Film Room: Antonio Brown vs Bashaud Breeland and Josh Norman

[thehbrwhammer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaJcQoJE0YA

In my latest video breakdown, I (painfully) wanted to look at how Antonio Brown beat Bashaud Breeland in the Monday Night Football match-up. Redskins play defensive "sides" which caused the one-on-one matchup between these two. Since the Redskins run defense is god awful, they couldn't dedicate another player to help bracket which exposed them for big gains especially on fade routes. This video also looks at Josh Norman as well!

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[Dissident2]

Interesting breakdown. That fourth and 1 play is most amazing when you see how wide open the back was and that Burger didn't take such an easy option. That might have also been a TD with a few choice cuts. That was horrible defense. Breeland was probably playing his position there better than most that time. Also in full agreement that he should've had the sense just to swat the ball away instead of going for the pick. 

Joe Barry has really lost much of the shaky confidence I had in him going into the year, and Gruden's explanations for the defense they chose to run all night with zero apparent adjustments is very, very concerning. 

I need to see a big turnaround this Sunday. I realize they don't have the personnel to be dominant on defense as a whole, but man, at LEAST play smart. 

[Koolblue13]

Thank you for doing some of the absolute best things here on ES.

I made a point in a thread, that Bash actually did a pretty great job against possibly the best WR in the league. The stats don't show it, but he did. 

[skinny21]

Haven't had a chance to check out the breakdown, but one thing I noticed is that Brown got away with a couple push-offs.  Nothing egregious, but they certainly gained him that extra space.  Hard to be mad at Breeland for that IMO.  

 

Since his rookie year, I've been impressed with how close Breeland has been in his coverage - almost always within inches of batting down balls (vs talented receivers too).  I felt the extra time in the weight and film rooms would further diminish that small window.  Didn't pan out vs Brown (the 2-3 "pushes" didn't help), but he's getting there.  Still think he's a good corner primed to being one of the better ones, League-wide.  

[BleedBNG]

Good breakdown, and what ticked me off most about Brown's 4th down TD. I could see in the replays that BB had a chance to knock the ball down, and why he didn't (even if he whiffed it) is beyond me. If he caught the ball for an INT, the 35 is still better than the 20 or anything less. 

[Skinz4Life12]

54 minutes ago, skinny21 said:

Still think he's a good corner primed to being one of the better ones, League-wide.  

 

Pass that blunt over here when you are done with it

[Skinsfan1311]

11 minutes ago, Skinz4Life12 said:

 

Pass that blunt over here when you are done with it

Really?     

Thanks for the insightful post.  

[Skinz4Life12]

11 minutes ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

Really?     

Thanks for the insightful post.  

no problem

[GoDeep81]

Nice video! Not know much about "schemes" it seems to me the thing about playing "sides" is you're very vulnerable, unless you have 2 good corners.. At the moment it seems like a big ol' 14 million dollar waste.. But I still believe in Bree.. Hopefully he takes that schooling to heart and comes back with a vengeance!!

[skinny21]

40 minutes ago, Skinz4Life12 said:

 

Pass that blunt over here when you are done with it

Good one.  Out of curiosity, is your opinion more based off this game or his career?

 

[Skinz4Life12]

6 minutes ago, skinny21 said:

Good one.  Out of curiosity, is your opinion more based off this game or his career?

 

 

his career. i've always been lukewarm on breeland. he's shown flashes but is far from consistent. i don't think he'll ever be one of the best in the league but would love to eat crow on that.

[skinny21]

3 minutes ago, Skinz4Life12 said:

 

his career. i've always been lukewarm on breeland. he's shown flashes but is far from consistent. i don't think he'll ever be one of the best in the league but would love to eat crow on that.

My reasoning goes like this... he's displayed solid instincts and ball skills, has very much been a plus contributor in the run game, has solid measurables, is dedicated to his craft (in the film room, for one example) and has been consistently close in coverage.  I don't see any glaring weakness to his game.

 

The lapses I've seen from him have stemmed from either miscommunication, or lack of understanding in the system.  We've all seen those plays where Breeland (in zone coverage) either passes off his man to a teammate that isn't there, or the reverse.  He also struggled with getting a bit too "handsy" with receivers, resulting in penalties.  Both of those issues can be readily resolved with time - in fact he may have already made strides in those areas, we'll have to see.

The last issue I've seen is one I mentioned in my previous post - he's often an inch or 3 from making a play on a ball, only to have the receiver make the catch.  His matchups last year vs OBJ showcased that problem.  The thing is, for a young corner to be that close (against some of the better receivers and qbs) is a good sign.  

So again, I think it's all there, he just needs to stay on track.  

