LiveBall Sports

A LiveBall Sports game tape review, this game promised to be a great one, and it lived up to the hype when the Texans rose from the dead to come all the way back and…lose unexpectedly.  That’s how you know it was the Texans.

• Matt Schaub played one of the best games of the season by a quarterback.  The Texans offense did not play a great game, this was more or less a fantastic individual performance.
• Schaub’s game-clinching interception wasn’t a bad read, or overconfidence, but was a poor decision to try to lead Jacoby Jones to the out in an attempt to get yards after catch.  Schaub could have easily thrown the ball to Jones’ back shoulder and got a completion.  Schaub never saw CB Josh Wilson, who had impeccable timing to drop coverage and make the play in front of him.  It was an aggressive play by Schaub, but with more potential reward than may have originally appeared.
• Schaub didn’t have a picture of the coverage because of pressure on him in the pocket.  Against man coverage, what the Ravens had been playing, this is a 25 yard gain.  It was zone coverage.  Game over.
• It took the Ravens a long time to adjust defensively to what the Texans were killing them with in the second half.  The Ravens were in a lot of three man rush concepts late in the game, with 8-man cover two schemes.  Fatigue appeared to be a primary factor in both mental lapses in zone coverage by younger players such as CB LaDairius Webb, and physical errors in covering the receivers tightly.
• All issues of the Texans pass defense noted, I’m not sure Baltimore QB Joe Flacco has ever played a better football game in his career.  Flacco might actually achieve true franchise QB status before Atlanta’s Matt Ryan.  He’s having the better year of the two.
• The Ravens’ receiver hierarchy as is follows: 1) Derrick Mason, 2) Anquan Boldin, 3) TJ Houshmandzadeh.  Teams are more afraid of Boldin, and are more willing to leave Mason in favorable situations.  This may be what the Ravens offense is trying to get, match-up wise.
• Joe Flacco is starting to move around in the pocket like one of the best, reminiscent of Tom Brady.  Flacco’s sacks are almost without exception the cause of pass protection breakdowns where their should not be breakdowns.
• The Ravens have a quarterback protection problem, as the backs and the offensive line don’t always seem to know what the other is doing on any given play.
• The Ravens may also have a personnel issue on the right side with Marshall Yanda and Oniel Cousins.  Cousins is a liability in pass protection.
• I’m not sure why the Ravens are struggling to run the football right now: they are still good in power situations.  I am guessing this was an emphasis of the Texans defense going into the week: no gashing runs against them.
• The Texans play mostly 8-in-the-box looks.  They lack a competent free safety to run this defense and the corners there are very, very young.
• It will make a big difference going forward if the Texans can count on the development of guys like Glover Quin and Kareem Jackson as competent starters.  Safeties who will have a job in the NFL in future seasons are not rostered by Houston.
• Houston’s LBs are a weakness.  Obviously Demeco Ryans is hurt.  Rookie Daryl Sharpton is impressive, but a rookie at the end of the day.  There’s no excuses for Brian Cushing at this point.  His coverage in this game was poor and he’s making mental errors.
• DT Amobi Okoye had a disappointing day, and he might be one of the players that the Texans jettison in the offseason.  I think that would be a mistake: he still makes big plays and his best days are almost certainly in front of him.  The Texans are infatuated with Shaun Cody, for reasons that are unclear on film.
• DE Antonio Smith might be outperforming everyone on the Texans defense right now, except Mario Williams.  Smith and Williams play at a level close to the level of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, but unlike the Colts, the Texans don’t have a system of defense to plug players into.  There’s no scheme on this team, or plan they are building to.  Just bad defensive backs and a lot of confusion.
• Terrell Suggs is still one of the best pass rushers in the game.  He didn’t do a lot of pass rushing during the defensive meltdown of the Ravens.  He must have been working on the coverage.
• The Texans offensive line did not protect Matt Schaub particularly well.  Eric Winston is getting beat a lot more often than he did last year.  LT Duane Brown struggled against Suggs in this game.  The interior line played excellently, however, both opening up rushing lanes and vs. the pass.
• TE Owen Daniels may be recovering from an ACL injury, but his problem extend beyond a gimpy knee.  His hands failed him in this game multiple times, and he’s not an elite route runner as he was before the injury.  The Texans have found a great TE in Joel Dressen, but it’s going to be tough to work them both into the offense next year.  Daniels’ career might actually suffer from too many weapons around him.
• Between Arian Foster, Matt Schaub, and Andre Johnson, the Texans have a very bright future.  The problem is on defense, where only Smith and Williams are save, and this team needs to get a lot of internal development in order to contend in 2011.

A LiveBall Sports Game Tape Review.

