Miami Dolphins vs. Cincinnati Bengals
• MIAMI RUN DEFENSE
o 56.8 YARDS PER GAME ALLOWED – #1 IN NFL
• CIN. OFFENSE NOT DOMINATING ON GROUND
o CIN. EVOLVING TO BE ONE-DIMENSIONAL
o MIA. EXPECTING TO PLAY COVERAGE/ATTACK PASSER
• CIN. AJ GREEN v MIA. SEAN SMITH
o MIA. DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR KEVIN COYLE FORMER CINCY DEFENSIVE BACK COACH

Green Bay Packers vs. Indianapolis Colts
• GB HAS RARE ABILITY TO PRESSURE & COVER
• IND. ANDREW LUCK MUST HAVE TIME TO BE EFFECTIVE
o DECISIVE, POISED, MATURE BEYOND YEARS
o ONLY 5 SACKS GIVEN UP (3RD FEWEST IN LEAGUE)
• GB OFFENSIVE BALANCE IS KEY
o ABILITY TO SPREAD BALL v. ZONE BASED DEFENSE IS AN ADVANTAGE
• GB CEDRIC BENSON’S ABILITY WITH SPREAD PERSONNEL IN GAME
o RARE COMMODITY, PHYSICAL DOWNHILL RUNNING BACK IN A SPREAD SYSTEM
o PLAY NUMBERS GAME INSIDE THE BOX – INSIDE ZONE
• GB WILL HAVE TO HELP LEFT/RIGHT TACKLES
o TE’S, WING BACKS, PERSONNEL ADJUSTMENTS TO COMBAT EDGE PRESSURE
o DWIGHT FREENEY/ ROBERT MATHIS

Baltimore Ravens vs. Kansas City Chiefs
• KC WILL ATTACK BAL. RUN DEFENSE
o 4TH IN TOTAL OFFENSE. 1ST IN NFL IN RUSHING OFFENSE
• BAL. WILL ATTEMPT TO FORCE MATT CASSEL TO THROW TO SOMEONE OTHER THAN BOWE
o D. BOWE (#1 IN NFL IN TARGETS – 49) *THRU WEEK 4
o D. MCCLUSTER – 23 TARGETS, 15 CATCHES
o J. BALDWIN – 15 TARGETS, 10 CATCHES – AVERAGING 14.8 YARDS PER CATCH
• BAL. DEFENSE
o v. RUN – 3RD (YARDS PER CARRY)… 13TH (YARDS PER GAME)
o v. PASS – 10TH (PASSER RATING, COMPLETION PERCENTAGE)
• BAL. SPREAD KC OUT
o TORREY SMITH, ANQUAN BOLDIN, DENNIS PITTA, RAY RICE, JACOBY JONES
o REQUIRES DEFENSIVE DEPTH (NICKEL AND DIME DEFENSIVE BACKS)

Cleveland Browns vs. New York Giants
• CLE OFFENSIVE LINE HAS STRUGGLED
o 9 SACKS ALLOWED
• NYG CONSISTENLY GENERATES PRESSURE WITH FRONT 4
o GIVES THEM THE LIBERTY TO DROP 7 IN COVERAGE
• CLE OFFENSE REVOLVING AROUND TRENT RICHARDSON
o INSIDE RUN HASN’T BEEN EFFECTIVE
o QUICK THROWS TO PERIMETER HAVE
» GET HIM THE BALL IN SPACE, FORCE ONE ON ONE TACKLING
• NYG OFFENSE BALANCED, EFFICIENT, AND POLISHED
• NYG OPTION OFFENSIVE PASS GAME WILL BE FACTOR
o CLE FORCED TO PLAY HEAVY ZONE WITH CB JOE HADEN SUSPENDED

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
• PIT. OFFENSE REINVENTED WITH NEW OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR TODD HALEY
o USES SPEED SPEED THROUGH RUBS AND ROUTE COMBOS
o ALLOWS ROUTES TO COME OPEN OFF OF EACH OTHER
• MICHAEL VICK HAS STRUGGLED AS A STARTER v. PIT DEFENSE SCHEME
• ARI DEFENSE v. PHI – WEEK 3
o EXTENSION OF DICK LEBEAU’S SCHEME
o VICK SACKED 5 TIMES, 13 QUARTERBACK HITS
• PHI OFFENSIVE BALANCE
o LEAN ON RB LESEAN MCCOY
o PIT RUN DEFENSE – ALLOWING 101.0 YARDS PER GAME
» INJURIES
» YOUNG PLAYERS FORCED TO STEP UP

