(14:41) 1st & 10: Blount lines up singleback, Freeman under center. OL + TE (Winslow), right and H-back (Stocker), right. Play is a dropback pass off of play-action. Blount fakes receiving the handoff, which freezes some of the LBs momentarily, then runs up through the the weakside (left) A-gap and runs into the left flat to present a checkdown option. Freeman throws the ball out of bounds downfield (Winslow was in the area of the ball). Blount was open for the first half of his route, and while a linebacker came down to cover him, Blount could have been in position to catch a dumpoff pass.
What could Blount have done better?
Nothing, he did nothing wrong - if Freeman had thrown the checkdown there would have at least been a few yards gained on the play. Freeman didn't really have time to progress through the reads, however, as protection broke down thanks to bad pass protection by Penn on Connor Barwin.
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(14:33) 2nd & 10: Blount lines up singleback, Freeman under center. OL + TE (Winslow), right and H-back (Stocker), right. Pre-snap, Stocker motions across the formation and sets up H-back, left. Play is a simple zone run to the strongside (right). Blount takes the handoff and runs to the strongside (right) of the line. Winslow blocks the SLB and Trueblood blocks the strongside DE, but they don't actually push their respective defenders back at all (the DE actually gets off of Trueblood's block pretty easily). Blount therefore cuts back to the left of the line, where there are pretty much no Houston defenders coming free. As he runs back towards the weakside of the line, Stocker 'pops' the WLB (Barwin), and while he doesn't lock him up, the pop is enough to slow the LB down, allowing Blount to cut downfield through the weakside C-gap (i.e. between Penn & Stocker). Penn has done an admirable job of sealing in the weakside DE, sealing one edge of a running lane, while Zuttah has actually moved outside of Penn and seals the the weakside ILB, sealing the other edge of a running lane. Blount hits this hole, but as he passes those two blockers, the strongside ILB, who was unblocked - he should have been the responsibility of either Faine or Joseph, who were doubleteaming the NT, so one of them should have peeled off to pick up the LB - tackles Blount. Blount spins round to maintain balance, breaking the tackle, but as he's unsteady, one of the safeties and a corner (who had been completely dominated by Benn's block, pushing him right out of shot, so I can't see how on earth the CB got off of the receiver's block) close in on Blount to bring him down for a gain of 8.
What could Blount have done better?
Nothing, great play by Blount, showing a great amount of what is termed on Madden "ball carrier vision", seeing the cut-back lane, and then spotting the running lane sealed off by Penn & Zuttah. Neither Faine nor Joseph made any movement to picking up that unblocked strongside ILB, and by failing to execute that assignment, the play only went for eight yards - had one of those two done their job, we'd had been looking at a first down.
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What could Blount have done better?
Nothing - he was completely open on his route, Freeman even looked to him but Joseph & Trueblood were in the passing lane thanks to washing their defenders upfield. Absolutely no complaints about Blount on this play.
(13:12) 1st & 10: Blount lines up singleback, Freeman under center. OL + TE (Winslow), left and H-back (Stocker), left. Play is a dropback pass. At the snap, Blount runs immediately to the weakside (right) of the line, where the WLB is coming unblocked. Blount runs towards him, not at full speed (WHICH IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO, as I'll explain below) and, unlike on many previous occasions, does NOT go to cut-block him but rather stays on his feet and puts his hands to the LBs' chest, forcing him to slow down and allowing Freeman to get the pass off, which bounces incomplete off of Williams' hands.
What could Blount have done better?
Nothing, he executed the pass protection perfectly. Why, I hear you ask, was it correct for him to not run full pelt at the LB? Simple: had he done so, he would have over committed himself to aiming for one particular spot - which would have made it incredibly easy for the LB to evade the on-coming Blount and then have a free shot at Freeman. Instead, Blount, while running towards the LB, was not doing it as such a speed that it would have taken him too long to re-adjust to the LB, and as such, was in perfect position to pick up the blitz, and successfully defending the WLB long enough for Freeman to get the pass off.
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(13:06) Terrible, terrible camerawork by CBS, but the formation appears to be Blount at tailback, Lorig at FB offset strongside (right), Freeman under center. OL + TE (Stocker), right. Play appears to be a zone-run to the right (again, the camerawork is terrible, they don't show the wide angle of the play until Blount's already at the LOS, and don't even have the courtesy to show a replay). When the camera shows the wide angle, Blount has the ball and has followed Lorig around the strongside (right) of the line. Lorig has locked up a defender, setting one edge of the running lane, and with Stocker appearing to seal in his defender, Blount cuts downfield up this running lane. He emerges on the other side of the LOS, but the weakside ILB has gotten off of a block by Zuttah, and as Blount runs past him, he wraps up Blount from behind, jumping up on his back and forcing him downwards as two DBs slam into him. Gain of 5.
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What could Blount have done better?
Hard to say exactly because there is so much of the play that is missed because of the camerawork, but from what we can see, Blount does display his usual discipline in reading his lead blocker (Lorig) and cutting inside him accordingly. If Zuttah had maintained the block on the ILB, the play could have gotten several yards more.
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Lumpkin subbed in for Blount on third down.
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(4:29) 1st & 10: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under center. OL + H-back (Winslow), right. Pre-snap, Winslow motions infield then back out, setting back up at H-back, right. Play is a power-run the weakside with Lorig as a lead blocker. At the snap, Lorig runs up the weakside A-gap, meeting the weakside ILB in the hole, standing him up and stopping him in his tracks. Blount initially looks to the weakside to find an open hole, but Zuttah failed to sustain a block on the weakside DE, who as a result has crashed into the backfield. Blount sees this and it forces him to bounce to the right, where Winslow is doing a good job of blocking the SLB, Trueblood has (albeit weakly) tied up the strongside DE, Joseph is blocking the NT, and Faine, who was doubleteaming with Joseph, has peeled off and goes to try blocking the strongside ILB. Blount, having bounced to the right, cuts downfield and heads up between Trueblood & Joseph. However, as he runs past, the weakside ILB has worked himself off of Lorig's block, and he gets a hand to the ball, causing Blount to slow down in order to secure the ball. He is then hit up high by the strongside ILB, who Faine failed to block, with the strongside DE, getting away from Trueblood, having been in position to likewise hit Blount before his own SLB appears to trip him up. Gain of 4.
What could Blount have done better?
Nothing really. Unfortunately, he had to bounce to the right... you see, this is the kind of play were people who obviously do not understand the game of football would accuse Blount of "dancing" instead of hitting the hole. Anyone who tries to break down run plays without paying attention to the action of every single blocker automatically invalidates everything they ever say about football. What one might perceive as Blount "dancing", I see Blount recognising that not one, but two of the three blockers in front of him - Zuttah and Penn - have both failed to block their defenders, the WLB and the weakside DE. If Zuttah in particular had done his job, he would have sealed a running lane (with the other edge being set by Lorig) that would have allowed a much bigger gain for Blount. Even with Zuttah failing, if Penn had been able to offer any kind of resistance to Barwin, then Blount could have bounced out between Zuttah & Penn and also gotten a huge gain. Still, Zuttah takes the majority of the blame, as it was his failure that meant the intended play gap was shut down, not Penn's. So, whereas to the casual fan it might look like Blount was dancing, when you pay attention, it's clear Blount had to try and find new play hole, thanks to Zuttah & Penn failing to block their assigned defenders, and had Blount not "danced", this play would probably have been a loss of two instead of a gain of four.
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Lumpkin in for Blount on second down. Remains in on third down.
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2nd Quarter
(15:00) 1st & 10: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under center. OL + TE (Winslow), right. Play is a zone-run to the weakside (left). At the snap, Trueblood attempts to cutblock the strongside DE, but the DE lowers his shoulders into Trueblood, meaning Trueblood just rolls off of him rather than taking his legs out from underneath him. On the other side of the field, Penn completely whiffs on the WLB, so Lorig, lead blocking, has to block the WLB about two yards behind the LOS, just as Blount receives the handoff. With Lorig blocking his running lane, Blount slows down as he changes direction to bounce outside of Lorig. The strongside DE is right behind him, and wraps up Blount's legs, going in to the back of his knees which forces him to the ground. Loss of four.
What could Blount have done better?
On this play? Absolutely nothing. This play failed horribly, but that failure falls entirely on the shoulder of the two tackles. Trueblood, who, looking at the season as a whole, has been unquestionably the Bucs' best run blocker, gives a masterclass into why I don't like cut-blocking - if you miss, you both take yourself out the play, and give the defender a free shot. That's exactly what happened here. On the other end of the line, Penn again shows why he consistently fails to have the level of production that his potential suggests he could do. Directly put, he's way too fat, and he was simply too slow and lumbering to be able to get to he WLB in time, forcing Lorig to block him deep in the backfield and therefore stalling him right in the middle of Blount's running lane. Even if Trueblood hadn't failed spectacularly in his cut-block attempt, Penn's whiff would have meant that Blount would have only been able to get a marginal gain at best. On the other hand, if Penn had done his job, Lorig would not have to have blocked the WLB in the backfield, meaning Blount would never had to slow down, and even if the DE had been able to track Blount down from behind, it would likely not have been for a loss of four. So, the play would never have been more than a marginal gain at best because of Penn - but the reason that it failed so badly (i.e. losing four yards on the play) was down to Trueblood - even if Penn had done his job, Blount would probably have only managed to get back to the LOS before he was tackled by the DE. All in all, take a bow, tackles. This one's on you.
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(14:24) 2nd & 14: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under center. OL + TE (Stocker), right. Play is a dropback pass with what looks like an aborted play-action. At the snap, Freeman looks back as if he's going to hand off to Blount, and Blount opens his arms as if to fake receiving the handoff, but before Blount gets to him, Freeman pulls the ball back in without faking the handoff and looks downfield. After opening his arms to fake receiving the ball, Blount stops for a few beats,looks up the strongside (right) C-gap, and seeing no-one coming, starts to run a route. Freeman throws the ball deep to Benn for a gain of 33 yards.
What could Blount have done better?
Nothing really, he appears to wait to check for a delayed blitz before starting on his route - though as the ball was gone before the route really developed, there is no way of knowing whether he would have been open to receive a checkdown or not on the play.
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(13:56) 1st & 10: Blount lines up singleback, Freeman under center. OL + TE (Stocker), right and H-back (Winslow), left. Pre-snap, Winslow motions across formation and sets up H-back, right, between Trueblood & Stocker. Play is a zone-run to the strongside (right). Blount takes the handoff and runs to the right. It appears as if he is initially heading towards the gap that has opened up between Faine & Trueblood (with Joseph having released into the second level to try and pick up the strongside ILB, which he fails to do). However, as he approaches the hole, he cuts downfield earlier, outside of Faine - and into the open arms of the strongside ILB, who Joseph completely failed to block. This slows him down instantly, and the WLB (who was left unblocked, but schematically [according to basic zone-blocking rules] as opposed to a Buc failing to block him) joins in on the tackle. The weakside DE, who Penn attempted to cut-block but failed completely to do so, adds to the gangtackle from behind, and the weakside ILB, who Zuttah had been blocking, spins out of Zuttah's block and needlessly piles on. Gain of 2.
What could Blount have done better?
Firstly, the blocking was pretty shoddy throughout - the only blockers I'd say did a good job were Trueblood, Stocker (even though his block was only brief, but set it up for Winslow) and Winslow (yes, Winslow), and I would give a "serviceable" grade to Faine. Everyone else, the blocking was shoddy, which doomed Blount once he cut inside. Now, all that said... for the life of my, I have absolutely no idea what the hell Blount was doing cutting downfield outside of Faine, rather than hitting that running lane between Faine & Trueblood. At first, I thought that it looked like the NT was slipping away from Faine into the playgap, but on further review, that wasn't the case at all - Blount had already set his feet to cut up outside of Faine before the NT appeared to slip away (though Faine did maintain the block through the end of the play, recovering the block after the 'slipping'). Yes, it was a bit of a narrow running lane, but Blount should have gotten through it fine, and would have certainly had a bigger gain had he done so. So, as bad as the blocking was, this play is all on Blount, and his unfathomable decision to cut downfield when he did.
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(13:13) 2nd & 8: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under center. OL + H-back (Stocker), left. Pre-snap, Lorig motions across formation and sets up H-back, right. Penalty flags. False start by Zuttah.
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(13:13) 2nd & 13: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under center. OL + TE (Winslow), right. Bucs call timeout.
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Lumpkin subbed in for Blount on second down. Remains in on third down.
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For some reason, gamepass doesn't show the Bucs' next possession, which was a 3-and-out. No idea why, but there you go.
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(5:40) 1st & 10: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB offset to what ends up the weakside (left), Freeman under center. OL + H-back (Winslow), left. Pre-snap, Winslow motions across the middle of the field and sets up H-back, right. Play is a drop-back pass. At the snap, Blount goes to protect the strongside C-gap (i.e. outside Trueblood). The strongside DE (Watt) spins out of Trueblood's block and comes free. As he does so, Blount goes to him and pushes him away from Freeman as Trueblood runs back. Freeman, however, has scrambled, and as Blount only pushes Watt away rather than locking him up, Watt goes to chase down Freeman, and Trueblood has over-committed, making it easy for Watt to evade him and chase after Freeman. Freeman, flushed out the pocket, throws across his body to Williams, who turns the shortish pass into a first down. Penalty flags. Holding penalty by Joseph.
What could Blount have done better?
Again, as I've often harped on, this shows that Blount does need to improve his technique in pass protection. Still, Blount showed once again that he knows the protection schemes perfectly (I really have no idea why people believe that he is "clueless" in pass protection. Yes, that was true in 2010. It was absolutely and completely untrue in 2011, and I have no idea where this BS accusation comes from). Further, Watt shouldn't have even needed to be his responsibility - it was Trueblood's; if anything, Blount did a good job of adjusting to Watt spinning out of Trueblood's block and getting into position to stop Watt having a clear shot at Freeman. Ultimately, even if Blount had executed perfect pass-protection technique, on this particular pay it wouldn't have effected the outcome - and the whole play was made moot anyway but Joseph's holding.
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(5:14) 1st & 20: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB offset strongside (left), Freeman under center. OL + TE (Winslow), left. Pre-snap, Benn motions across formation and sets up H-back, right, between Joseph & Trueblood. Play is a rollout pass off of play-action. Blount runs forward to fake receiving the handoff. The weakside DE has worked across the formation against Trueblood to get to him; Blount then puts his hands against the DE as a brief block, though the DE spins out of the block and back towards Freeman, though Freeman has already thrown the ball, complete to Winslow.
What could Blount have done better?
Well, he sold the handoff well enough that the weakside DE worked right past Freeman to get to Blount, so that was good. However, Blount didn't really give much effort in the blocking, which is not good enough at all. Bad effort by Blount after the handoff.
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(4:35) 2nd & 6: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB, Freemand under center. OL + TE (Stocker), right. Play is a zone-stretch run to the weakside (left). Lorig runs up the weakside A-gap as Blount receives the handoff. Blount goes to follow his lead blocker, but by the time he gets there, the Texans NT has slipped enough out of Faine's block to complete stuff the hole. With the play hole stuffed, he pulls up short, behind the LOS, as the strongside DE has come completely free inside of Trueblood, and goes to tackle Blount where he's pulled up. Blount spins outside of the DE and Trueblood but a the DE grabs a hold of the back of Blount's pants, and doesn't leg go. A safety has read the play well, and comes down and tackles Blount in the backfield, though Blount remains upright. The strongside DE spins out of Zuttah's block and wraps Blount up high and he is dragged down for a loss of 2.
What could Blount have done better?
The breakdown of the play is the O-line's fault - Faine and Trueblood, who is usually the most solid run blocker on the team, being particularly at fault. Now, in terms of the improvisation once the play had broken down, I believe Blount could have done better. Specifically, I think he should have continued running to the weakside and tried to squeeze through the tiny running lane between Zuttah and Lorig (who had gone up through the A-gap). Of course, whether or not that would have worked would have been entirely dependent on Blount being out of the NT's reach, and it's impossible to tell whether or not the NT would have been able to grab him - if he had, then the play wouldn't have done much better. Still, I believe Blount should have gone for it, and I think even if the NT had been able to tackle him, he would have gotten back to the LOS instead of two-yards behind. Ultimately, though, if Faine was able to block that NT then the last bit of criticism would have been moot - Blount would have been free to hit the play hole and gotten positive yards, rather than having to make a snap decision - albeit the incorrect one, in my opinion - about how to salvage a broken play.
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Blount subbed in for Lumpkin on third down. Subbed back in on first down.
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(3:14) 1st & 10: Blount tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under center. OL + TE (Stocker), right. Play is a dropback pass off of play-action. Blount fakes receiving the handoff, running to the right and then turning downfield between Trueblood & Joseph, the latter of whom is doubleteaming the NT with Faine. Blount appears to pause at the LOS for some reason, then begins to jog towards the right flat, turning round to face Freeman, presumably to present a check-down option. Freeman is flushed out the pocket by the strongside DE, who spins out of Stocker's block, and scrambles down the left sideline for a first down, while Blount jogs parallel with him but not in much of a position to do anything.
What could Blount have done better?
Blount shows some real lethargy on this play, something I have not really seen from him in 2011, at least not to this extent. The play-action was fine, but I cannot understand why he just stopped and waited at the LOS for a moment (unless it was to check for a delayed blitz, I suppose, but as he is so lethargic I will not give him the benefit of the doubt on this play), and why he just jogged to the right flat rather than ran towards it. I do want to stress that every single player in the league will loaf on at least one or two plays a game, but that doesn't make it any more excusable. Poor, poor form by Blount, very unlike his usual play IMO.
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(2:28) 1st & 10: Blount singleback, Freeman under center. OL + TE (Winslow), right and H-back (Stocker), right. Play is a dropback pass. Blount runs up the strongside (right) A-gap (though that's only because Faine has stepped far over to his left) and then breaks to the left flat. Freeman throws a quick pass to Williams down the left sideline for a first down.
What could Blount have done better?
Blount ended up not having much impact on the play at all, as there was no-play action, but this time he definitely gave effort in running his route, and if Freeman had decided to throw to him, he was beginning to break out of coverage so should have been open, so he did well on this play.
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Two-minute warning
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(2:00) Blount singleback, Freeman under C. OL + TE (Stocker), right + H-back (Winslow), right and H-back (Pianalto), right. Play is a drop-back pass. Blount runs up the weakside (left) B-gap and breaks to the left flat, as Freeman is flushed out the pocket by the weakside DE (who completely abuses Zuttah). Freeman scrambles to towards the left sideline, then pass to Blount. Blount bobbles the catch, and is dragged down by weakside ILB before he can reign in the ball, making the pass incomplete.
What could Blount have done better?
Well, first off, this was a bad play by Blount, who cannot bobble the ball like that if he wants to get more looks in the passing game. That said? Had Blount caught it, the ILB, who was completely unblocked, would have brought Blount down for a loss of three or maybe four. So, it actually would have hurt the team more had Blount done what he was meant to do... but as this study focuses on Blount's play, not on what's good for the team as a whole, you have to give Blount a negative grade for this play.
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Lumpkin subbed in for Blount on second down. Remains in for the rest of the series.
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(14:21) 2nd & 7: Blount tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under C. OL + TE (Stocker), left. Play is a power-lead dive up the weakside (right) A-gap. Lorig runs up the A-gap as Blount receives the handoff. The weakside DE is able to break out of Joseph's block and come around Joseph's outside, but Blount sees it and cuts (only slightly this time) back inside to evade him. Joseph, to his credit, comes back down and re-engages with the DE, preventing him from chasing Blount down from behind, and wrestles the DE to the ground. Blount, showing his good discipline, continues to run towards Lorig, and, reading his block on the weakside ILB (to the inside), Blount cuts outside of Lorig/WILB and runs downfield. The strongside ILB chases Blount down from behind and wraps him up around the shoulders, but Blount powers through him. A safety comes down and hit Blount up high, but Blount forces his way through past the first down line. The WILB has come free from Lorig, and joins the gang tackle to bring Blount down for a gain of four.
What could Blount have done better?