• The Colts were trying to exploit #54 Chargers LB Stephen Cooper in coverage early.  The Colts attacked him a number of ways with both receivers and tight ends.
• According to color commentator Cris Collinsworth, his film study revealed Cooper to be the weaker of the two Chargers ILBs in coverage.  Kevin Burnett is the quicker, more adept coverage player.
• The Chargers will mix zone defenses with man defense.  Nominally, they are a 3-4 defense and usually play 3-4 defense on first down, but this is a multiple front, aggressive, pressure defense under coordinator Ron Rivera.
• San Diego had a plan coming in to solve Reggie Wayne with double coverage and CB Antoine Cason, but didn’t come out ready to defend TE Jacob Tamme.  The Colts first response to get Wayne involved was to use him in the same way that they were using Tamme, using him on drags and slants to attack the middle of the field.
• The news in this game was the return of WR Vincent Jackson to the Chargers’ lineup (no catches), but RB Darren Sproles has been missing in the passing game for some time.  He had 8 touches in this one.
• The Colts did not allow Philip Rivers to make the big throw down the field.  All of the big passing plays in this game were thrown by Manning, and the Chargers scored twice off of those passes.
• Colts cover-two is a true competency, worked against the two best offenses they will face this year in back to back weeks: New England and San Diego.  They are a little weak at the linebacker level right now, which allowed the Chargers running game to be a factor, but held Antonio Gates to 4 catches-48 yards.  Just no downfield opportunities against a defense that is supposed to be spacey in the middle of the field.
• Kevin Burnett’s INT returned for a TD was not a designed coverage.  He mis-read his assignment’s (Colts RB Donald Brown) intention to stay in and block, and would up in an otherwise clean passing lane with the football.  The play was as much luck as skill and positioning.  Manning was also pressured on the play by NT Antonio Garay.
• Antonio Garay is a fantastic nose tackle who is a three down player because he controls two gaps and rushes the passer.  No player is more responsible for the success of the Chargers defense this year than Garay.  He appeared in four games with the Bears in 2006 for defensive coordinator Ron Rivera.  Garay turned 31 years old two days after this game.
• On Manning’s 2nd INT, Antwaan Barnes (acquired from Baltimore pre-season thanks to them having too many LBs) beat LT Charlie Johnson around the edge and hit manning on the release.  The pass, which appeared to be intended for WR Blair White on the left sideline, went instead to the middle of the field where only Chargers LBs were.
• Colts are really the first team to make San Diego look like a team short on weapons.  An efficient offensive day by the Chargers enabled by the domination of the Indianapolis offense by their defense.  This game proves how dangerous the Chargers are to the AFC playoff field.
• The Chargers were successfully able to minimize the impact of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis in this game, mostly by winning the one on one battles with their offensive tackles.  Rivers was sacked twice, but only once by a Colts DL.  Good game by the Chargers OL, with only LG Kris Dielman struggling with his matchup.
• The Colts offense uses a lot of college type swings and screens, as well as the Colts slant with Wayne and Garcon that they have made famous over the years.
• This is an offense that needs RB Joseph Addai back, who hasn’t played since the Redskins game in week six.  Donald Brown looks like a wasted draft pick.  Too much of the Colts passing offense goes to the running backs not to have Addai in there.  The Colts essentially play with undrafted rookies behind Brown.
• RB Javarris James appears to be a pretty good blocking back, which makes off some for him not contributing as a receiver.
• Mike Tolbert’s longest run of the day (longest offensive play by the Colts) was poor run defense by the Colts, actually the wrong cut by Tolbert.
• The Colts have the same problem in run defense that the Texans do in pass defense.  The scheme allows them to play with cushion and “limit damage”, but these units are really poor at limiting damage, turning simple plays into long gains with inexcusable mistakes.
• I get the feeling that if the Colts couldn’t play cover two, they wouldn’t do anything well defensively.  The coverage ability of this group is what prevents Dwight Freeney’s statline from looking like Mario Williams’.  But when you compare that Houston’s offense is stacked compared to the Colts, you can see just how valuable that cover two ability is.
• When you see Peyton Manning overthrowing open receivers, it’s bad.  Manning’s season is good evidence that even the best ever decline sharply when age becomes a factor.
• Manning does need to have more weapons than he does in order to have impact in the make the playoffs.  The Colts offensive decline is part decline on Manning’s part, but a larger part injuries and having no ability to run the football.  My point is simply that 33-year old Manning overcame these issues to win games ugly while 34 year old Manning is succumbing to them.
• At the end of the day, Manning will be back when this unit is healthy and when the Colts decide that protecting him is important.  He will be a factor in the outcome of NFL football games through 2016, and the Colts should pay him as such.
• The Colts don’t seem to have any problem tackling receiver/runners, and are one of the best open field tackling teams I have ever seen.  Their problem is getting off blocks to make tackles.
• It’s going to be fun watching Jacob Tamme and Dallas Clark play on the same team.  I have no idea how they are going to work both of them in the same scheme, but they are two of the top fifteen receiving tight ends in pro football.
• Pierre Garcon always makes one play a game that makes you think keeping him in the lineup is a good idea.  It likely is not.  Garcon fits the team’s desire for big play offense, but misses most of his opportunities to keep this team on track.
• Manning is struggling to get some of his passes to the sideline, which is causing additional interception opportunities for adept corners.
• Philip Rivers was the best quarterback on the football field in this game, and either Tom Brady or Rivers is the best quarteback in the NFL right now.  Manning might be a distant third on the same level of Drew Brees.

If the Chargers end up beating the Raiders and Chiefs down the stretch to get into the playoffs, this will be their best chance to win the Super Bowl under Norv Turner.  This is as strong as the Chargers have been in the last four seasons.  Special teams will remain a critical issue, but the biggest threat to the Chargers is that they might miss the postseason altogether based on a 2-5 start and a much improved AFC West division.  As of right now, they are the best team in the NFL.

A LiveBall Sports Game Tape Review:

• The Jaguars offense was dominant over the Giants defense in the first half.  Jacksonville’s offense works methodically.  RB Maurice Jones-Drew is the big play threat.
• The Giants are a big play offense without any healthy big play players.  WRs Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks missed this game with injuries.  RB Ahmad Bradshaw is the only dynamic player on this offense, and he has to split time with the plodding Brandon Jacobs.
• These are two remarkably similar teams.  Giants HC Tom Coughlin’s influence in this game was evident.  The Giants are just a little bit better at every level than the Jaguars, which makes a bigger difference on the defensive end than the offensive end.
• The Giants ability to protect Eli Manning (zero sacks allowed in month of November) is more about scheme and Manning than about the offensive line.  Without David Diehl and Shaun O’Hara (injury), the Giants strive to give Manning a clean pocket by keeping extra guys in and stretching the line of scrimmage to give Manning space.  Getting the  ball out in good timing is one of Manning’s best skills.
• There is little diversification in the Giants passing game right now.  The receivers are the ones running all long and intermediate routes.  The backs and tight ends have the short stuff.  Mario Manningham is the lone dependable receiver on the offense.
• I really like Giants no. 2 TE Travis Beckum and think he has a lot of potential.  He’s not the great blocker the Giants would require to increase his playing time though.
• Maurice Jones-Drew is never given enough credit for his blocking.  I think Arian Foster is the only more complete back in the NFL than Jones-Drew right now.
• Jags WR Mike Thomas is not the deep threat the Jaguars are using him as.
• Jags QB David Garrard looks very comfortable in this offense.  I think ultimately, his future is as the backup QB on the Giants.  Right now, he’s playing the last five weeks for his 2011 season.
• Garrard was fooled a couple of times by dropping defensive linemen on zone blitz concepts, but the Giants didn’t take advantage of these mistakes.  DE Justin Tuck dropped an easy interception.
• Bradshaw is more similar to Jones-Drew than any other back in football.
• After dominating the first half, the Jaguars should have been able to control the start of the second half as well.  This was a Jaguars breakdown more than a Giants comeback.
• Jaguars DT Terrence Knighton is a superstar nose tackle who is unblockable.  He puts a couple of low-effort plays on film a game, but he can potentially be a three down player in this defense.
• I’m not sure DT Tyson Alualu will ever be a three down defensive lineman in the same defense though.  He’s an excellent three technique, but needs to be protected by that scheme to make his plays.  Defenses are getting more diverse in the NFL which could limit him to being a 35 snap per game D-Lineman.  He could be a 5 sack per year guy in that role.
• A rare safety blitz from the Jaguars got to Eli Manning on third down.  He scrambled for a yard to nullify the sack attempt by Sean Considine, but you can pressure the Giants into mistakes in third down situations if you have good coverage players.
• One of the best scheme advantages of the Giants offense is to force the other team to defend them exclusively with four man rushes.  Manning will take all the time you give him if you rush just three.  And it’s hard to consistently get the Giants in long yardage situations.  They are better at five yard gains than any other team in the NFL.
• The Giants predominantly play a lot of cover two because they can stop your running game with just seven guys.
• To run on the Giants, you need to get on them with man blocking concepts and trap their aggressive ends and tackles.  The Jags had success pulling LG Vince Manuwai to get up on DT Chris Canty.  C Brad Meester had a remarkable game setting protections and getting up on the Giants DL and MLB.
• The Jaguars also tried to run a little zone stretch, but they were playing without their starting tackle tandem, Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton.  The best edge blockers for the Jags in this game were TEs Zach Miller and Marcedes Lewis, and their pulling guards.
• Marcedes Lewis is a match-up nightmare for defense.  The Giants can consider themselves lucky that Mike Sims-Walker had a bad game because he could have been the difference with the number of opportunities he had.
• The Giants almost exclusively went with six and seven man protection schemes.  Had the Jaguars any confidence that their secondary could match up with the Giants receivers in man to man, this game would have had a different outcome.
• Whenever they wanted to get TE Kevin Boss involved, the Giants went with play action to get him into the intermediate zone.
• Eli Manning tore up the Jags zones in the second half, particularly FS Courtney Greene.  This is why the Giants were able to overcome being physically dominated to win.

