Lockdown Corners
January 20th, 2021
Leader of Sunday’s pack.
When it comes to NextGen stats, Joe listens.
Because NextGen stats don’t lie.
They’re compiled from data recorded by sensors in players’ equipment, and that data from Sunday suggests three cornerbacks Todd Bowles used against the slimy Saints were downright dominant.
Jamel Dean, Sean Murphy-Bunting and Carlton Davis simply locked down Saints receivers. Throw in the early pick by SMB that led to a Bucs touchdown, and the cornerbacks had a field day in press coverage.
Buccaneers Cornerbacks
When Targeted as Nearest DefenderJamel Dean (5 targets)
🔹 2 rec, 15 yds (Avg Sep: 1.7 yds)Sean Murphy-Bunting (5 targets)
🔹 3 rec, 7 yds, INT (Avg Sep: 2.1 yds)Carlton Davis (4 targets)
🔹 1 rec, 16 yds (Avg Sep: 1.1 yds)#TBvsNO | #GoBucs— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) January 18, 2021
Now a key unknown element is how much it helped Bucs corners to play press coverage knowing Saints quarterback Drew Brees’ arm was cold. The longest gain on a pass he threw Sunday night was 16 yards. The Bucs could play tight and jam receivers short because they knew Brees couldn’t launch the ball.
It makes Joe wonder if these corners play so well in press coverage, then why on earth would Bowles ever come up with gameplans like he had in recent weeks, where corners were giving opposing receivers a front-yard-sized cushion before the snap.
January 20th, 2021 at 9:06 am
I guess the Winston pass wasn’t averaged in…..
January 20th, 2021 at 9:07 am
No one was close enough to have been “targeted” on that one.
January 20th, 2021 at 9:12 am
“But it makes Joe wonder if these corners play so well in press coverage, why on earth would Bowles ever come up with game plans like he had in recent weeks…”
Only God and Bowles know. If Bowles was keeping this under wraps, he has bigger balls than… anyone?
Here is the question. Were our DBs that good, or was a lot of it Brees’ lack of arm strength? Rogers arm is fine and I do not want to see him expose our Bucs DBs
January 20th, 2021 at 9:17 am
I don’t care about the past right now. All I’m concerned with is the next game and how well we cover GB. After that we can start discussing the next game and after that… We can start talking draft and complaining about having to pick #32!
January 20th, 2021 at 9:18 am
Brees was wounded, won’t be the case on Sunday
January 20th, 2021 at 9:19 am
Keep them in press. Love for the safeties to get some picks!
January 20th, 2021 at 9:20 am
The dbs are good . Its not easy to stop the saints. So the excuse of Brees arm to down play the win is so annoying. If Brees arm was the problem the other teams would of exposed it already. Just accept the fact they came to play with a good game plan and won. GO BUCS!!!!!
January 20th, 2021 at 9:23 am
Press man won’t beat AR. Will need to mix it up and try to confuse him.
January 20th, 2021 at 9:28 am
Well hopefully they play a good amount of press man and if they mix it up hopefully it is not a soft zone where the damn defender is 10 yards away from the WR. One thing that concerns me about this game is Rodgers can run and we all saw how that has worked out this year against QBs that can run just see the Washington playoff game for example.
January 20th, 2021 at 9:30 am
the DBs stepped up….been saying for 2 years we have man press CBs so play them in man….
brees arm has been shot for years….
as long as the defense comes to play sunday, we’ll be in good shape….
GO BUCS!!!!
January 20th, 2021 at 9:32 am
Joe!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can we get a list of free agents for next year? I would love to see what the roster is going to look like next season. MAN I HOPE WE MAKE IT TO THE SB THIS YEAR!
January 20th, 2021 at 9:33 am
Cockrell got abused when he came in NO game for guys getting temporarily dinged
Hope cockrell will be on bench for green bay game
No offense but rodgers will go right to that matchup if he comes in
Carlton has been playing great of late!
SMB hopefully has some swag now
Dean needs to cut out his one or two bonehead play a game.
And if they need 4th corner? Have winfield match up against receiver / tighend and bring in mike edwards as extra safety.
January 20th, 2021 at 9:37 am
Joe says- But it makes Joe wonder if these corners play so well in press coverage, why on earth would Bowles ever come up with gameplans like he had in recent weeks, where corners were giving opposing receivers a front-yard-sized cushion before the snap.
