Interesting observation from the Lions game... (1 Viewer)

Mamba

SR is my life!
VIP Contributor
Joined
Apr 21, 2001
Messages
13,252
Reaction score
9,779
Age
42
Location
Los Angeles
Online
Drew Brees dropped back to pass 34 times.

Of those 34 plays, the Lions blitzed twice. Both of those blitzes came in the 2nd half. On the first blitz, the Lions brought only 5 pass rushers (3 down-linemen, an OLB, and a CB from the slot). The 2nd "blitz" was actually a zone blitz where they brought only 4 guys but mixed in a CB and dropped one of the down-lineman into coverage.

The Lions also ran 4 stunts the entire game and there were 4 plays where the LBs showed a blitz but backed off into coverage.

So on 32 of Drew Brees' 34 pass attempts the Lions went with only a front-four pass rush (and only brought 3 of them on a couple of those plays). And on 24 of those 32 plays the Lions didn't even attempt to confuse Brees by faking a blitz.

So as far as pass rush is concerned, the Lions were just about as vanilla as it gets.

I say all this to say, we can expect to face a different defensive philosophy this week. The Eagles, under Jim Johnson, have always thrived under an aggressive, exotic pass rush scheme. I think McDermott will mix it up quite a bit more than Schwartz/Cunningham. Each of the Eagles front four D-Lineman are much more capable than what the Lions have on their squad. While I don't expect to see a whole lot of all-out blitzing, I do expect to see a much heavier use of the blitz than last week. Particularly on the left side against our untested LT.
 
Last edited:
Our O-line is still the best in the league at pass blocking. It shouldn't be anything to worry about.
 
They were not being vanilla, they were lining up with their man and setting up for zone coverages. They did not show attack at the line of scrimmage because they wanted to make sure they were lined up correctly. Sean P. kept the attack so balanced his offense was dictating what the Lions defense were doing, which is a big no-no.
 
What was the outcome to each of those 4 plays?

WHOOPS! Now he has to go back and watch the entire game again! :hihi:


I think the Eagles reviewed the film and said "We'll remedy that". They know that Brees makes mistakes when he has too many people in his face. They also know Brees is capable of burning them. McDermott has his work cut out for him.
 
What was the outcome to each of those 4 plays?

I can't remember what happened on each of the plays, but on the two blitzes, the passes were incomplete. But both of them should have been caught.

Just an observation, but from the last three years of watching Brees, the only way I think you can really slow him down is to make him think and react to what you're doing. If you sit back on your heels like the Lions did, the game's over already. Conversely, if you blitz on every single play, he'll catch on. So you've got to mix it up a lot more. And the Eagles will do that.

Another thing. Anytime you see Manning, Brady, or Brees struggle in a game, it's usually against a team who is able to bring pressure up the middle. It's takes away their ability to step forward in the pocket.
 
I guarantee the one thing they will focus on more than others is the battle of field position. Last week the offense did not look good when deep in their own territory. Thats when the miscues came, like penalties etc. Also if they do happen to get our offense to stall in our own territory, they are going to attack our ST with DeSean "Fraction" Jackson.
 
They were not being vanilla, they were lining up with their man and setting up for zone coverages. They did not show attack at the line of scrimmage because they wanted to make sure they were lined up correctly. Sean P. kept the attack so balanced his offense was dictating what the Lions defense were doing, which is a big no-no.

When I used the term "vanilla" I qualified it by referring to their pass rush. I made no attempt to describe their use of coverages, because you can't really observe a whole lot about a defense's use of coverage schemes from a normal TV feed. But as far as the pass rush looks the Lions showed, they were absolutely vanilla, especially compared to what we'll probably see Sunday. There were only a handful plays the whole game where I had no clue how many rushers the Lions would bring. The overwhelming majority of the time you could clearly tell (pre-snap) that it would be a simple 4-man rush.
 
When I used the term "vanilla" I qualified it by referring to their pass rush. I made no attempt to describe their use of coverages, because you can't really observe a whole lot about a defense's use of coverage schemes from a normal TV feed. But as far as the pass rush looks the Lions showed, they were absolutely vanilla, especially compared to what we'll probably see Sunday.

Didn't realize that's what you were referring to. You're right though, on Sunday they will try to get pressure up the middle to force Brees else where other then stepping up in the pocket. The thing they don't know is that our Guards are some of the best in the biz and will get eaten alive. I think the biggest match up this week besides our TE's and RB's against their LBers is Colston vs. CB's. I'm looking for him to out muscle that great secondary of Philly.
 
It is kind of like damned if you do damned if you done with Brees. He never quits and knows what you are doing before you do it the majority of the time.
 
Another thing. Anytime you see Manning, Brady, or Brees struggle in a game, it's usually against a team who is able to bring pressure up the middle. It's takes away their ability to step forward in the pocket.

I agree. That's a big reason why the Titans used to give the Colts so much of a battle and don't forget the Saints/Titans game two years ago.

But I don't think there is one specific rule of thumb, however sitting back with a weak four man rush isn't the way to go. The Bears/Bucs could run a cover-2 because they had great 4-man rushes. The Lions, not so much...
 
WHOOPS! Now he has to go back and watch the entire game again! :hihi:


I think the Eagles reviewed the film and said "We'll remedy that". They know that Brees makes mistakes when he has too many people in his face. They also know Brees is capable of burning them. McDermott has his work cut out for him.
:smilielol:
 
I think GW will tutor Brees somewhat to help him handle anything that Phila might throw at him. He's a a great resource for Brees to lean on when dealing with exotic, blitzing defenses.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom