Tag: Greg Cosell

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: What does the scouting combine really mean?

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into what the scouting combine really means for NFL teams and top draft prospects.

Once the scouting combine is over every year — and this year’s version concluded last week — NFL scouts, coaches and personnel executives are left with reams of new information to deal with, and to add to their previous evaluations.

So, what does that really mean? And what can a great combine performance really do for a draft prospect? For example, Texas receiver Xavier Worthy broke the combine record with a 4.1-second 40-yard dash. If he already plays extremely fast on the field, what does that add to his evaluation? Or if a player like Washington left tackle Troy Fautanu aces all his drills and crushes it in the meeting rooms with NFL teams, how does he really come out the other side in the minds of the people who are set to select him in the 2024 NFL draft?

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into what the scouting combine really means, their individual experiences at this year’s event, and how drill work really matches up to game tape and NFL transitions for multiple top prospects.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Greg Cosell shares praise for 49ers QB Brock Purdy

Praise continues to roll in for the 49ers young passer.

After recently receiving praise from Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnoulo, another respected member of the football community complimented San Francisco 49ers passer Brock Purdy.

When explaining the new defensive trend of late coverage rotations against pre-snap reads on the Ross Tucker Podcast, NFL analyst Greg Cosell mentioned Purdy as a player who handles late coverage rotations “exceptionally well.”

Listen to Cosell praise Purdy via @RossTuckerPod on Twitter:

In his first full season as the 49ers’ starting quarterback, the second-year passer out of Iowa State played at an MVP-caliber level, passing for 4,280 yards and 31 touchdowns with only 11 interceptions.

Purdy helped lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl in his second season, throwing for 255 yards and a touchdown in an overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Super Bowl LVIII recap edition

Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar review Super Bowl LVIII between the Chiefs and 49ers as only they can in this week’s “Xs and Os.”

Now that Super Bowl LVIII is in the books, and the Kansas City Chiefs have established themselves as the NFL’s nest dynasty with their 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers, it’s time for Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, to review everything as only they can with copious tape study and advanced metrics.

Among the topics discussed in this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar”:

  • Steve Spagnuolo’s shocking man-blitz plan.
  • How Trent McDuffie made that deflection with 2:00 left in regulation.
  • Was Chris Jones robbed of a Super Bowl MVP award for the second time in four years?
  • Why Spags went so heavy with nickel, and Cover-0 stuff.
  • Why Brock Purdy wasn’t the reason the 49ers lost.
  • Was Dre Greenlaw’s injury a major factor in the game or not?
  • How were the Chiefs able to spot man coverage on Travis Kelce’s huge fourth-quarter catch?
  • How Patrick Mahomes showed his development as a quarterback at the most important points of his season…
  • …and why Mahomes’ biggest throw in the Super Bowl was the one he never should have attempted.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is the real star of Super Bowl LVIII

Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is a schematic wizard, but his real superpower is getting his players to buy in without fail.

It was February 3, 2008. Super Bowl XLII, in which the New England Patriots were supposed to complete the second undefeated season in pro football history. Instead, the underdog New York Giants put Tom Brady in a special section of hell with pass-rush concepts that had their defensive linemen moving around gap to gap, and often standing up in NASCAR fronts for which the Patriots seemed to have no answers. Brady was sacked five times, and hit nine more times, completing 29 of 48 passes for 266 yards, one touchdown, and a passer rating of 82.5 in a 17-14 Giants win.

Not what anybody expected from a quarterback — and an offense — that had set the NFL ablaze all season long, but Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo had the perfect plan for Brady and the Patriots, and that bore out. Spagnuolo threw the entire buffet at Brady with advanced blitzes, moving linemen, and NASCAR fronts in which as many as all four defensive linemen were standing up pre-snap.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=My0ahKLvxzs

“I remember that game, and watching what they were doing, and I’ve watched it again since,” Super Bowl XLII Most Valuable Player Eli Manning told me on Friday. “He had Antonio Pierce, middle linebacker, and obviously now the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. They were flip-flopping blitzes, and I’d never seen that before, where they had a WILL [linebacker]-free safety blitz, and they’d see Brady read it and change protections to pick up that blitz, and they would flip-flop  and roll it to bring a SAM [linebacker] and strong safety. You had free guys hitting Brady, so just mixing in and having that capability and communication and the trust in the defense to do that. To execute it, that’s the first time I’d ever seen that.

