Colt McCoy’s 5 TDs and 3 INTs in 2014

Colt McCoy took over as starting Redskins quarterback in the second half of Week 7 versus the Titans in place of Kirk Cousins due to offensive inefficiency and turnovers. McCoy would only give back the starting QB position to RG3 after RG3 was fully healthy in Week 9 versus the Vikings and again when he was placed on IR after injuring his neck in consecutive weeks against the Rams and the Giants in Weeks 14 and 15. In this breakdown we will take a look at his 5 touchdowns and three interceptions during the 2014 season.

Here are links to the other Redskins quarterbacks I’ve done this season:

• Kirk Cousins’ 9 Interceptions in 2014
• Kirk Cousins’ 10 Touchdowns in 2014
• RG3’s 5 Touchdowns in 2014
• RG3’s 6 Interceptions in 2014

Season Stats
McCoy - 91/128 (71.1%), 1,057 yards, 8.3 ypa, 4 TDs, 3 INTs, 16 rushes for 66 yards and 1 TD
Note: Play numbers correspond to plays found here in the GIF Database.

Receiver Breakdown

Touchdowns		Interceptions
DeSean Jackson	1	Andre Roberts	1
Pierre Garcon	1	Jordan Reed	1
Logan Paulsen	1	Ryan Grant	1
Roy Helu	1

 

Quarter Breakdown

1st Quarter	0	2
2nd Quarter	1	0
3rd Quarter	3	0
4th Quarter	1	1

 

Down Breakdown

1st Down	1	0
2nd Down	2	2
3rd Down	1	0
4th Down	1	1

 

Distance Breakdown - Throws only

Fewer than 6 Yards	0	0
Between 6 and 15 yards	0	0
More than 15 yards	4	3

 

Location Breakdown

Deep Left	Deep Middle	Deep Right
1/1	0/1	0/0
Intermediate Left	Intermediate Middle	Intermediate Right
0/0	0/1	0/0
Short Left	Short Middle	Short Right
1/0	1/0	1/0

 

Fromn the above charts, two things stand out to me. First, notice the quarter the touchdowns and interceptions occurred. Albeit this is a small sample size, it is definitely consistent with a previous analysis I did on Colt McCoy vs the Colts during the 2014 season (found here) where McCoy never looked comfortable starting a game. It always took a couple of drives or even a full half for him to actually start completing his quarterback fundamentals such as progressing through his reads to make the correct decision. The second thing that interests me about this chart is that all the TDs and INTs were greater than 15 yards. This is deceiving as the throws themselves for the touchdowns were mostly short passes while his interceptions were all on passes actually deeper than 15 yards. Again I say both of these with a very small sample size, but something that we can look for more in the future if he gets snaps in 2015. Let’s look at the plays:

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Play 1 - Touchdown 1
Situation: 2nd and 9 at WSH 30
Description: Q3 - (12:40) (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass short left to P.Garcon for 70 yards, TOUCHDOWN.K.Forbath extra point is GOOD, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-T.Way.
Opponent: 7. TEN

Offensive Formation: Pistol Slot Right
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

In this play, McCoy takes the snap from pistol formation and instantly targets WR88 Pierre Garcon on the hitch route on the left side of the field. Garcon catches the ball, avoids the first tackle, and streaks down the sideline for the 70 yard score on McCoy’s first throw of the 2014 season.

Multiple things had to happen for this play to be possible. First, Watch McCoy release the ball in comparison to Garcon’s route. He releases it well ahead of Garcon turning for the ball. This displays incredible anticipation. McCoy talked about how he never got snaps with the 1st team in practices, so him being on the same page with Garcon on a timing pattern like a hitch route is great to see. Second, watch FS33 Griffin take an awful angle attacking Garcon. It looks like he was protecting the cutback across the field, but he simply just watches Garcon burn by him for the long score. Third, Garcon clearly has speed and elusiveness after catching the ball on a short pass and this is exactly what’s needed in the Redskins’ west coast offense - to gain extra yards after the catch on these short/intermediate routes.