Because with Devin White out, Barrett out 1 game and Davis injured, Bucs D was in protection mode instead of pressure mode. With Vea, hopefully able to play and contribute, I like Bucs chances vs Packers – just limit Adams like they took out Thomas last week
January 20th, 2021 at 9:38 am
Well it’s about time. They’ve been downright bad at times this season. It’s not completely coaching that made them look that way. Maybe there’s a new critical mass of confidence between coaches and players that we have reached to give us this new lockdown paradigm. We will know Sunday.
January 20th, 2021 at 9:40 am
Yep Carlton Davis left his man open on that Winston touchdown. This is why the complaint about stats geeks is out there, they don’t know assignments, guess they blamed the safety for a corners receiver getting wide open
January 20th, 2021 at 9:49 am
I have always said this d was built for man press and i really good at it. They are horrible at soft coverage and zone
January 20th, 2021 at 9:53 am
“Key to beating Packers
is blitz Devin White EVERY 3rd down
thats it
nothing more
nothing less”
Kobe Faker
January 20th, 2021 at 9:54 am
From what I have seen, the decision to play man vs zone comes down to what you are trying to prevent.
Zone defenses tend to prevent the long ball from happening. The safety’s and corner backs are hanging back, keeping everything in front of them. This works well against deep shots, and also helps with defending the run game.
When you employ a man-press defense, you prevent the short passing game from happening. Receivers aren’t allowed to catch the 3-8 yard passes because the passes are being contended with. The caveat with this approach is that you have one on one matches that can be exploited down the field. You also lose some of the run support, because the db’s will now have their back turned to the opposing offense while they run with the receiver.
The plan against the Saint’s was to do man-on-man coverage because we knew that Brees couldn’t throw down field. This is critical. It means we weren’t going to get beat deep. Advantage Bucs. Its also important to see what happened with Alvin Kamara… he was able to get some good runs in. Why? Because our secondary had their backs turned in man-press. Advantage Saints. Fortunately, we have some of the best linebacking personnel in the NFL to counter act that approach.
The Green Bay offense isn’t going to be as easy to defend as the Saints. Not by a long shot. Aaron Rodgers can throw short, he can throw deep, and he can gain a first down with his legs. Defending him will come down to our pass rush and mixing up our defensive play calling. It will also come down to how effective our offense is. If we can get up by two scores, then the Packers will have to abandon their run game. No run game means we can do more man-press. More man press means we can challenge their receivers and make Rodgers hold onto the ball longer than he wants to. Which means sacks/fumbles/interceptions.
January 20th, 2021 at 10:26 am
Anybody else think SMB should have cut back inside on his INT and could have easily scored? Or just me…
January 20th, 2021 at 10:45 am
@Joes
I understand that they played well 2 days ago but to suggest these scrubs are lock down corners is utterly ridiculous. I am NOT giving them a pass for how poorly they played down the stretch during the season. Talk about overreacting jeez
January 20th, 2021 at 10:59 am
y’all forget…
SMB came to life at the end of last season too…and finished strong…
same thing this year…
strong finish to the season for him – including the playoffs…
so far ——let’s hope it continues…
this secondary becomes dangerous and almost lethal when SMB is playing well and ballhawking out there with mike edwards ballhawking as well…
January 20th, 2021 at 11:07 am
The surprising thing to me was the aggression of SMB. Davis and Dean play aggressive, Dean sometimes too aggressive. But SMB has always played soft and safe. Last week he was playing way more aggressive than I have ever seen from him.
January 20th, 2021 at 11:21 am
suh is the man to get in rodgers head…
he owned him on his come up and he will have to bring it back to his detroit days on rodgers…
big kong suh can do this…with the help of DW of course…
and winfield flying in from time to time for a tasty mcrib sandwich
January 20th, 2021 at 11:39 am
If we play press all day against the Packers we’ll get torched. Rodgers is not Brees. He can throw the ball anywhere at anytime. We will have to mix it up and be creative with blitzes.
January 20th, 2021 at 3:01 pm
Amazing how Brees suddenly sucks- just because the Bucs layed the lumber to him!
Werent the Saints 12-5? 2nd best record in the NFC?
Guess we cant beat a good team,right?