Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield preview all the matchups in the NFL’s Week 8.
As the 2021 NFL season nears a halfway point that can no longer be calculated with a 17-game season, it’s time for Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield to get into all the Week 8 matchups with their usual tape breakdowns and advanced metrics!
Among the discussion topics this week:
How Aaron Rodgers could be in a world of trouble down his top targets against Arizona’s severely underrated defense;
How Joe Brady and Matt Rhule can adjust the timing of the passing game to eliminate Sam Darnold’s “vapor-lock”;
Why the Dolphins would be wise to bet long on Tua Tagovailoa, as opposed to going all in on Deshaun Watson (and why this matchup against the Bills is a terrible week to make that decision);
Two more ways in which Matt Nagy has practiced extreme coaching malpractice in the case of Justin Fields;
How Kevin Stefanski proved the doubters wrong without Baker Mayfield, and why he should do it again against the Steelers;
Why the Eagles need to start doing more than just hoping their garden grows;
Why the Titans need to be taken very seriously, despite a banged-up pass defense;
How Joe Burrow continues to grow as a quarterback beyond his years, and why Doug had to apologize to Lou Anarumo);
How the Texans have managed to play pretty decently in Cover-2, and why it won’t matter at all against Matthew Stafford and the Rams;
How Bill Belichick will array his defense against Justin Herbert this time around; and…
How Tom Brady is about to do the most incredible thing in NFL history.
Aaron Rodgers has been inconsistent with his deep passes at a surprising and alarming rate. Why is this so, and how can the Packers fix it?
There really isn’t much to worry about on the surface if you’re Matt LaFleur, head coach of the Green Bay Packers. Your team is 5-1, and they’ve recovered very nicely from a 38-3 opening day shellacking at the hands of the Saints. Your team ranks 11th overall in DVOA — fifth in offense, 23rd in defense, and your defense has improved from a very shaky start overall. You have Aaron Rodgers, one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, and outside of that opening disaster against the Saints, Rodgers is right on pace with some of his best seasons — maybe not to the point he was in the early 2010s when he was killing every defense he faces, but certainly better than average.
Rodgers ranks seventh in DYAR among quarterbacks, eighth in DVOA, and fifth in QBR. Rodgers has done this despite a banged-up offensive line, led by the absence of left tackle David Bakhtiari, who’s still recovering from the torn ACL he suffered last December.
So again, not much to worry about.
Until you look at Rodgers’ deep-ball statistics from last season to this season. Then, you might like to look a little deeper.
In 2020, including the playoffs (per Pro Football Focus), Rodgers attempted 89 passes of 20 or more air yards, completing 37 for 1,435 yards, 16.1 yards per attempt, 14 touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 123.7. Only Daniel Jones (no, really), Kyler Murray and Matthew Stafford had a higher deep-ball passer rating, only Tom Brady had more deep attempts, only Brady and Josh Allen had more deep completions, only Brady had more deep yards, and only Brady had more deep touchdowns.
Through the first six games of the 2021 season, the picture is very different. Rodgers has attempted 30 deep passes, but he’s completed just nine for 354 yards, 11.8 yards per attempt, no touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 48.5. Only Tua Tagovailoa and Ryan Tannehill have lower passer ratings on deep passes, only Murray, Trevor Lawrence, and Tagovailoa have more deep interceptions, and only Tannehill, Jacoby Brissett, Tagovailoa, and Justin Fields have matched Rodgers’ goose egg when it comes to touchdowns on deep passes.
This is not what one would expect from Aaron Rodgers. (Also, Miami’s passing game is even worse than we thought. Ugh). Rodgers famously told Bears fans that he owned them after a rushing touchdown, but when it comes to the deep ball, it’s Rodgers who’s been getting owned this season. Six games in, it’s enough of a problem to investigate why it’s so, and how it can be fixed.
Jared Goff is preparing to face the Rams, his former team. And he’s showing that he has no hold on anything that makes great quarterbacks great.
Obviously, the ideal scenario for Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions would be for Goff to be playing at a level that would make Sunday’s Lions-Rams game a potential revenge matchup for Goff. The former Rams quarterback, selected first overall in the 2016 draft and cast aside this offseason as his former team traded a king’s ransom (Goff, two first-round picks, and a third-round pick) for Matthew Stafford, would be at least in competition in this quarterback switcheroo.