“I have great respect for Coach Spagnuolo and all he’s done in his career, his opportunity to win his fourth Super Bowl is impressive, and he always has the threat of blitz. That’s what he brings — exotic blitzes and exotic coverages. It’s a lot of work to get ready to play one of his defenses.”

Fast-forward 15 years, and “Coach Spags” is still doing it his way — perhaps at a higher level than ever before, and he’s now winning Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs. Moreover, he’s doing it now with the NFL’s youngest defense. There are a lot of deep football reasons why the Chiefs’ defense has carried the team to Super Bowl LVIII as the offense has been up and down (to say the least), but there are also personal dynamics between Spagnuolo and his players that mean a lot.

Let’s dive into why Steve Spagnuolo is the real star of Super Bowl LVIII.

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The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Previewing Super Bowl LVIII

It’s time for Super Bowl LVIII, which means that it’s time for Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar to dive into the Chiefs-49ers matchups with tape and advanced metrics.

It’s nearly time for the biggest game of the NFL season, which means it’s time for our guys Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, to do a very deep dive on Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, using all kinds of tape study and advanced metrics.

Here, the guys cover these topics, as well as many others:

  • Why run defense for each team could be the key to the entire game, and why Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco might unlock it all for Kansas City.
  • How Christian McCaffrey became the NFL’s best and most prolific zone runner.
  • How Steve Spagnuolo might blitz Brock Purdy, who has been amazing against the blitz all season.
  • Why Patrick Mahomes, who in the past has been similarly “unblitzable” in recent seasons, hasn’t been that in 2023.
  • Steve Wilks’ 49ers defense is far more multiple than some people think — especially in coverage — and why that could be a problem for Mr. Mahomes.
  • The Chiefs’ four-strong formations and use of 13 personnel, and how those two things have come to define Andy Reid’s offense to a great degree.
  • Why linebackers for both teams will be so important.
  • The Secret Superstars of Super Bowl LVIII.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

 

Baker Mayfield must calm his rogue tendencies to have a chance against the Lions

If Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers are going to beat the Lions, Mayfield will have to stay within himself as he didn’t in Week 6.

Baker Mayfield is on his fourth NFL team since 2021, which is an odd place for a former No. 1 overall NFL pick to find himself just seven seasons into his NFL career. One reason Mayfield has traveled an arduous road from the Cleveland Browns to the Carolina Panthers to the Los Angeles Rams to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the randomness of his play that can show up too often at the worst possible time. As great as Mayfield can be in the right situation with a coaching staff who can control his rogue tendencies, he’s a finely-tuned machine with a couple of oddly-placed springs, and you just have to live with it.

Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales has done an outstanding job with that this season, which is a primary reason that the Bucs are in Detroit to play the Lions in the NFC divisional round. Canales has a lot

In that 20-6 Detroit win, Mayfield completed 19 of 37 passes for 206 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 56.8. It was probably his worst game of the season. Mayfield was frequently speeding up in the pocket whether he was hurried or not. He didn’t throw with good base fundamentals, and he threw off-platform more than he needed to, which led to a lot of incompletions against tight coverage. More worrisome were the incompletions in which his receivers had scalded Detroit’s defense. 

Mayfield had a wide-open shot to Trey Palmer with 2:00 left in the first half that he overthrew by a couple yards and would have been a touchdown if he’d stayed within himself. This was a deep over from the slot against Cover-4, and Palmer beat safety Kerby Joseph over the top. 