Nothing, it was a great play by Blount. He didn't cut as sharply as he did on the previous play, so he was in better position assess what was going on. He read his block correctly (as a rule, if your lead blocker blocks his man to the inside, you cut outside of them - if your lead blocker blocks his man to the outside, you cut up inside), and then used his strength to power through two defenders to get the first down. What more could you want?
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(13:40) 1st & 10: Blount tailback, Stocker FB offset strongside (left), Freeman under C. OL + TE (Winslow), left. Play is a roll-out pass off of play-action. The play is designed to look like a Power-O to the weakside (right), with Zuttah pulling across and Stocker following him as would-be lead blockers. Freeman fakes the handoff to Blount, who tries to doubleteam with Zuttah on the weakside DE, but every time Blount tries to engage the DE, Zuttah steps in front of him. It's quite comical, really. Winslow, however, failed to engage the SLB, who sacks Freeman for a loss of 10.
What could Blount have done better?
Aside from the fact that he never really got involved with the DE much due to Zuttah switching from left to right (you know when you bump into someone in the street, then both try to go past each other but in the same direction, so then you try going other direction? It was sorta like that), no real complaints about Blount. Winslow messed up bad, however.
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(13:08) 2nd & 20: Blount tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under C. OL + TE (Winslow), right. Play is a dropback pass off of play-action. Blount fakes receiving the handoff, then runs up field and breaks into the right flat. Blount is initially open had Freeman thrown a quick pass. The WLB comes down to cover Blount, but Blount manages to get behind him and starts breaking open again. Freeman, however, never looks to Blount, and is sacked.
What could Blount have done better?
Well, the play-action didn't suck in any defenders, but are you surprised? Play-action on 2nd & 20 - you really think any defenders will be thinking 'run' at that down & distance? That's Greg Olson play calling in a nutshell right there. That aside, he ran his route, got open, and when he got covered, worked his way open again. Nicely done.
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Lumpkin subbed in on third down.
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(7:25) 2nd & 10: Blount singleback, Freeman under C. OL + TE (Stocker), left and TE (Winslow), right. Play is a Power-O to the strongside (left) (left is strongside because both WRs are lined up there) with Joseph lead blocking on a pull. Blount receives the handoff, shading inside to avoid the strongside DE who Penn completely whiffed on, then follows Joseph to the left into an alley between Stocker, who has locked up the SLB, and Faine, who has a partial block on the weakside DE (with Trueblood doubling). Joseph runs up and blocks the strongside ILB to the outside. Blount cuts downfield inside of Joseph, and heads up to a small hole created by Zuttah blocking the NT, having driven the nose about six yards back. However, as Blount cuts inside Joseph, the weakside DE has worked off of Faine's and Trueblood's block and wraps up Blount from behind. Blount tries to power forwards, but the NT manages to push through Zuttah and into Blount, while the strongside ILB gets in position inside Joseph to join in. Meanwhile the strongside DE, whom Penn never really had any block on, runs up from behind and ploughs into the pile, pushing them fowrad bringing them all down for a gain of nine.
What could Blount have done better?
Nothing, a great gain on the play, he followed his blocker and read the blocks. Blount showed the upside that comes from his sheer power, remaining standing long after other RBs would have gone down, and without that power, it wouldn't have required the strongside DE to get involved, and without that DE's push, the gain might only have been six or so. Special mention goes to Zuttah, for driving the nose tackle so far back, and Stocker, who locked up his LB throughout the whole play (Stocker will be the subject of my next series of breakdowns).
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(6:47) 3rd & 1: Blount tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under C. OL + TE (Stocker), left and H-back (Winslow), right. Pre-snap, Winslow motions across formation and is at the H-back, right position when the ball is snapped. Play is a QB sneak. Blount runs up to the LOS but the play is over before Blount can get involved.
What could Blount have done better?
Irrelevant question.
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(6:07) 1st & 10: Blount singleback, Freeman under C. OL + TE (Winslow), left and TE (Stocker), right. Play is a rollout pass off of play-action. Freeman fakes the ball to Blount, who runs to the right, then cuts back inside and appears to be looking for a delayed blitz up the middle. Freeman is flushed out the pocket thanks to Trueblood & Stocker not sustaining their blocks, and he throws the ball away.
What could Blount have done better?
Blount sucked in one of the inside linebackers, so that was a small positive, and should have been in position to pick up a blitzing LB coming through the A-gaps, so a good play for Blount all in all, even though it was a bad play for the team as a whole.
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(5:59) 2nd & 10: Blount tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under C. OL + TE (Winslow), right. Play is a dropback pass. Blount positions himself in the middle to be in position to pick up a blitz. The strongside DE loops inside comes down the strongside A-gap. Blount goes up to meet him, hitting him up high on the chest, but the DE is too strong for Blount, bullrushes him into the backfield, then throws Blount away and sacks Freeman.
What could Blount have done better?
Well, those who say Blount can't pass protect are probably overjoyed with this play. There is no denying that Blount failed to pass protect and, for the first time all season, gave up a sack on Freeman. Well, every single lineman has been guilty of that this season, as has Lumpkin, and I imagine Graham too. It's going to happen from time to time. What's more important to take away from this is that, unlike all these allegations that Blount is "clueless" in the pass game, Blount was exactly where he was meant to be, and attempted to execute his assignment, he simply didn't match up with J.J. Watt on strength. Few running backs do. This does show that Blount's technique needs to improve, but there's no question that his knowledge of the blocking schemes is down pat.
