Chris Landry, a veteran NFL scouts analysis

[Big Score 1]

Chris Landry, a veteran NFL scout, will write a Q&A column each Tuesday breaking down the action from the previous week of play.

 

Many observers question Miami Dolphins quarterback Daunte Culpepper's ability to read defenses. What are your thoughts on his skills?

He can read defenses but he is often late and lacks timing with his reads. He is definitely a quarterback who can be schemed up by teams with multiple-front looks and movements as well as different coverage looks. Often he will be quick to go to his check down options, failing to let route progressions develop enough. Other times, he will be late delivering the ball on his downfield routes. This is consistent with a quarterback who lacks timing in his reads.

 

His best success as a quarterback – under current Rams head coach Scott Linehan when he was offensive coordinator with the Vikings – was when he was given half-field reads and worked heavily off play action, which by design gives a quarterback a simple two-option read.

 

He will gradually develop nicely under offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey and coach Nick Saban, who will drill this home to him. Against a team like the Steelers who mix their fronts nicely and disguise their coverages well, it's a difficult task to run the ball and set up play action when you are struggling to block their front seven, which was certainly the case in the Dolphins’ season opener.

 

How were the Atlanta Falcons able to dominate the Carolina Panthers? Does Steve Smith mean that much to his team?

Atlanta controlled the tempo of the game by using front-side zone runs to attack the outside edges of the Panthers' run defense. Carolina really struggled to stop the run with its front. Not helping matters was that the Panthers were without middle linebacker Dan Morgan, a blue- graded (highest pro personnel scouting grade) run defender.

 

The Falcons defense played lots of loaded fronts vs. Carolina's running game. The Panthers could not block it nearly well enough and lacked the ability to displace a defender out of the box with three-wide receiver sets because of Smith's absence. Without Smith, Carolina offensive coordinator Dan Henning could not use his bunch pass look where he likes to get Smith loose with those quick end screens. A legitimate vertical threat was also eliminated without Smith, which nullified the Falcons' need to play with a double-high safety look.

 

The Falcons actually could have put the game away sooner with better red zone efficiency in the first half. Falcons defensive end John Abraham was a beast coming off the ball. The Panthers had to slide their protections in an effort to block him, which opened up some rush lanes in the "A" gaps (the area between the center and either guard).

 

What were the problems with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offense against Baltimore?

The Buccaneers could not get their power running game going against the Ravens defensive front.

Tampa Bay's interior offensive line problems were evident as they tried to throw the ball downfield more than I thought instead of using a lot of three- and five-step quick release passes to slow down Baltimore's front pressure. Chris Simms did not utilize his check downs nearly enough, allowing the Ravens secondary to key his eyes and get a quick jump on the ball. Passing game success requires route progression, route spreading, good reads, good throws and good catches – all of which cannot be properly executed without enough time generated by pass protection.

 

This game was a total defensive domination by the Ravens, who had more interception return yardage than the Buccaneers had total offense in the first half.

 

Are the Tennessee Titans the worst team in football?

Quite possibly but that can be debated for now I guess. What is not debatable, however, is that the Titans seem headed in the wrong direction more than any other team.

 

The Titans' self-inflicted salary cap woes have led to a roster purge. When a team starts dumping talent, the best way to rebuild the roster is drafting well. The Ravens are a perfect example as they rebuilt their team quickly through the NFL draft after purging their roster one year after winning the 2000 Super Bowl title.

 

However, the Titans have combined very poor salary-cap management with very poor drafts. They have not had a good draft since 2000. The 2001 draft consisted of poor evaluations and selections of players like Shad Meier, Justin McCareins and Eddie Berlin. The next year produced picks like Tank Williams, Rocky Calmus, Mike Echols and Tony Beckham. Then, in 2003 they drafted Andre Woolfolk in the first round and Tyrone Calico in the second. In 2004 they reached on Antwan Odom and Travis LaBoy, emergency need picks demanded by the coaching staff to cover up previous bad picks by the personnel department. In 2005, they did poor research on Pacman Jones and made him the sixth overall pick despite having numerous off-field problems in high school and college. To no one's surprise but the Titans, he has been nothing but trouble.

 

This past draft, despite the urging of coach Jeff Fisher and offensive coordinator Norm Chow to take the more skilled quarterback in Matt Leinart, they selected Vince Young. Another option for the Titans was to trade down and take Jay Cutler, who played at nearby Vanderbilt.

 

As if this hasn't crippled their future enough, they botched the handling of the veteran quarterback situation. Steve McNair initially was willing to accept an offer far less than he eventually signed with the Ravens. They decided against that and went with Billy Volek as the starter after having four years of service under his belt on the Titans roster, plenty of time to make a decision on his starting potential. The plan was to go with Volek as the starter while bringing Young along slowly, similar to how McNair was developed.

 

Suddenly they went back against their initial decision to go with Volek and realized they needed a veteran with more starting experience. But instead of bringing in Kerry Collins before or during the early stages of training camp, they waited until right before the season opener. So you have Collins, notoriously slow at picking up an offense and error prone even in ones that he knows, starting in a system that he knows very little about. They then decide to play Young on a few snaps in the opener against the Jets, long before he is ready. The problem here is that he continues to develop even more bad habits.

 

No wonder offensive coordinator Chow is contemplating heading back into the college ranks, according to team sources. Jeff Fisher, one of the more respected coaches in the NFL, has a clause in his contract that triggers at season's end. The Titans must make him an offer equal to the highest five paid coaches in the league or he may be coaching elsewhere. There are teams in the league that would jump at the opportunity of bringing Fisher aboard.

 

"He would be the top free agent available, player or coach", said one AFC general manager. In NFL circles, Fisher is widely respected and is considered to have made the best of a poorly run front office. "His teams play hard but it's obvious their personnel department is not on the same page with the coaching staff," a rival head coach said recently.

 

Should they lose Fisher, it is highly unlikely any quality candidate would take the job unless he was allowed more unilateral control to clean a front office and scouting department that is not well respected in and around the league.

 

What performance was under the radar this week yet something you viewed as outstanding?

The St. Louis Rams’ defensive effort orchestrated by defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. He has 64 different blitzes currently in his playbook and really came after the Broncos, forcing Jake Plummer out of any comfort zone and attacked the "A" gap and "B" (between the guard and tackle spots) with a steady diet of run blitzes. The result was five forced turnovers and the unnerving of the Broncos offense.

 

What keyed the Jacksonville Jaguars’ second-half performance versus the Cowboys?

Offensively they tightened up their protections, shortened their routes and half rolled quarterback Byron Leftwich to create more time for route development and take advantage of the size advantages in the passing game.

 

Defensively, they reduced their front, put lots of pressure in the "A" gaps and caused protection breakdowns from a struggling Cowboys offensive line. This limited the success of wide receiver Terrell Owens and the rest of the Cowboys receivers as they did not have enough time to reach their route break off point.

[Hat Trick]

Sounds good to me, mind posting this every week? I really liked his TENN answer, broke down exactly what has been going on the last few years there.

 

Oh, and so where are all the Vince Young supporters........I want to hear from them now......remember Leinert is crap, has a weak arm and Vince is the MAN ;-)

Edited September 13, 2006 by Hat Trick

[Chadman]

EXCELLENT info. Thanks.

[luke davenport]

EXCELLENT info. Thanks.

 

Ditto!

[cheezhed]

no BS there BS....thanks

[BeeR]

[Jackass]

It's hard to believe a franchise could make as many bad decisions as the Titans have. You almost couldn't make that up if you wanted to.

[Clubfoothead]

Great read, thanks BS. Hope Landry is right about Culpepper.

[spain]

I listen to Landry on a couple of the local radio shows quite often. Alot of times I totally disagree with his analysis and he really isnt my favorite. I actually called one of the shows a few years ago and spoke with him about Priest Holmes(the off season when he had the hip problem). But he is right on with his Titan analysis here. The drafts have sucked over the past 5 years. Bringing in Collins in August instead of May is absurd. And Fisher or Reese or both probably wont be here next year. This team has some serious personnel issues and I dont know how they can turn this thing around anytime soon...

[Jackass]

I listen to Landry on a couple of the local radio shows quite often. Alot of times I totally disagree with his analysis and he really isnt my favorite. I actually called one of the shows a few years ago and spoke with him about Priest Holmes(the off season when he had the hip problem). But he is right on with his Titan analysis here. The drafts have sucked over the past 5 years. Bringing in Collins in August instead of May is absurd. And Fisher or Reese or both probably wont be here next year. This team has some serious personnel issues and I dont know how they can turn this thing around anytime soon...

 

 

I think Fisher is as good as gone. Whatever team gets him is going to be very fortunate.