Mayfield did have defensive tackle Benito Jones pressuring him right when he threw the ball, but that’s a throw you need to make. Mayfield was pressured on 13 of his 41 dropbacks in that game, and he completed two of 10 passes for 17 yards and a sack.

This deep incompleton to receiver Chris Godwin on third-and-10 with 1:04 left in the game was one such negative example. The Lions ran a zone exchange out of Cover-4, and Mayfield was in shotgun with a 2×2 formation. The backside flat/post combination was a great design against this coverage, and Joseph was beaten again. With edge defender Julian Okwara dropping into coverage, Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn sent linebacker Derek Barnes and cornerback Will Harris on an overload pressure to the other side. Harris got through, and Mayfield threw a worm-burner to his target.

For the season, Mayfield has completed 81 of 165 passes for 1,035 yards, seven touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 78.2. So, it’s not as if he’s a complete disaster under pressure – this game was an oddity, but it presented most of the things about Mayfield that tend to give you pause. 

It’s now time for Mayfield to silence the doubters.

“When there are plays to be had, we have to take advantage of them,” Mayfield said this week. “It’s staying consistent – they play extremely hard. It just jumps out on film, obviously [with] the way [Lions head coach] Dan Campbell runs that team – everybody swarming to the ball, playing for each other, playing extremely hard with a lot of effort at all times. They’re a tough opponent and they make it hard on you.”

Mayfield will obviously have a better chance to advance to the NFC Championship round if he can avoid making it hard on himself.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys investigate the things that those around Mayfield have done to rein things in when necessary.

You can watch this week’s episode of “The Xs and Os,” featuring all the most important matchups of the divisional round, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to “The Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Ravens, 49ers have the advantage of defenses that can do anything… and everything

The Ravens and 49ers are the one-seeds in the playoffs, and they both have defenses without specific tendencies. That’s not a coincidence.

It’s probably not a coincidence that the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers — the two one-seeds in the 2023 NFL playoffs — have defenses without a specific coverage type. In today’s NFL, with more formational and schematic concepts on offense, if you go out on the field without some things to mess up the opposing quarterback with different things, you’re left with an execution-based defense, and there’s very little margin for error if that’s the case.

The Cleveland Browns discovered that in their wild-card loss to the Houston Texans. In that 45-14 Houston win, the Browns stuck with their usual plan, to their direct detriment. C.J. Stroud had demolished single-high coverage all season long, and the Browns had run a higher rate of single-high in the regular season than any other defense. Cleveland decided to stay there in this game, and Stroud completed 12 of 16 passes for both of his touchdowns. On none of those 16 attempts did the Browns throw any kind of late movement at Stroud. It was line ’em up, and let’s go.

Browns’ refusal to adapt on defense cost them dearly against C.J. Stroud

When the Texans face the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday in the divisional round, Stroud will be tested in ways he certainly wasn’t last week. The Ravens do not have a specific coverage type. This season, they’ve run single-high coverage on 46.4% of their snaps, and two-high on 53.3% of their snaps. It’s been Cover-3, Cover-4, Cover-1, and Cover-6 in that order. You don’t know what you’re going to get from snap to snap, they do all of it well, and they’re very adept with coverage switches. 

The Ravens have made it very clear that the Stroud they’re dealing with now is a much more evolved than the Stroud that tried to navigate it all in his regular-season debut. The best way to counter that evolution is to make Stroud work through different coverage concepts. Mike Macdonald’s defense has no problem with that.

The Ravens know they’re dealing with a different C.J. Stroud this time around

On this deep incompletion against the Ravens in Week 1, Stroud had to manage a couple of things. First, Baltimore threw a six-man blitz at him with defensive back Kyle Hamilton off the edge, edge defender Odafe Oweh dropping into coverage, and linebacker Roquan Smith coming from the second level. And pre-snap, the Ravens showed a defined single-high look before moving to Cover-2. Brandon Stephens joined safety Marcus Williams as the second two-high defender. The combination of pressure and coverage must have made Stroud feel as if he had 13 or 14 defenders arrayed against him, and a near-interception was the result.

