Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Cumulative Totals through the 1st quarter were posted in Week 4's thread.
Week 6 (VS Miami Dolphins):Well here's what I saw as a whole out there. We really moved Woodson around as always, but he wasn't able to really dominate any match-up. For the most part, we had him on Marshall and Hartline, though a bit of Bess as well. Fasano wasn't utilized very much in the pass game as the Dolphins used heavy 6 and 7 man protections. Tramon drew a lot of Marshall and a lot of Bess as well. Shields took the other guy with some help over the top. Dom used a bit more man than usual, but this was the type of game I would have loved to see a little more press man. It's tough to press Marshall, but we barely did any of it. We contained him a helluva lot better in the 2nd half, so I guess Dom made the necessary adjustments differently, yet still effectively.
My Coverage Player of the Week:Week 1: Tramon Williams
Week 2: Sam Shields
Week 3: Nick Collins
Week 4: Charles Woodson
Week 5: Tramon Williams
Week 6: Nick CollinsLet me preface this on a positive note yet again. Sam Shields put together a very good ball game again. The Dolphins have three capable receivers in addition to Fasano, which means whenever we brought in the nickel package--probably the least this year, but still pretty often--Shields was stuck to a good one. I know, your response may be Brian Hartline is capable? Well, he ate the old vet up a couple of times including a couple first downs. Shields played good coverage for most of the afternoon, though he did receive some help over the top. He allowed 2 catches, but on this secondary, if you're only targeted twice, that's usually a good thing. He may have been able to prevent the Fasano TD that shouldn't have been with a better angle to the ball carrier, but that was his only real mistake on the evening. I was a huge fan of his as a draft prospect, but I do still get a little scared with a player as inexperienced as him out on the field, but every week he's out there, he's proving me wrong.
What are your thoughts on Tramon Williams this week? In all honesty, it wasn't as bad as it looked when you look at the game with a focus on the secondary. He finished with a 5.8 YPA on the evening, nearly doubling his 3.0 YPA prior to the game, though that's how spoiled we've been by his play. He also made an incredible pick that saved at least 3 and potentially 7 on the drive. Keep in mind the drive would have put us down 10-3 or 14-3, but instead Aaron connects with Greg and we're up 10-7. Could have been a different ball game from there. Marshall isn't Tramon's ideal match. Tramon is a 5'11 sound tech corner, while Marshall's size poses a big problem. Still, he played well enough when on Marshall and dominated his other match-ups. He could have been credited with the TD, but I gave it to Woodson because it looked like he had a better angle on it. It would have been best to split up the TD because I don't know for sure who it was on, but it was a great playcall.
What in the world has happened to Woodson??? What an ugly game. He was responsible for 8 of the 17 first downs ceded by our secondary. I don't know what it is! In zone coverage he looks sloppy in the breaks and doesn't anticipate or move with the receiver. It's resulted in far too many calls this year and other instances where he just falls down. In man, he's looked a bit better, but once again still has trouble defending sharp 90 degree breaks, which seems to be his biggest problem this year. He's still a pleasure to watch in run support, but man have his coverage skills deteriorated. I sure hope he gets em back!
Peprah was quiet today as expected. Dolphins don't have any deep ball threats to really test the safeties. Though the same applies to Collins, he had a great game again judging from the crappy TV angles. Both he and Pep played good help D over the top, though I wondered what happened on the overruled Marshall TD. Collins breaks on balls in front of him as good as any safety in the league. From here on out, I'm not mentioning a certain something I have every other week with my expectations from Collins. Maybe that'll change his luck.
Linebackers looked good in coverage today, though they weren't tested. Fasano was used primarily as a pass blocker. That and the run game sucked the linebackers toward the line of scrimmage which created some voids behind the linebackers as well as the areas just outside the hashmarks. Bishop once again looked good.
1 other point of note:After rewatching the run plays, I'm a little scared going up against AP this week. Hopefully Pickett helps, but Bishop sometimes plays too aggressively on the field leaving the cutback right behind him. When he's attacking blockers, it's also hit or miss. He either makes a nice play, or ends up on the ground. Peterson is the best back in the league, especially at hitting that cutback, so Bishop, please be gap discipline this week.
Thus ends my usual rigmarole.