A LiveBall Sports Game Tape Review.

This was a fascinating game to analyze for a number of reasons.  Both teams operate at less than ideal offensive efficiency and sport defenses that fly around.  The result was a game that was 3-0 in favor of the Packers through three quarters.

• Though the Packers held the Jets to the NFL’s first shutout this year, the Jets defense was the better performing unit in this one.
• Green Bay doesn’t have any semblance of a running game to take the pressure off of quarterback Aaron Rodgers.  The Jets have an excellent run defense as well, but it was more than just the Jets being dominant: short yardage, long yardage, inside, outside, the Packers couldn’t do anything on the ground.
• Packers TE Andrew Quarless looks the part of the match-up nightmare that the Packers like at TE, but Jermichael Finley he is not.  Quarless is a rookie who doesn’t make the plays that were there for him to make.
• Green Bay actually was able to put the Jets defense in a bind when they took Quarless off the field in the second half.  The Packers had great success throwing to wide receivers Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson in the second half.
• The book on defensing Aaron Rodgers this year has been to rush three guys and take away his throwing options, as he usually needs to break the pocket in order to buy himself time.  A problem for the Jets is that they don’t have any every down pass rushers in their starting lineup, so they didn’t get a lot of pressures or hits on Rodgers in the early going.
• Clearly, Rodgers is in no rhythm in this injury-riddled offense.  I think Rodgers has come a long way from last year because against a good defense, he still managed to make a few plays and conversions in this game, but he really has to scratch out whatever he can get from the defense.  I think ultimately, Aaron Rodgers is going to be an improved player for the adversity he is facing every week this year.
• The defenses in this game played aggressive press-man coverage.  The Packers receivers weren’t really getting open against the Jets coverage, but at times, Rodgers was able to win in the pre-snap phase of the play, drawing favorable match-ups.  When the Jets won pre-snap, Rodgers typically lost the play.
• The Jets can’t generate pressure with the non-rushers on their defensive front, so they eventually had to start bringing pressure packages.  Because of the struggles of the Packers’ skill players, they were able to create coverage sacks on Rodgers with man coverage behind blitzes.  This is still a great blitzing team.
• The Packers’ defensive front, and DL Cullen Jenkins in particular, really was the key in this game, winning the line of scrimmage battle with the physical Jets OL, and playing disciplined to take away the cutback lanes for LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene, who were mostly limited to short gains.
• The Packers were very content to give up short passes from Mark Sanchez.  They played a lot of single high safety coverages with man underneath.  Against Sanchez, FS Nick Collins could get from the middle of the field to either sideline, and thus the Packers didn’t need to play a second high safety to stop the Jets passing game.
• The Jets receivers were open more than the Packers receivers were, and Sanchez had a lot of time to make plays against three and four man rushes by the Packers.  There were two problems that doomed the Jets: Sanchez didn’t always put the ball on the money, and in the event that he did, the receivers usually botched the play.
• The Jets receiver playing the best right now is, believe it or not, Braylon Edwards.  Santonio Holmes was a non-factor.  He’s was open a couple of times, but can’t get on the same page as Sanchez.
• Sanchez extended plays consistently, got outside the pocket and bought time.  It didn’t seem to matter, because either he’d fail to execute a throw to an open receiver, not see the open receiver, or the receiver would play an easy completion into an interception.
• Packers DB Charles Woodson outplayed Jets DB Darrelle Revis.
• The Jets wasted a bunch of offensive plays with gadget plays that never resulted in anything but negative yards or turnovers, if anything.
• This was not Jets C Nick Mangold‘s best game, as he struggled against the Packers’ front.
• Deeper passes to his left always hung up in the wind on Sanchez.  Sanchez struggles to that side anyway, but the wind was really a factor in this game.
• Pass protection for Rodgers was good enough, but broke down when Rodgers missed his own assignment.  Rex Ryan fooled Rodgers a number of times in this game.  Unfortunately, the plays where Rodgers wasn’t fooled were the difference.
• The Jets passing game executed down the field more than the Packers passing game did, which is why they had more yards at the end of the game.  There were more total threats to score for the Jets than the Packers.
• Dropped passes and missed opportunities were the reason the Jets lost a winnable game.  Jericho Cotchery was the number one contributor to the problem, but certainly wasn’t the only one making errors.

A LiveBall Sports Game Tape Review.

• There are a number of fundamental issues with the Minnesota Vikings that simply can’t be corrected by Brad Childress or anyone else.  Against the New England Patriots, I thought the Vikings did an excellent job of hiding their weaknesses to keep the game close.  In the second half, the ball really, really bounced the way of the Patriots and put the Vikings on the defensive, which lead to hard hits on Brett Favre.
• When the game was at 21-10 in the third quarter, I thought the teams had played evenly to that point.  From that point, the Patriots pulled away and dominated in the fourth quarter.
• The Patriots didn’t have a banner offensive day, but when you talk about teams who display great offensive efficiency, consider that Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson relieved Brett Favre and finished the game for him…by throwing a single TD pass with more than 7 minutes to go in the game.  Jackson got the ball down by 10 points inside two minutes to play, with the game over at that point.
• Patriots LT Matt Light had a complete and utter domination of Vikings DE Jared Allen in this game.  So convincing was this match-up in favor of the Patriots that Vikings DC Leslie Frazier had to move Allen off his preferred right defensive spot to try to give the defense a chance.
• QB Brett Favre is not noticeably affected by his broken ankle.  I’m sure it hurts.
• The Vikings coverage units were strong in this game.  For the Patriots, there were plenty of third and long situations on offense, and they didn’t always come through in those long conversion situations.
• All of those long yardage passing attempts makes it more inexcusable that the Vikings didn’t get a sack in this game.
• There are way too many Vikings receivers who don’t play at an NFL standard.  WR Bernard Berrian in particular has performed poorly, but TE Visanthe Shiancoe who had such a great year last year is running inconsistent routes and messing up in simple areas like knowing where the sticks are.
• Brett Favre was a distributor of the football in this game, really putting the Pats defense in a bind.  That means it really wasn’t the fault of anyone but Randy Moss that Randy Moss had just one catch.
• It’s fallacious to say that Randy Moss dictates the coverage that defenses use.  It’s true that when he goes vertical, he gets a second defender running deep with him, but that’s how most defenses cover most vertical receiving threats.  WR Percy Harvin wasn’t more open because of Moss, Harvin was open because he was running the best routes on the field, and using the whole field.
• The New England Patriots really lack any semblance of a pass rush to get to the quarterback, and they know it.  When Favre got hit in this game it was because of complete and utter breakdowns by the Minnesota receivers in understanding both the game situation and the quarterbacks intentions.  The 3 and 4 wide packages of the Vikings are one of the least tactically prepared units I’ve graded this year.
• While the Pats have wasted many early draft picks on defensive backs who can’t play at the NFL level, there is every indication to believe that rookie CB Devin McCourty is different.  When the Patriots get CB Leigh Bodden back from injury next year, they will have a starting corner tandem that they have tried hard to develop since losing Asante Samuel back in 2008.
• The Vikings can win as long as they can stay with RB Adrian Peterson and their rushing attack.  This is a very good running team, unlike some of the Vikings team of the past which had an explosive playmaker who had both a fumbling tendency and a tendency to lose yardage.  Peterson is as good as I’ve ever seen him this year.  The 2nd half score of this game, 21-10, prevented the Vikings from using Peterson as anything but a pass receiver in most of the second half.
• Percy Harvin lapses in concentration causing mistakes, but if the Vikings can manage his migraines, it’s hard to imagine Harvin not being one of the best receivers in the NFL for a long time.
• If and when the Vikings ever turn the offense over to Jackson, he’s got a really powerful offensive unit that Favre helped build with Sidney Rice, Peterson, and Harvin.  This year the Vikings are too reliant on players who don’t have a true understanding the offense: Berrian, Greg Lewis, Shiancoe, Toby Gerhart, and — at times, yes — Favre himself.
• For the Patriots, their backs, BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead are fairly interchangeable as players, both are excellent runners.  Woodhead is playing the Kevin Faulk role in their offense.  I don’t know if I’d want to send him between the tackles as much as Green-Ellis, but they are both man-blocking sit and wait runners.  Green-Ellis is more patient than Woodhead.
• The Vikings did not let WR Wes Welker get open in this game.  He was the focus of Leslie Frasier’s gameplan.  It was often SLB Chad Greenway‘s responsibility to hit Welker and make sure the safeties could adjust to his routes.  Greenway did a fantastic job, and would seemingly be on his way to the pro-bowl this year.
• As deep and elite as this Vikings DL is, this unit is clearly underachiving.  It’s not just Jared Allen.  They need more production from Kevin Williams and Ray Edwards with Pat Williams getting decreased playing time.
• WR Deion Branch was a non-factor in this game for the Patriots.  It was Brandon Tate who made all the (fluky) long-yardage plays thanks to QB Tom Brady‘s underrated elusiveness.
• Maybe no fact in this game sums up the Minnesota offense quite as well as this: their three leading receivers in this game all played running back in college.  Randy Moss was not overall helping this offense accomplish anything, from an on the field perspective.

