Week 6 film breakdown: How to not cover the tight end
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| Chandler was a thorn in the Patriots side all day. Photo via BuffaloBills.com |
There were a lot of things to get excited about from Sunday's win over Buffalo. Rob Gronkowski is starting to look like his old beastly self, Brandon LaFell is making plays after the catch, and Brian Tyms made the highlight of the day with a sick 43 yard touchdown from Brady.
However, film study isn't always about what went well on the field. In fact, most of the time, watching film reveals issues, large or small, that need to be corrected.
You didn't need to go back and watch film to notice the Patriots have had trouble covering the tight end this year. Buffalo's Scott Chandler came into Sunday's contest with modest numbers (13 catches, 137 yards through five games), but continued his history of strong play against the Pats, turning a season high nine targets into six catches for 105 yards.
He's hardly the first tight end to give the Pats trouble in recent memory. It was only two weeks ago that Kansas City's Travis Kelce ran roughshod over the Patriots on Monday, conjuring up memories of Gronkowski's record breaking 2011 season, and Minnesota's Kyle Rudolph made plays early on in Week 2 before that game got out of hand.
It's a problem that will need to get corrected soon. Thursday's game against the Jets is followed up with tilts with Chicago and Denver, meaning the Pats will have to contend with Martellus Bennett and Julius Thomas. They also face the Chargers and Antonio Gates later in the year, and youngsters like Dwyane Allen (Indy) and Eric Ebron (Detroit) also have the talent to hurt this defense.
If they can't stop Scott Chandler, how is this defense supposed to stop talents like Gates or Thomas? I went back and looked at the film to see how the Pats covered Buffalo's tight end and where the breakdowns happened.
Target #1, 8:48 first quarter. 3rd and 5
This play winds up being an individual breakdown from Arrington in coverage. At the snap, Woods is picked up by Dennard, while Hogan runs a crossing route and is trailed by both Devin McCourty and eventually Jamie Collins, who drops into a zone after showing blitz at the snap. Both are well covered, and Darrelle Revis has Sammy Watkins locked down on the other side of the field.
That's all well and good, but it forces Arrington (5'10", 190 pounds) to cover the 6'7", 260 pound Chandler. Arrington is giving up nine inches and 70 pounds in that matchup and it shows, as the tight end is easily able to get inside leverage on Arrington and find a soft spot in front of deep safety Duron Harmon. Kyle Orton isn't threatened by the pass rush, and is able to calmly step up and deliver a strike to Chandler for an easy 15 yards and a first down.
Target #2, 0:12 first quarter. 2nd and 2
This play is the result of inexperience from Deontae Skinner, a player who figures to see a increased role with Jerod Mayo out for the rest of the season. The Bills line up in a two tight end set, with Chandler in a 3 point stance at the end of the line. Chandler gets a free release and is clearly Skinner's responsibility, but the linebacker (55) hesitates and takes a half-step inside, reacting to the route of second tight end Chris Gragg (89).
Chandler is considered slow by NFL tight end standards, but even the slow guys at this level are fast enough to take advantage of a misstep like that. Skinner recognizes his mistake but is unable to recover in time, as Orton finds his tight end up the seam for 17 yards and another first down.
Target #3, 6:33 second quarter. 3rd and 1
Credit on this one goes to playcaller Nathaniel Hackett, whose play design helps free the tight end for another chunk play. The Pats clearly have Patrick Chung matched up on Chandler here, as the safety follows Chandler across the formation when he comes in motion from right to left.
However, Revis and Watkins are locked into battle on that same left side of the field. At the snap, Watkins gets an inside release and runs a slant directly into Chung, essentially setting a pick on the safety. Chung does a good job of avoiding contact with the receiver, but in doing so allows Chandler enough time to get free upfield. Orton quickly recognizes the designed play's proper execution and hits his tight end for another 28 yards and a first down.
Target #4, 5:50 second quarter. 1st and 10
The Bills wasted no time in trying to feed the hot hand, going back to Chandler on their very next play. This time, the Pats are running a zone, and Chandler runs a shallow crossing route into the middle zone occupied by linebacker Chris White. The tight end is open but unable to corral an inaccurate pass from Orton.
