Category: 2020 NFL Schedule

NFL announces schedule changes for Weeks 12, 13 and 14

The NFL schedule has seen a few changes in the upcoming weeks

The COVID-19 issues plaguing the Baltimore Ravens have led to three postponements of the game with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The league moved the game from Thursday to Tuesday and now to Wednesday.

The domino effect caused other games to shift, too, and the league announced what those moves are on Monday.

There was also a shuffle of one of the games in Week 14. The Packers-Lions game will kick in the late-afternoon window.

 

Who has the easiest, hardest remaining schedule in NFL?

Remaining strength of schedule rankings for the second half of the 2020 NFL season.

The 2020 NFL season is just about at the middle point with Week 8 in the books and Week 9 just around the corner. For some teams, the outlook is pretty bleak while others could have a glass half-filled outlook on the rest of the year.

A big reason for that is each team’s remaining strength of schedule. Perhaps a team like the New England Patriots could have reason for optimism? Then there’s some like the Buffalo Bills might want to proceed with caution even though they’re leading their division…

With that, here’s your full remaining strength of schedule rankings for the entire NFL via Tankathon:

1. Falcons (.644)
2. Jaguars (.615)
3. 49ers (.610)
4. Bills (.579)
5. Rams (.576)
6. Panthers (.569)
7. Broncos (.522)
8. Colts (.540)
9. Titans (.538)
10. Cardinals (.529)
11. Eagles (.525)
12. Jets (.517)
13. Giants (.517)
14. Texans (.508)
15. Packers (.507)
16. Bengals (.500)
17. Chiefs (.492)
18. Vikings (.485)
19. Chargers (.478)
20. Bucs (.475)
21. Dolphins (.470)
22. Lions (.470)
23. Saints (.464)
24. Football Team (.464)
25. Steelers (.456)
26. Ravens (.455)
27. Cowboys (.450)
28. Seahawks (.450)
29. Bears (.429)
30. Raiders (.424)
31. Patriots (.418)
32. Browns (.398)

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Aaron Donald turns his world-destroying sights on Carson Wentz

The Philadelphia Eagles struggled to protect Carson Wentz on Sunday. Now they face Aaron Donald.

One of the more stunning results of Week 1 was how the Washington Football Team was able to dismantle the protection around Carson Wentz. Washington sacked the Philadelphia Eagles passer eight times en route to their victory, leaving Wentz and head coach Doug Pederson wondering exactly how they can right the ship.

They’ll need an answer fast, because this guy is coming to town:

Aaron Donald continued his one-man wrecking crew ways on Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys, pressuring Dak Prescott early and often and providing the timeline with many clips like this. Donald was credited with four tackles (one solo), a sack and a tackle for the loss. But as the film indicates, his disruptive presence up front was a huge factor in the Los Angeles Rams’ victory over the visiting Cowboys.

Donald got his sack on the first possession of the game from Dallas. Facing a 2nd and 9 in Rams territory, the Cowboys want to double-team Donald in this protection scheme, but the Rams employ a blitz from the second level that forces one of the offensive lineman to scrape off Donald and help out. That leaves Zack Martin, an elite offensive lineman, alone on Donald, and the defender forces his way to Prescott for the sack:

On this third down play, Donald aligns on the left tackle. But he cuts to the inside and uses a powerful bull rush move to drive the pocket back into the lap of Prescott, putting the quarterback under duress again and forcing an underthrown pass:

On a second down play in the fourth quarter, Donald uses a powerful push/pull move on the left guard before getting to Prescott just as he releases a throw:

Then of course there is this moment from the second quarter:

In case you missed the end of this play, watch how Donald destroys everyone in his path, including running back Ezekiel Elliott:

Finally, remember that debate last week about Donald’s run defense? Take a look at this play. On the final play of the first quarter the Cowboys face a 1st and 10 on their own 20-yard line. Prescott aligns in the shotgun with Elliott standing to his right. They will run to the left side here, pulling the left tackle and the left guard in front of the running back:

Of course, that means the tight end has to block down on Donald.

It does not go well:

Donald gets upfield in a flash, knifing into the backfield past the block attempt. Even though Elliott has a convoy of body mass in front of him – and the Rams are outflanked to the edge – Donald’s penetration forces the running back to stop and change direction in the backfield. Elliott cuts away from the convoy on the edge and into the interior, where the Rams have the advantage. He is stopped for no gain.

This week Donald gets to operate against a team that struggled to protect its passer in its opening game, leading to moments like this:

Getting Lane Johnson back will be a start. But if the Eagles cannot protect Wentz better on Sunday, your Twitter timeline will be filled with even more video clips of Donald destroying worlds.

Cam Newton and the new-look Patriots’ running game

Cam Newton led the New England Patriots to a win in his first start for the team, and his legs were a big reason why.

One of the most intriguing storylines this season was how the New England Patriots would evolve offensively after the departure of Tom Brady. If Week 1 is any indication, Cam Newton will be a focal part of their new-look running game.

New England’s new quarterback played a huge role in the Patriots’ 21-11 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough. Newton threw for 155 yards on 15 of 19 passing, but his biggest contributions came on the ground. The former Carolina Panther ran the ball 15 times for 75 yards and a pair of touchdowns, one of which was a throwback to Jacoby Brissett, when he saw a few starts for New England back in the 2016 season.  That made Newton New England’s leading rusher on the afternoon.

Taking a look at a few of these plays highlights just how different the Patriots’ offense can be now with Newton’s athleticism, and how it might just make this offense a bit more difficult to defend.

We can start with this six-yard run from Newton on New England’s opening drive of the third quarter. Newton aligns in the shotgun with running back James White to his right:

New England runs a power read here with an option element for the quarterback:

White cuts in front of the quarterback, aiming for the left edge. Newton can give him the football, depending on his read (which we will get to in a moment) or he can keep the ball and attack north/south. If he chooses to keep the football, he has right guard Shaq Mason pulling in front of him as a lead blocker.

Newton reads the linebacker here, shaded in red. If that player crashes down to the edge in response to the movement of White, Newton will pull the football and follow Mason. If that backer crashes down inside, Newton will let White keep the ball around the end.

Here’s what happens:

The linebacker does track with White, creating enough of a crease for Newton to keep the football. Which he does, tracking behind Mason for a six-yard gain.

This is an element to the offense that the Patriots could not implement with Brady. This design puts the linebacker into conflict with two different running options, and whatever he does, the Patriots have a way to make him choose the wrong option.

One of the things that Josh McDaniels does so well is use pre-snap movement and motion to give his quarterback information. Usually it is to help in the passing game, but now with Newton there are ways to use movement before the snap to aid some of the option elements that are now in the playbook.

The Patriots love to start plays in an empty formation to see what the defense does against players like James White, and then move White back next to the quarterback. That is exactly what they do on this play, and watch how the defense responds to the pre-snap movement:

See what happens when White comes into the backfield? The defensive back trails him. In years past, McDaniels would use that to clue Brady into the fact that the defense is in man coverage.

Here, that motion tells Newton the same thing. But it also tells right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor who to aim for:

New England runs a speed option here, and if White is going to be available for the pitch, his defender needs to be taken out of the play. By using this movement before the snap, everyone knows that the secondary is in man coverage, and the right tackle knows who to go after. 2nd and 10 becomes 3rd and short in the blink of an eye.

Finally, on a critical fourth down late in the game, with the Patriots opting to forgo a short field goal, everyone knew that Newton was likely to run the football.

Yet the Dolphins could not stop it:

This is just QB power to the left side with Jakob Johnson as the lead blocker out of the backfield in front of the quarterback. Tight end Ryan Izzo climbs to the second level to take the nearest player aligned as a linebacker, while Johnson kicks out the end man on the line of scrimage. That is all Newton needs, as he puts his head down and picks up the first down and more.

The addition of Newton now means that the Patriots’ offense is no longer playing a man down in the running game. The threat of Newton and what he can do with the football in his hands requires the defense to account for him on every down. If you revisit the first play, perhaps in the future linebackers will stay home more in response to that action, worried about Newton potentially keeping the football. That will free up the Patriots’ running backs on those types of plays.

Newton’s legs make this a completely different Patriots ground game to defend. And a much more difficult one to boot.

 

 

 

 

Where does the Texans’ offense go after another prime-time failure?

The Houston Texans offense sputtered in the season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Where do they go from here?

After months of speculation, the NFL season kicked off on Thursday night with the Kansas City Chiefs raising a banner, or maybe a billboard, and then taking on the Houston Texans. Starved for football, NFL fans took to the public square that is Twitter and were quick to over-react to every single play.

Football was indeed back.

Early on, a take that many had was that Bill O’Brien fooled us all when he traded away DeAndre Hopkins and got running back David Johnson in return. Johnson was jump-cutting into the endzone, the Texans were on the board, and O’Brien was in the running for NFL Executive of the Year.

Then, the Texans ran out of their scripted plays, and the wheels came off. By the end of the night, social media had moved from praising O’Brien, to wondering how in the world he can fix this offense.

As with many situations, it begins with the guys up front. During his time in the league, protecting Deshaun Watson has been a struggle for the Houston offense. Pro Football Focus charted the quarterback with 227 pressured dropbacks last year – seventh in the league – and he was sacked 44 times, sixth-most in the NFL. Believe it or not, that was actually an improvement from his 2018 season, when he was pressured 281 times – most in the NFL – and sacked 61 times, again a league-high.

Watson was pressured often on Thursday night, getting sacked four times and hit seven. Even when he managed to get throws off, he seemed to be under duress more often than not. Now, pressure is often a function of the quarterback himself, either in terms of being slow with reads or failing to get the ball out on time, but then you see moments like this from right tackle Tytus Howard:

Watson simply does not have a chance here, as Frank Clark is in his lap just as he finishes his drop.

There there is this example from the Houston tackles, where again the footwork is something to note:

It also showed up when Watson was intercepted early in the fourth quarter, when Tyrann Mathieu was able to beat tight end Darren Fells and get to the quarterback, impacting the throw:

So protecting their quarterback is an issue, still. But another loomed large as the game wore on.

They miss Hopkins.

Sure, in time a receiver might emerge that can win in contested situations, and that Watson trusts enough to challenge coverage with downfield, but on Thursday night, that element of Houston’s offense was sorely missing.

That also meant that the Chiefs and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo were able to drop into some two-high coverage schemes, avoid having to bracket or even double a receiver, and force Watson to challenge windows of their choosing. Take this 3rd down play from late in the first half, with the Texans on the move. The Chiefs show pressure at the snap, even dropping Mathieu down in the box, but then drop him into a Cover 2 look. Watson tries to feather in the vertical route along the right sideline, but both the corner and Mathieu are able to constrict the window, and the pass falls incomplete:

Let’s revisit that earlier pressure on Watson from Clark. This comes on a 3rd and 7 in the second half. Again, you’ll see how the Chiefs are able to play this with two high safeties, without the need to bracket or double any of the receivers:

Here is another example of this, from the first half. On this 3rd and 10 play, the Chiefs again can play with two deep safeties. Watson is pressured – a common occurrence on Thursday night – but even if he had time there was nowhere to go with the football. Routes were covered along with dedicated safety help to both sides of the field.

When they had Hopkins in the fold, there would be situations like this where the defense would be forced to put a second defender either in a bracket or a cone on Hopkins, or to outright double-team him. Now, without a threat like that, the Texans are going to face these types of coverages. Dedicated safety help on both sides of the field, with narrow throwing windows as a result.

When you combine that with the pressure the Chiefs were able to generate on Watson, that is a recipe for disaster.

Now, there are two fixes for this. First, they need to protect their quarterback. Last year, one way the Texans were able to do this was by going with empty formations, spreading out the defense, and giving Watson some quick reads and throws to get the ball out of his hand. Take this play against the Los Angeles Chargers from last season:

Los Angeles brings pressure here, sending five after Watson and using a mirrored tackle-end stunt. But the Texans still have five in to block, so the QB has time to get the ball out. He looks to the right, where a rub concept frees up Fells on a quick slant.

Here is a similar design against the Carolina Panthers. Houston goes empty again and puts Keke Coutee in a stack slot to the right behind Hopkins. Hopkins releases vertically, while Coutee runs a simple curl route. The vertical release – plus the attention paid to Hopkins – creates space for his teammate on the curl route:

See, however, how Hopkins draws the attention from three defenders initially, freeing up Coutee on the quick curl route. Without that element – a receiver that scares a defense – this might be tough to replicate.

This might not have made a huge difference on Thursday night, however:

So even quick game concepts might have been an issue given how the offensive line played against the Chiefs. So there need to be other elements incorporated.

The other thing they might need to do is to go condensed and heavy. In years past the Houston offense has relied on the Yankee concept, a maximum-protection, two receiver design that pairs a deep post route with a crosser working just underneath it, usually off of play-action. That gives you extra blockers to protect your QB, and a chance to hit on some throws downfield:

While they might not have Hopkins to run this with, you can be effective on this design – while protecting your QB – with the receivers they have in the fold.

So sure, tonight was a rough night for the Houston offense. But Johnson made people believe in the trade for at least a drive or two early, and Watson is still an elite talent. With some tweaks to their offense, and perhaps relying on some of what they’ve run in the past, they can shore up protection and get rolling again.

However, I am contractually obligated to include one more image:

Bill O'Brien Texans
(Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)

We’re back, baby.

NFLPA tells players preseason games have been canceled

The 2020 NFL preseason slate has been wiped out due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There will be no preseason games leading into the kickoff of the 2020 NFL season due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That was the news the NFLPA delivered to its players Tuesday along with some other information on their call.

NFL.com reported:

The union said it has a general agreement with the league on voluntary and high-risk opt-out possibilities, and another general agreement on a compensatory stipend in the event games are lost due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The main economics still need to be hashed out between the two sides, and the details for the general agreements also need to be finalized, but the two sides have agreed on the concept.

This will ramp up the importance of practice for players looking to earn a spot on regular-season rosters. Coaching staffs will have to make decisions only on what they see and without any game action, which should make things extremely interesting and tense in camps.

The fans won’t miss attending preseason games since most skip the contests anyway. They are dominated by empty seats.

 

Report: NFL offers NFLPA to play 0 preseason games

The NFL has offered its players to skip all preseason games in 2020, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Well, the NFL preseason started at four games, somehow skipped the possibility of three, then went to maybe two, one and now the league is offering its players the opportunity to play zero preseason games.

This from ESPN’s Adam Schefter:

This would make for interesting training camps as draft choices, undrafted free agents, and others battle for spots on rosters.

Also, imagine being the Bengals and having to throw Joe Burrow right into the fire — assuming they sign the No. 1 overall pick in time — against the Los Angeles Chargers’ and Cleveland Browns’ defenses in the first two weeks of the season.

The veterans have been seeing less and less action in preseason games over the years so it wouldn’t impact that group as much. However, those fighting for jobs would have to bring it every day in every way at practice.

And in other news:

Robert Griffin III checks in to report no preseason slate in 2020

Robert Griffin III has taken to social media to report there will be no preseason games.

The roles have changed. If Robert Griffin III, quarterback, has become RG III newsbreaker, then he is letting everyone in on some expected news.

The Baltimore Ravens’ backup tweeted Tuesday there will be no preseason. Assuming, he left out the word games.

This has been out there for a week or so, but a player jumping into report it adds more fodder to the thought.

Next up, will Griffin let us know whether the 2020 season will be played, how many fans — if any can attend games, and whether the NFL will kick off on time in September?

NFL could shorten upcoming preseason

According to NFL Network, the league could shorten the upcoming 2020 preseason schedule.

The NFL is still of the belief that the 2020 regular season will go on as expected, and already planned for, in September. But it appears the preseason may not.

Teams across the league have released schedules for their preseason exhibition games, but those reportedly might not go on as expected. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the NFL and players union are talking about potentially trimming the preseason slate due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic:

The NFL has already had numerous changes to their current offseason due to the pandemic, but in all likelihood, many players may not mind having less exhibition games to account for. That’ll help avoid injury.

However, players might see the least amount of actual football in league history this offseason prior to games counting in the regular season. The league recently sent a memo to teams in regard to getting players back in the building for workouts. In that, it was stressed the teams should conduct social distancing and virtual meetings and practices, when possible. The NFL and NFLPA have yet to agree on a time frame for players to return to facilities, but that slate of rules isn’t exactly anything that reminds one of a physical sport.

In addition, the league and players could use this opportunity to take a look into the future as well. The latest CBA agreement calls for an addition of a 17th regular season game starting next year, along with a shortening of the preseason. Teams could be getting a head start on prepping for an offseason with a shorter preseason in the coming weeks.

 

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