Scottemojo
Active member
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2009
- Messages
- 14,663
- Reaction score
- 1
Graham is New Orleans best offensive weapon, and New Orleans only touchdown last time we met was to Jimmy Graham. Other than that drive, Seattle kept him under control. New England shut him down with Talib, Seattle took a far different approach.
1QTR
14:20, 2nd and 14. Maxwell lines up press, Brees never even looks his way, swing pass to Sproles right side.
13:47, 3rd and 7. Graham 2nd in a 2 WR stack left, so Seattle can't press. Graham lets the other WR absorb the corner and Earl, then takes runs a deep middle slant. Wright picks him up at the end. Brees gave up on Graham quickly, and challenged Sherman deep. Crazy gesture from Sherman.
7:47, 1st and 10. Graham wide left. Press man from Maxwell, good coverage.
6:37, 3rd and 5. Graham wide right, primary in a 2 wr stack. Wright and Sherman look like press, but Sherman actually has deep third. Kam has the middle zone where Graham runs his curl covered well at first, but Graham slides left to give Brees a look. Brees looks for Graham for to long, fumble, touchdown Hawks.
5:48 2nd and 9. Tackle eligible, jumbo look. one WR left, graham left slot. this whole formation is to set of a flood left, with the WR running the CB and S out of the play and Graham taking advantage with a deep out. Irvin has the underneath zone, Brees floats the out just a bit, and Irvin delivers a big blow to Graham's back as he fails to secure the catch. The play worked just as designed for the Saints, but I have to guess that the last thing Graham expects is a 260 pound linebacker being on him that fast that far down field.
(this is the TD drive, and features a shift in NO philosophy trailing 17-0. They mostly abandon the run, and instead go to a quick tempo short pass game. THis is the way I expect them to open the game Saturday, it is the only thing that really worked.)
1:55 1st and 10. Graham wide left. Maxwell in press man. Graham runs a short out, play design was never to Graham anyway, but designed for Graham to open space for the RB pass.
2nd QTR
15:00 1st and 10. 2 WR, 2 TE, Graham off tackle left side. Graham runs a deep seam route, and considering Brees short drop, I don't think he was a primary target. Kam has him well covered anyway in the deep zone.
12:24 3rd and 4, Graham wide right with Sherman in press. 3 WR bunch on the left was the primary anyway, designed to give Colston a short curl. Works perfectly, first down.
11:46 1st and 10. Graham right slot, Wright with short zone in front of him. Seattle is in a quarters zone, Graham runs into coverage, Brees goes to his secondary target in Stills for a short gain.
10:12 3rd and 6. Empty set with Graham wide left. Maxwell has man coverage with Earl over the top. Earl recognizes the post route, tries to jump it, and guesses wrong. Maxwell stays over the top, Brees hits Graham down the seam for gain of 20. Thomas is pretty pissed he bit, I have to guess this play was one they had scouted and he just guessed wrong going for an interception.
9:27 1st and 10, Graham wide left. Maxwell and Wright bracket Graham on the short post route, Brees nearly pulls the trigger but pulls it back and ends up throwing it away. Good zone look, but ruined by Sherman's personal foul on Stills.
8:48 2nd and goal. Graham is the lead in a 3 WR bunch Left, he immediately breaks right on a slant, splits the small zone between Kam and Wagner, easy touchdown. Down 17-6, Graham showboats, dunking on the goalpost and ending up with a host of Hawks in his face about the antics.
3:36 1st and 10. Irvin over Graham, slot left. Irvin blitzes, Brees hits his hot in Colston, so the post by Graham doesn't matter and is covered anyway.
2:59 2nd and 5, Graham lined up off right tackle. Kam in man cover on Graham. Brees never even looks his way because a blitz makes him hit the hot route to the FB for a gain of three.
2:14 3rd and 2. Graham off right tackle, NO in a 1 back 3 TE run set. Play action, flood left, with Brees just missing the open upback over the top. Brees never looks graham's way, I think he was meant to absorb the safety on this play.
3QTR
12:54 Graham motions to wide right, ends up with Sherman in press. Brees audibles, hits Colston short middle. There ends up being a penalty on this play on NO, but I include this because after testing Sherman once early, Brees doesn't even look that way with single coverage this time. Also, this play is once again NO using the quick tempo short pass game successfully, if not for the penalty.
12:28 1st and 18. Graham slot left. Seattle blitzes, and because NO is inside their own 15, they counter with max protect. Graham is bracketed by Kam and Wright. Brees feels the pressure, throws incomplete near Colston.
