Colt McCoy’s Impressive Performance versus the Colts

After another sub-par game, Jay Gruden and the Redskins benched Robert Griffin III in favor of Colt McCoy. This breakdown will look at his plays during the game.

Stats – 31/47 for 392 yards (8.3 y/a), 3 TDs, 0 INT, 4 fumbles (1 lost), 6 sacks for 51 yards.

Edit: To see all the plays from this game click here!

Play 1
Situation: 2nd and 6 at IND 11
Description: Q1 – (14:03) (Run formation) C.McCoy pass incomplete short right to D.Young.
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McCoy motions FB Young to the right side of the offset-I formation. Colts bring five pass rushers and line up in single-high safety initially pre-snap with their two CBs in off-man coverage. FS38 Brown steps up to the line of scrimmage to follow FB Young to the flat right before the snap. Young is running a wheel route around the outside, but before the ball is thrown to him Brown shoves him to the ground.

Great heads-up play by Brown and a terrible decision process by McCoy. For Brown, it’s a risky move if somehow Young beat the initial press he would be an easy TD on the right sideline, but Brown shoves Young to the ground as he is turning the corner.

I don’t understand McCoy’s decision making. He starts the play watching Garcon initially and then lobs the ball to Young with a safety all over him. If you watch Garcon and Jackson they are both going up against off-man coverage and have gained enough separation coming from post routes on opposite sides of the field. All McCoy has to do is notice that the safety is gone and a strike to the middle of the field would have resulted in a good chance at a TD.

http://i.imgur.com/GxFndYh.png

From my previous breakdowns, motioning a TE or a RB in the backfield to the flat is a very common play the Redskins run, so give credit to the coaching for the film preparation for jumping on that type of play.

Play 2
Situation: 3rd and 6 at IND 11
Description: Q1 – (13:58) C.McCoy pass short right to J.Reed to IND 7 for 4 yards (J.Freeman).
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Redskins line up in their favorite WR formation – trips left with Reed alone on the right outside. TE Reed is the first read on the play and the decision was made pre-snap to go to him on a slant route. Reed catches the ball for a short gain. The Colts are in Cover 2 with four linebackers underneath in zone, so the quick slant isn’t optimal for this coverage. Ideally you would prefer to flood a zone or go for a corner route over top.

Play 3
Situation: 1st and 10 at IND 45
Description: Q1 – (11:50) C.McCoy sacked at 50 for -5 yards (J.Freeman).
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http://i.imgur.com/goU4ESz.png

Sack alert! McCoy in singleback formation and has Jackson and Garcon in twin stacks to the left. The Colts line up in Cover 3 and rush five pass rushers. LB50 Freeman runs a stunt on the left outside with DT99 Jean-Francois and OLB92 Werner. Rb Morris is responsible for the quick sack as he is beaten quite easily with a speed rush to the outside. Watch as LB Freeman steps enough to the inside and dodges outside to get around Morris. It’s almost effortless for the sack.

Play 4
Situation: 2nd and 15 at 50
Description: Q1 – (11:25) (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass short left to A.Morris to IND 49 for 1 yard (C.Redding).
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Quick RB screen pass to Morris. LG77 Lauvao needs to do a better job boxing out his defender.

Overall good read by the defense and backside support to pick it up and stop the play short.

Play 5
Situation: 3rd and 14 at IND 49
Description: Q1 – (10:22) (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass incomplete short right to D.Jackson.
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Redskins line up with trips right with Roberts, Jackson and Garcon. Colts are in a Cover 2 with their three CBs in off-man coverage over the Redskins WRs. Jackson runs an out-route underneath the off-man coverage and McCoy throws it short not letting Jackson make a play on the ball. McCoy needs to put more muscle on this ball in order for this to be a completion, but otherwise good decision-making on the pass.