Target #5, 5:11 second quarter. 3rd and 5
After a five yard run, the Bills go right back to their tight end. Once again, Chandler is running a shallow crossing route through the middle of the field, and is the responsibility of linebacker Deontae Skinner. Once again, Skinner pauses for a split-second before recognizing his assignment and breaking on the tight end, but that hesitation is just enough time for Chandler to break free, getting the five yards he needs to extend what will soon be a touchdown drive for Buffalo.
Target #6, 8:44 third quarter. 3rd and 11
Sometimes, it's just as simple as getting beat. That was the case on this play, as Tavon Wilson has Chandler in man coverage. Chandler gets inside leverage on the safety, then gets behind him when Wilson tries to overcompensate. Orton makes a nice throw, and the defense fails to get off the field on third and long as a result. Poor technique on the play from Wilson, who has never shown much ability in coverage since being a surprise second round pick in 2012.
Target #7, 2:16 third quarter. 2nd and 20
Here's some evidence for those who think Bill Belichick sometimes out thinks himself. The idea of Chandler Jones dropping into pass coverage raised some eyebrows back in training camp, and the DE/OLB simply isn't fast enough to stay with Chandler in coverage down the field here. An easy 18 yard gain turns a second and long into a very manageable third and two as a result.
Target #8, 8:07 fourth quarter. 1st and 10
Chandler runs another shallow crossing route here, and in stopping and sitting at the hash marks is open for a second. However, he drops a high pass from Orton, and had Jamie Collins closing in on him to prevent any additional yards after the catch. Had he held onto the ball, the play would have resulted in a modest 4-5 yard gain.
Target #9, 1:15 fourth quarter. 4th and 9
Chandler was the Bills most effective playmaker all game, so it makes sense that they went back to him on their final chance offensively. The Patriots are playing a deep zone here, and Chandler finds a soft spot going up the right seam, but him and Orton aren't quite on the same page and the play falls harmlessly incomplete. The Bills turn it over on downs and the Pats take a knee three times to bleed the rest of the clock. Ball game.
As you can see, there was no one glaring flaw or mismatch that led to Chandler's big day, but rather a series of well executed plays by the tight end. It's hard to draw many conclusions from this, other than that Tavon Wilson should not be trusted in coverage.
However, the two completions against Skinner highlight some of the inexperience that could be exposed now with defensive signal-caller Jerod Mayo out of the lineup. Skinner has the speed to be competitive in coverage, but hesitation like he showed on those two plays will get him exposed in a hurry. Skinner also had trouble in Week 2 with Kyle Rudolph, and opposing offenses will likely continue to target him until he starts making plays in coverage.
An optimist will say those mistakes should go away as Skinner gains more experience, but a pessimist will note that the Pats might not have time for such growing pains, as the schedule gets significantly tougher during the second half of the season. So far opposing quarterbacks have completed all six of their passes against Skinner, averaging 13.3 yards a completion.
If Skinner can improve, the Pats will have a pair of linebackers with the speed to compete in coverage. Jamie Collins hasn't quite had the flashy breakthrough some were projecting for him after an impressive preseason, but the second year linebacker has been very good in coverage. Per Profootballfocus, quarterbacks have only completed 11 of their 23 attempts into his coverage (47.6 %), and they've only averaged 6.9 yards on those completions. Those are fantastic numbers for a linebacker, and his range in coverage has quietly contributed to the Pats third ranked pass defense.
Improvement by the likes of Skinner will help in this department, but so could the return of Brandon Browner. Unlike some, I am not in support of Browner playing out of position at safety, where his limitations in space will get exposed in a hurry. However, many of the league's top receiving tight ends play most of their snaps in the slot as a de facto receiver, which would allow the Pats to use Browner for those specific match-ups while keeping him at corner. At 6'4" and 220 pounds, Browner is the rare corner big and strong enough to compete physically with a monster like Denver's Julius Thomas, and his ability to press at the line of scrimmage could be key to disrupting the timing of an offense like Denver's.
Needless to say, a problem as open ended as "covering the tight end" doesn't often lend itself to finding a singular obvious answer. There are a number of factors contributing to the outcome of every play, and it's rare the solution is as simple as avoiding a mismatch in coverage. The Patriots defense does prioritize preventing the deep ball (they are currently the only team in the NFL that hasn't given up a passing play of 40 or more yards), which leaves them more vulnerable to some to intermediate and shorter routes, but that's no excuse for allowing a limited player like Chandler to carve them up like that. Sometimes the solution can be found via scheme and sometimes the answer is as simple as playing better. In Sunday's case, it was a little bit of both.
