I originally went back and watched "the sneak" again because I couldn't figure out how Wattenberg managed to get 3 yards downfield, still standing, while his QB was stacked up at the line of scrimmage in a giant pile. It just seemed physically impossible for the center to have escaped that mess and literally have time to turn around and watch his QB get stopped for no gain.
But, after watching it again, Wattenberg actually engaged his defender and moved him 3 yards downfield. He was the only lineman that actually got any push. The rest of the line ... horrifying to watch.
Our right tackle and right guard get off the ball slow, and then slant left. They never directly engage the defenders in front of them. The defenders get off quickly enough that they just shoot the gaps between the guard/center and tackle/guard. The d-linemen are already a yard deep in our backfield before our o-linemen engage with them, and then when they do engage with them they push them directly into the path of Morris (or, in the case of our right tackle, he whiffs entirely).
This explains how Wattenberg managed to get so far downfield, on a sneak, relatively unscathed by the pile. As he vacated and got push on the d-lineman in front of him, the vacancy gets immediately filed by the other d-linemen that our o-line pushes into that spot ... stopping Morris in his tracks.
Worse than all of that, is our left guard. He does not make contact with the d-lineman that is across from him until AFTER Morris is already stopped. That's how late he was getting off the snap. I know that Morris slanted away from our left guard, but it's still stunning to watch how slow our left guard gets off the snap. Of all of our lineman not named Wattenberg, only our left tackle seems to get off the ball with any urgency, and since the sneak went to the right, it made no difference.
Our linemen were incredibly slow off the ball ... and worse yet ... the entire blocking scheme seemed designed to push defenders directly into the path of the QB, rather than firing out straight ahead and getting a 1.5 yard push. It's a mess.
You can fast forward this video to 15:40 if you want to see it for yourself. Have a vomit bag nearby.
But, after watching it again, Wattenberg actually engaged his defender and moved him 3 yards downfield. He was the only lineman that actually got any push. The rest of the line ... horrifying to watch.
Our right tackle and right guard get off the ball slow, and then slant left. They never directly engage the defenders in front of them. The defenders get off quickly enough that they just shoot the gaps between the guard/center and tackle/guard. The d-linemen are already a yard deep in our backfield before our o-linemen engage with them, and then when they do engage with them they push them directly into the path of Morris (or, in the case of our right tackle, he whiffs entirely).
This explains how Wattenberg managed to get so far downfield, on a sneak, relatively unscathed by the pile. As he vacated and got push on the d-lineman in front of him, the vacancy gets immediately filed by the other d-linemen that our o-line pushes into that spot ... stopping Morris in his tracks.
Worse than all of that, is our left guard. He does not make contact with the d-lineman that is across from him until AFTER Morris is already stopped. That's how late he was getting off the snap. I know that Morris slanted away from our left guard, but it's still stunning to watch how slow our left guard gets off the snap. Of all of our lineman not named Wattenberg, only our left tackle seems to get off the ball with any urgency, and since the sneak went to the right, it made no difference.
Our linemen were incredibly slow off the ball ... and worse yet ... the entire blocking scheme seemed designed to push defenders directly into the path of the QB, rather than firing out straight ahead and getting a 1.5 yard push. It's a mess.
You can fast forward this video to 15:40 if you want to see it for yourself. Have a vomit bag nearby.