But that is not the case. While Stafford is redefining what Rams head coach Sean McVay’s offense is supposed to look like, Goff is coming off an awful home outing against the Bengals in which he was booed in the first half, and wound up with 28 completions in 42 attempts for 202 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 67.8. Goff’s stat line against the Vikings the week before was disturbingly similar — 21 completions in 35 attempts for 203 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 64.3 — and on the young season, he has 159 completions in 238 attempts for 1,505 yards, seven touchdowns, four interceptions, a passer rating of 86.9.
Goff’s touchdown rate of 2.9% is the lowest of his career since his rookie season, when he had one of the worst quarterback years in pro football history. As much as McVay’s offense and the players around him elevated Goff as high as he was going to go, it seems that in Detroit, Goff has regressed to his norm. Right now, Stafford ranks first in DVOA and third in DYAR among quarterbacks; Goff ranks 24th in DVOA and 25th in DYAR.
New Lions head coach Dan Campbell isn’t at all happy about the way this is going, and made that abundantly clear after the 34-11 loss to the Bengals.
“I don’t feel like we can accurately judge him one way or another,” Campbell said, when the subject of benching Goff came up. “I don’t feel that way yet. Now, I will say this—I feel like he needs to step up more than he has. And I think he needs to help us just like everybody else. I think he’s going to need to put a little bit of weight on his shoulders here and it’s time to step up, make some throws and do some things. But he needs help. He needs help. And look, I told him out there, he knows this, but some of that stuff. We’re getting these holding calls… well, it’s because he’s drifting back in the pocket 10 yards deep. That’s not fair to those guys either. If you hang on to the ball… it’s like I told you, this is a collective effort now. Everything goes hand-in-hand. But I want to see him step up, I do, I do because I think he can do it.”
The Lions have injury issues and talent deficits on their roster, but at a certain point, you either have a quarterback who can transcend that stuff, or you don’t.
Campbell’s comments following the Vikings loss the week before were perhaps even more damning. When asked about Goff’s turnovers… well, you never want to hear about a sixth-year NFL quarterback that it might be time to scale things back.
(Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)
Yeah, that will certainly be something we look at,” Campbell said of the turnovers. “Because it has, it’s killed us a couple weeks in a row. Whether we’ve got to — you know, it could be as simple as trimming the calls back a little bit to where it’s a little bit more mainstream and to the point. Quick, easy. I see it in my head, we get lined up, it — you know, just a little less moving parts, if you will. Maybe that’s where we can help a little bit. So we’ll look at everything with it. But, you know, it hurts us.”
Goff was asked about the turnovers after the Vikings game, as well.
“I think each one of them, you have to look at individually, right? I think, you know, if I’m making poor decisions, I think that’s one thing. If it’s lack of ball security, that’s another thing. If it’s, you know, they’re making plays on defense, it’s another thing. I think you have to look at them all individually. Obviously, we need to limit them. They need to go away, right? But I need to keep playing aggressively like I always have and not allow, you know, things that may happen my way or their way, whatever it may be affect the way that I play each play.”
In the end, the Rams wanted Goff out of the building because they could only go so far with him, and the Stafford upgrade was worth the cost in their minds. That process took a few years, and McVay exhausting what talent Goff does have. With the Lions, the process has accelerated. Which is not something you can say about Goff’s own process. What shows on the field is a quarterback who is afraid to turn it loose for big plays. A quarterback who doesn’t understand the timing of his own passing game. A quarterback who now finds that the walls are closing in.
You always want to know in these situations if the problems can be fixed. I’m not sure about that, because in Goff’s case, he’s regressed in so many of the categories that are required of good-to-great quarterbacks. Goff is neither right now — not even close — and here’s why.
Touchdown Wire’s Laurie Fitzpatrick breaks down the film to examine the elite skill set of Giants WR Kadarius Toney.
It’s not unusual for rookies to need some time while they acclimate to the faster and more challenging level of play in the NFL.
But just a few weeks into his debut season, New York Giants wide receiver Kadarius Toney already appears to be making a leap. No NFL player has formed more missed tackles (eight) in the past two weeks than Toney, and last week he set a Giants rookie record with 189 receiving yards against the Dallas Cowboys. That eclipsed the previous record of 185, set by none other than Odell Beckham Jr.
Toney, the former Florida Gators star who was drafted No. 20 overall by the Giants this year, is an above-average performer with the ball in his hands. He can juke guys out of their cleats with twitchy lateral cuts and the ability to get upfield extremely quickly.