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Lumpkin in for Blount on third down.
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(4:29) 1st & 10: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under center. OL + H-back (Winslow), right. Pre-snap, Winslow motions infield then back out, setting back up at H-back, right. Play is a power-run the weakside with Lorig as a lead blocker. At the snap, Lorig runs up the weakside A-gap, meeting the weakside ILB in the hole, standing him up and stopping him in his tracks. Blount initially looks to the weakside to find an open hole, but Zuttah failed to sustain a block on the weakside DE, who as a result has crashed into the backfield. Blount sees this and it forces him to bounce to the right, where Winslow is doing a good job of blocking the SLB, Trueblood has (albeit weakly) tied up the strongside DE, Joseph is blocking the NT, and Faine, who was doubleteaming with Joseph, has peeled off and goes to try blocking the strongside ILB. Blount, having bounced to the right, cuts downfield and heads up between Trueblood & Joseph. However, as he runs past, the weakside ILB has worked himself off of Lorig's block, and he gets a hand to the ball, causing Blount to slow down in order to secure the ball. He is then hit up high by the strongside ILB, who Faine failed to block, with the strongside DE, getting away from Trueblood, having been in position to likewise hit Blount before his own SLB appears to trip him up. Gain of 4.
What could Blount have done better?
Nothing really. Unfortunately, he had to bounce to the right... you see, this is the kind of play were people who obviously do not understand the game of football would accuse Blount of "dancing" instead of hitting the hole. Anyone who tries to break down run plays without paying attention to the action of every single blocker automatically invalidates everything they ever say about football. What one might perceive as Blount "dancing", I see Blount recognising that not one, but two of the three blockers in front of him - Zuttah and Penn - have both failed to block their defenders, the WLB and the weakside DE. If Zuttah in particular had done his job, he would have sealed a running lane (with the other edge being set by Lorig) that would have allowed a much bigger gain for Blount. Even with Zuttah failing, if Penn had been able to offer any kind of resistance to Barwin, then Blount could have bounced out between Zuttah & Penn and also gotten a huge gain. Still, Zuttah takes the majority of the blame, as it was his failure that meant the intended play gap was shut down, not Penn's. So, whereas to the casual fan it might look like Blount was dancing, when you pay attention, it's clear Blount had to try and find new play hole, thanks to Zuttah & Penn failing to block their assigned defenders, and had Blount not "danced", this play would probably have been a loss of two instead of a gain of four.
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2nd Quarter
(15:00) 1st & 10: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under center. OL + TE (Winslow), right. Play is a zone-run to the weakside (left). At the snap, Trueblood attempts to cutblock the strongside DE, but the DE lowers his shoulders into Trueblood, meaning Trueblood just rolls off of him rather than taking his legs out from underneath him. On the other side of the field, Penn completely whiffs on the WLB, so Lorig, lead blocking, has to block the WLB about two yards behind the LOS, just as Blount receives the handoff. With Lorig blocking his running lane, Blount slows down as he changes direction to bounce outside of Lorig. The strongside DE is right behind him, and wraps up Blount's legs, going in to the back of his knees which forces him to the ground. Loss of four.
What could Blount have done better?
On this play? Absolutely nothing. This play failed horribly, but that failure falls entirely on the shoulder of the two tackles. Trueblood, who, looking at the season as a whole, has been unquestionably the Bucs' best run blocker, gives a masterclass into why I don't like cut-blocking - if you miss, you both take yourself out the play, and give the defender a free shot. That's exactly what happened here. On the other end of the line, Penn again shows why he consistently fails to have the level of production that his potential suggests he could do. Directly put, he's way too fat, and he was simply too slow and lumbering to be able to get to he WLB in time, forcing Lorig to block him deep in the backfield and therefore stalling him right in the middle of Blount's running lane. Even if Trueblood hadn't failed spectacularly in his cut-block attempt, Penn's whiff would have meant that Blount would have only been able to get a marginal gain at best. On the other hand, if Penn had done his job, Lorig would not have to have blocked the WLB in the backfield, meaning Blount would never had to slow down, and even if the DE had been able to track Blount down from behind, it would likely not have been for a loss of four. So, the play would never have been more than a marginal gain at best because of Penn - but the reason that it failed so badly (i.e. losing four yards on the play) was down to Trueblood - even if Penn had done his job, Blount would probably have only managed to get back to the LOS before he was tackled by the DE. All in all, take a bow, tackles. This one's on you.
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What could Blount have done better?
Nothing really, he appears to wait to check for a delayed blitz before starting on his route - though as the ball was gone before the route really developed, there is no way of knowing whether he would have been open to receive a checkdown or not on the play.
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What could Blount have done better?
