So, upon further review Howden said this after the game. This is from Mike Triplett's article on NOF:
“That’s all my fault,” said Howden, who fell on the sword since he was the deep safety crashing down while the others were in man coverage. “I gotta make sure I clear the traffic because everybody else is in man, and I’m just coming down from space.
“Seen a crosser, was trying to go get it, just ran into another teammate. Things happen, but I just didn’t see him and it just happened at the wrong time. … It sucks, but I gotta move on to next week, because that type of stuff will haunt you.”
So, Howden was supposed to be the deep safety on that side playing zone, Mathieu was the deep safety on the other side playing zone, Lattimore was in man on Dotson, and Harris was in man on Goddart. So there were supposed to be two Safeties over the top but Howden crashed down and took out both Lattimore and Harris. So, it was the guy playing zone that caused the problem on the Mesh concept, not the guys playing man.
It was an aggressive play call, probably too aggressive in that situation, but it should have been at worst a 10 to 15 yard gain, possibly less, if Howden doesn't crash down and take out Harris and Lattimore. In addition, Allen suggested that they were doubling Goddard on that play which was the right call given that their top two WRs were out. Sometimes even the right call gets beat. As was shown by the Minny Miracle just because you are playing zone doesn't mean you can't get beat for a big play.