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Play 2 - Touchdown 2
Situation: 3rd and 7 at DAL 7
Description: Q4 - (13:44) (Shotgun) C.McCoy up the middle for 7 yards, TOUCHDOWN. DAL-O.Scandrick was injured during the play. His return is Questionable. Quarterback draw. K.Forbath extra point is GOOD, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-T.Way. PENALTY on DAL-J.Mincey, Unnecessary Roughness, 15 yards, enforced between downs.
Opponent: 8. DAL

Offensive Formation: Shotgun EmptySet
Offensive Personnel: 01
Defensive Formation: Cover 2

McCoy takes the snap and looks to his right side setting up the draw and then sprints through the B-gap between the left tackle and the left guard for the diving touchdown to help the Redskins take the lead 17-10 against the Cowboys in their Week 8 Monday Night Football matchup. Give credit to TE86 Reed for sealing LB55 McClain out of the play as well as LG77 Lauvao for helping keeping DT69 Melton away from the play as well.

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Play 3 - Touchdown 3
Situation: 1st and 20 at IND 21
Description: Q2 - (2:06) (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass short middle to R.Helu for 21 yards, TOUCHDOWN. K.Forbath extra point is GOOD, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-T.Way.
Opponent: 13. IND

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Trips Bunch Right Near - “Lasso” Call
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

McCoy takes the snap from shotgun and watches TE84 Paul on his corner route. McCoy wants to target to Paul here over the middle based on how much empty space he has to his right side, but Paul doesn’t adjust his route to how deep the free safety is playing his single high zone, so he’s covered the full way or this would have been an easy pass over the middle of the field to him. Instead, McCoy finds RB29 Helu in the short middle of the field on an angle route for a quick pass. Helu then takes the ball and avoids one tackle for the touchdown.

Helu does an excellent job on his angle route to get open. Watch as LB50 Freeman gets juked out of his shoes on Helu’s cut across the field. This is what frees him to be wide open across the middle. Additionally, look at the coverage of the Colts’ defensive unit. FS30 Landry is playing extremely deep on his Cover 1 responsibilities leaving the entire middle of the field open. This is a peculiar defensive call. There is 2:06 left in the 2nd quarter when the ball is snapped which means the Redskins still have their time-outs as well as the two minute warning to stop the clock. From the Redskins perspective it’s 1st and 20 which means the Redskins are going to try to use all of their downs and the time on the clock to make a more reasonable attempt at a score on 2nd or 3rd down, so there is no reason to give up a gigantic hole over the middle of the field. Landry is playing the high side bracket coverage of Paul on his corner route until the ball is thrown, but at that point there is nobody left in the middle of the field to tackle Helu with the ball. Really I think this is a terrible defensive call by placing a linebacker on Helu who is extremely shifty and known as the Redskins best receiving threat from the backfield. The defense should have placed a safety on him if they are requiring man-to-man coverage in this match-up.

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Play 4 - Touchdown 4
Situation: 2nd and 5 at IND 16
Description: Q3 - (11:34) (Run formation) C.McCoy pass short right to L.Paulsen for 16 yards, TOUCHDOWN [J.Newsome]. K.Forbath extra point is GOOD, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-T.Way. PENALTY on WAS-F.Kearse, Unsportsmanlike Conduct, 15 yards, enforced between downs.
Opponent: 13. IND

Offensive Formation: Singleback Twins Left - “Leopard” Call
Offensive Personnel: 12
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

McCoy in singleback formation has Jackson and Garcon wide left. TE Paul motions across the line pre-snap. The Colts have eight men in the box assuming the Redskins are going to run the ball or do one of their packaged plays. Just as the Colts predicted, the Redskins run one of their favorite packaged plays - the bootleg flat route to the tight end/fullback to TE84 Paul, but it’s covered perfectly by the Colts.

Watch as ILB52 Jackson attempts to shove Paul to the ground to knock him down in the flat. This is legal within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Since Paul doesn’t fall to the ground, SS29 Adams steps up to cover Paul leaving his responsibilities over the middle of the field, which TE82 Paulsen finds this hole over the middle of the field and waits for McCoy to see him. McCoy breaks three tackles and finally finds him for the short pass and touchdown.