The 49ers, who play the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, are another amorphous coverage defense.They’ve played 50% single-high this season, and two-high 50% of the time. It’s Cover-3, Cover-4, Cover-1, and Cover-2 in that order. The 49ers flip to a bit more single-high on third down, but as is the case with the Ravens, they play what works for them and they don’t change a lot from a systemic point in a situational sense. 

Packers quarterback Jordan Love has been as good as anybody playing his position in the second half of the season, but even the best quarterbacks can be made uncomfortable when faced with the right concepts in concert. In Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams and Matthew Stafford, the 49ers got an interception by disguising their intentions. Stafford is a 15-year NFL veteran with as developed a sense of what defenses will do as any quarterback you’ll ever meet, but here, Steve Wilks’ defense won the day.

Stafford would have 2-Man coverage to deal with post-snap, but that wasn’t the look pre-snap. With a single-high safety, and linebacker Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw close to the line of scrimmage, Stafford probably thought he’d have something easy over the middle of the field. This was a four-man rush in which the 49ers plastered Stafford’s receivers all over the field, and cornerback Deommodore Lenoir jumped Stafford’s backside slant for the pick.

No matter the quarterback you’re facing, you have a better chance of beating him if your defense is creative enough to throw as many different looks at him as possible, with the discipline to have everyone together on their assignments. The Ravens and 49ers each have this on lock, and again, it’s probably not a coincidence that the two best overall teams in the Final Eight can say that about themselves.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into both defenses, and how they’re able to switch things up at such a high level.

You can watch this week’s episode of “The Xs and Os,” featuring all the most important matchups of the divisional round, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to “The Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Previewing the divisional round of the playoffs

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys preview all the big matchups in the NFL’s divisional round.

And then, there were eight! It’s time for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. and Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, are here to get you ready for the most interesting matchups that could decide who advances to the conference championships.

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens: The Week 1 game between these two teams doesn’t mean a lot, because the Ravens were dealing with C.J. Stroud in his rookie debut, and Stroud is an alien at this point. The Ravens are aware, and here’s how they can counter the Texans’ outstanding defense. Also, both of these teams have a ton of great, underrated talent on defense.

Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers: The Packers have seen desperately-needed defensive improvement over the last three weeks, but is that enough to stop Kyle Shanahan’s offense? And how will Jordan Love do against a San Francisco defense that doesn’t really have one type of staple coverage?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions: When these teams played in Week 6, Baker Mayfield had his worst game of the season. But this is a different Buccaneers team than it was then, and there are ways for Mayfield to engineer a different result. The problem for the Bucs is that Jared Goff has proven that he’s ready for whatever Todd Bowles throws at him.

Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills: The Bills have far too many injuries on defense, and Patrick Mahomes is finding winning concepts with at least one receiver, so this will have to be a Josh Allen game if the Bills are to advance.

You can watch this week’s episode of “The Xs and Os,” featuring all the most important matchups of the divisional round, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to “The Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Previewing Super Wild-Card Weekend

In this week’s “Xs and Os,” Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar preview Super Wild-Card Weekend with tape study and advanced metrics.

It’s time for Super Wild-Card Weekend! Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, are here to get you ready for the most interesting matchups that could decide who advances to the divisional round.

Browns at Texans: Will the Browns defense under Jim Schwartz have answers for C.J. Stroud’s excellence against single-high coverage? Nobody plays more of it than Schwartz’s guys.

Dolphins at Chiefs: It’ll be very cold at Arrowhead Stadium, which puts the focus on the run game. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel has all kinds of wrinkles in his rushing attack, and we discuss a new one with rookie De’Von Achane.

Steelers at Bills: Can the Steelers counter the Bills’ improving defense with shot plays from Mason Rudolph? And what does T.J. Watt’s injury mean for Josh Allen?

Packers at Cowboys: Everyone’s talking about Jordan Love and Dak Prescott here, but watch out for Green Bay’s run game with Aaron Jones as the lead dog.

