The Big Hitter Breaks Down the Drive

[bighitterdalama]

In his very insightful post, ELCHALJE raised the question:

"On Plax's catch, I remain amazed how he gave just the slightest tweak to his route to give the New England defender the idea that he was headed for the inside.  Being one on one with Plax, wouldn't you think that the defender would prevent the outside move first  and look for help on the inside?"

In researching the matter, I reviewed the video of the play. What I noticed was that the Giants seemed to dupe New England into an incorrect coverage scheme. But why? The Patriots are renowned for proper alignment. I then reviewed the entire final drive. I believe that I may have found the answer.

During the drive, which lasted twelve plays, the Giants played a four wideout, single back set on ten of the plays. As best I can tell (the quality of the film made it difficult to read the uniform numbers), the wideouts consisted of Plaxico Burress, Steve Smith, Amani Toomer, and David Tyree. Brandon Jacobs was the single back in all ten four wide sets. The Giants operated their four wide sets out of two formations: 

Split left, split right, double slot, either left or  right (hereafter: trips left or trips right).
Split left, slot left, slot right, split right (hereafter: spread).

In the trips formation, Burress plays left end, Tyree right end, Steve Smith the inside slot, Toomer the outside slot. Jacobs lines up weakside to the trips, usually staying in to block. The Giants do not use any motion on any of the four wide plays.

New England countered the Giants' four wide set with a 3-3-5 nickle defense. New England may have utilized some rotation on the line but, for the most part, their personnel looked, left to right for the offense, as:

DL: Seymour, Wilfork, Warren
LBs: Thomas, Seau, Bruschi
CBs: Hobbs, Samuels
Nickle: Merriweather
Safeties: Harrison, Sanders

The following is a play-by-play breakdown of the drive. I include the pre-snap location of the ball, as this will become important as the Giants approach the end zone.

Play One: First down. Giant 17 yard line, right hash, trips left. Pass to Toomer, middle right, complete, eleven yards, first down.

Play Two: First down. Giant 28, right hash, trips left. Pass to Toomer, middle right, incomplete. It appears as if Steve Smith ran the wrong pattern, as he brings additional coverage to Toomer's location.

Play Three: Second down. Giant 28, right hash, trips left. Sideline pass to Burress, incomplete.

Play Four: Third Down. Giants 28, right hash, trips left. Pass to Toomer, left hash, nine yards. Fourth and less than one, Giant 37 yard line.

Play Five: Fourth and one, Giant 37, left hash. The Giants go eye formation, wideout left, wideout right, double tight end right. H-back tight end comes in motion left. Fullback lead/tailback dive right. Madison Hedgecock obliterates a linebacker; Jacobs for one/plus yard. First down.

Play Six: First down, Giant 38, just right of the left hash. The Giants change up the formation. Spread formation: split left/split right/slot left, slot right. Right slot is close to the right tackle. A strong Adalius Thomas outside move flushes Manning right. Manning is able to scramble for six yards.

Play Seven: Second down and four, Giant 44, right hash. Spread formation. Deep out, right sideline, incomplete. It appears as if the receiver (Toomer?) broke off the pattern too soon. Asante Samuel had a shot at an interception, but a further look shows that he may have landed with a toe out of bounds.

Play Eight: The Play. Third and four, Giant 44, right hash. Spread formation.

The Patriots show a 3-2-6 set. The defensive linemen overload the left side, showing a zero(shade left)/3/7 front. Two linebackers cover the right side of the line, sitting in the 3 and 5 positions. The nickle and dime backs are up close on the slot receivers. The remaining defensive backs are in a Cover Two, with the LCB even yards off the LOS, the RCB ten yards off. Both safeties are playing very deep. 

For the first time in the drive, Brandon Jacobs lines up to the strong side/short side of the field. The New England defense correctly reads an

[MightyGiants]

Good work Brian   I added this to the frontpage of the website.

[beaugestus]

Nice job Brian, thanks for taking the time.

[TONKA56]

This is one of the best posts in a long time.  I hope it becomes archieved.

[NYSPORTS]

That's a great job  .

Looking back, all I remember is yelling "Burress" the moment Eli released the pass.

[nygiants1086]

 

[vette5573]

  Wow Brian, great job man!

[bigblueinclearbluenc]

Great job. I love posts like this. Great football talk.
I always wondered if Eli's slow delivery on that was timed perfectly with Burress's quick (and small) inside move to help sell the quick inside slant. Make Hobbs see the move and Eli winding up at the same time. But Eli's seemingly slow delivery works perfectly in setting up the lob to the outside and Buress has enough time to turn around, find the ball and make the catch.

Yes, I wonder if it was the exactly call or did Eli audible that exact play at the line from that formation. Eli must have also set the protection.

[bldevil]

I wonder if the earlier touchdown to Tyree (over the middle) as well as prior incompletes to Burress in the endzone (also over the middle) had an effect here.

[Painter]

Great summary, Brian. It's not easy to do even when reviewing game tape. Well done.

bigblueinclearblue, on the winning TD play, the Pats called an all-out blitz that left Hobbs in single coverage on Burress. Hobbs slipped when juked by a double move, which left Plax wide open to catch the corner fade.

Eli may have read the blitz and checked down, but I suspect that the Giants were going to throw the deep fade in any case. It would be a reasonable and relatively safe play call under the circumstances especially given Plax's height advantage and with Hobb's playing hurt. But once they spotted the single, it clinched the decision, I'd say. The Oline has to get credit for picking up the Pat's pressure sell out.

Cheers!

[Sam56]

Great analysis Brian. Like others, I always seem to get lost in the moment and yell "TOUCH DOWN" whenever I replay it.

My congratulations on a job very well done.

[socaljint]

Outstanding analysis as always. Keep em coming and thanks for all the time it takes. 

[Grizz299]

  WOW!   Not only the commitment and the knowledge , but taut brilliant writing.    There is no magazine, no mass media that offers anything nearly as good.   There is a market for this stuff and you should be charging for it.     Thank you. 

[LennG]

 
  Excellent post Brian. Now we know why we still keep you around.

[jimmyz]

This is one of the best football analysis I have ever read.   You should print it, frame it, and hand it out on x-mas.