Patriots Pass Defense vs Andrew Luck (92 YDs, 0 TDs) First Half

The First Quarter

2nd and 8 at IND 23 (14:21) (Shotgun) A.Luck pass incomplete short right to D.Allen.

4-2-5, 4 Rushing, Cover-1 Man

12 Personnel, 485 W-Deep In R-Block

On the first passing play of the game, the Patriots bring up everyone but McCourty up to the line of scrimmage and show a huge blitz with man coverage. They begin to rush 5, but have one of the rushers back into coverage after taking two steps forward. This causes the Center to turn to the left side, where only one rusher is actually rushing, and put a 3 on 2 (with RB help) on the right side, while a 3 on 1 happens on the left. Luck is forced to drop back very deep because of the pressure coming up through the middle, and because of Ninkovich’s great starting angle and Lucks depth the pressure causes him to roll left, where he only has one target on the field, Fleener, who he wants to get the ball to and is running a route that should win- if he wasn’t being tailed by CB Brandon Browner. Browners just the right size/speed combination to not lose this route, and Luck’s forced to throw across his body to his Allen who he has a very low chance of making the completion on.

3rd and 8 at IND 23 (14:16) (Shotgun) A.Luck pass incomplete short right to R.Wayne

4-2-5, 4 Rushers, Cover-1 Man

11 Personnel, 054 W-Out R-WR Vertical

Ninkovich is performing a very patient stunt to the outside. The Colts have a bunch on the right side with Coby Fleener at the head, Reggie Wayne to the inside, and Donte Moncrief on the outside. Herron is also on this side, split out wide right past the numbers, drawing the coverage of Linebacker Jamie Collins. Luck is watching this right side develop from the get-go, and sees Revis (lined up above Moncrief) get around Fleener, while Logan Ryan is caught up fighting against Fleener who’s clearing space for Wayne to come around him. Luck looks like he waits to see who Brandon Browner (originally lined up over Fleener, off the line) will choose to follow, and once he sees him back up to take Fleeners corner route, Luck decides on Wayne who’s now wide open. Ninkovich’s stunt (along with Wilfork’s bull rush) is able to close the amount of space in the pocket Luck has to work with and forces him to rush into the throwing motion, so the throw ends up high.

2nd and 8 at IND 34 (8:58) (Shotgun) A.Luck scrambles right tackle to IND 39 for 5 yards (D.Hightower). NE-D.Revis was injured during the play.

4-2-5, 3 Rushers, Cover-3

12 Personnel, 996 W-Slant H-WR Vertical

The Patriots are in a Cover-3 zone, rushing 3 linemen. The Patriots have Ninkovich bump the hell out of the Fleener, something they’ve used constantly throughout the season on tight ends, before rushing Luck. Despite having to take the time to attack the tight end, Ninkovich is still able to put pressure on Luck by rushing around right tackle Joe Reitz. First showing him the outside rush and lining aligning his outside shoulder with Reitz inside shoulder, then engaging Reitz head on with a lot of momentum, causing Reitz to be pushed back on impact, and giving Ninkovich a clear outside lane to pressure Luck with, although he can’t finish. Further down the field, McCourty has read that Luck’s main route on this play he’s looking to hit is going to be Dwayne Allen’s deep in. T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief are both running short In/Slant routes in order to force the linebackers to come up to stop them so McCourty takes up the space immediately that Dwayne Allen is going to try to get to. Luck then moves onto his next read of Fleener on the outside wheel route, but he’s well covered. In fact, everyones well covered. Luck takes the running lane he gets, doing a decent job of pressing the outside lane before cutting back inside and getting five more yards than he really should have. Notice that as soon as Luck declares himself a runner, the entire Patriots team other than the 3 manned up defenders all begin to close in on him.

3rd and 3 at IND 39 (8:18) (Shotgun) A.Luck pass short left to D.Herron to IND 42 for 3 yards (J.Collins). PENALTY on NE-B.Browner, Defensive Holding, 5 yards, enforced at IND 39 - No Play.

4-2-5, 2 Rushers, Cover 1

11 Personnel, 970 W-Whip R-Quick Out

On 3rd down the Patriots dare to rush only two players at Andrew Luck, Chanlder Jones and Vince Wilfork. All the extra players in coverage create a shell in the middle of the field to take away any routes going through that area and forcing Luck to look outside. Again, Fleener is on a route with a high chance to win and that’s where Luck is looking at- but Browner has made it clear that Fleener is his man and he’s not letting him go free. Jamie Collins has Dan Herron in coverage but gets drawn to Fleeners corner route because of Luck’s eyes. Luck is quick to take advantage and put the ball low for Herron to keep him from taking too hard of a hit. At the top of the screen, Hilton’s route is completely controlled by Kyle Arrington, it’s nearly impossible to tell what his route is actually supposed to be.

1st and 10 at IND 44 (7:49) (Shotgun) A.Luck pass short left to D.Allen pushed ob at 50 for 6 yards (L.Ryan).

4-2-5, 4 Rushers (1 MLB), Cover-3 Zone,

11 Personnel, 718 W-Deep Out R-Block

The Patriots are going to rush four (one of those four being Donta Hightower) while the Colts will have 6 blocking, with Dwayne Allen giving a chip to the left DE. Because of Allen giving a chip before releasing into his route, Browner begins backing up into his zone and Logan Ryan is held up by Donte Moncrief on his corner route up until he begins to turn inside (in this coverage Ryan’s duty is the vertical/outside but he’s able to pass him to Browner once Moncrief goes inside), leaving ample space underneath for Luck to find Allen and for Allen to get some extra yards after the throw. Luck also gets both players (Browner and Ryan) to move away from Allen by following Moncrief with his eyes. it’s the first time so far the Colts have won a passing play by the play call and that the O-line didn’t give up pressure.

2nd and 5 at NE 41 (6:01) A.Luck pass incomplete short right to J.Doyle (R.Ninkovich).

4-3-4, 4 rushers, Cover-2 Zone

12 Personnel, 933 U-Flat R-Block

The Patriots rush their 4 linemen, but Ninkovich is able to properly diagnose the Bootleg Full Back combo and keeps his discipline in not chasing after Luck, instead opting to bump the Fullback and get in-between the throwing lane. Luck throws this ball poorly while on the run and gives Ninkovich the ability to get a hand on it, but it’s a much better play by Ninkovich than it is a poor play by Luck. Further down the field on this side, Dwayne Allen is blanketed by Malcolm Butler on a corner route.

3rd and 5 at NE 41 (5:55) (Shotgun) A.Luck pass short middle to C.Fleener to NE 33 for 8 yards (J.Collins).

4-2-5, 4 Rushers, Cover-2 Zone, Ninkovich+

11 Personnel, 964 W-Spot R-Out, +OC

The Colts play call causes the LBs taking the underneath routes to split up and cover a man, giving a clean and direct throwing lane to Coby Fleener. In the pocket, Ninkovich is again able to get past Reitz by giving him an outside rush but takes a small subtle inside step on his third step, stopping Reitz from kicking further out and allowing Ninkovich to get around him and force Luck to step up. Luck spots Fleener and throws him a slightly high ball away from the defender, LB Jamie Collins.

1st and 10 at NE 33 (5:11) (Shotgun) A.Luck pass incomplete short middle to D.Herron.

4-2-5, 4 Rushers, Cover-1 Man,

12 Personnel, 098 U-Out R-Curl,

The Patriots are in Cover-1 man rushing four. Dwayne Allen comes out of the back and breaks outside, bringing Patrick Chung out with him and getting Kyle Arrington to peel off Reggie Wayne on his slant. It looks like Chung should have kept his ground and covered Herron but is pulled to Allen because Arrington carried Wayne too far across the field. Meanwhile, the pocket around Luck gets very compressed but still manages to hold up enough to allow him to go through his reads and find a wide open Herron. Herron drops what should be an easy uncontested catch after Luck does a pump fake in the direction of Wayne.

2nd and 10 at NE 33 (5:05) (Shotgun) A.Luck pass incomplete deep right to D.Herron.

4-2-5, 4 Rushers, Cover-1 Man

12 Personnel, 099 W-In U-Vertical

The Patriots are in Cover-1 Man with four rushers. Luck immediately sees a matchup he likes on the outside with LB Jamie Collins on RB Dan Herron and he throws him a well placed back shoulder pass but Herron isn’t able to haul it in. The Patriots defense seems to have trouble with this play altogether, which Luck doesn’t get to see. Off the left side, Hilton is immediately open because Arrington gets caught unable to get past Dwayne Allen who’s blocking Brandon Browner as he runs his route, allowing Coby Fleener to be wide open on the start of his wheel route. We’ll see if the Colts come back to this or a similar play call later.

3rd and 10 at NE 33 (4:59) (Shotgun) A.Luck pass incomplete short right to R.Wayne.

4-1-6, 4 rushers, Cover-2 Man

11 Personnel, 086 U-Corner R-Release Flat

Luck wastes no time in making his decision to throw to Wayne and he might have actually ended up throwing this too early. Regardless, Logan Ryan has Wayne well covered and is completely on him at the break.

2nd and 5 at IND 25 (:50) A.Luck pass short left to D.Herron to IND 33 for 8 yards (D.Hightower).

4-2-5, 4 Rushers, Cover-1 Man

11 Personnel, 988 U-Block R-Out

The Colts run three deep routes that all become covered and most importantly force the LBs to back up to make sure they cover the throwing lanes after the receivers make their breaks. This allows for a ton of space underneath to Herron, who is Luck’s first read and he gets him an easy ball. Dwayne Allen does a great job of neutralizing Ninkovich on this play, who’s been having a great first half.

1st and 10 at IND 33 (:10) (Shotgun) A.Luck pass incomplete short middle to J.Doyle (R.Ninkovich).

4-3-4, 4 rushers, Cover-1 Man

13 Personnel, 786 U-In H-WR Stop

The Patriots choose to bring in an extra linebacker against the Colts 13 personnel, but the Colts play this down with an empty backfield. That extra linebacker is Jonathan Casillas, who will be lined up over Herron who’s on the outside left. Luck does a quick read after the snap of what Donta Hightower chooses to do about TE Dwayne Allen’s short In, and upon seeing him follow he immediately turns his attention to Jack Doyle, who’s running a quick curl on the outside because he knows he has man coverage. Ninkovich however watches Luck’s drop and after seeing him take his third step abandons his rush and follows his eyes. Great play to get his hands on the ball. With the first Quarter nearing its end, Ninkovich has made this quarter his.

2nd and 10 at IND 33 (:05) (Shotgun) A.Luck pass incomplete deep right to H.Nicks.

4-2-5, 4 rushers, Cover-1 Man

11 Personnel, 949 W-Cross R-Swing

The Patriots are in Cover-1 Man and are rushing 4. On the snap, Hilton takes a quck slant from the right slot and finds a ton of open space to take advantage of. Luck is watching Hilton run across the field but notices Devon McCourty has abandoned his deep duty to crash down on Hilton, who he’s expecting to be the primary target. Luck uses this opportunity to take a deep shot at Nicks but overthrows him. Down by two Touchdowns with no points on the board, I don’t blame Luck for choosing this over the underneath throw to Hilton.

Go To The Next Page To See The Second Quarter