All Twenty-Tuesday

There’s a reason we have multiple sections in the Cover 3; stats only tell part of the story.

There are plenty of great analytical tools out there to judge both common and advances statistics, but until you can pop in the tape and see the variables for yourself – a moving lineman, a missed assignment, a look the wrong way, a missed penalty call, a miscommunication, etc. etc. – you won’t see the picture as clear as it could be.

Let’s clear that picture up.

Rewarding Ward

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*kisses fingers like an Italian chef who just made the perfect pasta dish*

Now this, this, my friends, is beautiful.

Why did the Bucs bring in Pro Bowl safety T.J. Ward?

Experience, creativity and playmaking. In the play above, we saw it all on display, and that was just his first play in a Tampa Bay Buccaneers uniform.

If you’ll notice, at the beginning of the clip, Ward was playing in what appeared to be a two-deep secondary call with Conte next to him. But, as there was motion behind the line of scrimmage pre-snap, Ward quickly moved up to the linebacker level and Conte drifted back to a single-high role (a sign of good chemistry already). Once the ball was snapped, Ward already had momentum going towards the line of scrimmage and was able to sift through the pulling blockers to wrap up the speedy Cohen.

Keith Tandy and Chris Conte have their ability, but I’m not sure either of them are natural enough at the linebacker level to move on the ball at the rate Ward did or wrap up on Cohen the way he did.

A brilliant first play as a Buccaneer.

Stopping The Run; Bring A Friend

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Football starts on the ground; it’s all about running the ball. If you can’t stop an opposing team’s ground game, the final result is likely carved out in stone before the final whistle.

However, on the flip side, containing an opposing team’s rushing attack the way the Buccaneers did can make an offense one dimensional and predictable, which leads to turnovers.

The play above was the first play of the game, and, in it, the Bucs were operating out of a 3-4 formation. William Gholston, Chris Baker and Gerald McCoy were the three down linemen with rookie Kendell Beckwith and Noah Spence on the edge leaving Kwon Alexander and Lavonte David in the middle.

As you can see from the clip above, a great jump on the snap from McCoy led to a big hole in the trench, which was then flooded by the rest of the front seven. McCoy can do that stuff often, but it’s up to the rest of the team to then finish the job.

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One of the points Koetter made this week was that his team played with great gap discipline, and that was one of the reasons they were so effective bottling up Chicago’s run game.

The play above is a good example of that. If you don’t know what the term gap discipline means, here’s a little synopsis. On plays where you assume it’s going to be a run, defensive linemen each have gaps they are responsible for. When offensive linemen are run blocking, their first step is moving forward, trying to push the trench up to create holes and get to the second level – when they’re in pass blocking, their first steps are backward to form a pocket instead.

So, knowing this you assume that on a run play, an offensive lineman is going to try to move forward. It’s a defensive lineman’s job to hold that point at the line of scrimmage at the snap and not let the offensive line get any push. If they do this, the linebackers behind them can usually stop the running back one-on-one either at the line of scrimmage or for a minimal gain.

That’s what happened in the play above. The defensive linemen all help their gaps, which left Alexander free and unblocked to shoot up the design hole. This forced the running back to adjust, and that time wasted allowed for another defender to fly in for the tackle. In this case it was Beckwith, who shed the tight end and made the tackle.

This kind of stuff is why the Buccaneers focused on getting bigger and adding size to their defensive line in the offseason. If the Bucs can hold the points of attack like they did on Sunday, they can remain a stout run defending team.

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The play above was an effective play because of how McCoy was able to bulldoze the entire line one direction, freeing up the middle, forcing a running back to adjust and funneling him towards a linebacker.

These are the kind of plays I referenced earlier that McCoy has the potential to make all the time.

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Finally, I have to point out Beckwith’s day.

Beckwith has been leaps and bounds better than some of his LSU tape thus far, and Sunday was more evidence to that. Beckwith started the game at SAM linebacker, which he played fine, but was then shifted to middle linebacker when Alexander was hurt. From the middle linebacker spot, Beckwith notched two tackles for loss, and overall played very well. He finished with five tackles overall.

He’s not the player Alexander is, but, in terms of having a versatile linebacker who can play SAM or MIKE, Beckwith was a key piece for why the Bucs were able to hold the Bears to just 20 yards rushing.

Winston Going Deep

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Let’s jump into Winston’s five deep passes of 20 or more yards now.

The first one is shown above, and, really, it’s not that bad. The target receiver is DeSean Jackson, who was covered pretty well. The ball was more of Winston just giving Jackson a chance to make a special catch, and he did, though he couldn’t get even one foot in bounds.

In terms of the throw overall, it was fine; this was a chance that any quarterback would take that just didn’t connect. The placement was fine considering where the defender was. Winston’s feet were set and he was throwing to his more comfortable left side.

Though an incompletion in the stat sheet, this one was fine.

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Winston’s second deep pass was actually his only competition of 20 or more yards on the day.

In the clip above, the Bucs were operating out of the 1-minute drill, something Winston does very well, most of the time, as a momentum quarterback. The window Winston put that ball through was extremely tight, but he didn’t hesitate, saw the chance and got it to the spot it needed to be with the pace it needed to have.

Though it was a close call, it was a great throw.

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Now we get into the area where things started to unravel for Winston a bit.

I don’t really believe in the whole “rust” factor with players, but I will say that in a case where Winston is throwing to a speed receiver he’s never had before, I can believe that there is still some chemistry needed to be worked out at game speed.

What’s worth noticing is that, though he was basically triple covered, Jackson still found a way to wiggle and run his way into separation and get behind the defense He’s so savvy like that. If he and Winston can get on the same page with that speed, we could see some special throws connect.

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This was Winston’s final deep throw to Jackson of the game.

Though the pass did go through Jackson’s hands, it’s clear with his turn around that Jackson thought he has his defender beat the other way. Jackson is one of the best receivers in the league at tracking the football in the air, but this one was still too far.

However, we can’t blame Winston too much for this one. He was climbing the pocket away from pressure, and even took a shot as he threw it. Though it may not have been exactly where Jackson wanted it, he gave him a good shot.

You love Winston for the chances he takes. Perhaps this wasn’t a bad throw as much as it was one that just needs more chemistry to turn into a completed “wow” play with pressure all around.

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The final deep pass of the day for Winston could have very well be a byproduct of the previous four throws going to Jackson at his speed, then trying to adjust the throw to Charles Sims’ speed.

Regardless of the reason – excuses, excuses – Winston has to hit this; plain and simple.

He knows it.

Dirk knows it.

You know it.

I know it.

Connecting on passes that require 20 or more yards in the air will be an important variable for how far the Bucs go this season – or, better said, which opponents they will beat. They didn’t need these big plays against the Bears, but they likely will against the Patriots and the Falcons and the Packers.

Playoff teams make the big plays. Winston was a winning quarterback, but he wasn’t a playoff quarterback on Sunday. But, he has time to become one.

Click to the next page to see this week’s read-option and get in on the discussion.