In the season’s first three weeks, Toney was only on the field for an average of 34% of the Giants’ offensive snaps. But as his playing time increased, he began to impress. But now, injuries to Kenny Golladay and Saquon Barkley will give Toney the chance to play a primary role in Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams — although he will face a difficult assignment playing opposite standout cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
Let’s take a look at the film to examine why Toney is special:
There are three things about this play above that stand out. First, Toney slows down during his break to ensure that quarterback Daniel Jones can see him at the top of his route. Second is the body adjustment at the catch. Third is how he used the momentum from the ball being thrown behind him, then quickly turned toward the defender and juked him.
In Week 4 against the New Orleans Saints, Toney started to put opponents on notice, pulling in six catches for 78 yards. On the play below, he jukes no fewer than six defenders.
Let’s not overlook Toney’s crisp release at the line of scrimmage, either. The press coverage of Saints rookie cornerback Paulson Adebo is no match for him.
Right now, short and intermediate routes seem to be where Toney excels the most, with only has a few defenders remaining in the secondary to beat.
Early in the season, Toney was mostly running jet sweeps, but his usage has been expanded downfield in recent weeks.
Then came last week’s breakout performance against the Cowboys, when he recorded 10 receptions. Not only did Toney make opponents miss in man-to-man defense, but he showed excellent post-catch awareness against the zone. (See below.)
One area of concern for Toney coming into the NFL was his route-running ability and whether he can he clean up his steps against elite corners. However, the clip below shows him beating NFL interceptions leader Trevon Diggs one on one.
Toney’s route running is smooth yet sudden. He shows an ability to get separation at the top of routes and body adjustment at the catch. Importantly, he gets north and south quickly with top-end downhill speed.
Giants head coach Joe Judge elaborated about Toney’s skill set recently:
“It shows up in terms of the extended runs and breaking tackles, but he has great instincts,” Judge told the media earlier this week. “He has really good vision on the field of seeing where there’s an open space, no matter how small it is. He’s got a very good short-area change of direction and burst coming out of that first step to stop and go very quickly.
“He’s also got that long speed to stretch the field and really separate over space, so he’s obviously a unique player with a very good skill set. Maybe the biggest thing that really helps him, more so than the physical attributes, is how intelligent he is on the field.”
Toney is dangerous no matter where he lines up. In addition to being a threat out wide, Toney can be effective in the backfield receiving the snap as well. Toney was a high school quarterback who attended the Manning Passing Academy, so he has both the ability to throw the ball or tuck it and gain a few extra yards.
Last week, Toney even took a snap and ran a read-option. If his success in multiple areas continues, he could become a candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Sunday’s game against the Rams and his matchup against Ramsey will be a good measuring stick for his progress.
Touchdown Wire’s Laurie Fitzpatrick breaks down how Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs is getting so many interceptions.
Coming from University of Alabama, Trevon Diggs is accustomed to playing in the spotlight.
So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that he hasn’t been overwhelmed on the big stage with the Dallas Cowboys. Four games into his second pro season, Diggs leads the NFL with five interceptions. In addition to his three picks in 12 games last year, he now has eight in his first 16 professional games.
Few predicted that Diggs would be playing this well, considering the Cowboys ranked 28th in the NFL in points allowed last season. So far this year, Dallas ranks 16th in the league in points allowed.
Meantime, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has been putting Diggs into positions where he can succeed this season. Every level of the Cowboys defense boasts extremely good athleticism. Rookie linebacker Micah Parsons can rush the passer or drop back in coverage effectively. Veteran linebacker Jaylon Smith possesses impressive speed at the second level, and safety Damontae Kazee is great in coverage.
With all that in mind, let’s go to the tape and examine how the Cowboys are using Diggs.
Every week, Diggs lines up against the X receiver, who is usually the top playmaker out of a team’s receiving corps. So in Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Diggs was lined up across from Mike Evans.
On this play, it’s all heads up by Diggs. He watches the offensive line running upfield and sniffs out the screen.
Diggs relied on his eyes, liked what he saw and attacked. However, this strategy almost got him in trouble later in the game against Evans.
On the play above, Evans runs a comeback route. But it’s Tom Brady’s last read, so since Evans already made his break toward the ball, he decides to cut back upfield to get open. Diggs already had tried to jump the route and appeared to be beaten on the play. Fortunately for Diggs, his length saved him. Diggs is 6-foot-1 with 78–inch (which ranks in the 90th percentile for defensive backs), and he was able to stretch, recover and get the pass breakup.
In Week 2 against the Los Angeles Chargers, Diggs covered Keenan Allen when the Cowboys lined up in man coverage. As you’ll see below, Diggs has a knack for jumping routes.