This play was ESPN Sportcenter’s number 1 play of the day. It was incredible to watch… but at the same time it was extremely stupid and even McCoy admitted that in his post game interview. 99% of the time this would be a huge sack on 2nd and 5 in the opponent’s redzone. This is an absolute drive killer for a team that was 1/44 in 3rd and 10+ yard situations already this season.

After seeing that Paul was covered and that his second read WR11 Jackson was covered on the slant route, the smart play is to throw the ball away, avoid getting hit, and live to fight another down. The Redskins were only down 17-21 after this touchdown and extra point, which meant they still had a chance even if by the end of the game the score didn’t reflect how close this game really was for the first half.

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Play 5 - Touchdown 5
Situation: 4th and 1 at WSH 41
Description: Q3 - (5:19) (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass deep left to D.Jackson for 42 yards, TOUCHDOWN. K.Forbath extra point is GOOD, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-T.Way.
Opponent: 13. IND

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Trips Bunch Left - “Rope” Call
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

McCoy in shotgun takes the snap and watches WR12 Roberts on the seam route and TE84 Paul on the post route over the middle of the field. The Redskins must have seen a lot of Cover 3 looks by the Colts defense as this is your typical Cover 3 beater using all four vertical routes to displace the back three zones and free one receiver deep.

The Colts are actually in Cover 1 with man-to-man coverage on the outside receivers so McCoy moves off his initial seam/post-route reads and moves on to WR11 DeSean Jackson. Jackson is running a go-route up the sideline and due to Jackson’s speed CB27 Toler turns down the sideline to chase him in off-man coverage. This allows McCoy to attempt the either a deep pass to the front corner of the endzone or purposely leave it short and allow Jackson to adjust to the ball. McCoy chooses the latter allowing Jackson to jump back inside the ball completely fooling Toler who slips to the ground watching as Jackson makes his way into the endzone. A beautiful pass and a great adjustment by Jackson to catch the ball.

McCoy’s interceptions and Summary on the next page.

Play 6 - Interception 1
Situation: 2nd and 12 at DAL 27
Description: Q1 - (1:31) (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass deep left intended for A.Roberts INTERCEPTED by J.Wilcox at DAL 0. Touchback. Pass was intercepted deep left corner of the end zone. The Replay Official challenged the incomplete pass ruling, and the play was Upheld. The ruling on the field stands.
Opponent: 8. DAL

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Twin Bunch Left Far
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 2

It’s 2nd and 11 and the Redskins decide to run a trick play with a little over a minute left in the 1st quarter. On an end around, WR11 Jackson runs from the right outside to the left flat faking like he’s going to take a screen pass with WR12 Roberts and WR88 Garcon blocking for him. Instead, both Roberts and Garcon attempt to sprint past their defenders on a go-route and a post-route, respectively, in order to catch them off guard. CB26 Moore doesn’t get fooled and sticks with Roberts while FS27 Wilcox reads McCoy’s eyes and helps double cover him into the endzone for the interception.

This interception is on McCoy. First, McCoy needs to see that Moore has Roberts covered pretty well on this play for the entirety of his route and this play is predicated on Roberts surprising his defender which he didn’t. Second, McCoy stares down Roberts for most of his route after he executes the fake to Jackson which gives a clue to Wilcox to attack the route. Third, Garcon was open on the his post route after breaking free around the 20 yard line between his defender and Wilcox’s 1/2 field zone which McCoy should have seen. Instead, McCoy hopes that Roberts was going to break free and forces the ball to him deep in the endzone. Some will argue that the ball should have gone to Jackson due to the separation between himself and the closest defenders, but the play was never to him. Finally, you have to give credit to Wilcox for the excellent jump and catch, however, if McCoy put the ball to the back of the endzone it might not have been a pick as Roberts had to come back for it at the last minute.

