"When I look at DaRon Bland's season, I don't see a corner who suddenly forgot how to play football. I see a player, and a defense, being square pegs trying to be shoved into round holes. Bland is a press-man corner, but Matt Eberflus hasn't been playing him that way, and fans, analysts, and anyone else who knows football sees this, except for the man making millions to coach him."
"According to Sharp Football, Dallas has lined up in zone coverage on 76.8% of its defensive snaps, while playing man coverage just 15.9% of the time. More than 50% of those looks are middle-closed, showing a scheme built to sit back, read concepts, and protect space. How good are they in space? The answer is... Terrible, thanks Kenneth Murray and Logan Wilson."
"In that matchup, the defense played man coverage on 49.2% of their snaps, nearly half the game and easily the highest rate of the season. Bland looked like himself again. He finished that game with an 83.4 overall PFF grade, allowed four catches for 45 yards on eight targets, and recorded an interception. The quarterback passer rating was 27.6 when throwing his way."
DaRon Bland is a press-man corner whose skill set thrives when allowed to press receivers and disrupt timing. The Dallas Cowboys have deployed zone coverage on an overwhelming share of snaps—roughly 76.8% overall and as high as 87.2% early in the season—while using man coverage sparingly. That scheme emphasis forces press corners to play in space and rely on reading concepts, areas where the defense has underperformed. A game with increased man usage (49.2% vs Washington) produced strong results for Bland, including an 83.4 PFF grade, four catches allowed for 45 yards, and an interception.
Read at Inside The Star
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]