To this point, Cowboys opponents haven’t seemed to adjust to Diggs’ performances from week to week. Instead, the Eagles and DeVonta Smith were the next victims of Diggs in man coverage.
At the top of your screen, Diggs is one-on-one against Smith, his former college teammate. Presumably, they know each other pretty well from practice at Alabama, and Diggs won this battle with size and competitiveness.
If the Eagles had focused on how Diggs covered Evans in Week 1, they would have noticed how Diggs loves to jump routes. Any wheel route or double move would have a chance to beat him deep. However, the Cowboys are doing everything possible to force these battles.
By Week 4, the Cowboys and their defensive line have shown a lot of progress in terms of applying pressure to the quarterback. With the drive on the line, Diggs is lined up across from Carolina Panthers wideout DJ Moore on the outside.
On third down, the Cowboys leave Diggs off coverage at the bottom of the screen, which gives him time to read the play. Diggs gets another interception off a curl route.
The next time the Panthers got the ball, they used a stacked lineup on the outside, which sometimes forces the defense to switch. Instead, the Cowboys just place Diggs in the middle of the field to sit in zone coverage.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, the coverage allowed Diggs to sit back and wait for his opportunity.
Because the Cowboys generate pressure up front and possess speed in the back, it’s hard to get their defense off balance. In man coverage, they can keep up downfield. In zone coverage, they bring different looks to force quarterbacks into bad throws underneath.
It’s up to the offense to create mismatches against Dallas and take chances deep.
Bears quarterback Justin Fields had much better play-calling in his second NFL start. Will head coach Matt Nagy allow it to continue?
Last week, Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields had his first NFL start, and it was an abject disaster. With head coach Matt Nagy as the play-caller, and Nagy waiting around for Andy Dalton to be healthy, and then finding out that Dalton wasn’t going to be able to go against the Browns, Fields was given a leaky boat full of anchors, and he responded accordingly. With one of the worst systems you’ll ever see for a young quarterback, Fields completed six of 20 passes for 68 yards. He was sacked nine times for 67 yards, which obviously left Fields with one net passing yard. Nagy refused to give Fields the benefits of play-action and pre-snap motion. He refused to acknowledge him as a runner. He refused to give him favorable route combinations at any level of the field.
It was a fireable offense. But the Bears as an organization have never fired a head coach in-season, and they’ve been around since 1920, so it wasn’t going to happen now. However, and quite fortunately, Nagy was convinced to hand over the play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor in Week 4 against the Lions. Fields’ day wasn’t perfect, but it was much better. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 209 yards, no touchdowns, one interception off a deflection, and just one sack — which Fields said after the game was on him.
Nagy has insisted that Dalton will be the no-matter-what starter when he’s healthy, and we all know that, and it makes no sense, but perhaps the most distressing thing about Nagy right now is his desperate need to claim credit for a win that would not have been possible had he not walked away from offensive play-calling duties.
“Yeah, so in regards to the play calling, Bill did a great job, and I think that at the same point in time, it’s important that we understand that I had to — I felt good out there as a head coach, and that’s real,” Nagy said after the game. “But we all get together. We talk through how we’re going to call the game, and we do that when I’m calling plays, too. Us as a staff, we get together. So I think that that’s important for everybody to know is that when we build a game plan together, whether it’s the offensive line coach with Juan or whether it’s our tight ends coach or wide receiver coach, et cetera, we do it together, and in the end, I get a great opportunity to say yes, I like this, or no, I don’t.
“As the head coach, right, in charge of all that, that’s real. When you do that now, I also go back to saying last week, right, or — last week was hey, whatever I need to do to try to be the best head coach for the Chicago Bears, whatever that is, I don’t care, I just want us to have the best opportunity to win, and I feel like Bill did a great job today. Our players did a great job. Our coaching staff did a great job, and we played collectively together as a team, not just players, not just coaches, everybody.
“When you have that, it’s a good feeling. So we’ll continue to just keep talking. We’ll continue to — but again, with all due respect, all due respect, this is going to be the last time I talk about it.”
Nagy was then asked whether Lazor would continue to call plays going forward, and that’s where he short-circuited. It’s an entirely reasonable question given the massive uptick in Fields’ performance with Lazor at the wheel, but he wasn’t having it.
“Like I said — you’re unbelievable. You try — listen, I hope you understand, I get it. I get it. I get it. But just know, like that’s it. No more with this.”