A LiveBall Sports Game Tape Review.

This section looks at the Bengals offense against the Falcons defense.

• Cedric Benson was elusive and powerful in this game, and was the best weapon the Bengals had in this game.
• Chad Ochocinco ran really good routes in this game.  With Terrell Owens in the lineup, Ocho doesn’t run as many deep routes since Cincinnati takes those shots with Owens.
• Brent Grimes is the Falcons best corner, and as long as Saints CB Jabari Greer is injured, he’s going to be the best corner in the NFC South division.
• The timing of a 3rd down play by the Bengals was thrown off by crowd noise: Ochocinco didn’t release at the snap, then Carson Palmer had to throw the ball to his pre-snap side, and was nearly intercepted.
• 2009 1st round pick RT Andre Smith started in this game, and he looked bad.  Smith couldn’t find anyone to block in run blocking, and the crowd noise sometimes hurt the way he got out of his stance.  When he got a good release, Smith was a pretty effective pass blocker.  But his sound run blocks in this game were few and far between.
• The Bengals still can’t protect Carson Palmer with five guys and they know it.  There was a lot of 6 and 7 man protections in this game.
• If the Falcons need to work on something, it’s that when the Bengals only put two or three receivers in the route, they got open deep, and quickly.  CB Christopher Owens was a target of the Bengals all day and veteran CB Brian Williams was torched as well.
• WR Jordan Shipley is very, very talented, and SS William Moore for the Falcons lacks any kind of man to man coverage ability.  The Bengals got a long TD because they caught the Falcons in a blitz, and had this matchup.  Palmer threw the ball 7 yards, and Shipley added 55 more after the catch.
• The decline of Terrell Owens as a receiver is a big problem with the Bengals passing offense.  They still keep throwing the ball to him, but rarely does Owens come up with a play.
• Falcons LDE Kroy Biermann is a great player who doesn’t have prototypical size for a 4-3 end, but does nothing but win at the line of scrimmage.  He decleated Andre Smith on two different running plays, just putting the former Alabama tackle on the ground.
• Carson Palmer got hit too many times in this game for the number of guys the Bengals had in protection.  The protection unit for the Bengals simply is not good enough, and the Falcons — who weren’t shy about blitzing — got to Palmer with most 4- and 3-man rushes
• The Bengals have a problem getting TE Jermaine Gresham involved in the meaningful parts of the game, probably due to the protection issues.  Gresham caught passes in this game, but was not a factor in the outcome.  He defers playing time to Reggie Kelly for protection reasons.
• I thought the Falcons LB’s have a lot of room for improvement.  Curtis Lofton showed up on tape in this game, but there’s too much talent in this unit to be dominated by the Bengals offense.  Stephen Nicholas and Mike Peterson started in this game with Lofton.

This section looks at the Falcons offense against the Bengals defense

• For the names at the LB level for the Bengals, they were beaten to a pulp today by the offensive line of the Falcons, particularly LBs Ray Maualuga and Brandon Johnson.
• RG Harvey Dahl is the most impressive of all the Falcons lineman, he’s a true road-grader who will move anything backwards.
• On the other side of the interior line, DT Domata Peko who plays the 0-technique for the Bengals is back from injury and ready to perform as a top defensive lineman in the AFC.
• Matt Ryan threw the ball really well in this game.  He trusts all of his wide receivers, but really only had two guys he should trust, one of which is is future hall of fame TE Tony Gonzalez.
• I think the Falcons’ second best wide receiver is the ageless Brian Finneran, who caught the TD pass in the first drive of this game.
• The other, of course, is Roddy White, who was uncoverable in this game.  White made one-handed catches, vertical leaping catches, catches where he had to outrun everyone in the secondary to get to the ball, catches where he caught the ball and had to outrun everyone, juggling catches, sideline catches, and catches for the sake of catches.
• The Bengals CB duo in this game of Adam Jones and Leon Hall was excellent, but ultimately ineffective simply because White was that much better.  Jones went on IR after the game, so hopefully the Bengals can get Jonathon Joseph back soon.
• Michael Turner has excellent feet.  He’s quicker than he is fast, and has a power running style that can obscure how quick he really is.
• Conversely, RB Jason Snelling had too many opportunities to break a tackle and make an impact in this game, with 19 yards on 9 touches.  Snelling cannot waste good blocking and open field opportunity and put out an output like that.  Should have had a walk in TD in the first quarter with all the defenders blocked, but he couldn’t squeeze through a tight hole.
• The Falcons love to pull linemen and get up on the linebackers in the running game, and Michael Turner is the perfect back for the job.
• Ultimately, the Bengals lack a strong pass rusher off the edge.  Their coverage units allow them the flexibility to blitz and generate pressure, but it’s hard to keep elite players like Roddy White off the scoreboard when you have to manufacture pressure on the quarterback.

A LiveBall Sports Game Tape Review of two of the younger, more promising quarterbacks in professional football.  You can — and should — read Brian’s evaluation of Josh Freeman here.