Atlanta Falcons/Washington Redskins
• WAS 2 UNIQUE RUSH ATTACKS
o COLLEGE STYLE – ZONE READ
o INSIDE/OUTSIDE ZONE
• ATL IS LIGHTER YET FASTER FRONT
o DOUBLE TEAMS AT POINT OF ATTACK CRUCIAL
• ATL WILL BE CHALLENGED BY MAN TO MAN COVERAGE
• WAS DC JIM HASLETT ONE OF THE BEST ON CAPITIALIZING ON DEFICIENCIES
• ATL OFFENSE LAST WEEK v. CAR
o 7 SACKS ALLOWED
o 12 QB HITS
• ATL WANTS TO PUSH BALL DOWNFIELD WITH SPEED

Seattle Seahawks vs. Carolina Panthers
• CAR. STRUGGLING SECONDARY v. SEA. STRUGGLING PASS OFFENSE
o CAR D – ALLOWING 93.9 PASSER RATING (#21ST IN NFL)
o SEA O – 73.5 PASSER RATING (27TH IN NFL)
• CAR. RUN DEFENSE v. MARSHAWN LYNCH• SEA. RUN DEFENSE HAS BEEN DOMINANT (2ND IN NFL)
o BENSON (GB) – 45 YARDS
o JACKSON (STL) – 76 YARDS
o MURRAY (SEA) – 44 YARDS
• CAR. STEVE SMITH v. SEA PHYSICAL CORNERBACKS
o RICHARD SHERMAN
o BRANDON BROWNER
o SEA. TRUSTS SIZE/SPEED – EXPECT ONE ON ONE MATCHUPS

Chicago Bears vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
• JAX DEFENSE – HEAVY ZONE COVERAGE
o CULTER/MARSHALL SHOULD FIND HOLES
• CHI OFFENSIVE LINE v. JAX DEFENSIVE LINE
o JAX SACKS – (2) 32ND IN NFL
» DE ANDRE BRANCH / DE JEREMEY MINCEY
o CHI GIVEN UP – (13 SACKS) 4TH MOST IN NFL
• MJD ONLY FORCE ON JAX OFFENSE
o CHI WILL BE AWARE OF HIM AT ALL TIMES AND ATTEMPT TO CONTAIN HIM
o CHI D-LINEMEN HENRY MELTON AND SHEA MCCLELLAN HAVE BEEN PLAYING VERY WELL

Tennessee Titans vs. Minnesota Vikings
• MIN ADRIAN PETERSON
o 79 ATTEMPTS, 332 YARDS, 2 TDS – 4.2 YARDS PER CARRY
o PLAY ACTION PASS GAME
• TEN. RUN DEFENSE
o 136.5 YARDS /GAME (27TH IN NFL)
• MIN CHRISTIAN PONDER PROTECTING THE BALL
o ZERO INTERCEPTIONS THIS YEAR FOR PONDER
o TEN. PASS DEFENSE
» 118.3 PASSER RATING ALLOWED (WORST IN NFL)
» 75.3 COMPLETION PERCENTAGE ALLOWED (WORST IN NFL)
• MATT HASSELBACK STARTING COULD BOOST PASS GAME
o DECISIVE, SMART, GOOD DECISION MAKER
• NEW VARIATIONS TO MIN DEFENSE WILL CHALLENGE TEN. PASS OFFENSE
o MORE PRESSURE PACKAGES
o COVERAGE VARIATIONS HAVE BEEN HUGE FOR MIN DEFENSE THIS YEAR

Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots
• DEN. PEYTON MANNING
o 10TH PASSER RATING
o 13TH COMPLETION PERCENTAGE
o 290.5 YARDS PER GAME
• NE TOM BRADY
o 6TH PASSER RATING
o 12TH COMPLETION PERCENTAGE
o 306.8 YARDS PER GAME
• DEN. DEFENSE
o 10 SACKS, 2 INTS
• NE DEFENSE
o 7 SACKS, 6 INTS
o 11 PLAYS OF 25+ GIVEN UP (28TH IN NFL)
• DEN. HAS ABILITY TO PLAY MAN COVERAGE AND PRESSURE (NE STRUGGLES)
• VON MILLER/ ELVIS DUMERVIL v. SEBASTIAN VOLLMER/ NATE SOLDER
• WHO WILL MATCHUP v. ROB GRONKOWSKI (LISTED AS QUESTIONABLE)
• NE MUST BE ABLE TO GENERATE PRESSURE v. DENVER OFFENSIVE LINE
o PLAYING RESPONSIBLE ZONE COVERAGE BEHIND IT
• GAME WITHIN THE GAME
o NE TOM BRADY NO HUDDLE OFFENSE
o DEN PEYTON MANNING LINE OF SCRIMMAGE PLAY CALLING

