Reviewing the All-22: Week 3 vs. ATL

[Icege]

After calling out the defense in the Week 1 All-22 review, Evero's unit has since stepped it up. In week 2 against Arizona they gave up just 82yds rushing! This effectively snapped Carolina's horrendous streaks of giving up both 200+ yards rushing at seven games and 100+ yards rushing at 15 games. They also forced three turnovers which included a pick-6 that you'll be able to see again a little further down. For their efforts, this is going to be a mostly defense-focused review again (but with one "special" inclusion later). In celebration of the dub we're going to focus on some of the defensive highlights rather than lowlights!

 

Q1 5:18 - 3rd & 6 (ATL 30)
CAR 0 - 0 ATL
Want to get a QB off of his rythm? Hit him. That's exactly what happened here rather than the usual cover-3 we've seen Evero lean towards. The Falcons had just walked it back 5yds due to a delay of game penalty, turning a 3rd & 1 into 3rd & 6. Evero is playing with a rare lead though as the team is up 7-0 and sends the heat. The team is in an under front and sends six with Wallace simulating pressure before dropping back as the robber. I'm not sure what the playcall here is... it looks like man coverage on the field side with Jaycee vs. McCloud but I can't tell if this a mistake on the backend by the secondary after the motion. Moehrig, Scott, and Jackson are all communicating but I don't think CSW got it. Fortunately, the simulated pressure draws the RG towards Trevin instead of Rozeboom who Bijan was designated to pick up. With DB on the C, Scourton on the LG, and Princely on the LT that leaves Moehrig coming in wide open to blast Penix on the throw. Good thing too, because given a little more time Pitts is popping out wide open on the other half of the field. Moehrig would give Penix a little extra again later in the game, giving him a shove as he went out of bounds on a scramble to send him toppling.

Q1 4:23 - 2nd & 8 (CAR 31)
CAR 7 - 0 ATL
The Falcons line up in the shotgun with TE Charlie Woerner in the backfield and Kyle Pitts split out right. Bijan is lined up next to the RT and motions across the backfield. Scourton is the strong side end on the over front with DB to his right as the 3-tech. ARob is in a 2i alignment DJ Wonnum is the weak-side end. Panthers are in nickel personnel with a two high shell showing presnap. Scott and Moehrig are communicating to confirm as the play call is going to call for them to rotate based on where Bijan is. Once Bijan motions, Scott starts to drop down and shows that it's cover-1 robber (Rozeboom is the robber). Trevin Wallace closes fast and leaks out with Woerner to the flat. I couldn't tell if this was a designed swing pass with a couple of other options or if Penix was just selling the downfield pass to set up the swing, but it didn't matter because Wallace was there immediately. An article by Mike Kaye yesterday highlighted how Trevin is regularly chats with Luke Kuechly and has weekly film sessions with Dan Morgan. After week one, both mentors told him to play fast and not worry about being wrong. He responded by reacting faster and tackling better against Arizona and then continuing his improvement against ATL by logging four tackles (1 TFL, this play).

Q1 3:37 - 3rd & 13 (CAR 36)
CAR 7 - 0 ATL
Evero has the defense come out showing cover-2 man while also showing pressure. The Panthers send six with Moehrig dropping back to a single-high with Scott dropping underneath to pick up Pitts who faked going into pass blocking before running his route. This was one of many bad passes forced by the defense with this one coming from the team's pair of rookie edge rushers and DJ Wonnum. It's a game of "meet at the QB!" with Scourton getting a hand on Penix's elbow during the delivery to disrupt the pass. 

Q2 12:24 - 1st & 10 (CAR 45)
CAR 7 - 0 ATL
The play prior to this one Bijan took a short pass 25yds to the CAR 45. What stands out about this play isn't so much the design, the timing of the call, or anything game changing... it's who forced this play to go for no gain. The OLBs on the field are Princely and DJJ, and immediately that would make DJ the "weak link" on the field. The Falcons seemed to think so as well as they left Charlie Woerner in charge of blocking him and things went about as well for Charlie as they did earlier on that swing pass vs. Trevin Wallace. CAR shows an over front and as Woerner to the field side before shifting. The DL shifts as well, maintaining the over alignment as the Falcons now have both TEs stacked to the right. Penix calls for Mooney to motion inside and the ball is snapped with the Falcons showing playaction to the field side. Pitts releases and slides past DJJ who does his best DB impression by using one arm to sling Woerner around like a rag doll before closing in to force the checkdown to Allgeier in the flat. CSW drives as the ball is being thrown (a tale of things to come) and immediately brings him down for no gain.

Q3 11:46 - 2nd & 8 (ATL 16)
CAR 10 - 0 ATL
The pick-6! Not much to really go into detail here defensively as the squad blanked the Falcons in the first half. After only gaining 2yds on the 1st down run by Bijan, Zac Robinson dials up a dagger concept on the field side and an inside hitch/out route combo to the boundary with the RB swinging out left. Penix is going to want this one back as he missed Ray-Ray McCloud coming open on the dig with Rozeboom cheating towards the other side. That pressure from the first half must have gotten to him or the coaches emphasized getting the ball out faster, because he tried to check down to Bijan. If you pause during the wind-up, you can see CSW already driving while Bijan hasn't even gotten his head around yet. The result... a house call!