Firstly, the blocking was pretty shoddy throughout - the only blockers I'd say did a good job were Trueblood, Stocker (even though his block was only brief, but set it up for Winslow) and Winslow (yes, Winslow), and I would give a "serviceable" grade to Faine. Everyone else, the blocking was shoddy, which doomed Blount once he cut inside. Now, all that said... for the life of my, I have absolutely no idea what the hell Blount was doing cutting downfield outside of Faine, rather than hitting that running lane between Faine & Trueblood. At first, I thought that it looked like the NT was slipping away from Faine into the playgap, but on further review, that wasn't the case at all - Blount had already set his feet to cut up outside of Faine before the NT appeared to slip away (though Faine did maintain the block through the end of the play, recovering the block after the 'slipping'). Yes, it was a bit of a narrow running lane, but Blount should have gotten through it fine, and would have certainly had a bigger gain had he done so. So, as bad as the blocking was, this play is all on Blount, and his unfathomable decision to cut downfield when he did.
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(13:13) 2nd & 13: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under center. OL + TE (Winslow), right. Bucs call timeout.
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For some reason, gamepass doesn't show the Bucs' next possession, which was a 3-and-out. No idea why, but there you go.
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(5:40) 1st & 10: Blount lines up tailback, Lorig FB offset to what ends up the weakside (left), Freeman under center. OL + H-back (Winslow), left. Pre-snap, Winslow motions across the middle of the field and sets up H-back, right. Play is a drop-back pass. At the snap, Blount goes to protect the strongside C-gap (i.e. outside Trueblood). The strongside DE (Watt) spins out of Trueblood's block and comes free. As he does so, Blount goes to him and pushes him away from Freeman as Trueblood runs back. Freeman, however, has scrambled, and as Blount only pushes Watt away rather than locking him up, Watt goes to chase down Freeman, and Trueblood has over-committed, making it easy for Watt to evade him and chase after Freeman. Freeman, flushed out the pocket, throws across his body to Williams, who turns the shortish pass into a first down. Penalty flags. Holding penalty by Joseph.
What could Blount have done better?
Again, as I've often harped on, this shows that Blount does need to improve his technique in pass protection. Still, Blount showed once again that he knows the protection schemes perfectly (I really have no idea why people believe that he is "clueless" in pass protection. Yes, that was true in 2010. It was absolutely and completely untrue in 2011, and I have no idea where this BS accusation comes from). Further, Watt shouldn't have even needed to be his responsibility - it was Trueblood's; if anything, Blount did a good job of adjusting to Watt spinning out of Trueblood's block and getting into position to stop Watt having a clear shot at Freeman. Ultimately, even if Blount had executed perfect pass-protection technique, on this particular pay it wouldn't have effected the outcome - and the whole play was made moot anyway but Joseph's holding.
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What could Blount have done better?
Well, he sold the handoff well enough that the weakside DE worked right past Freeman to get to Blount, so that was good. However, Blount didn't really give much effort in the blocking, which is not good enough at all. Bad effort by Blount after the handoff.
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What could Blount have done better?
The breakdown of the play is the O-line's fault - Faine and Trueblood, who is usually the most solid run blocker on the team, being particularly at fault. Now, in terms of the improvisation once the play had broken down, I believe Blount could have done better. Specifically, I think he should have continued running to the weakside and tried to squeeze through the tiny running lane between Zuttah and Lorig (who had gone up through the A-gap). Of course, whether or not that would have worked would have been entirely dependent on Blount being out of the NT's reach, and it's impossible to tell whether or not the NT would have been able to grab him - if he had, then the play wouldn't have done much better. Still, I believe Blount should have gone for it, and I think even if the NT had been able to tackle him, he would have gotten back to the LOS instead of two-yards behind. Ultimately, though, if Faine was able to block that NT then the last bit of criticism would have been moot - Blount would have been free to hit the play hole and gotten positive yards, rather than having to make a snap decision - albeit the incorrect one, in my opinion - about how to salvage a broken play.
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What could Blount have done better?
Blount shows some real lethargy on this play, something I have not really seen from him in 2011, at least not to this extent. The play-action was fine, but I cannot understand why he just stopped and waited at the LOS for a moment (unless it was to check for a delayed blitz, I suppose, but as he is so lethargic I will not give him the benefit of the doubt on this play), and why he just jogged to the right flat rather than ran towards it. I do want to stress that every single player in the league will loaf on at least one or two plays a game, but that doesn't make it any more excusable. Poor, poor form by Blount, very unlike his usual play IMO.
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What could Blount have done better?
Blount ended up not having much impact on the play at all, as there was no-play action, but this time he definitely gave effort in running his route, and if Freeman had decided to throw to him, he was beginning to break out of coverage so should have been open, so he did well on this play.
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What could Blount have done better?
Well, first off, this was a bad play by Blount, who cannot bobble the ball like that if he wants to get more looks in the passing game. That said? Had Blount caught it, the ILB, who was completely unblocked, would have brought Blount down for a loss of three or maybe four. So, it actually would have hurt the team more had Blount done what he was meant to do... but as this study focuses on Blount's play, not on what's good for the team as a whole, you have to give Blount a negative grade for this play.