Buffalo Bills vs. San Francisco 49ers
• BUF SPREAD OFFENSE WILL GENERATE POINTS
o HOW MANY? HOW LONG?
o SF ONLY ALLOWED 4 PASS PLAYS OF 25 YARDS OR MORE
o BUF HAS 9 PLAYS OF 25 YARDS OR MORE
o RYAN FITZPATRICK – LEADS NFL WITH 12 TD PASSES
• SF TACKLING KEY – BEST AT ELIMINATING YARDS AFTER CATCH
• BUF RUN OFFENSE IS INCONSISTENT
o OFFENSIVE LINE INJURIES
o BUF CAN’T ENTIRELY ABANDON RUN AND ALLOW SF TO PIN EARS BACK
• BUF RUN D v. SF RUN OFFENSE
o BUF – 28TH IN RUSHING YARDS PER GAME ALLOWED
o SF – 3RD IN RUN OFFENSE
• SF ALEX SMITH EFFICIENT PASSER BEHIND POTENT RUN ATTACK
o #1 IN NFL IN FIRST DOWN EFFICIENCY (57.4% OF PLAYS 4+ YARDS)
o SF 43 OFFENSIVE DRIVES – 19 TD’s
» 3 & OUTS – 3 (#2 IN NFL)
» 10 PLAY DRIVES – 7 (13TH IN NFL)
» SCORING DRIVES AVERAGE 7 PLAYS A DRIVE, 51.6 YARDS
• RELY HEAVILY ON SPECIAL TEAMS, TURNOVERS, WINNING BATTLE OF FIELD POSITION

San Diego Chargers vs. New Orleans Saints
• NOR. HAS ABILITY TO SUSTAIN DRIVES OFFENSIVELY – BUT HAVE NOT BEEN FINISHING
o 10+ PLAY DRIVES – #1 IN NFL
» BUT ONLY 5 TOUCHDOWNS ON THOSE DRIVES
• NOR. DREW BREES ON 3RD DOWN
o 51.1 COMPLETION
o 82.7 RATING
• SAINTS DEFENSE
o ONLY 6 SACKS THIS YEAR, 2 INTs
» MAN TO MAN COVERAGE NEEDS TO TIGHTEN UP
» PRESSURE NEEDS TO GET HOME FASTER TO HELP COVERAGE
o NOT GETTING OFF THE FIELD – ALLOWING LONG DRIVES BY OFFENSES
o 49 DEFENSIVE DRIVES – ONLY 7, 3 & OUTS
• SPROLES/COLSTON/ GRAHAM ARE LIFE BLOOD OF OFFENSE
o MUST RECEIVE 85-90% OF TARGETS IN PASS GAME
• SD ROBERT MEACHUM FACES OLD TEAM
• SD RED ZONE OFFENSE MUCH IMPROVED FROM YEARS PAST
o RIVERS – 108.8 RATING IN RED ZONE
o RIVERS – 6 TDS, 0 INTS, ONLY 1 SACK

Houston Texans vs. New York Jets
• NYJ OFFENSIVE LINE – HAS STRUGGLED AGAINST ATHLETICISM
o MUST PROTECT SANCHEZ
o MUST BE ABLE TO GENERATE SOME KIND OF A RUNNING ATTACK
o BALANCE WILL SUBDUE PASS RUSH, ALLOW FOR PLAY ACTION
o HOU JJ WATT v. NYJ GUARDS SLAUSON, DUCASSE, MOORE
» MUST CONTAIN!!
• NYJ RECEIVERS WILL FACE VARIETY OF COVERAGES
o UNDERSTANDING MAN/ZONE KEYS
o COMMUNICATION WITH QUARTERBACK – UNDERSTANDING BLITZ THREATS
o MARK SANCHEZ – 48.09 RATING v. BLITZ (#31 IN NFL)
• HOU 49 OFFENSIVE DRIVES
o LEAD NFL WITH 9 DRIVES OF 5+ MINUTES
» FORCES JETS OFFENSE TO BE PERFECT ON LIMITED DRIVES
o CONTROLLING BALL AND TIME OF POSSESSION
• NYJ DEFENSE MUST STOP ZONE RUNNING GAME – INSIDE/OUT
o LIMITING PRODUCTION ON FIRST DOWN WILL ALLOW FOR PRESSURE PACKAGES

“Playbook” — the ultimate football Xs and Os show — airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET (NFC) and 9 p.m. ET (AFC) on NFL Network. Check the NFL Network broadcast schedule for further details. Follow “Playbook” on Twitter @NFLN_Playbook.

Posted in: News  | comments  |