Dissecting the Key Plays from Week 10
Winning football games is always about more than just one play. However, there are certain individual snaps that clearly carry more weight than others. Below, we’ll break down a few that played instrumental roles in the outcomes of some key games on Sunday.
Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown on 3rd Down
The Lions and Texans played an absolutely wild game on Sunday Night. There were many big plays that you could argue determined the outcome in this one. But the below play would put Detroit in position to drill the game-winning field goal.
This was a 3rd-and-6 with 1:30 remaining and the score tied. The Lions had the ball at Houston’s 48-yard line.
Initially, they aligned with a trips bunch to the right. The Texans matched up with what appeared to be 3 defenders in man coverage and a 4th defender to help out:
Bunch is a great man-beating formation because of the picks and rubs it creates for the defense. One of the best ways to defend it is to out-number the bunch by bringing a 4th defender in to help.
When Goff saw the Texans do that, he instantly killed the play at the line and went to the second play that was called in the huddle:
A big element of this was that Detroit got aligned with enough time remaining on the play-clock that offensive coordinator Ben Johnson could still communicate with Goff. I don’t know for sure if he was talking to him there, but it’s likely given that Goff checked to the second play called almost instantly.
Either way, the check at the line changed the formation, spreading the 3-receiver set out:
The Texans appeared to adjust their coverage to a 2-shell zone in response (quarter-quarter-half). I’m guessing Johnson anticipated that the new formation would do that:
The route combination was designed to beat zone by removing defenders and then isolating a mismatch. Below, you can see the route combination. The vertical route on the outside held two defenders deep. The flat-route widened the flat defender. And that left Amon-Ra St. Brown in the slot against a linebacker (Azeez Al-Shaair) with room to operate:
Goff knew what he had right away. He said after the game that St. Brown was the first read on the play. He wouldn’t have to make a second:
Al-Shaair had no chance. Three plays later, Detroit kicked the game-winning field goal with no time left on the clock and improved to 8-1.