• The Bucs had a disaster drive that began after a Sam Bradford fumble was recovered at the six yard line.  Kellen Winslow was called for offensive pass interference in the end zone, then Jeremy Zuttah was called for holding.  After that, Josh Freeman took a really bad sack that was the result of multiple protection breakdowns, but ultimately that Freeman simply can’t take.
• I think rookie WR Mike Williams has a lot of natural ability, but he’s fumbling way too much for a receiver even this early in a career.  It’s okay to come out of college with a knowledge of how to secure the football.
• Rookie DT Gerald McCoy isn’t having an impact for Tampa the way Ndamukong Suh is for Detroit, but he’s quick through the line, and Adam Goldberg and Jacob Bell had difficulty blocking the three technique in this game.  McCoy is an excellent fit for the scheme Tampa plays.
• Roy Miller is starting at the nose tackle instead of 2nd round rookie Brian Price.
• Sam Bradford is a good fit in the west coast offensive scheme preferred by St. Louis.
• A big problem with the offense is that the OL can’t really open up the passing lanes that a timing offense needs to throw.  This offensive line can man block and get Steven Jackson on the edge where he is most dangerous, and they are mobile and block for screens well, but the offensive line is largely not a west coast group.
• Tampa is not a good tackling team.  Both corners, Aqib Talib and Ronde Barber, are above average tacklers for their positions.  The safeties and outside linebackers are weaker tacklers.  Because they are an undersized unit and can’t tackle well, teams can run all over them.
• It’s a pass-first defensive philosophy in Tampa.  Their safeties are just not good enough to execute the scheme.
• A very multiple look for Tampa.  Not much action or trickery on the DL, they’re going to line up and try to run by you.  The Bucs do a lot of things with their back seven to try to hide weaknesses.  Not a lot of Tampa 2 coverage because even though the LBs do it well, the safeties are big plays waiting to happen.  A lot is asked of their corners in coverage.
• I continue to enjoy the play of Tampa’s linebackers, who are all small, but are intelligent.  If they could improve the tackling of this unit, these three (Geno Hayes, Quincy Black, Barrett Ruud) could be the best linebacking corps in the division.
• Bucs C Jeff Faine is out for a while.  Their shotgun snaps from C Jeremy Zuttah, who lost the LG job to UDFA Ted Larsen, are inadequate and throw off the timing of their shotgun plays.  The Bucs do not do “the small things” well.
• Danny Amendola is the one consistent in the Rams offensive litany of injuries.  He’s the most trusted target forBradford, who throws passes to a bunch of guys who weren’t on the Week 1 roster, such as rookie Danario Alexander.
• It’s depressing when you have to comment about a team finding creative ways to use Danny Amendola, but he’s the center of the Rams’ offensive game plan.
• The Rams pull lineman a lot — probably on a majority of their rushing plays.
• All of the Bucs corners defend the sideline verticals really well.
• This needs to happen because run defense for the Bucs is about having more guys in the box than the opponent can block.  This numbers game results in a lot of man-free looks and one on one looks on the outside.  They were comfortable in this game playing man to man against the Rams’ endless depth chart  of non-receivers, but the Bucs aren’t the Bucs when they aren’t playing zone coverage.  This was a gameplan out of necessity rather than a team with an identity.
• Sam Bradford is getting a lot of passes knocked down by the tall Bucs defensive line.  I think it’s primarily the fault of the OL, but it’s hard to be sure.  It could be a competency of the Bucs more than anything.
• Overall, the run blocking for Steven Jackson is really, really good, and the gap defense by the Bucs is really, really bad.
• I do not think Bucs LB Barrett Ruud is all the way back from his injury last season.  He did not show up on film in this game.
• The Rams pay far more attention to detail than the Bucs do.
• The Rams’ inability to attack the safety level of the Bucs defense with the pass is a major issue.  The Bucs protected their safeties with man coverage underneath, which is backwards logic for most NFL teams.  It worked because the Bucs corners won the matchups with the Rams receivers.
• It’s incredibly hard to evaluate the Bucs OL with the way Zuttah is snapping.  It’s a total domination by the Rams DL, but I’m not sure the Bucs even have a chance.  The Bucs should go under center more.
• Rams OC Pat Shurmur is using simple motion against man fronts by the Bucs to change the Bucs’ gap responsibility before the snap.  The Bucs can’t seem to make the necessary adjustments.  This just in: Steven Jackson is good.
• The Rams have a rookie back named Keith Toston who doesn’t run well at all.  Looks like a one cut zone runner in a man blocking scheme.
• Quincy Black absolutely blew up rookie TE Mike Hoomanawanui on his TD reception at the end of the first half, then got pressure in the face of Bradford.  I mean, Hoomanawanui had zero forward progress after that jam.  It was rookie FS Cody Grimm who never saw Hoomanawanui come out of the backfield and just didn’t bother to cover him.
• Cadilliac Williams is the preferred receiver out of the backfield for the Bucs.  That appears to be his only role in the offense.  Williams was wide open a lot because the preferred coverage of the Rams in this game was a soft cover two.
• Once again, O.J. Atogwe was a non-factor on the TV feed.  I know sometimes the coaches’ tape shows the contributions of a safety that is masked on the TV feed.  Perhaps this is what is the case with Atogwe, but this isn’t a new revelation from this game.  Atogwe is a receiver neutralizer more than a playmaker.
• LeGarrette Blount is the best runner on the Bucs, but it’s a give away run call when he’s in the game, as he can’t pass protect for Tampa.  If he’s running like this, Tampa will live with it.  Blount’s contributions allowed the Bucs offense to go under center in the second half where Zuttah’s snaps weren’t an issue.  He also made play action a viable call for the Bucs.
• I have to say something about MLB James Laurinitis, who really looks good on film for the Rams.  With him, it’s not about spectacular plays, but that he always finds the ball.
• At the end of the day, the Rams are a better team than the Bucs, and are the most legitimate competitor with the Seahawks for the NFC West title.
• No big plays for the Rams offense is why they lost.  Even one gain of 35 yards probably wins the game.

This section will be all about those two quarterbacks.

• Something to keep in mind: the Rams like to move the pocket in order to get Sam Bradford some key throws.  Bradford is really not yet an NFL level passer throwing on the run.  He missed some really easy, key throws in this game to wide open tight ends because he threw off the wrong foot on the run.
• Josh Freeman is a guy who needs a lot of help from his receivers.  His arm is stronger than it is accurate.  Bradford is the other way around.
• Freeman’s negative plays stood out in this game, particularly in the first half.  He misdiagnosed a few defensive calls, and didn’t always feel the rush and step up, rather opting to try to get around contain, which the Rams did a great job of most of the day.
• Coincidentally, the Rams didn’t have a front side contain call on the Freeman GW TD pass to Cadillac Williams.  Freeman got outside contain quickly, offered a run/pass threat, and the Rams had a poor call on trying to defend all the options in the end zone for the Bucs.
• Bradford was not a big part of the gameplan for the Rams, who never tried to get the ball deep down the middle of the field.  Freeman was more or less the entire gameplan for the Bucs offense, who never really bothered to run early, and didn’t have a lot of offensive snaps before they found themselves down 2 TDs.
• Freeman’s 16 yard scramble on 3rd and 16 was the turning point in the game.  It wasn’t a particularly great play by Freeman, but because he didn’t over-utilize his scrambling ability in the first half, the rushing option was there for him any time he stepped up in the pocket.  If Freeman learns to step up instead of escape above the contain, he’s going to be a dangerous dual-threat in this league.
• The Bucs’ comeback happened because Freeman’s legs broke down the zone discipline of the Rams.  From the pocket, the Rams defense won decisively.
• The Bucs decided at halftime that the best way to deal with the Rams on third down was to blitz Bradford.  Bradford can diagnose the blitz, but his receivers have to at the same time.  The young Rams receivers could not adjust to the quick pressure on their quarterback.  It’s just another way the Bucs put pressure on the Rams receivers to grow up and the Rams receivers failed.
• I thought Bradford made more than enough big throws in this second half to win the game for his team, but the Rams never got points.  The problem: too many procedure penalties by the offensive line essentially ended promising drives.  Steven Jackson: 12 yards on 3 plays, and the Rams have to punt.
• The Bucs need Freeman to play better from the pocket.
• Freeman didn’t have any more big throws in this game than Bradford did, but he bunched most of them together on the last drive.  That’s bunching theory, leading to the Bucs only TD of the day.