Play 6
Situation: 1st and 15 at WSH 36
Description: Q1 – (4:54) (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass short right to P.Garcon to WAS 40 for 4 yards (G.Toler).
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McCoy from pistol has Garcon wide right. McCoy sees that CB28 Toler moves from the line of scrimmage to play off-man coverage. Garcon runs a hitch route for the short gain on the play.

Play 7
Situation: 3rd and 10 at WSH 41
Description: Q1 – (3:29) (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass incomplete deep middle to A.Roberts (D.Butler).
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McCoy from shotgun has Jackson and Roberts on the left side. Jackson runs a deep-in route over the middle while Roberts runs a post route. Great coverage by the Colts CBs on this play. CB20 Butler is playing man-to-man coverage over Roberts and swats away the ball at the top of the route.

Roberts does a good job of flattening his angle to help adjust to the coverage at the top of the route, but Butler makes a great play on the ball to disrupt the pass and force the incompletion. The credit goes to the defense here shutting down the Redskins receivers and specifically Butler.

Play 8
Situation: 1st and 10 at WSH 47
Description: Q1 – (1:30) (Run formation) C.McCoy FUMBLES (Aborted) at WAS 42, recovered by WAS-A.Morris at WAS 46. A.Morris to WAS 46 for no gain (D.Jackson). Penalty on WAS-T.Williams, Illegal Formation, declined.
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Fumble alert! McCoy is pitching the ball to Morris in singleback formation for a run up the middle, but Morris misses the catch. If you watch the exchange closely I credit Morris with the fumble rather than McCoy, because the toss was put right into the hands of Morris.

Play 9
Situation: 2nd and 11 at WSH 46
Description: Q1 – (1:03) (Shotgun) C.McCoy sacked at WAS 37 for -9 yards (sack split by J.Newsome and A.Jones).
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http://i.imgur.com/sBrhYJX.png

Sack alert! McCoy in shotgun has Paul and Jackson on the left and Garcon and Roberts on the right. The outside receivers are running out-and-up routes and the inside receivers are running seam routes. McCoy sees pre-snap that FS30 Landry is on the left side of the field in single-high safety over Paul and Jackson, which means that if Garcon can beat FS38 Brown in man-to-man coverage then he has the potential for a big play.

McCoy snaps the ball and immediately finds Garcon. Garcon streaks past his man, but FS Landry crosses the field and closes down on Garcon stopping McCoy from throwing the ball. McCoy pump-fakes it and looks to scramble out of the collapsing pocket, but takes a sack instead.

This should have been a big play, but McCoy, not the offensive line screwed up the play. McCoy stared down Garcon and Landry read it. McCoy NEEDS to move the safety out of the play by looking over at the other receivers. McCoy should know pre-snap that he has an excellent opportunity with Garcon and he needs to keep it open by not showing it to the safety too early.

http://i.imgur.com/1aptEeP.png

Another option would have been TE Paul running the same seam route on the opposite side of the field. Paul beats his man and if McCoy recognized that he screwed up the play intiially by staring down Garcon he could have gotten the same result on the opposite side of the field that he was looking for with Garcon.

Play 10
Situation: 3rd and 20 at WSH 37
Description: Q1 – (:23) (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass short right to J.Reed pushed ob at WAS 46 for 9 yards (J.Freeman).
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McCoy in shotgun lines up with three outside WRs on 3rd and 20. The Colts line up in Cover 3 initially, but actually have five CBs over the top and three linebackers in zone coverage across the middle. The Colts bring three pass rushers that the offensive line easily stops. The prevent defense covers all of the WR deep routes, so McCoy checks the ball down to TE Reed who gains back 9 yards on the play.

This play ended the first quarter. Not a good start for McCoy and the Redskins offense.

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Samuel Gold

Sam founded NFL Breakdowns after working his way through the journalist farm system and is enjoying life in the big league. Growing up outside of Washington, D.C., Sam didn’t choose the Redskins, the Redskins chose him. Out of a love for the game and an insatiable curiosity to determine why his beloved team was underperforming, Sam turned to studying film in NFL Breakdowns.