Tom Savage vs Indianapolis
Play 22
Situation: 2nd and 3 at HST 39
Description: Q4 - (1:45) (Shotgun) T.Savage pass incomplete short middle to D.Johnson.
Good pocket presence from Savage here. Feels the pressure, but doesn’t let it get to him. He delivers a catchable ball over the middle, but his placement is off the mark. The linebacker just barely gets a hand on the ball and causes Johnson to drop the catch.
Play 23
Situation: 3rd and 3 at HST 39
Description: Q4 - (1:40) (Shotgun) T.Savage pass incomplete deep left to D.Hopkins (S.Brown)(A.Jones).
Savage delivers a throw to Hopkins, but he puts too much air underneath it and that allows the safety to come over and deliver a big hit to break up the pass. Savage was injured on this play after being hit in the leg. Houston would call a timeout to give Savage a chance to recover and make one last play.
Play 24
Situation: 4th and 3 at HST 39
Description: Q4 - (1:34) (Shotgun) T.Savage pass short left intended for D.Hopkins INTERCEPTED by V.Davis at HST 48. V.Davis pushed ob at HST 40 for 8 yards (R.Griffin).
There’s a full press man on every receiver on this play with only a single high safety.
No one is able to beat the press which puts Savage in a very poor position.
The only hope this play had of succeeding was Arian Foster running a delayed route into the wide open space in the middle, but even he is pressed at the line and is unable to break off in time.
Damaris Johnson in the slot at the bottom of the screen also has a breif opening, but Savage never looked his way.
Savage never takes his eyes off Hopkins as he tries to force the throw in and Vontae Davis easily reads the play and makes the interception.
Final Thoughts
Tom Savage suffered from his lack of playbook knowledge in this game against the Colts. He had several incorrect protection calls and a few miscommunications with his receivers. With that said, I still see a lot of potential in Savage. His footwork is much better than it was in college, though it’s still inconsistent at times. Savage will still set his feet too early on occasion and make poor throws. However, he’s displaying lighter feet and a more consistent rhythm with his footwork. He also improved on his reads. He’s watching the safeties now and adjusting his throws to them. He’s also improved his internal clock and tries to get rid of the ball much more quickly now. In college he earned the reputation for his pocket presence because he simply held on to the ball too long. Now he’s not only standing in the pocket and delivering, but he’s making quicker decisions and smarter ones at that.
Where Savage still needs to improve is his field awareness. He seems to get tunnel vision towards one side of the field and needs to have better full field awareness. He also needs to stop staring down his first read and freeze the safeties more often. I blame this problem mostly on Savage simply not knowing the playbook well enough to anticipate who would get open. However, he had the same problem in college so it could still be a lingering problem. Savage also needs to get better at progressing through his reads. He simply doesn’t look around enough. This goes back to my tunnel vision comment, he gets so fixated on one side of the field, or even one particular receiver, that he blinds himself to the rest of the play.
Overall, I think Savage is on the right track. He’s far better than most people will give him credit for. His time under Bill O’Brien is doing him a lot of good, and should continue to help him grow as a player. As for his competition with Hoyer and Mallett, I don’t think Savage is ready to win a QB battle just yet. As a 3rd string QB, there are certainly worse options to have, and as a backup he’s a decent replacement. If given some more time to actually learn the playbook and develop some chemistry with his receivers I could see Savage competing for a team’s starting spot in 2016.
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