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Delhomme's Mechanics and Decision Making

MurkN

By MurkN,
in Carolina Panthers

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MurkN

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Alright now here is a play broken down from the preseason against the tough Ravens defense. We come out in the I-Formation in the Twin Pro set with both wideouts lining up on the left side of the field with the ball spotted on the far right hash mark. For all you Maddenites out there here is the play art.

playcall.png

Smitty lines up on the far outside flanker position while Moose takes the slot. The play begins with play action. We have all seen this type of play before.

jake-decisions.PNG

Before the play actually begins, Jake points out the middle linebacker. Now he only does this once, even when the opponent runs a 3-4 defense where two middle linebackers are used. You can see he is not pointing at Ray Lewis, who is the middle linebacker I would be pointing to, but then again he may be pointing out to Brad Hoover the other linebacker to block.

The play begins and Brad Hoover does in fact start blocking to his right side where Jake had pointed out the blitzing linebacker slightly off screen. As the play unfolds, Goodson finds a soft spot in the middle of the field after King clears the middle. Moose runs a nice route and is actually open. Wide open in fact. From the looks of things Delhomme sees this, but instead of throwing it to Moose for a big gain and maybe even a touchdown, Jake decides to throw it to Smitty in very tight coverage.

While the pass fell incomplete, it easily could have been picked off by Ed Reed or somehow brought in by Smitty, but it wasn't a very smart pass. One could argue that the throw to Moose might not have worked because the other safety may have been there to break it up, but the fact remains Moose was more open than Smitty.

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MurkN Collaborator

MurkN

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One of the other things I noticed is that there is a big difference between the way we run draw plays compared to other teams.

Even though the plays below are slightly different because the Cowboys are closer to the endzone than the Panthers, all of the other draw plays they ran looked the same.

Tony Romo does a good job of selling the fake by dropping a couple steps back and looking like he is ready to throw to one of his receivers, holding the linebackers and giving the lineman time to change direction. He is still able to turn around and hand off to the running back after the fake without much effort. The result was six points.

tony-draw.PNG

The difference in our draw plays are not only the time in which we run them (3rd and freaking 16), but the execution of the fake itself.

jake-draw.PNG

The play ends very well for us because of the blocking downfield and DeAngelo's skills, but the fake isn't quite as good. Jake only looks upfield for a split second before turning around and handing the ball off. Let's say this was on the goalline. The extra split second to hold the linebacker while looking upfield would be a lot more helpful where Romo used it than in Delhomme's case.

I'll break down some other things like Jake's ball security and throwing off his back foot compared to his regular throws a little later.

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MurkN Collaborator

MurkN

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One of Jake's other problems is that if his first two reads aren't open, he will go back to the first and wait for them to get open. This is not very good when the blitz is bearing down on him, but even when he gets good protection we run into another mechanics problem. He double clutches the ball way too much. Not only does this combined with staring down your receivers cause problems, but it also causes fumbles. Here is a prime example in our last playoff game. (sorry for the quality)

jake-double.JPG

As he waits for the first option to get open after looking at his second read, he pats the ball multiple times before the defender strips him of the football. Some quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and other experienced players do not have to pat the ball before a throw, making the timing much better in passing plays. Delhomme however has this problem and no amount of coaching has changed this. To make things worse, he just can't seem to hold on to the football whenever the pressure is on. If I was game planning against him I would just send the house every play and eventually he would make a mistake.

Delhomme also has a problem throwing off his back foot. You will see this very often on the heaves for Steve Smith and other throws that don't hit the mark. Here is an example.

jake-foot.PNG

He has good protection at the very start, but as the pressure closes in he quickly finds his checkdown like a good quarterback would. The only problem is he throws off his back foot and the ball sails on him, causing the second interception in the Arizona playoff game. This is not the first time he has done this either. If your about to get hit as a quarterback, why not step up and make it count instead of throwing an ugly pick? Too bad we don't have much help in the coaching department.

It also seems clear to me that for some reason Jake doesn't have "it" anymore. He still has his occasional good play like the passes to Rosario, but when he isn't dumping it off or checking it down he is heaving up a prayer. The same deep ball we would see that went for touchdowns is no longer there post-Tommy John. When you couple that with the other things I have pointed out, it just looks like Delhomme is at the end of the road.

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Snake Grand Master

Snake

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When Moore came into the Philly game he immediately started being able to drive by hitting the backs in the middle.

Due to teams rolling coverage the middle is open. Delhomme isn't seeing that.

Delhomme has always done this.... Its always been the fact that if our D didnt hold and our run game didnt work we were in trouble. Delhomme is a game manager nothing more.... Somewhere this has been lost. Prob cause we payed him so much this year. Delhomme is the man you want leading your team on a 4th QT comeback but not the man you want to throw the ball 30 or more times a game.

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