Cosell’s Watching the Championships: Just as Brady Said, He was Not Sharp

NFL Matchup’s Executive Producer shares notes from his study of Championship Sunday coaching tape: Ravens defense vs. Patriots offense.

• Ravens played nickel to match up to the Patriots “12” personnel no matter what back was in the game
• Ellerbe was the Ravens nickel LB with Lewis, Webb was the slot corner with Smith on the outside
• Patriots again snaps with 2 TE/3 WR personnel, Ravens also played nickel against that

• First 3^rd down (3^rd + 3) the Ravens rushed 3 and dropped 8 out of nickel, They played 5 under/2 deep – Brady had nowhere to go with the ball
• Patriots “wam” concept in the run game, Allowed OL to get up to Lewis cleanly
• Patriots again featured no huddle as a foundation of their approach
• Patriots aligned both Hernandez and Edelman in the backfield in this game
• Brady badly overthrew wide open Gronkowski on seam route from just outside the red zone on 1^st quarter FG drive – Would have been a TD
• RT Solder easily beaten by Kruger for a sack in the red zone on 1^st quarter FG drive, One-on-one matchup that Solder lost badly
• Lewis excellent job running down the seam with Welker on 3^rd down in the red zone, Quick inside pressure by Ngata
• Webb interception versus Edelman came out of “man free lurk” behind a 4 man rush, Great coverage by Webb – Forced throw by Brady, No definition

• Brady was not sharp throwing the ball, Missed some routine throws with accuracy issues
• There were significant snaps in which the Ravens matched Pollard or  a LB (usually Ellerbe) on Hernandez/Gronkowski
• 3 receivers to one side of the formation gave the Ravens some problems, It put a LB or Pollard on the inside slot receiver
• Hernandez showed the ability to win from plus split as #1 versus corner, Beat Smith badly on Gronkowski 20 yds on 2^nd quarter TD drive
• Great patience by Green-Ellis on 7 yd TD, Shotgun “power” with outstanding blocks by Solder on Lewis and Gronkowski on Ngata

• Reed an instinct player, Plays with his eyes and trusts what he sees; At times you can dictate his reactions and then beat him
• As the game progressed the Patriots worked the short to intermediate middle versus the Ravens LB and S Pollard, They also attacked Pollard outside the numbers
• LT Light played well, especially in pass protection; Was asked to block one-on-one the majority of pass plays and did an excellent job
• RT Solder struggled at times in individual pass protection: A matchup to be concerned about in the Super Bowl?
• Patriots began the 2^nd half in their no huddle offense;
• Ravens 2^nd half adjustment to Patriots 2 TE/3 WR personnel was to play dime, Nakamura was the 6^th DB
• Gronkowski 21 yds on 3^rd + 6 on 1^st possession of the 2^nd half came out of 2 TE/3 WR personnel; Ravens dime personnel, They had Reed matched on Edelman and Ellerbe matched on Gronkowski
• 2 TE/3 WR personnel was featured on Patriots 1^st possession of the 2^nd half, Hernandez 3 runs on that 13 play drive
• Ravens played more snaps of man coverage than I would have expected, Increased man coverage frequency in the 2^nd half – Reed used as a man-to-man defender on numerous snaps in the 2^nd half
• Edelman an impressive performance, He played more than 25 snaps on both offense and defense
• Smith 4^th quarter interception came off a Patriots shot play, Slater deep post off play action; Slater altered his path just as Brady released the ball so the throw was inaccurate
• Ravens pass rush was not a big factor in the game
• Reed as a man coverage player was a definite Ravens adjustment in the 2^nd half, Great coverage on Hernandez on 3^rd + 4 with 1:56 remaining in the game
• Patriots pass game was mostly short to intermediate, Brady only took 1 deep shot