Help Me Understand...The New Defensive Line

[denverYooper]

How NOT to defend the run. Mike Neal version.

The other question is what gap is Jones watching. He and Hawk are almost stacked behind the line. Weird.

On TV, this play looks like a speed problem. But everyone crashes in and thereby puts themselves a step or two slow right at the beginning.

Heh. "No Contain" could be the title on the Packers' 2013 season footage.

[Fritz]

They really, really gotta do better this year on those plays. That play looked like one that should've featured Erik Walden.

[Joemailman]

That is a weird looking play. Is that poorly designed, or does Neal make a mental error by crashing inside? The only way that run gets stopped is if Neal manages to break through and tackle the RB in the backfield.

[Zool]

Heh. "No Contain" could be the title on the Packers' 2013 season footage.

And 2012....and 2011

[smuggler]

It may have been that the play called for him to shoot the 2 gap.

Maybe he thinks the play is going inside and abandons his responsibility to try and make a play. Looks like a guy who might be suffering from diminished faith in his teammates.

Or as pMc says, the weird play was just a bad look for our front.

[run pMc]

That is a weird looking play. Is that poorly designed, or does Neal make a mental error by crashing inside? The only way that run gets stopped is if Neal manages to break through and tackle the RB in the backfield.

It is a weird looking play -- I wonder if the defense got confused. You have an unbalanced OL: two TE on one side, two OT on the other. Neal crashes inside between the two OT, but I wonder if he was playing that as a 5-tech, like the outer T was a TE. He's lined up like it's a 7 tech, but whatever it is it looks like he played the wrong gap. Honestly, I have no idea what GB is doing there -- by my count, the Eagles have 9 guys crammed in there, and GB has 8. It seems like with Burnett over the inline TE, maybe GB needed to have the ILBs and Neal slide over a gap to the OT side. Who knows...I'm an idiot at this stuff, but I do know that's not good defense.

[pbmax]

Neal is a 9 tech in that defense, even if he doesn't think he is because its an O lineman and not a TE. Matthew is a 7. Neal has contain because no one else can unless there is an exchange of roles with Hawk, and Hawk doesn't head out side until the run goes there.

The problem is that the Packers saw pass personnel and matched it but then ignored the unbalanced line. If you want to guard against the overloaded zone you could get with 3 receivers bunched on the left side of the screen (which is what they are doing), then the right side of screen D has got to play it straight. You can't cheat inside no matter what the call may have been.