There is a constant rush to assign blame whenever a quarterback throws an interception. The tired and lazy takes about the refusal to go through progressions or read the entire field circulate the internet. True, quarterbacks are responsible for interceptions. However, there are times when the quarterback makes the correct read based on the pass concept and situation.
Fellow CSR contributor CanadianPanther attempted to debunk these myths last week when he broke down the “flood” concept. There needs to be an understanding of what quarterbacks are asked to do on any given pass concept. A quarterback can’t expect to freelance outside of structure. There were two plays on Sunday where Cam Newton made the correct read, but it lead to a bad result. The first was the interception and the other was an incomplete pass to Jonathan Stewart.
Slot Fade Concept
Newton overthrew Devin Funchess in the first quarter on a slot fade concept.
Motion shows man, Safety is committed to right side so Cam knows he's going to Funchess on slot fade. Good process, tough throw pic.twitter.com/TnIyNdxQG9
— Marxist Panther (@marxistpanther) October 2, 2017
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The Panthers are in the red zone on their first drive of the game. They come out in empty versus the Patriots man coverage. Devin Funchess, aligned in the slot, is running a slot fade concept. The benefit of this concept is it provides the quarterback to put air on it unlike a traditional fade. The wide receiver out wide acts as a decoy and is not part of the quarterback’s progression. He holds the wide cornerback, so he doesn’t interfere with the fade. This was a missed opportunity, but the Panthers returned to this same exact concept the next drive.
Once again, the Panthers are in an empty formation against the Patriots cover 1 (man coverage).
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Newton motions McCaffrey to the opposite side and when the linebacker follows, he is alerted that New England is in man coverage. Damiere Byrd is the intended target on the slot fade and Devin Funchess is the decoy. After Newton snaps the ball, he looks off the left side to move the safety away. Despite that, Malcolm Butler realizes the concept, avoids Funchess, and follows Byrd down the sideline.
Shot 7 - Wentz was dialed in for this game. I thought he was really, really good on Sunday. Great touch downfield on this slot fade #Eagles pic.twitter.com/PjSK0rBrlL
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) October 2, 2017
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The slot fade concept is a common concept in the NFL. Every team runs it.
Furthermore, he would have been sacked if he dropped the ball down and decided to scramble. Patriots defensive tackle, Malcolm Brown, beats Andrew Norwell on a swim move. He is free to the quarterback.
There is no part of the progression that instructs the quarterback to throw the ball to the decoy. Now, I’m certainly open to questioning why Damiere Byrd was the primary target. He does a poor job of breaking press, which slows down the timing of the route. Finally, the play occurred on 3rd down. The interception was essentially an arm punt. That doesn’t excuse the interception. Newton looked off the safety and made the correct read. Malcolm Butler is a top tier corner. He studied the Panthers tendencies and correctly bailed on his assignment to intercept the pass. He is a paid professional too.
Yankee Concept
After the Patriots cut the Panthers deficit to seven in the fourth quarter, Mike Shula attempted to put the game on ice. Shula dialed up the “yankee” concept against the Patriots cover 3 defense.
The concept is designed to target the deep post by putting stress on the single high safety. The deep dig route intends to occupy the deep safety, which opens up the post route in behind. Furthermore, this is a great play call to use off play-action. The defense has eight men in the box hoping to stop the run. The action opens up a window underneath, so the quarterback has time to throw it deep.
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The play initially goes according to plan. The deep safety bites on Benjamin’s dig.
Cam is ready to unload deep, but he doesn’t. Why?
He is loading his arm ready to throw it deep. He elects to bring the ball down and throw it away to Stewart. Maybe he doesn’t fully trust his arm yet? Maybe he felt interior pressure closing down? Regardless, this was another missed opportunity of making the right read but not exploiting the coverage.
The offense looked great last week, but there is still work to do. Despite Newton’s best game of the season, there were opportunities for more production. In addition, it’s important to understand the targets of pass concepts. Newton’s progression reading has been a constant criticism, but on these two negative plays it looks like he made the correct read. Let’s hope he can carry his positive performance into Detroit.