)

Runs from 0-4 Yards
16 (Bell 11, Bush 5)

Runs from 5-9 Yards
5 (Bell 3, Bush 2)

Runs from 10-19 Yards
2 (Bell 1, Bush 1)

Runs from 20+ Yards
1 (Bell 1, Bush 0)

Runs for 2 Yards or Less
13 (Bell 7, Bush 6)


Run Formations
I - 23 plays (Bell 15, Bush 8)
Weak I - 1 play (Bell 1, Bush 0)
Strong I - 2 plays (Bell 1, Bush 1)
Single Back - 1 play (Bell 0, Bush 1)


Final Analysis
Overall, both RBs did a good job. Before our final drive (which started on our own 2-yard line), our RBs combined for 120 yards on 24 carries for a 5.0 YPC. Neither RB left yards on the field today.

Bush actually had 34 yards on 7 carries for a 4.9 YPC but those 3 carries from inside the 2 killed his numbers, not to mention that draw play. He did pretty good overall rushing-wise. Receiving-wise, he did very well. He made several guys miss on his 29-yard reception and he broke through a tackle on another.

Bell just continued where he left off and hopefully he's not injured too bad. IMO he has earned the right to be the #1 RB as far as rushing goes. He continues to show tremendous vision, a surprising burst, and tough running.

The OL blocked better today than they did last week. Fewer missed assignments, better push, very few defenders getting into the backfield. The only really poor play was the draw to Bush at the beginning of the 2nd quarter. But you can tell we played a tougher run defense because out of the 27 runs from Bell and Bush, 13 were for 2 yards or less. The fact we still ran for 134 yards and a 4.6 YPC overall is pretty good considering we had a 21-point lead for a good portion of the 2nd half.

We attempted 34 passes and 29 runs with 2 passes and 9 runs in the 4th quarter. Before the 4th quarter started, we had a 62-38 split for passes-to-runs and ended up with 54-46 passes-to-runs. So basically a 60-40 balance for 3 quarters, which is about where we want, and we end up almost split. Good playcalling by Payton; pretty much everything worked all game long.