A LiveBall Sports Game Tape Review.

• The first thing that stuck out about this game was that between the Fox Broadcast and the new stadium and the Lions as an opponent, there was absolutely no atmosphere at this game.  Hardly any crowd noise whatsoever.  And the Yankees had a travel day.
• The Lions defensive line is every bit as good as they wanted it to be.  The rest of the defensive unit leaves a lot to be desired.
• We’ve talked about how long until Sam Bradford, Gerald McCoy, and Eric Berry will be stars in the NFL.  Ndamukong Suh is already a star, and as soon as Detroit starts stringing wins together, he’s going to be the front runner for defensive rookie of the year.
• Early in this game, the Lions weren’t able to generate big plays, but they were able to stay on pace and get in 3rd and very short situations, which they converted.  No early penalties (this trend would eventually come back to bite the Lions).
• Jahvid Best is both productive in short areas and explosive in the open field, though a turf toe injury has sapped his explosiveness.  He is the best weapon on the Lions.
• Which is why that between Best and Tony Scheffler, the player on the Lions with the second most targets is TE Brandon Pettigrew.  The Lions are a very tight end centric offense.
• The Lions first drive was a clinic on how to score on an elite defense.  They benefited from a special teams gaffe that handed them excellent field position, then they went 3/3 on third and 1 plays, including a TD pass to Nate Burleson.
• The Giants offensive line has really, really struggled since C Shaun O’Hara’s injury.  Frankly, the OL of the Giants didn’t get enough credit in 2008 and 2009 when Manning was setting personal best records.  Without an elite unit in front of him, Manning is mistake-prone, but still able to go on streaks of precise downfield passing that carves up defenses.  That happened in this game.
• There was zero flow to the Giants offense in this game, though they were able to string together enough plays to win.  The Lions helped with enough penalties to ensure defeat.
• The Giants were able to attack the Lions defensive weaknesses when they went with max protection.  Steve Smith is the most reliable of the Giants receivers.  It’s a strictly downfield attack.  There’s no west coast elements in this offense, it’s a hybrid Gibbs-style power/singleback and a Don Coryell downfield striking offense.
• Running lanes for the Giants are dependent on the relative successes in the passing game.  This was not the case two years ago with the Giants OL at the height of it’s power.
• Alphonso Smith with an inexcusable offside penalty on a corner fire concept for the Lions.  If you’re trying to disguise your rush intentions and  a DB gets called for being offside, well, you’ve failed.
• Penalties really killed the Lions in this game.  One thing the Giants are without fail under Tom Coughlin is highly disciplined.
• After near perfection on the first drive, the Lions offense really tried to get cute and catch a disciplined Giants defense with misdirection tactics in terms of bootlegs and jet sweeps.  None of it worked.  Perry Fewell has a well coached unit that isn’t susceptible to simple elements of trickery.
• Giants max protect was an adjustment in response to the dominance of the DL of the Lions.  Forces the Lions to rely on their pass coverage units, which just aren’t very good.  And max protect still didn’t keep Manning all that clean.
• Lions RB depth: first time on a zone run that I was dumbfounded enough to ask “why did Best hesitate on that run instead of hitting the hole?”, I quickly found out that it was Kevin Smith’s first carry of the day.
• Shaun Hill being victimized by dropped passes in the first half.  Not quite as bad as being sidelined with a broken forearm in the second.
• First Calvin Johnson catch on 3rd and 11 was a great diagnosis of the coverage by Hill (cover two), and a poor job covering his zone by nickel corner Aaron Ross.
• Jahvid Best still has work to do as a blocker.  A really poor effort on Deon Grant led to a failed conversion on 3rd and 3 in the second quarter.  Fewell is judicious with his blitzes and when he uses them, they are to exploit and test like this one.  Not to pressure for the sake of pressure.
• I thought CC Brown really came to play in New York today, which is hilarious for reasons that Giants fans can sympathize with.
• The timing passing game out of the shotgun was something the Lions had no defense for.  Admittedly, that’s not the easiest element of the passing game to execute.  The Giants did well at it.
• Lions corner Chris Houston is an awful tackler.  The Lions have to make concessions to get acceptable cover players obviously, and the Giants were right to run in some passing situations.
• The Lions defense is very good at tackling as a whole, which along with the ability on their defensive line, is the biggest difference from last year.
• The Giants are really good at running out of the shotgun.  I saw no specific flaw in how the Lions defended these gun-runs, just that the Giants have a complete singleback playbook that they can run out of that formation because they are good at it.
• Eli Manning’s first half TD pass to Manningham was signature Giants offense.  They caught the Lions in a bad blitz principle and won decisively the battle at the line of scrimmage with the gap-conscious rush scheme that played away from the strength of the Lions.  Manning had straight man coverage across the board, with Manningham on nickel corner Jonathon Wade.  That’s just pitch and catch unless Manning gets pressure in his face.
• More Lions RB depth: on Kevin Smith’s second carry, he was ruled down by contact.  It looked as if he might have fumbled before being down.
• I think the weakness on the NY defense is FS Antrell Rolle.  He’s tough to find in the defensive schemes, admittedly, but teams need to take some shots and double move him.
• The Lions are also quite good at running out of the shotgun.
• Rookie DT Linval Joseph is massive for a guy as quick as he is.  He fits the Giants defensive philosophy perfectly: bigger, faster, stronger.
• Good work by Drew Stanton completing two straight passes without the benefit of a timeout to get the Lions back into field goal range after he took an intentional grounding penalty.
• What I’ll say about Drew Stanton’s performance in this game: better than anyone could have expected, but when he came in the quantity of offensive mistakes made by the Lions went through the roof.
• Good call by Jim Schwartz to QB sneak in 4th and inches from just shy of midfield.
• The illegal formation call that wiped out a 27 yard Nate Burleson reception was either called on LT Jeff Backus for being off the line of scrimmage, or was a bad call.  The Lions formation otherwise was legal.
• Stanton was stripped and it was recovered by Justin Tuck.  Stanton was just unaware of the pass rush on his back shoulder.
• I did not think Lions LBs Ashlee Palmer and Julian Peterson played well enough in this game.
• The Lions goal line defense is very impressive.  They stopped the Giants on five straight plays before the Giants finally got in.  It was a Cliff Avril unsportsmanlike penalty that extended the drive.
• The Lions use rookie CB Amari Spievey’s size as part of their excellent goal line defense package.  He’s otherwise their fourth corner.  CB Alphonso Smith was a waiver pickup from the Broncos after Denver traded a 1st round pick to draft him just last year.  He is Detroit’s best corner, and an excellent example of why Denver hasn’t benefited in the wins column from the otherwise shrewd trades of Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall.
• The Lions don’t get any push in the interior running game and it’s been the strength and quality of defenses faced that has prevented them from getting on the edge with the rushing attack.
• Calvin Johnson’s 87 yard TD was a four verticals concept into standard cover two by the Lions.  Johnson had a step on Terrell Thomas.  Antrel Rolle made a horrible coverage play on the football, allowing Johnson to catch the ball and outrace Thomas to the end zone.  The cardinal sin by a safety who is a major liability in coverage.
• Kenny Phillips broke up a deep pass for Calvin Johnson that hung up a bit on Stanton.  Still, Johnson is a fourth year receiver and that’s the kind of catch that Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, and really even Hakeem Nicks always catch.
• The decision by Scott Linehan to not pick on Antrel Rolle after Johnson’s TD is a big missed opportunity that looms large now as the Lions have fallen to 1-5.