Rams at Lions: Similarly, while everyone’s talking about the Matthew Stafford-Jared Goff “Revenge Game,” don’t sleep on these two great rushing attacks. Kyren Williams has changed Sean McVay’s run schemes to great effect.

Eagles at Buccaneers: Bucs head coach Todd Bowles is the Greg Maddux of blitzers — he’ll throw everything at you with a little spin at the end. How will Jalen Hurts react, when he’s struggled against pressure most of this season? Also, Baker Mayfield and his receivers could feast on Philly’s misbegotten pass defense.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into all of it.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os,” previewing every game in the wild-card slate, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

WIth De’von Achane, Dolphins’ motion and misdirection could be trouble for Chiefs’ defense

The Dolphins are a much better offense when running back De’von Achane is on the field, and the Chiefs are about to find that out.

If there’s one thing you know about the Miami Dolphins’ run game, it’s that it’s packed with pre-snap motion. If there’s another thing you know about the Miami Dolphins’ run game, it’s that you’re going to see a ton of misdirection to put defenses on their heels, creating more explosive opportunities.

It’s important to remember that head coach Mike McDaniel was Kyle Shanahan’s run game coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers from 2017 through 2020 before becoming San Francisco’s offensive coordinator in 2021, and then getting the Dolphins job in 2022. So, there are a lot of similar concepts, and a lot of what the Dolphins run in their ground game could be said to be Shanahan’s stuff sped up about 20% because the Dolphins have such dynamic athletes on the field.

One of those dynamic athletes this season is rookie running back De’von Achane, the Olympic-level track star and Texas A&M alum who Miami took with the 85th pick in the third round of the 2023 draft. Achane ran a 4.32-40-yard dash at his scouting combine, and all of that speed has shown up on the field. This season, Achane has gained 804 yards and scored eight rushing touchdowns on just 102 carries, which gives him an insane 7.9 yards per carry average. Achane has 13 carries of 15 or more yards on the season, meaning that he’s good for a potential house call on more than one of every 10 carries.

Beyond the straight-line speed, Achane is also a real problem for defenses aligned in McDaniel’s motion and misdirection concepts. This was really true in Miami’s 21-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the 2023 regular-season finale. Achane had 10 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown in the game, and all three of his explosive plays came from a similar — and highly original — run scheme.

Each of these runs also featured pre-snap motion (of course), but the real tricky part was having Tua Tagovailoa taking the snap in the Pistol formation, and Achane right behind him. Advocates of the Pistol in the run game will tell you that putting smaller backs right behind the quarterback (Achane is 5-foot-8 and 188 pounds) makes it hard for a defense to get a clean run fit right off the snap, because the back is hard to see.

Now, we get into the misdirection fakes on each of those three plays. As seen below, Tagovailoa faked a handoff to his left to… well, nobody. The idea here was to get the same player on all three plays — Bills linebacker Tyrel Dodson — and it worked on runs of 11, 16, and 25 yards.

Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will have to deal with all this stuff when Kansas City and Miami face off Saturday in the wild-card round of the playoffs. The Dolphins and Chiefs played each other in Week 9 over in Germany. Achane didn’t play in that game — he had a knee injury that put him on short-term injured reserve — but Spags is well aware that he’s scheming it up against a different offense now. He was asked Wednesday whether there’s an advantage to facing a team for the second time in a season.

“There may be some truth to that because we all say in this league it’s hard to beat a team twice, right? I think it helps the players in that they know the person that they line up directly against, but to both sides, there’s no advantage there either way. I’m sure they’ll change some things. We’ll have a couple of new wrinkles. It’ll be a whole different game, and it’ll be in a different country [laughter]. It’ll be a different game.”

It’ll also be below zero from a wind chill perspective in Kansas City for the game, which could have both teams leaning more on the run game.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into all the parts of Miami’s run game that could have them advancing to the divisional round. You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os,” previewing every game in the wild-card slate, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.