A confident coach would go out of his way to praise his offensive coordinator after a game like this. One of the reasons Nagy, the former Chiefs offensive coordinator, got this job in the first place is that Andy Reid has to be restrained from telling people how great his coaches are. But that’s the situation as it stands. We don’t know how long Fields will be the starter. We don’t know how long it will be before Nagy takes the call sheet over again. But for now, we can enjoy several examples of an offense that worked for a rookie quarterback coming off a disastrous first NFL start. While Nagy wants to keep this all on the QT, we’ll praise the difference with Lazor.
Because it was crushingly obvious. Let’s look at the big-time throws against the Lions to see what they tell us. Fields completed one pass of 20 or more air yards in three attempts for 21 yards before Sunday’s game. Against Detroit, he attempted six such passes, completing four for 151 yards. And they each tell a story of the successful partnership between Lazor and Fields.
Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield go through all the stories Week 4 of the 2021 NFL season.
It’s time to get ready for Week 4 in the 2021 NFL season, and there’s a lot more to this week than the Brady-Belichick game, though that’s where Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield start in this week’s preview/matchup podcast. Using tape study and advanced metrics, here’s what Doug and Mark discussed this week:
Why Mac Jones, and not Tom Brady, will be the difference in Brady’s “revenge game;”
Why Trevor Lawrence is better than you may think, but it’s Joe Burrow who now has a full passing game to exploit;
Why Washington’s defense is struggling from front to back, and how even the Falcons (who rank dead last in Offensive DVOA this season) can make something of it;
How the Lions can get their first win of the season against a Bears offense that should have Matt Nagy escorted right out of Halas Hall;
Why the Panthers-Cowboys game might be the most interesting this week from a schematic perspective;
How Patrick Mahomes has gone from consistency to randomness, though it may not matter, as the Eagles’ offense has no identity;
Why Kirk Cousins will not find Cleveland’s new-look defense to be an easy test at all;
How the Cardinals can keep up with a Sean McVay/Matthew Stafford offense that has weaponized both McVay’s and Stafford’s best traits;
Why Pete Carroll had better throw the LOB out of his head and put a defensive game plan together for the players he actually has;
How the AFC West became a total toss-up, and why Jon Gruden might be doing the best coaching of his career;
And why the Steelers had better start thinking out loud about the game’s most important position.
In Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season, Matthew Stafford and Derek Carr presented divergent examples of the throws only some quarterbacks will make.
When we talk about quarterback statistics, there’s a metric I wish existed — something that told us about open throws, or throws coming open, that quarterbacks have time to make, and don’t make for whatever reason. You have to watch the overhead view to really see how things come open over time. While the presence or absence of big-time throws on the page tells you some of that story, it’s essential when evaluating a quarterback to understand his ability to make throws that place him over the average on a consistent basis.
Two quarterbacks who were involved in Week 1 wins showed this disparity — Matthew Stafford of the Rams, and Derek Carr of the Raiders. And the deep shot numbers actually tell a different story than the tape does. Per Pro Football Focus, against the Bears on Sunday night, Stafford attempted just four passes of 20 or more air yards, completing three for 160 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 156.3. Carr had more deep attempts than any other quarterback in Week 1 — eight attempts, with three completions for 100 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 125.0.
So, the common narrative that Carr is averse to the deep ball, or can’t make those plays happen, is a bit of a canard. Carr was air-mailing just about everything early on — he completed just two of 11 passes in the first quarter, much to the ire of Charles Barkley, but when he settled down, he got in a good space to create explosive plays.
However, there’s one play I’m guessing Carr would probably would like to do over, and I bet he felt that way the second he saw it on tape either right after the game, or on Tuesday morning when he went over the All-22.
Aaron Rodgers is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, but there’s enough sample size to indicate a way to stop his excellence.
No matter how great a quarterback may be, every one of them has his own personal Kryptonite. For Tom Brady, it’s always been pressure right up the middle. For Aaron Rodgers, at least in 2020, it was coverage in which he faced two deep safeties. This trend not only affected Rodgers’ efficiency and explosiveness; it also drastically affected his best receiver — and perhaps the best receiver in the NFL today. Per Sports Info Solutions, when presented with single-high coverage in 2020 (Cover-1, Cover-3), Davante Adams caught 81 of 99 targets for 971 yards, 574 air yards, a league-high 13 touchdowns, and a receiver rating of 139.8. Against any manner of two-safety coverage (Cover-2, 2-Man, Cover-4, Cover-6, Tampa-2), Adams caught 28 of 42 targets for 335 yards, 238 air yards, two touchdowns, and a receiver rating of 86.9.
