Week 4 Chart As I felt when Collins went down, this was the Morgan Burnett I expected to show up several times this week. He doesn't quite yet have the feel, speed, or experience of Collins yet and it will show at times. Safety is a tough position to master, which is why we've seen so few play with any sort of consistency, something Collins excelled in. By no means is this time to hit the panic button, but it's all part of the growing pains of a young safety. Morgan will learn and improve from it. I think Dom will too, dropping him down less frequently on a receiver. The 33 yard TD was a classic Nick Collins play that Burnett just doesn't have the experience/skills to play yet. You could trust Collins to play sporadic man coverage on a receiver because of his recovery speed and instincts, but it's not something Morgan has quite yet. That's the flexibility we may lose in the backend of this defense. I penciled him in for 78 yards, but you could have tacked on another 25 on the long bomb to Lloyd brought back by penalty (Peprah would have shared responsibility).
Williams was targeted early and often and he's allowing more completions this year because of the scheme. I think it's something we can expect to change as the year goes on, but this off man/zone is not his strongest suit. I love seeing him run stride for stride with a receiver from the line of scrimmage. It's where he's at his best. He doesn't need to play with the receiver in front of him.
This game probably marks the most we've seen Matthews drop into coverage his entire career. Dom definitely wanted to throw him out there and get it on film. It worked several times as linemen prepared to block him were puzzled post-snap. Unfortunately, it also showed on my stat sheet. If it weren't for Matthews, even in a limited role, we may have had 2 hurries all game. The sack was caused with Matthews coming free and moving Orton off the spot immediately. I really hope Zombo can do a better job getting their than Walden. Walden has no moves aside from his lousy bull rush and lacks the explosiveness to beat a LT on speed alone.
Quarter 1 Chart