Breaking down Jalen Hurts' viral play explanation
Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts’ answer was the latest in a series of technical responses by NFL players
On Sunday, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts went viral on Twitter for his response to a reporter’s question about why he missed a wide-open Dallas Goedert in the end zone on a third down in the second quarter.
Here was Hurts’ response:
For my first post here at Engage Eight, I want to break down Hurts’ detailed explanation of what caused him to miss his wide open tight end.
“We’re expecting 7 bracket”
Hurts said that the Eagles were expecting the Giants to be in Cover 7 bracket. In its base form, Cover 7 is a coverage with two high safeties that splits the field in half. This allows the strong and weak half of defenders to play separate but complementary coverages. Imagine a line is drawn where the ball is placed and the defenders on top of the ball are grouped together and the defenders below the ball are grouped together.
On one side of Cover 7, they run a defense with 4 defenders over 3 potential targets, on the other side they run a scheme designed for 3 defenders over 2 potential receivers. Cover 7 is the defense of choice for Alabama’s Nick Saban and the Patriots’ Bill Belichick (which makes you think it might be an OK defense). There are a number of different variations of Cover 7, which I plan to cover more in depth in a future article, but the one Hurts said the Eagles were expecting was “bracket.”
7 Bracket is one of the more popular concepts in Cover 7 and is one of the more simple concepts. On the photo of the Giants’ defense pre-snap, you can see the Giants have a Corner, Nickel, Mike and Strong Safety over the Eagles three options on the strong side — Z receiver Jalen Reagor, Y receiver Dallas Goedert and HB Boston Scott
In 7 bracket the responsibilities are as follows:
Strong Side
Strong Corner [SC]: Man-to-man on the #1 receiver.
Nickel [N]: Man-to-man on the #2 receiver, in this case Goedert, unless the #3 receiver (the HB,) quickly swings out and then he will switch onto the HB.
Mike [M]: He is responsible for the number 3 receiver. If the HB quickly swings out, the #2 receiver becomes the #3 receiver and the Mike’s job is to make sure he re-routes the #2. Ensuring he doesn’t get a free release on a slant or inside route, nor is he allowed to sit in the middle of the zone.
Strong Safety [$S]: The Strong Safety is splitting the difference between the #1 and #2 receiver, and taking away deep routes from either receiver.
Weak Side
Weak Corner [WC]: Man-to-man on the #1 receiver
Will [W]: Man-to-man on the #2 receiver, playing outside leverage. Taking away out-breaking routes.
Free Safety [FS]: Brackets the #2 receiver, driving on in-breaking routes, such as slants or posts.
So there’s how the defense is supposed to work.
“So, have to find the single, maybe. But in that play, what I was coached to do is go through it as a pure progression. Work the shallow to the running back coming, only throw that against a certain look. My shallow popped.”
Hurts starts by saying the first thing you look for in Cover 7 is to look for the player who is facing single coverage, but he qualifies it and then explains that in that play he has been coached to work through it as a pure progression.
What is pure progression?
Pure progression means that Hurts isn’t reading the actions of the defenders to identify the coverage and who should be open based on his post-snap coverage reads, instead he is coached on what his options are and to work through them. Pure progression puts more of the onus on the coaching staff to decide what will be open against the expected coverage instead of on the quarterback to decipher the defense in real time.
He said his first read is the shallow cross from WR Quez Watkins, and then he is coached that his second read is his RB. His first read is open so he throws it. He is right that FS Xavier McKinney’s responsibility is to bracket Reagor. McKinney then makes a great play, reading Hurts’ eyes and driving on the shallow cross, which would’ve been open otherwise.
They busted the coverage back side, so he was wide open over there. So, my pre-snap look did not give me what I wanted, to throw the corner to Dallas.
What caused the Giants to bust coverage?
The pre-snap motion by Watkins causes some confusion in the Giants defense, specifically between the Nickel and Strong. The motion happens for only about half a second before the ball is snapped, not allowing time for the defensive backs to adjust. It seems that the Nickel is expecting the Corner to switch on to Goedert, and possibly to have help from the Mike on the cross from Watkins. Instead, the Strong Corner chases Watkins over the top. Then the Mike follows the swing route and the Nickel also goes late to also chase Watkins. Strong safety Logan Ryan plays his deep half not adjusting to the miscommunication between his corners and Goedert is left wide open.
In a perfect world for the Giants, the Corner and Nickel switch their man assignments, allowing the corner to take Goedert and already have outside leverage for the corner route Goedert runs, the Mike would identify the shallow cross and either offer a reroute while his Nickel works over the top to Watkins or he would take the shallow cross and alert the Nickel to the HB who becomes the new #2 receiver. Shallow crossing routes are a common man coverage beater because it forces defenders to chase receivers across the field and creates separation. If defenders are able to communicate and are confident in their coverage’s rules for when they switch it becomes easier to defend.
So is Hurts faultless on this play?
Not 100% clear.
In short, Hurts made the correct read on the play — Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni said as much in the post-game press conference. He said his read is from the shallow cross from Watkins to the arrow route from Boston Scott. Yet, Hurts is also clearly taught to hold the free safety with his eyes, as he clearly looks at McKinney and towards Reagor on the snap. This causes McKinney to step up and then make a great play driving on the shallow cross as he reads Hurts’ eyes. Could Hurts have moved the safety deeper with his eyes, or switched on to the shallow cross quicker? Possibly.
It may seem like splitting hairs but this type of minutia is what separates great NFL QBs, and something I will discuss in future film breakdowns.
Dope write up! What would you say are the weakness in this 7 bracket? Looks like motion can create some confusion. I know it is 3 & goal from the 5 and a pass is likely. However, numbers in the box are tempting as a possible weak point. 2 deep safeties have to be involved in run fits somehow, so maybe even play action/rpo? Good stuff!