The two-deep conundrum obviously started with Rodgers. Against single-safety coverage last season, Rodgers completed 205 of 299 yards for 2,496 yards, 1,346 air yards, 29 touchdowns, two interceptions, an Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt of 9.3, and a passer rating of 123.5.
Against two-high coverage, he completed 121 of 188 passes for 1,734 yards, 1,035 air yards, nine touchdowns, four interceptions, an Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt of 8.2, and a passer rating of 101.2.
So, that was the crucible Rodgers faced heading into the 2021 season. If you cover him single-high, he’ll destroy your day. If you counter with two-high, you at least have a chance. And if you can stop the Packers from running the ball effectively against two-high, you have more than a chance.
Interestingly enough, the difference in coverage didn’t really affect Rodgers’ ability to make big-time throws. Against single-high in 2020, Rodgers completed 18 passes on 41 attempts of 20 or more air yards for 631 yards, 502 air yards, six touchdowns, and no interceptions. He averaged 30.3 yards per throw. Against two-high, Rodgers completed 17 of 41 deep passes for 708 yards, 546 air yards, seven touchdowns, and one interception. Rodgers’ average throw depth against two-high coverage was 31.7.
The divide in efficiency per coverage showed up quite a bit more on throws of 10-19 air yards. Against single-high on such throws, Rodgers completed 33 of 58 passes for 634 yards, 440 air yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, an ANY/A of 12.3, and a passer rating of 114.0. Against two-high on those types of throws, Rodgers completed 18 of 33 passes for 333 yards, 263 air yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions, an ANY/A of 7.2, and a passer rating of 71.9.
On throws of 0-9 air yards? We’ll be brief. Against single-high, Rodgers threw 18 touchdowns to two interceptions. Against two-high? Zero and zero. There’s a lot of red zone noise in there, but still.
(Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)
What does this tell us? It may reveal that when Rodgers sees an open receiver downfield, regardless of the coverage, he’s going to use his peerless arm talent to make that throw. But when asked to operate a fully integrated passing game in the intermediate areas with two deep safeties, there’s a disconnect. You may find it unfathomable that a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer would be so betwixt and between with two-safety looks, but again, every quarterback has his Kryptonite. It also tells us that when teams are able to at least limit the damage Adams can do to coverage by bracketing him, Green Bay’s second- and third-level receivers aren’t quite up to the challenge. That’s been a burr in Rodgers’ side for a while now. Based on the numbers and tape, he might have a valid point.
Now, Rodgers was facing a Saints defense that played two-high on 274 opponent passing attempts in 2020, third-most in the league behind the Buccaneers and Browns. In two-high, the Saints allowed just six touchdowns to seven interceptions, and against throws of 10-19 air yards, they gave up just one of those touchdowns to three picks.
The Cowboys asked Micah Parsons to do a ton of work in his NFL debut, and he responded as a veteran would.
The Cowboys created some raised eyebrows when they selected Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons with the 12th pick in the 2021 NFL draft — not because there was any question about Parsons’ talent, but because the team was already pretty stacked at linebacker with Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch, and free-agent acquisition Keanu Neal, who had played with new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn in Atlanta, and can fill a hybrid safety/’backer role. But to categorize Parsons as just a linebacker is to misunderstand his potential effect on a defense, and as the Cowboys also took LSU’s Jabril Cox in the fourth round, it became clear that they wanted more speed at the position, and Parsons has speed for days, as well as the athleticism to become a staple performer in any defense.
In two seasons with the Nittany Lions (2018 and 2019), Parsons lined up along the defensive line on 82 of his 1,225 snaps, per Pro Football Focus, with 1,007 in the box, 121 in the slot, 10 at outside cornerback, and three at free safety. In his NFL debut against the Buccaneers on Thursday night, that versatility was obvious once again — he had 51 snaps, playing 10 on the line, 38 in the box, and three at outside corner. Parsons had three quarterback hurries, five solo tackles, two missed tackles, and in coverage, he allowed five catches on seven targets for 41 yards.
More importantly, Parsons looked comfortable wherever Quinn and his staff lined him up. Whether he was playing inside or outside off-ball linebacker, edge-rusher, inside blitzer, or dropping into coverage, the game didn’t look to big for him at this level, which is pretty impressive for a first-game rookie going up against one of the NFL’s most consistently explosive offense, and the greatest quarterback in football history.
The Buccaneers ran the ball just 14 times for 52 yards in their 31-29 win, so the focus on Parsons’ performance was more about coverage and pressure. In both categories, he had the look of a veteran.