Q3 3:55 - 1st & 10 (ATL 32)
CAR 20 - 0 ATL
This play stood out to me because the game day thread had folks reacting as if Penix was awful and just dirting balls (he did dirt one on a screen earlier) when it was actually due to the pressure generated that not only collapsed the pocket but got Penix hit during the throw. BB3 collapsed the pocket while DB occupied the double team, Nic Scourton shoved back-up RT Elijah Wilkinson into Penix's back (causing the bad throw), and DJ Johnson shoved starting LT Jake Matthews into Penix's lap. Not only do we see the DL creating pressure with four, they did it with a rookie edge and a guy that has been regularly dunked on by the fanbase. Craziest part? You're going to see DJ Johnson a third time in this thread.

I've got five or six more plays left to review but am seeing formatting issues already so I'll go ahead and get this first part up.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Icege

[Icege]

Q3 1:34 - 4th & 8 (CAR 31)
CAR 20 - 0
What happens when your opponent is playing from behind with a young QB that's taken a few hits with a quarter of the game remaining? You force bad decisions or bad throws, though in the case of this play that would be an inclusive or rather than exclusive. With Pitts open and close to the first down, Penix opts instead to throw it to McCloud who's running a deep out. Not only does McCloud trip over Mike Jackson who is driving on the ball, the pass is also slightly behind McCloud which makes it even easier for Mike Jack to snatch it. They're going to kill Jackson in the film room for this return, though he did seem to take whatever ligaments were left in Penix's knee during it.

Q4 10:48 - Kickoff (CAR 35)
CAR 27 - 0
The "special" exemption that was mentioned earlier! Not only did the rookie character drain all of his kicks (including a 57-yarder), but he also had the Falcons' kickoff return team in disarray. This play in particular shows how hard it is to be a return man in the NFL because let's be honest... who is predicting that bounce and bringing it back with 11 guys flying towards you? I don't want to jinx it but the Panthers just might have their next kicker!

Q4 9:06 - 1st & 10 (ATL 38)
CAR 27 - 0
The Falcons had turned to Kirkco and if there's one thing that Cousins is going to do when behind it's check it down. The Panthers show an even front with a two-high look that looks to end up being cover-4 with Moehrig assigned to the flat. Cousins goes to the checkdown per the usual and Moehrig is already there to smack Bijan and secure a -2yd TFL. After having issues in coverage the first two weeks, it was nice to see Tre'von bounce back with the third-highest PFF coverage grade behind only Mike Jackson and CSW.

Q4 00:43 - 1st & 10 (CAR 43)
CAR 30 - 0 ATL
I told y'all we'd be seeing DJ Johnson again! The Panthers are in an over front and the play call from what I can tell looks to be the staple cover-3. DJ Johnson gets left unblock as the OL crashes down away from him to the right. DJ does the one thing he's been able to consistently do in the league: set the edge. When he sees Falcons' UDFA Nate Carter get the ball he hits the accelerator and tackles him behind the OL to allow just a 2yd gain. This would be Nate Carter's sixth run of the drive in a row and likely didn't feel too good afterwards...

Q4 00:37 - 2nd & 8 (CAR 41)
CAR 30 - 0 ATL
...because when the Falcons dialed Carter up for the seventh-time in a row, he couldn't hold on to the rock. Lathan Ransom, the soon-to-be starting free safety, came in there and popped the ball out. What would have been a 9yd run resulted in a turnover on downs as Demani Richardson once again showed a penchant for being in the right place at the right time. The Falcons at this point were clearly playing to get one more field goal attempt before going home, but the gang tackling at the end caused that to be the end of the Falcons' last gasp. Also shout-outs to Corey Thornton for making an appearance and being right in the midst of the action as well.

[PantherChris]

50 minutes ago, Icege said:

After calling out the defense in the Week 1 All-22 review, Evero's unit has since stepped it up. In week 2 against Arizona they gave up just 82yds rushing! This effectively snapped Carolina's horrendous streaks of giving up both 200+ yards rushing at seven games and 100+ yards rushing at 15 games. They also forced three turnovers which included a pick-6 that you'll be able to see again a little further down. For their efforts, this is going to be a mostly defense-focused review again (but with one "special" inclusion later). In celebration of the dub we're going to focus on some of the defensive highlights rather than lowlights!

 

Q1 5:18 - 3rd & 6 (ATL 30)
CAR 0 - 0 ATL
Want to get a QB off of his rythm? Hit him. That's exactly what happened here rather than the usual cover-3 we've seen Evero lean towards. The Falcons had just walked it back 5yds due to a delay of game penalty, turning a 3rd & 1 into 3rd & 6. Evero is playing with a rare lead though as the team is up 7-0 and sends the heat. The team is in an under front and sends six with Wallace simulating pressure before dropping back as the robber. I'm not sure what the playcall here is... it looks like man coverage on the field side with Jaycee vs. McCloud but I can't tell if this a mistake on the backend by the secondary after the motion. Moehrig, Scott, and Jackson are all communicating but I don't think CSW got it. Fortunately, the simulated pressure draws the RG towards Trevin instead of Rozeboom who Bijan was designated to pick up. With DB on the C, Scourton on the LG, and Princely on the LT that leaves Moehrig coming in wide open to blast Penix on the throw. Good thing too, because given a little more time Pitts is popping out wide open on the other half of the field. Moehrig would give Penix a little extra again later in the game, giving him a shove as he went out of bounds on a scramble to send him toppling.