11:55 2nd and 23. Graham off left tackle, Irvin across from him. Continuing theme, Irvin blitzes. Brees goes deep to Colston, once again Sherman knocks it down. Graham was open short, but in the end zone Brees never had time to make progressions.
11:47. 3rd and 23 Graham in a trips right set. Doesn't matter, this is a clearout so the Saints can get a few yards for their punter, Seattle is just playing a soft zone. gain ten, punt.
5:34 3rd and 2. Graham has slot in a trips right set. He chips Bennett so Brees can bootleg right, runs a crosser with Wright trailing, and his real job this play was to clear out the right side for the misdirection play. It doesn't work at all, but NO gets bailed out by a roughing the passer when Earl touches Brees helmet. Brees hams up the hit, acting as if he took a massive head shot. Weak.
5:27 1st and 10. Graham motions to the left slot. Play action. Seattle is in a 3 deep zone, Graham runs down the left sideline, Brees throws about 35 yards down the left side, and Maxwell comes back off his deep third for a near pick. Graham actually has the position on him, but fails to really go after the ball. One has to wonder if the Irvin shot to his back is reminding him that a Seahawk player is behind him. Incomplete.
5:20 2nd and 10. Graham off right tackle. Kam in man coverage, Seattle blitzes. Kam bumps Graham, Brees gets hit, pass never has a chance.
5:16 3rd and 10. Screen play, Graham's only job is to drag Maxwell out of the screen area. It doesn't work.
2:32 1st and 10. Trips right, with Graham in a slot stack. NO returns to the quick passing tempo, not one WR or RB is more than 7 yards down field. Graham runs a short curl meant to occupy the MLB zone so Brees can hit a WR on the quick slant, but Kam takes the slant away, and Maxwell takes the RB wheel route away. Credit to Brees, he makes 5 reads and hits Lance moore for 5 yards.
1:57 Graham left slot. Wagner ends up with zone responsibility for where Graham goes, pressure gets to Brees, incomplete.
4th QTR
15:00 1st and 10. After 3 straight runs, NO lines up big again, with Graham off right tackle in a 3 point stance. Graham releases past Wright and takes advantage of a very empty middle for a gain of 20. Has to be a blown assignment by either Wright or Chancellor, but in an awsome display of hustle, McDaniel gets downfield to get a part of the tackle.
14:17 Saints line up big again, Graham in a stance on the right end of a 3 TE set. This play is clearly meant to riff off of the previous play, with NO gambling that Seattle will pay extra attention to Graham. they do, with Sherman and Kam bracketing Graham. The misdirection frees up Ben Watson, but Brees misses him over the top. He had separation on Wright, but good hustle by Wright has him break up the pass.
14:00 3rd and 10. Graham sets up wide left, motions to inside slot position of 3 wr bunch set, and shows Seattle is in zone. His assignment is to chip the pass rusher, then go to the flat so Brees has time to take a deep shot. Maxwell breaks it up.
13:53 4th and 10. Graham wide right, with Wright in press man. Graham on a LB? In space? Brees can't resist, but Wright plays it well, and get late help from Kam. Incomplete.
9:52. 3rd and 1. Graham off right tackle. He runs a short curl, well defended by Wagner in zone, incomplete.
9:37. 4th and 1. Play action, Graham motions to right tackle. This is a real cool play, even though at this point it means nothing. Irvin gestures to Wagner to take Graham off the motion, Irvin is going after Brees. Wagner takes Graham, and provides good coverage to the sideline 10 yards seep, breaking up the pass. THe cool part is that on his way to Brees, Irvin sees the FB leaking out to the right, abandons the pass rush, and picks up coverage on the FB. Shows great athleticism in doing so as well. I have always thought that Irvin probably gets pretty strict assignments because of his lack of LB experience, but here he was making snap coverage decisions, and making them well.
Summation. The Seahawks did not change up they way they play just for Graham. He drew coverage from Wagner, Maxwell, Sherman, Kam, and Wright. THey paid special attention to him in a few specific situations with some bracket coverage, certain downs and distance when Brees likes to go specifically to him, but for the most part Seattle just played their defense. I can see why, NO is just as likely to run misdirection based on Graham getting special attention from defenses. Brees is just too good to try and take away one passing target.
Graham took a big hit early in the game from Irvin, and in a couple of jump ball situations later in the game didn't appear to want to get hit like that again, not really challenging for either pass. Graham isn't much of a pass blocker, his presence on the field put Seattle into nickel most of the time.
