The score is 21-21. It is 2nd and 5 at Carolina's 25 yard line, the second play of Carolina's final drive. The Panthers line up in a single back formation with, for lack of a better term, trips to the left. The theory behind the trips formation is that it causes problems for zone defenses. However, the Panthers have taken a different slant on. One: the players are stacked to the left, with one on the line and two a hash mark behind him, staggered to the left and to the right. Two: there aren't three wide receivers on the field.
TE Jeff King leads the grouping, with WR Mushin Muhammad, and FB Brad Hoover behind him. WR Steve Smith is on the opposite side of the field, all by hisself. The Bucs have responded by playing a haphazard 3-4 alignment. Defensive linemen Chris Hovan, Ryan Sims, and Jimmy Wilkerson cover the offensive line while rookie DE Tim Crowder is in a 2-point stance, directly across from the tight end. Corner back Ronde Barber, located on the strong side of the field, takes position about a yard off Muhammad's shoulder, looking to play containment and suggesting that if it's a pass play, the Bucs are in zone coverage. It is not a pass play. The ball is snapped.
The Panthers pull both RG Keydrick Vincent and C Ryan Kalil to the strong side of the formation. Muhammad gets up field, engaging LB Quincy Black and simply removing him from the play. As Black attempts to slip Muhammad's block and LB Geno Hayes pursues from the back side, Mushin finishes the play by shoving Black into Hayes, removing them both from the equation. King makes contact with Tim Crowder and stands him up. Hoover engages Barber, and although Barber eventually breaks free to force RB Williams to the sideline, Hoover has executed his assignment. Although Kalil gets caught in traffic, Vincent successfully accomplishes his pull, clearing middle linebacker Barrett Ruud out of the play at the 2nd level. Strong safety Sabby Piscatelli, somewhat late to read the run, finally pushes RB DeAngelo Williams out at the 32, after a 7 yard gain. First down.
This isn't the decisive play of the game, but essentially sums up every component in the Buc's complete and utter inability to stop the run against the Panthers. Unlike the Bucs, who give lip service to establishing the run while relying on tight ends Kellen Winslow, fullback Earnest Graham, and the whirling vortex of suck that is Jerramy Stevens, the Panthers have both the personnel and the schemes to execute their running game. Running the ball in football isn't merely about brute force, or the offensive line being successful. If you've ever had a chance to watch the Kansas City Chiefs under Dick Vermeil or Tom Coughlin's current crop of Giants, it's obvious that scheme, timing, angles, and secondary personnel are just as critical as power at the point of attack. In addition to having a strong offensive line, the Panthers have tight ends, fullbacks, and wide receivers capable of eliminating defenders from the play.
The Bucs defense also happened to make it easy for the Panthers. This wasn't simply a matter of poor execution on the defense's part - though DT Ryan Sims certainly deserves a lot of blame, as he was singlehandedly blocked by C Ryan Kalil for most of the drive. It was a failure on the coaching staff's part to adjust. The Panthers had all ready run for 100 yards on the day, yet Jim Bates and the rest of his staff continued to put out a defensive front that was easily susceptible to the run. Out of the eleven players on the field, it would be tough to consider any a plus defender, aside from CB Ronde Barber.
Both safeties Tanard Jackson and Sabby Piscatelli have their faults. Jackson took bad angles to the ball carrier on two plays during the final drive, allowing the fantastic DeAngelo Williams to create more yardage than he should have. Piscatelli, for all of his physical talents, is simply slow to react to the running game. On an off tackle run to the right on 3rd and 1, the Panthers' TE Dante Rosario effectively seals off LB Quincy Black, creating a one-on-one opportunity for Piscatelli. Sabby, however, isn't within five yards of the line of scrimmage and eventually settles for dragging down RB Jonathan Stewart after a ten yard gain.
Barber is still a fantastic run defender, regularly slipping blocks at the point of attack and making a nice pursuit play from the backside during the drive. When your best run defender is a corner, though, you're going to have problems. On the other side, Talib was regularly taken out of plays, following WR Steve Smith on decoy routes and then allowing him to get blocked up field. Talib is a big boy for a corner, something along the lines of 6-2, 200 pounds. To allow himself to get blocked that easily by 5-9ish Steve Smith is unacceptable. More importantly, this is another failing on the coaching staff's part. At no point in the drive does Talib seem to be aware that the Panthers' are going to continue to running the ball - in fact, he hardly even plays the hard press in coverage. Perhaps playing the press, Talib might have put himself in a better position to read and react to a running play. Instead, he is easily carried out of the picture.
There are only a handful of rough and tumble linebackers capable of holding their own at the point of attack. The Bucs do not have one of these linebackers. The Barrett Ruud, Quincy Black, Geno Hayes trio has talent, but two blockers made it the second level on a regular basis throughout the drive, which is never going to be a recipe for success in any defensive scheme. Hayes actually performed the best out of all three on the drive. On one particular play, he did a nice job of slipping underneath RT Jeff Otah's second level block and then filling the hole, where he just misses the tackle. Of course, DeAngelo Williams cuts his run outside and picks up positive yardage before he is brought down by the late-arriving Piscatelli and Talib.
This leaves us with the weakest part of the defense: the line. Ryan Sims is simply an embarrassment on the drive. As mentioned previously, he is single blocked on nearly every play, most noticeably by center Ryan Kalil. It isn't just that Kalil seals him off or makes just enough contact to create a hole. On multiple occasions Kalil drives Sims two or three yards out of the gap, making it awful easy for Williams and Stewart to pick their hole. Sims can be effective when he's not winded, but when tired, he comes off the snap like shit rolling down a staircase and stands straight up to catch his breath, as opposed to staying low and winning the leverage battle. Naturally, the coaching staff lets rookie defensive tackle Roy Miller take some snaps from him, yes?
Oh... wait, you mean to tell me that Miller only plays 3 snaps during the drive, all of which are for Sims' partner Chris Hovan? You mean fat ass Ryan Sims plays the entire drive? Jim Bates, defensive guru, ladies and gentlemen!
As for Hovan and Miller, they perform adequately. Hovan regularly deals with two blockers, and although there are times where he is driven backwards, he also has some adequate plays where he attempts to cut underneath the offensive linemen and clog the hole. Spotted by Miller, the young rookie is extremely active, making penetration twice, moving quickly, engaging and shedding blocks. However, his penetration is meaningless when Sims is easily cleared out of the way and blockers reach the second level, making the running back's job simple: cut by Miller and get up field.
Defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson doesn't make an impact on the drive, but he at least is not embarrassed. Right ends Tim Crowder and Greg White, however, are regularly removed from the equation by tight end Jeff King, again freeing up an offensive linemen to get to the second level. Although Gaines Adams may not have been the pass rusher we envisioned him, the Bucs have weakened their run defense by trading him. He was hardly a monster at the point of attack, but Adams was fairly disciplined and rarely overrun.
But who needs discipline and sturdiness at the point of attack when you can trade for Ryan Sims?
Thursday, October 22, 2009
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