 

Just my my opinion of course.  

[HtownRocks111]

Im not sure about all these other terrific CBs in the league... I've never seen a run defense as bad as I saw Monday night.  You can't ask ANY CB in the NFL even Josh Normon, Peterson, Sherman, Revis, Marcus Peters or whoever to keep up with AB when Big Ben has 6+ seconds to throw him the ball.  The fact Breeland was under that kind of pressure all night and managed to get an INT was impressive in itself.  Gruden knows what he has in Breeland thats why he didn't panic or hesitate to leave Breeland on AB.  The fact we couldn't stop the run or get to big Ben made it an extra long night for our DBs

[Bonez3]

Breeland is undoubtedly one of the best cover corners in the league. That game he really was beat badly on 1 play, the second TD. 

The hitch was a little interference, but still a great route. And the 1st TD was blanket coverage with offensive PI.

I'm all in for the Breeland bandwagon

[illone]

After the first two games, I wonder if many fans would trade Breeland for Revis, who is widely respected around the league, but got beat like a drum by AJ Green in week 1, and roasted again last night by one of the Bills younger players...

[TheGreek1973]

Two things come to mind watching this.  First we crapped on Haslet so much but man he never had corners like Barry has now and we were never as bad in run D as we looked on Monday night.  I have a bad feeling this guy is a horrid defensive coach.  If Zeke and Morris run all over us IMO he needs to be fired right away.  Simple as that.

[NeverSurrender]

Brown is a really good reciever but I I saw a lot of push-offs from him that were not called.  Any time a reviever extends his arm on a defensive player it is supposed to be OPI, (Am I right on this?).  We were at home and the Steelers did'nt have a penalty until the second half.  We need to stop the run yes but Breelands coverage was about as good as it gets and he had an interception.  I think we will be fine if we can figure out how to stop the run. 

[illone]

18 minutes ago, NeverSurrender said:

Brown is a really good reciever but I I saw a lot of push-offs from him that were not called.  Any time a reviever extends his arm on a defensive player it is supposed to be OPI, (Am I right on this?).  We were at home and the Steelers did'nt have a penalty until the second half.  We need to stop the run yes but Breelands coverage was about as good as it gets and he had an interception.  I think we will be fine if we can figure out how to stop the run. 

 

My theory on this is that a lot of refs are being told to NOT call unless it IS blatant.  So all that subtle hand grabbing and shoving that DBs and Receivers do is supposed to be ignored to keep the league exciting and high scoring.

Looking at the play you mentioned again, I agree with the video.  He should have knocked it down, it was 4th down afterall.  There is no advantage to INT there.

[HTTRDynasty]

21 minutes ago, illone said:

 

My theory on this is that a lot of refs are being told to NOT call unless it IS blatant.  So all that subtle hand grabbing and shoving that DBs and Receivers do is supposed to be ignored to keep the league exciting and high scoring.

Looking at the play you mentioned again, I agree with the video.  He should have knocked it down, it was 4th down afterall.  There is no advantage to INT there.

 

Except a boost to his stats when contract discussions come around...  Which I really hope isn't the reason he went for the INT.

[Travdaskin]

44 minutes ago, NeverSurrender said:

Brown is a really good reciever but I I saw a lot of push-offs from him that were not called.  Any time a reviever extends his arm on a defensive player it is supposed to be OPI, (Am I right on this?).  We were at home and the Steelers did'nt have a penalty until the second half.  We need to stop the run yes but Breelands coverage was about as good as it gets and he had an interception.  I think we will be fine if we can figure out how to stop the run. 

I noticed that too but realized they'll never call it so why bother. One of my biggest gripes with the NFL is the fact that receivers get away with so many push-offs. It is supposed to balanced. Being a CB is already difficult as all hell. You could at least call the contact evenly. A WR literally has to knock a defender down to get a flag thrown on them (and even then it still may not be called). All a CB has to do is merely touch a WR for too long and they are penalized. It isn't fair to the sport. 

[Koolblue13]

That was a push off.

That was a fumble.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

2 hours ago, TheGreek1973 said:

Two things come to mind watching this.  First we crapped on Haslet so much but man he never had corners like Barry has now and we were never as bad in run D as we looked on Monday night.  I have a bad feeling this guy is a horrid defensive coach.  If Zeke and Morris run all over us IMO he needs to be fired right away.  Simple as that.

You can't possibly believe that part in bold is true lol...

 

[illone]

25 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

That was a push off.

That was a fumble.

 

Agree 110%.  He caught the ball and was turning when the ball came out.  That, by definition, is a football move.  The pushoff I can forgive because that never gets called, but the fumble was blown call.