I am curious to see if NO simplifies some of their personnel sets for the upcoming game. They move Graham all over the place trying to get him mismatches, but some of the best success they had was running quick tempo passing from stacks and bunch sets. They had limited success when they passed with 3 TE sets and jumbo sets, I think that puts them at too much of a speed disadvantage.
1QTR
14:20, 2nd and 14. Maxwell lines up press, Brees never even looks his way, swing pass to Sproles right side.
13:47, 3rd and 7. Graham 2nd in a 2 WR stack left, so Seattle can't press. Graham lets the other WR absorb the corner and Earl, then takes runs a deep middle slant. Wright picks him up at the end. Brees gave up on Graham quickly, and challenged Sherman deep. Crazy gesture from Sherman.
7:47, 1st and 10. Graham wide left. Press man from Maxwell, good coverage.
6:37, 3rd and 5. Graham wide right, primary in a 2 wr stack. Wright and Sherman look like press, but Sherman actually has deep third. Kam has the middle zone where Graham runs his curl covered well at first, but Graham slides left to give Brees a look. Brees looks for Graham for to long, fumble, touchdown Hawks.
5:48 2nd and 9. Tackle eligible, jumbo look. one WR left, graham left slot. this whole formation is to set of a flood left, with the WR running the CB and S out of the play and Graham taking advantage with a deep out. Irvin has the underneath zone, Brees floats the out just a bit, and Irvin delivers a big blow to Graham's back as he fails to secure the catch. The play worked just as designed for the Saints, but I have to guess that the last thing Graham expects is a 260 pound linebacker being on him that fast that far down field.
(this is the TD drive, and features a shift in NO philosophy trailing 17-0. They mostly abandon the run, and instead go to a quick tempo short pass game. THis is the way I expect them to open the game Saturday, it is the only thing that really worked.)
1:55 1st and 10. Graham wide left. Maxwell in press man. Graham runs a short out, play design was never to Graham anyway, but designed for Graham to open space for the RB pass.
2nd QTR
15:00 1st and 10. 2 WR, 2 TE, Graham off tackle left side. Graham runs a deep seam route, and considering Brees short drop, I don't think he was a primary target. Kam has him well covered anyway in the deep zone.
12:24 3rd and 4, Graham wide right with Sherman in press. 3 WR bunch on the left was the primary anyway, designed to give Colston a short curl. Works perfectly, first down.
11:46 1st and 10. Graham right slot, Wright with short zone in front of him. Seattle is in a quarters zone, Graham runs into coverage, Brees goes to his secondary target in Stills for a short gain.
10:12 3rd and 6. Empty set with Graham wide left. Maxwell has man coverage with Earl over the top. Earl recognizes the post route, tries to jump it, and guesses wrong. Maxwell stays over the top, Brees hits Graham down the seam for gain of 20. Thomas is pretty pissed he bit, I have to guess this play was one they had scouted and he just guessed wrong going for an interception.
9:27 1st and 10, Graham wide left. Maxwell and Wright bracket Graham on the short post route, Brees nearly pulls the trigger but pulls it back and ends up throwing it away. Good zone look, but ruined by Sherman's personal foul on Stills.
8:48 2nd and goal. Graham is the lead in a 3 WR bunch Left, he immediately breaks right on a slant, splits the small zone between Kam and Wagner, easy touchdown. Down 17-6, Graham showboats, dunking on the goalpost and ending up with a host of Hawks in his face about the antics.
3:36 1st and 10. Irvin over Graham, slot left. Irvin blitzes, Brees hits his hot in Colston, so the post by Graham doesn't matter and is covered anyway.
2:59 2nd and 5, Graham lined up off right tackle. Kam in man cover on Graham. Brees never even looks his way because a blitz makes him hit the hot route to the FB for a gain of three.
2:14 3rd and 2. Graham off right tackle, NO in a 1 back 3 TE run set. Play action, flood left, with Brees just missing the open upback over the top. Brees never looks graham's way, I think he was meant to absorb the safety on this play.
3QTR
12:54 Graham motions to wide right, ends up with Sherman in press. Brees audibles, hits Colston short middle. There ends up being a penalty on this play on NO, but I include this because after testing Sherman once early, Brees doesn't even look that way with single coverage this time. Also, this play is once again NO using the quick tempo short pass game successfully, if not for the penalty.
12:28 1st and 18. Graham slot left. Seattle blitzes, and because NO is inside their own 15, they counter with max protect. Graham is bracketed by Kam and Wright. Brees feels the pressure, throws incomplete near Colston.
11:55 2nd and 23. Graham off left tackle, Irvin across from him. Continuing theme, Irvin blitzes. Brees goes deep to Colston, once again Sherman knocks it down. Graham was open short, but in the end zone Brees never had time to make progressions.
11:47. 3rd and 23 Graham in a trips right set. Doesn't matter, this is a clearout so the Saints can get a few yards for their punter, Seattle is just playing a soft zone. gain ten, punt.
5:34 3rd and 2. Graham has slot in a trips right set. He chips Bennett so Brees can bootleg right, runs a crosser with Wright trailing, and his real job this play was to clear out the right side for the misdirection play. It doesn't work at all, but NO gets bailed out by a roughing the passer when Earl touches Brees helmet. Brees hams up the hit, acting as if he took a massive head shot. Weak.
5:27 1st and 10. Graham motions to the left slot. Play action. Seattle is in a 3 deep zone, Graham runs down the left sideline, Brees throws about 35 yards down the left side, and Maxwell comes back off his deep third for a near pick. Graham actually has the position on him, but fails to really go after the ball. One has to wonder if the Irvin shot to his back is reminding him that a Seahawk player is behind him. Incomplete.
5:20 2nd and 10. Graham off right tackle. Kam in man coverage, Seattle blitzes. Kam bumps Graham, Brees gets hit, pass never has a chance.
5:16 3rd and 10. Screen play, Graham's only job is to drag Maxwell out of the screen area. It doesn't work.
2:32 1st and 10. Trips right, with Graham in a slot stack. NO returns to the quick passing tempo, not one WR or RB is more than 7 yards down field. Graham runs a short curl meant to occupy the MLB zone so Brees can hit a WR on the quick slant, but Kam takes the slant away, and Maxwell takes the RB wheel route away. Credit to Brees, he makes 5 reads and hits Lance moore for 5 yards.
1:57 Graham left slot. Wagner ends up with zone responsibility for where Graham goes, pressure gets to Brees, incomplete.
4th QTR
15:00 1st and 10. After 3 straight runs, NO lines up big again, with Graham off right tackle in a 3 point stance. Graham releases past Wright and takes advantage of a very empty middle for a gain of 20. Has to be a blown assignment by either Wright or Chancellor, but in an awsome display of hustle, McDaniel gets downfield to get a part of the tackle.
14:17 Saints line up big again, Graham in a stance on the right end of a 3 TE set. This play is clearly meant to riff off of the previous play, with NO gambling that Seattle will pay extra attention to Graham. they do, with Sherman and Kam bracketing Graham. The misdirection frees up Ben Watson, but Brees misses him over the top. He had separation on Wright, but good hustle by Wright has him break up the pass.
14:00 3rd and 10. Graham sets up wide left, motions to inside slot position of 3 wr bunch set, and shows Seattle is in zone. His assignment is to chip the pass rusher, then go to the flat so Brees has time to take a deep shot. Maxwell breaks it up.
13:53 4th and 10. Graham wide right, with Wright in press man. Graham on a LB? In space? Brees can't resist, but Wright plays it well, and get late help from Kam. Incomplete.
9:52. 3rd and 1. Graham off right tackle. He runs a short curl, well defended by Wagner in zone, incomplete.
9:37. 4th and 1. Play action, Graham motions to right tackle. This is a real cool play, even though at this point it means nothing. Irvin gestures to Wagner to take Graham off the motion, Irvin is going after Brees. Wagner takes Graham, and provides good coverage to the sideline 10 yards seep, breaking up the pass. THe cool part is that on his way to Brees, Irvin sees the FB leaking out to the right, abandons the pass rush, and picks up coverage on the FB. Shows great athleticism in doing so as well. I have always thought that Irvin probably gets pretty strict assignments because of his lack of LB experience, but here he was making snap coverage decisions, and making them well.
Summation. The Seahawks did not change up they way they play just for Graham. He drew coverage from Wagner, Maxwell, Sherman, Kam, and Wright. THey paid special attention to him in a few specific situations with some bracket coverage, certain downs and distance when Brees likes to go specifically to him, but for the most part Seattle just played their defense. I can see why, NO is just as likely to run misdirection based on Graham getting special attention from defenses. Brees is just too good to try and take away one passing target.
Graham took a big hit early in the game from Irvin, and in a couple of jump ball situations later in the game didn't appear to want to get hit like that again, not really challenging for either pass. Graham isn't much of a pass blocker, his presence on the field put Seattle into nickel most of the time.
I am curious to see if NO simplifies some of their personnel sets for the upcoming game. They move Graham all over the place trying to get him mismatches, but some of the best success they had was running quick tempo passing from stacks and bunch sets. They had limited success when they passed with 3 TE sets and jumbo sets, I think that puts them at too much of a speed disadvantage.