 

Q1 4:23 - 2nd & 8 (CAR 31)
CAR 7 - 0 ATL
The Falcons line up in the shotgun with TE Charlie Woerner in the backfield and Kyle Pitts split out right. Bijan is lined up next to the RT and motions across the backfield. Scourton is the strong side end on the over front with DB to his right as the 3-tech. ARob is in a 2i alignment DJ Wonnum is the weak-side end. Panthers are in nickel personnel with a two high shell showing presnap. Scott and Moehrig are communicating to confirm as the play call is going to call for them to rotate based on where Bijan is. Once Bijan motions, Scott starts to drop down and shows that it's cover-1 robber (Rozeboom is the robber). Trevin Wallace closes fast and leaks out with Woerner to the flat. I couldn't tell if this was a designed swing pass with a couple of other options or if Penix was just selling the downfield pass to set up the swing, but it didn't matter because Wallace was there immediately. An article by Mike Kaye yesterday highlighted how Trevin is regularly chats with Luke Kuechly and has weekly film sessions with Dan Morgan. After week one, both mentors told him to play fast and not worry about being wrong. He responded by reacting faster and tackling better against Arizona and then continuing his improvement against ATL by logging four tackles (1 TFL, this play).

 

Q1 3:37 - 3rd & 13 (CAR 36)
CAR 7 - 0 ATL
Evero has the defense come out showing cover-2 man while also showing pressure. The Panthers send six with Moehrig dropping back to a single-high with Scott dropping underneath to pick up Pitts who faked going into pass blocking before running his route. This was one of many bad passes forced by the defense with this one coming from the team's pair of rookie edge rushers and DJ Wonnum. It's a game of "meet at the QB!" with Scourton getting a hand on Penix's elbow during the delivery to disrupt the pass. 

 

Q2 12:24 - 1st & 10 (CAR 45)
CAR 7 - 0 ATL
The play prior to this one Bijan took a short pass 25yds to the CAR 45. What stands out about this play isn't so much the design, the timing of the call, or anything game changing... it's who forced this play to go for no gain. The OLBs on the field are Princely and DJJ, and immediately that would make DJ the "weak link" on the field. The Falcons seemed to think so as well as they left Charlie Woerner in charge of blocking him and things went about as well for Charlie as they did earlier on that swing pass vs. Trevin Wallace. CAR shows an over front and as Woerner to the field side before shifting. The DL shifts as well, maintaining the over alignment as the Falcons now have both TEs stacked to the right. Penix calls for Mooney to motion inside and the ball is snapped with the Falcons showing playaction to the field side. Pitts releases and slides past DJJ who does his best DB impression by using one arm to sling Woerner around like a rag doll before closing in to force the checkdown to Allgeier in the flat. CSW drives as the ball is being thrown (a tale of things to come) and immediately brings him down for no gain.

 

Q3 11:46 - 2nd & 8 (ATL 16)
CAR 10 - 0 ATL
The pick-6! Not much to really go into detail here defensively as the squad blanked the Falcons in the first half. After only gaining 2yds on the 1st down run by Bijan, Zac Robinson dials up a dagger concept on the field side and an inside hitch/out route combo to the boundary with the RB swinging out left. Penix is going to want this one back as he missed Ray-Ray McCloud coming open on the dig with Rozeboom cheating towards the other side. That pressure from the first half must have gotten to him or the coaches emphasized getting the ball out faster, because he tried to check down to Bijan. If you pause during the wind-up, you can see CSW already driving while Bijan hasn't even gotten his head around yet. The result... a house call!

 

Q3 3:55 - 1st & 10 (ATL 32)
CAR 20 - 0 ATL
This play stood out to me because the game day thread had folks reacting as if Penix was awful and just dirting balls (he did dirt one on a screen earlier) when it was actually due to the pressure generated that not only collapsed the pocket but got Penix hit during the throw. BB3 collapsed the pocket while DB occupied the double team, Nic Scourton shoved back-up RT Elijah Wilkinson into Penix's back (causing the bad throw), and DJ Johnson shoved starting LT Jake Matthews into Penix's lap. Not only do we see the DL creating pressure with four, they did it with a rookie edge and a guy that has been regularly dunked on by the fanbase. Craziest part? You're going to see DJ Johnson a third time in this thread.

 

I've got five or six more plays left to review but am seeing formatting issues already so I'll go ahead and get this first part up.

 

It's amazing how they started getting more pressure when they used the young pass rushers more instead of the Vikings rethreads 

[Icege]

Also, obligatory Brycen Tremayne hype. Join the bandwagon today!