A LiveBall Sports Game Tape Review.

The first section looks at how the Chiefs offense fared against the Texans defense.

• The Chiefs are formation diverse, part of an NFL trend beginning this year that emphasizes spread concepts with fewer receivers.
• In this game, the Chiefs ran a lot of single receiver stuff with Dwayne Bowe, likely because of Chris Chambers being inactive.  Clearly, the weakness of the Texans is their secondary.
• Jamaal Charles did not run with great vision or explosiveness in this game.  One thing that sticks out about Charles is his patience in letting plays develop.  He has an uncanny sense of timing and anticipation for his blocks.  He just needs to be able to find the hole.  Thomas Jones just isn’t all that explosive anymore, though he got loose a few times in this game.
• An under-publicized reason for the Chiefs success this year is that their offensive line, which has been a sieve since 2007, is playing well as a unit.  They were the better in the trenches than the Texans DL in this one.
• WR/RB Dexter McCluster really had a shot to get loose in this game, and just never made that one cut he was drafted to do.  He had increased opportunity with Chris Chambers sidelined.
• Matt Cassel had a really keen sense of his own team’s gameplan, knowing pre-snap when he would be outnumbered by the Texans pressure schemes.  This was the key to the game, because if the Texans were going to win on the side of the ball where they have not had good results this year, they were going to need to confuse Cassel.  The Chiefs were able to go without a back in protection on a lot of plays without Cassel being noticeably or critically indecisive in his reads.  He was also as accurate today as I have ever seen him.
• The Texans have a strong tendency to show the opposing quarterback their coverages pre-snap.  They aren’t good enough in the secondary to show quarters or cover two before the snap and then cover the voids in the zone.  Matt Cassel ate that up.
• In a cruel twist of fate, Demeco Ryans might have defensed the TD pass to Dwayne Bowe had he not torn through his Achilles on the very last step before getting there.  This is what it’s like to play on the Texans talent-laden yet ineffective defense.
• Houston will mix it’s coverages, but it won’t play any of them well.
• Leonard Pope is an embarrassingly poor blocking TE.
• LT Branden Albert, who played mostly Guard in college at Virginia, is clearly athletic for the position, even by standards of an NFL left tackle.
• Mario Williams took a while to figure out that he would do better against Albert on the bull rush than on the speed rush, but his ability to get pressure on Cassel in the fourth quarter was a big reason the Chiefs scoring pace slowed a bit.
• I didn’t see a convincing reason in this game to buy into future stock in rookie CB Kareem Jackson.  He’s a starter, but he’s a starter on one of the worst pass defenses ever.
• One of the many facets of the Chiefs gameplan was to make Mario Williams work do anything.
• RT Barry Richardson is the weakest link on the Chiefs OL right now, and it’s a bit surprising that the Texans did not exploit him more.
• It was hard to find Brian Cushing on tape in this game.  He looked slow and couldn’t get off blocks.
• Bowe’s second TD was a “where were you when?” moment of futility for the Texans.  It’s a single-high safety zone coverage, to which the Chiefs run Bowe on a slant.  The playside corner, Glover Quin, feels the route and comes in a step late to break up the pass.  Bowe is strong enough to break his tackle.  The playside linebacker is David Nixon.  He essentially plays this entire play at 50% speed, and never makes any effort to tackle Bowe who breaks the Quin tackle and runs right by Nixon.  FS Eugene Wilson, who I remember as being a useful coverage player at some point, hesitates trying to figure out what Nixon is doing, never does, then makes a horrific dive where Bowe’s legs were at some point.  At some point during the run, backside CB Kareem Jackson is running next to Bowe stride for stride until Bowe cuts inside him, then beats him in a foot race to the pylon.
• David Nixon is no longer listed on the Texans roster.  For good reason.

This next section looks at the Texans offense against the Chiefs defense

• The first Texans touchdown was a breakdown in pass rushing discipline by Tamba Hali.  Hali thought he could beat Rashad Butler to the inside, but when Butler won the match-up, it makes it too easy for Schaub to escape to the left side.  That was the only reason Schaub was able to get it to Dressen.
• Schaub hit Andre Johnson on a post corner route earlier in the drive, getting Brandon Carr on a double move.  That happened because the pressure on Schaub (4-man rush) was non-existent.  Schaub literally set up in the pocket off of play action and didn’t move until 5+ seconds later when he threw to an open Johnson.
• NT Ron Edwards had a sack on Schaub when the Chiefs brought a linebacker and both RG Antoine Caldwell and Arian Foster went to pick up the backer, leaving Edwards clean.  This is the kind of thing the Texans will do that makes you check your calendar to see when the season starts.
• CB Brandon Flowers is the best defensive player I have seen on tape all of this season.  He is an absolute monster who shuts down a side of the field, not dissimilar to how Champ Bailey used to play back in the day.
• Andre Johnson vs. Brandon Carr was an interesting match-up.  Not the mismatch you might have expected.
• ILB Jovan Belcher is a very disruptive, useful linebacker who is excellent taking on blocks in the 3-4 scheme.  Mike Vrabel is getting by on pure guile at this point, but that’s not a bad thing if you look across the field and realize that no one on the Texans defense is getting by on anything.
• It was hard to not come away from this one extremely impressed by LT Rashad Butler of the Texans, who might be proving himself a better player than Duane Brown, who is serving a suspension.
• Tamba Hali wasn’t great in this game.  He had perfect position to seal the edge on Derrick Ward’s TD burst in the third quarter, but couldn’t make Ward pay for an ill-advised bounce cut to the outside.  From that point, Ward ran through some pretty sorry tackling all the way to the end zone.
• On Chiefs DL watch: Glenn Dorsey is really blossoming under new DC Romeo Crennel in a way the team didn’t think possible when they traded him.  The team did just trade it’s second rounder from 2009, Alex Magee, who apparently was unimpressive enough to get the boot after winning a starting job last year.  It’s NT Shaun Smith who is starting at LDE in place of Tyson Jackson, who has missed four games with a knee injury and is dangerously close to getting the bust tag.  DE Wallace Gilberry is a very useful package player.
• The only reason the Chiefs got a stop in the second half was because Texans LG Wade Smith got called for a leg whip on the first drive of the half.  With Hali neutralized, Schaub went to work, playing more or less a perfect half of football.
• I’m a believer in the Chiefs defense, but this wasn’t a good effort in the second half of this game.  They didn’t need to necessarily keep Houston out of the endzone to win, but putting them in a third down and five wouldn’t have hurt.
• While Andre Johnson is going to be the hero of this game in the papers, the Texans don’t win without a great individual domination of his role in the offense by Owen Daniels.  Johnson played at a high level all game, but by himself, he wasn’t going to be enough.  Daniels is all the way back from his ACL injury last season.
• Johnson’s game winning touchdown was just a standard-level scramble drill.  A receiver who was on the exact same brainwave as his quarterback from the start of the play to the finish.