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Play 7 - Interception 2
Situation: 2nd and 13 at STL 35
Description: Q1 - (10:20) (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass deep middle intended for R.Grant INTERCEPTED by R.McLeod at SL 16. R.McLeod to SL 17 for 1 yard (R.Grant). The Replay Official challenged the runner was down by contact ruling, and the play was REVERSED. (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass deep middle intended for R.Grant INTERCEPTED by R.McLeod at SL 16. R.McLeod to SL 17 for 1 yard (T.Compton).
Opponent: 14. STL

Offensive Formation: EmptySet Shotgun - Gun 4WR
Offensive Personnel: 01
Defensive Formation: Cover 3

McCoy is in empty-set shotgun with Helu wide left, TE Reed in the left slot, Garcon is wide right, and Grant is in the right slot. The Rams are in Cover 3 with four underneath zones. FS23 McLeod is playing deep center field.

McCoy snaps the ball and immediately finds Grant running a post route through the middle of the field. Grant makes his cut and is actually open if McCoy can deliver an accurate pass to him. Instead, McCoy overthrows Grant and McLeod makes an incredible diving catch on the ball for the interception.

Keys to this play: (1) This was actually a good play call on 2nd and long. On first down, the Redskins ran with Morris and lost 3 yards, so another run probably would not have worked. (2) The Rams have been lining up in this four zones underneath zone formation for most of the previous drive so a breaking route past this and before the deep safety would work. (3) McCoy stares down his receiver (Grant) the entire play allowing FS McLeod to make a play on the ball. (4) McCoy throws the ball innaccurately allowing McLeod to make the play which is what causes the pick directly.

Good play; poor execution by McCoy. He needs to look off the safety. He could have easily looked at the far left side or even Reed running the in-route over the middle to draw the safety away from the play, so the worst this should have been is a missed opportunity as opposed to an interception.

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Play 8 - Interception 3
Situation: 4th and 11 at STL 21
Description: Q4 - (5:25) (Shotgun) C.McCoy pass deep middle intended for J.Reed INTERCEPTED by T.McDonald at SL 2. T.McDonald pushed ob at SL 22 for 20 yards (A.Morris).
Opponent: 14. STL

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Trips Left
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 0

McCoy in shotgun has trips left and Garcon wide right by himself. Rams are in Cover 0 and rush seven pass rushers. FS23 McLeod creeps into the box and rushes through the open B-gap between RB46 Morris and RT68 Compton. McCoy evades this first hit by turning his shoulder and then fires downfield for Reed running a deep post route over the middle of the field. There is pressure in McCoy’s face, so he can’t fully step into the throw. This leaves the ball short and an easy interception opportunity for SS25 McDonald.

First, great evasion by McCoy to not get taken down by the free rusher. Second, horrible throw by McCoy. If he is still going to throw a lob pass he needs to place this ball uncatchable for the defense, i.e. too far in front of Reed as opposed to behind him. Third, this play occurred on 4th and 11 and the Rams are giving the WRs plenty of room underneath to throw a screen or another quick pass to take advantage of it. The Redskins were down 24-0 by this point so it explains why the Redskins were only looking deep instead of trying to attack short, but still you hate to see it.

As you can see in the touchdowns above, McCoy does a great job with throwing with anticipation as well as showing surprising evasiveness. This was evident through the rest of his play during the 2014 season and something that has allowed him to maximize his own personal ceiling in the NFL. As far as the interceptions go, I think McCoy is directly responsible for two of the three with the final interception given partial credit to the defense for forcing McCoy to not fully step into his throw. Interception 1 is the most worrisome of the three as this shows terrible decision-making while missing an open target over the middle of the field. It will be interesting to see how the next season pans out for the Redskins quarterbacks. Last season, the Redskins played QB-roulette dividing the starting role. Hopefully in pre-season one of the Redskins quarterbacks will step up and show enough to be the franchise player they desperately need. For a complete breakdown of his play throughout the season comparing to the other Redskins quarterbacks RG3 and Kirk Cousins (click here).

Click here to see all of Colt McCoy’s plays in the GIF Database.