Brees big 3rd down pass to Ted Ginn (some positive analysis) (1 Viewer)

[TCUDan]

I went ahead and grabbed the clip myself because the broadcast highlights cut off the presnap action, which the most impressive part of this whole play.

Situation: Saints are leading the Texans 24-21 late in the 4th quarter. The Saints are i
View attachment DB Goat.mp4
n possession of the ball. It is 3rd & 2 from their own 15 yard line and the game clock is approaching the 2 minute warning.

But forget about the game clock for a minute and just pay attention to the play clock.

1) The Saints come out in a 3x1 set with Michael Thomas as the #3 WR and Ted Ginn at #2.

2) The Texans' defense lines up, but with this being an extremely pivotal 3rd down, they would like to stem their defense (disguise it) as long as possible.

3) Brees wants to hard count the Texans' defense, but knows that if he does it too early (at say, 10 seconds remaining on the play clock), then it will be ineffective (either at causing the defense to jump offsides or into revealing their intentions).

4) So Brees waits to hard count until the play clock winds down so far that the Texans' believe he either a) HAS to snap the ball, or b) his cadence is in sync with the time range where they have seen him snap the ball on film.

5) Brees successfully hard counts the Texans defense with 7 seconds on the play clock, revealing that they are in a 5 man field pressure with Cover 1 man behind it.

6) WITH JUST FIVE SECONDS REMAINING ON THE PLAY CLOCK, Brees is able to change the play at the line of scrimmage and get the snap off without a delay of game penalty.

7) The call is 4 verticals, and the threat of Michael Thomas on the crash route combined with Brees use of his eyes manipulates the Texans' safety toward the boundary, over the top of Thomas, leaving Ted Ginn (the Saints fastest WR) in a 1-on-1 footrace with the nickel corner.

8) DAGGER! 40 yard completion. 1st down. Field position flipped. 2 minute warning.

Brees's ability to process important presnap information, get the offense into the right call, and singlehandedly orchestrate a highly favorable 1-on-1 matchup... all in a critical situation with literally 0 time to spare... is some straight JEDI sheet!

 

[Trey W.]

That play was amazing and definitely turned the momentum in our favor. My only issue is Drew seems to always under throw Ginn. I know Drew was under some pressure and had to get the ball out quick, but the DB was almost allowed the time to catchup and breakup the pass. If Drew puts 3-4 more yards on that pass it would have been an easy 6.

 

[TCUDan]

That play was amazing and definitely turned the momentum in our favor. My only issue is Drew seems to always under throw Ginn. I know Drew was under some pressure and had to get the ball out quick, but the DB was almost allowed the time to catchup and breakup the pass. If Drew puts 3-4 more yards on that pass it would have been an easy 6.

That's a hard situation to make a perfect throw in. He checks to the play so fast, that he doesn't have time to get a look at Ginn's release (he uses a speed release which means he takes less time to get off the LOS). Brees is looking off the safety, and when he comes back to Ginn, he has to step into pressure right in his face. Not being able to fully step into the throw means that a good percentage of his core doesn't go into it, and to be honest, speedsters like Ginn are easy to underthrow especially when this was Brees first deep shot of the game.

I know we want him to be super man all the time. But I am willing to give him a pass on the underthrow because he masterfully set up the play where he could afford to underthrow it. The nuance of it is something I think MAYBE one or two other NFL QBs could pull off in that fashion.

 

[Trey W.]

I’m not against Drew at all, but ever since Ginn arrived just about all the deep throws to him have been under thrown. I don’t know if Drew is worried about over throwing him or what but Ginn is one of those guys if he has a step you air it out and let him go get it, not make him slow down and come back to the ball.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Yeah brees threw it 40yd off his back foot

How about the play a few later where AKlost 5yds?
Not sure why that broke down the way it did

 

[Atreus21]

I went ahead and grabbed the clip myself because the broadcast highlights cut off the presnap action, which the most impressive part of this whole play.

Situation: Saints are leading the Texans 24-21 late in the 4th quarter. The Saints are i
View attachment DB Goat.mp4
n possession of the ball. It is 3rd & 2 from their own 15 yard line and the game clock is approaching the 2 minute warning.

But forget about the game clock for a minute and just pay attention to the play clock.

1) The Saints come out in a 3x1 set with Michael Thomas as the #3 WR and Ted Ginn at #2.

2) The Texans' defense lines up, but with this being an extremely pivotal 3rd down, they would like to stem their defense (disguise it) as long as possible.

3) Brees wants to hard count the Texans' defense, but knows that if he does it too early (at say, 10 seconds remaining on the play clock), then it will be ineffective (either at causing the defense to jump offsides or into revealing their intentions).

4) So Brees waits to hard count until the play clock winds down so far that the Texans' believe he either a) HAS to snap the ball, or b) his cadence is in sync with the time range where they have seen him snap the ball on film.

5) Brees successfully hard counts the Texans defense with 7 seconds on the play clock, revealing that they are in a 5 man field pressure with Cover 1 man behind it.

6) WITH JUST FIVE SECONDS REMAINING ON THE PLAY CLOCK, Brees is able to change the play at the line of scrimmage and get the snap off without a delay of game penalty.

7) The call is 4 verticals, and the threat of Michael Thomas on the crash route combined with Brees use of his eyes manipulates the Texans' safety toward the boundary, over the top of Thomas, leaving Ted Ginn (the Saints fastest WR) in a 1-on-1 footrace with the nickel corner.

8) DAGGER! 40 yard completion. 1st down. Field position flipped. 2 minute warning.

Brees's ability to process important presnap information, get the offense into the right call, and singlehandedly orchestrate a highly favorable 1-on-1 matchup... all in a critical situation with literally 0 time to spare... is some straight JEDI shirt!

I have only one thing to say to this: