In yesterday’s post we questioned Banks on what route schemes teams were running prior to the 49ers game. Some numbers will confirm why the Giants are more skilled at man and press versus zone coverage.
Before getting to the numbers. Rolle admitted on WFAN yesterday that rookie LB Jones blew the coverage on Vernon Davis’ 31 yard TD in a cover 3 that converted to man on the fly. To add to the confusion “CB Michael Coe said it was Cover-3” when interviewed directly after the game Even Fewell admitted prior that they need to simplify the coverage schemes for even the more experienced players. If so then why does he believe that his rookie LBs will be able to handle his schemes? Banks pointed out on Monday that they need to do a better job of “pattern read” and he was primarily directing this at Kiwi and Boley.
Below we break down the statistics on both zone coverage and man coverage. We will break it down even further on whether press was involved. But first the press coverage numbers: a ½ point is given for each cornerback that is in press coverage whether in man or zone.
The accumulative point total is 9 ½ out of a possible 30 pass attempts which means that the Giants are in press 32% of the time.
Zone coverage and no press: 12/16 for 140+ yards and 1 TD.
Zone coverage with press: 4/5 for 40+ yards, 6 yard sack
Man coverage and no press: 3/5 for 30+ yards and 16 yard QB scramble.
Man coverage with press: 1/6 for 20 yards, 1 interception, 9 yard QB scramble and 7 yard sack.
So we can conclude that when in zone Smith went 16/21 for 180+ yards and 1 TD. He completed 76% of his passes versus his season average of 64%. In man coverage Smith was 4/11 for 50+ yards, 1 interception and 2 sacks while scrambling out of the pocket twice. Not even close. 36% completion percent in man vs 76% completion percent in zone. Note also Fewell’s tendency is passive zone coverage over man, where he is in zone 21 out of 32 times, or 66% of the time.
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