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Lumpkin in for Blount for the whole series
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3rd Quarter
(15:00) 1st & 10: Blount singleback, Freeman under C. OL + TE (Winslow), right and TE (Stocker), left. Play is a zone-stretch run to the weakside (right) (right is the weakside as both WRs are set up twins to the left). Blount receives the handoff and runs to the right. The weakside DE blows through Trueblood's outside, forcing Blount back inside. He cuts inside, but there is a large open hole to his right outside of Faine, so he cuts back outside through the hole. As he goes through the hole, the NT turns away from Faine and wraps up Blount as he runs past. A safety comes down hard and hits Blount, while the WLB disengages from Winslow and joins in the gangtackle. Gain of three.
What could Blount have done better?
Despite the decentish gain, and showing some good vision in seeing that huge hole, Blount could have done better by not cutting so sharply back inside when the weakside DE got into the backfield. If Blount had just cut back slightly, he would have seen the large hole earlier - and the NT wouldn't have worked so far across Faine, meaning Blount might have never been tackled by him. So, Blount got a good gain, but could - and should - have done better by not cutting so sharply.
What could Blount have done better?
Despite the decentish gain, and showing some good vision in seeing that huge hole, Blount could have done better by not cutting so sharply back inside when the weakside DE got into the backfield. If Blount had just cut back slightly, he would have seen the large hole earlier - and the NT wouldn't have worked so far across Faine, meaning Blount might have never been tackled by him. So, Blount got a good gain, but could - and should - have done better by not cutting so sharply.
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What could Blount have done better?
Nothing, it was a great play by Blount. He didn't cut as sharply as he did on the previous play, so he was in better position assess what was going on. He read his block correctly (as a rule, if your lead blocker blocks his man to the inside, you cut outside of them - if your lead blocker blocks his man to the outside, you cut up inside), and then used his strength to power through two defenders to get the first down. What more could you want?
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What could Blount have done better?
Aside from the fact that he never really got involved with the DE much due to Zuttah switching from left to right (you know when you bump into someone in the street, then both try to go past each other but in the same direction, so then you try going other direction? It was sorta like that), no real complaints about Blount. Winslow messed up bad, however.
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What could Blount have done better?
Well, the play-action didn't suck in any defenders, but are you surprised? Play-action on 2nd & 20 - you really think any defenders will be thinking 'run' at that down & distance? That's Greg Olson play calling in a nutshell right there. That aside, he ran his route, got open, and when he got covered, worked his way open again. Nicely done.
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(8:04) 1st & 10: Blount tailback, Lorig FB, Freeman under C. OL + H-back (Winslow), left. Benn tight to right. Pre-snap, Winslow motions across formation and sets up H-back, right, slotting in between the line and Benn. Play is a dropback pass. Blount runs up and fakes receiving a handoff, but Freeman never fakes to him. Blount runs to the right flat then turns around to look back to Freeman, about two yards behind the LOS. Freeman throws to him and he turns downfield, but the two ILBs are on him, and he just gets back to the LOS as he's brought down for no gain.
What could Blount have done better?
In the context of who Blount is, nothing much - Blount never had the instant burst it would have taken to evade those linebackers, and it would be unrealistic to expect him to be able to do so. As such, he did as well as he could have with the LBs flying to him.
What could Blount have done better?
In the context of who Blount is, nothing much - Blount never had the instant burst it would have taken to evade those linebackers, and it would be unrealistic to expect him to be able to do so. As such, he did as well as he could have with the LBs flying to him.
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What could Blount have done better?
Nothing, a great gain on the play, he followed his blocker and read the blocks. Blount showed the upside that comes from his sheer power, remaining standing long after other RBs would have gone down, and without that power, it wouldn't have required the strongside DE to get involved, and without that DE's push, the gain might only have been six or so. Special mention goes to Zuttah, for driving the nose tackle so far back, and Stocker, who locked up his LB throughout the whole play (Stocker will be the subject of my next series of breakdowns).
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What could Blount have done better?
Irrelevant question.
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What could Blount have done better?
Blount sucked in one of the inside linebackers, so that was a small positive, and should have been in position to pick up a blitzing LB coming through the A-gaps, so a good play for Blount all in all, even though it was a bad play for the team as a whole.
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What could Blount have done better?
Well, those who say Blount can't pass protect are probably overjoyed with this play. There is no denying that Blount failed to pass protect and, for the first time all season, gave up a sack on Freeman. Well, every single lineman has been guilty of that this season, as has Lumpkin, and I imagine Graham too. It's going to happen from time to time. What's more important to take away from this is that, unlike all these allegations that Blount is "clueless" in the pass game, Blount was exactly where he was meant to be, and attempted to execute his assignment, he simply didn't match up with J.J. Watt on strength. Few running backs do. This does show that Blount's technique needs to improve, but there's no question that his knowledge of the blocking schemes is down pat.
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Lumpkin remains in for Blount. Freeman throws an interception on first down.
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Blount remains on the sideline for the rest of the game, probably, knowing Raheem Morris, in order to "discipline" him for failing to stop a 3-4 defensive end in pass-protection, despite being in perfect position to do so. Great leadership from Raheem - in case anyone wonders why the team quit on him, I think it's things like benching Blount for simply being on the losing end of a strength-on-strength matchup, or sending Brian Price home during another game (can't remember which off the top of my head), that show exactly why he lost the locker room, IMO.
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