A LiveBall Sports Game Tape Review.

The first section will review the Chargers offense against the Raiders defense.

• On the second play from scrimmage, Raiders DE Matt Shaughnessy de-cleated Legedu Nannee on a crack block, then threw the pulling right guard to the side on the power toss, and blew up the running back, Tolbert, three yards in the backfield.
• Rivers went right after Asomugha on the first third down of the game.  The Raiders were in man coverage with cover two behind it, and Asomugha defensed the pass.
• The Raiders have such flexibility in their third down pressure packages based on the personnel in their front seven.  The problem, of course, is that the Raiders really struggle to cover the field on first and second downs because their outside linebackers are converted pass rushers, and this really isn’t a blitz-heavy team.
• Matt Shaughnessy is also a smart defender with a great feel for keeping contain.
• The Raiders are inconsistent at the corners and downright horrible at the safeties.  Both Chris Johnson and Stanford Routt combine great, aggressive plays with fairly excusable lapses in concentration.  Tyvon Branch and Michael Huff hardly ever do anything right between them.  A possible strategy the Raiders could employ in the offseason is to clean house in the secondary: trade Nnamdi Asomugha and rebuild from scratch in the secondary.  These are all experienced veterans making these mistakes, and the other players in the unit prevent Asomugha’s greatness from ever being reflected in the product that is the Raiders’ defense.
• Richard Seymour still has a lot left in the tank.  He’s still an excellent pass rusher who is improving the Raiders’ run defense game to game.  This also is as healthy as the other DT, Tommy Kelly, has looked since he has been on his big-money contract, now in his third year since signing a rich deal off of ACL surgery.
• Matt Shaughnessy does something ultra impressive every third play or so.
• The Chargers have displayed an impressive ability to melt down when points are imminent.  A goal line fumble and two blocked punt scoring plays for Oakland.  Bruce Gradkowski was 1-7 in this game, took half of the offensive series’, then tried to play though a muscle injury that prevented him from, you know, throwing the football.  This is the kind of thing that the Raiders allow to happen that can easily cost them winnable games, except in this game, the Chargers managed to out-Raider the Raiders.
• Philip Rivers’ deep ball is unbelievable.  I have never seen anything like it.  He can hit a window of space smaller than a yard 50 yards away.  Again, and again, and again.  Rivers had 290 passing yards this day.  In the first half.
• Oh hey, Matt Shaugnessey sacked Rivers and forced a fumble.  Needless to say, Chargers’ LT Marcus McNeill’s long-term deal was done shortly after this game ended.
• Antonio Gates is a match-up nightmare for defenses.  In Week 1, the Chiefs used three players to jam him at the line on a single play.  Usually, the engine of any passing offense is a dynamic slot receiver, but for the Chargers, to cut off their head, you need to find a way to take Gates out of the game.  Problem is, you still won’t even take away their big play ability if you do that.
• Gates didn’t hurt the Raiders as much as Malcom Floyd did in this game, but I thought their strategy on Gates at the line was poor.  Too many free releases.  Best defense of Gates all day was leaving Floyd wide open in the deep field.
• Rolando McClain rarely misses a tackle attempt.
• The Raiders are doing a lot of man coverage in this game and it’s just wasn’t working.  There are very few match-ups the Raiders can win.  However, even with everything that they gave to San Diego this game, the ability to go with man-concepts in crunch time was responsible for the ability to double safety blitz the Raiders used against the Chargers on the strip sack return that clinched the win.
• The Raiders acquired Richard Seymour last year with no real idea how he would fit into their defense.  At this point, he might be the best player in that defense, and he has taken to the 4-3 defense in a way that looks like he didn’t know what he was missing playing in a 3-4.  The Raiders DL could be among the best in football.  Certainly, it is the deepest.
• The two decisive plays of the final Chargers’ drive following the crucial holding penalty on Antonio Gates the Raiders brought an identical defensive call: 7 man pressure, both safeties off the edge, both linebackers from the middle, and straight man-to-man coverage.  Darren Sproles had Michael Huff on the front side, didn’t pick him up, and gave up the forced fumble.  It’s inexcusable for Rivers to be beaten by the same blitz call on consecutive plays, especially since the Raiders had no choice but to call it and hope for the best.

This next section will review the Raiders offense against the Chargers defense.

• Antoine Cason is the physical corner that Ron Rivera’s defensive scheme needs.  He’s better for that role than the departed Antonio Cromartie.
• The Raiders are doing a much better job of blitz pickups and pass protection in general.  Extra guys could not get pressure on Campbell early.
• The pocket clock in Jason Campbell’s head was set to :03 in the first half, which is about a second faster than normal for a QB.  Campbell had more time in the pocket than he was using.
• Campbell hit Zach Miller on a short flat route on 3rd & 14 that Miller turned into a first down.  The play worked because Campbell waited patiently in the pocket on downfield action, and the defense lost Miller after he chipped and leaked out.  Good ‘Plan B’ play design by the Raiders.
• Campbell is still excellent against the blitz, with one exception: if you can break down the protection scheme to get a free runner on Campbell, he’ll eat the sack and possibly fumble.
• The 4&1 conversion from Michael Bush in the second quarter was a simple weakside lead with a man blocking scheme.  The Raiders don’t use a lot of man blocking anymore, but they ran this one perfectly.  No double team scrapes in short yardage, just a hat on a hat and the Raiders won every assignment.
• Raiders OC Hue Jackson had excellent run/pass balance in this game.  This was a banner offensive day for the Raiders against a great defensive team.
• The Raiders running game has been the one element of their football team that has been there for them every week of this season.  Michael Bush has stepped into a feature back role for Darren McFadden as McFadden got hurt.  They’ve been able to run the ball against every opponent this season.
• Campbell’s best throw of the day might actually have been a throw to FB Marcel Reese down the sideline, where Reese just didn’t get his feet in bounds, despite plenty of space to do so.
• Campbell’s 45 yard throw to Louis Murphy came against a single high safety.  Murphy destroyed the press coverage getting into the route, and the Chargers had a double A-gap blitz look.  SILB Kevin Burnett looked awkward getting into coverage and never got into the zone where Murphy made the catch.  Murphy got the sideline on FS Eric Weddle.
• The Raiders won this game because Campbell, who was jittery to say the least in the first half, won the game for them in the second half.
• The Chargers lost this game because they had been a fierce pass rushing unit throughout their first four games.  In this game, they lost the battle at the line of scrimmage to an injury-riddled Raiders OL that isn’t even settled on it’s personnel yet.  Next week, that unit gets Robert Gallery back at LG.  For the first time in years, the Raiders are now a contender in the AFC West.
• If the Chargers aren’t dialing up pressure packages, as they got away from in this game, they are not a winning team.
• Bottom line, Jason Campbell led the Raiders offense on just three second half drives, which included a 97 yard TD drive, and a 73 yard TD drive.  He threw just two incomplete passes, the sideline go to Marcel Reese, which should have been a 40 yard catch, and a missed two point conversion.  A thorough one half domination of the Chargers defense.