Mini Coupe Power Play: The Backbreaker

by Vega on Oct 19, 2011 5:00 AM CDT in Mini Coupe Power Play

It was exceedingly difficult to select the Mini Coupe Power Play this week. Part of that stemmed from the fact that there wasn't any single play that you could point to and say, "That was the play that cost us the game!" Mainly, though, it was the simple notion that looking back at the game was akin to reliving a hangover without enjoying the drink.

I thought about going with the beautiful touchdown pass from Matt Schaub to Jacoby Jones, but selecting a positive Texans play from this past game feels like cheating. It's like bragging to your friends that you won at the blackjack tables in Vegas, but leaving out the thousands you lost at the craps table or the disease you caught from the female professionals.

So for this week's Mini Coupe Power Play, I selected the play that finally broke my will.

Throughout the afternoon, even as my frustration and anger mounted, I continued to hold out hope. I can't explain it either. When this play happened, though, what I was hoping would be a celebratory beer faded into a consolatory beer.

The play in question? Ray Rice's 27-yard run late in the fourth quarter that set up Ricky Williams' touchdown.

Wait, the Texans gave up a touchdown to Ricky effing Williams?!!

Sigh... jump...

Let's set the stage. The Texans are trailing by five, and if they can force a stop on this drive, it can set up a potential game winning touchdown drive.

It's second and three, and Ravens are already in long field goal range, at the Houston 31, but if you squint hard and spin around real fast, you can still make out a glimmer of hope.

Pre-snap, you can see that the Texans are pretty much in their base formation, while the Ravens are set up in a standard I. Danieal Manning is playing fairly close to the line in anticipation of a running play. Just before the snap, Brian Cushing starts sneaking towards the line.

Shifting to the end zone view, we can see that right after snap, Cushing does blitz and actually does a good job of penetrating, but the play is not run in his direction, so he's pretty much out of the play. Earl Mitchell shifts towards the hole, but isn't able to close it. The two things to focus on here are that DeMeco Ryans is the one in position to close the gap, and Manning, reading run, takes his first steps forward.

Unfortunately, DeMeco gets knocked out of line by Vonta Leach and since Manning ran straight at the line, he's in no position to pursue. This leaves one man between Rice and the end zone.

That man would be Glover Quin. Rice puts a nice move on Quin, who only gets a tip of a shoelace.

That shoelace trips Rice up a little bit, but he's able to keep his balance. It probably ultimately saved a touchdown, but we refer to that as a sprinkle of sugar on a pile of poop.

This gives Rice an additional 14 yards before Danieal Manning--and give Manning credit for not giving up on the play-- pushes him out of bounds at the 4.

Well, that sucked.

According to Advanced NFL Stats, this play only increased the probability of victory for the Ravens by 1%, but it was pretty much the straw that broke the drunken camel's back.

The catalyst for the play was our former Human Coke machine, Vonta Leach -- causing me to drink some Vonta bleach.

Texans vs Ravens coverage

Tweet Comment 12 comments | 1 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Good post.

The writer formerly known as This White Man Can Jump; Powah Stached; Bear Killer; Da Dude; The Other Bambino; TJ Dropped The Season; Harbaugh Is My Co-Pilot; Billick's Alter Ego; Mr. Poopy Pants.

by El.Dude on Oct 19, 2011 7:54 AM CDT reply actions

That did suck

But overall I think the D did a great job of containing Rice (until the 4th anyways), just like they did with Run DMC. If there is a positive I can take from the past 2 weeks it is definitely the play of the defense.With the teams they have played and those that are left on their schedule, they are looking to legitimately be a top 10 defense. Who in the world would have thought that to be possible 3 months ago? Certainly not me, I was hoping for a top 15. I still cant believe the Ravens somehow ended up scoring 29 last week, it makes the defense look worse than it really was.

"Never underestimate the dumb with JJ" - Hugh Jarce

by Mumford on Oct 19, 2011 8:22 AM CDT reply actions

Completely agree...

When I finally conceded that we weren’t going to win, I thought that we had hung tough, they hadn’t just beat the ever living daylights out of us. Then I looked at the score and thought, how the hell did we give up 29 pts?

GO TEXANS!!!!

Our time is NOW!!!!

by Texanmaniac on Oct 19, 2011 8:44 AM CDT up reply actions

That did suck

If it weren’t a bltz – likely a 2 yard run

However, the Texans were near desperation, and I have no issues with a blitz called there – just was in the wrong spot for that play. It was a High risk high reward kind of defensive call – the high risk won.

I am now drinking the koolaid. Texans are making their turn for the best. Screw pessimism!

by Barryfromtexas on Oct 19, 2011 9:15 AM CDT reply actions

Planetoid NT?

Looking at the stills it looks like Earl Mitchell gets completely eaten up by #77 who essentially tosses Mitchell to the offensive right side. Had Mitchell been able to hold his ground (as depicted in the second still), then perhaps Vonta would have committed to the gap between 77 and the RG. Instead, Mitchell gets thrown to the ground on the right side, Vonta is able to cut back to his left to meet Ryans allowing Rice to run between 77 and Vonta.

Had Mitchell been able to remain stout as shown in still 2, then it appears that Ryans would have met Leach in the gap to 77’s right (which was a significantly smaller hole than what ultimately unfolded); this could have either slowed Rice down as he followed Leach or forced him to cut back to his left, going to the left side of 77 (where hopefully Manning would be waiting).

I haven’t been focusing on Mitchell’s performances (or Cody’s for that matter) so it’s unfair to pick out one snap out of 20-30, but just thought the picture breakdown was interesting. Also, what do we think about Ryans performance thus far this season? I must admit that I haven’t really found myself noticing his play much. Just curious what the rest of BRB thinks about him thus far.

(Disclaimer: I don’t have a DVR and I don’t religiously break down each play so if I am in error in this assessment or I am naively over-simplifying this, please forgive; just looking at this from a very non-technical fan’s perspective).

Rob Schneider was an animal. Then he was a woman. And now Rob Schneider is... a stapler! And he's about to find out that being a stapler is harder than it looks. Rob Schneider is… "The Stapler". Rated PG-13.

by benbiggles on Oct 19, 2011 9:24 AM CDT reply actions

DeMeco Ryans who had hole-sealing responsibilities on that play was the biggest breakdown, IMO

Why seal the hole before the FB hits the hole? Why allow the FB to tie you up and keep you from making a play on the ball carrier? Rice, actually doesn’t follow the FB. He cuts to the left to the other hole that Ryans didn’t seal.

I think Ryans was too quick to engage the FB. Ryans should have used Mitchell as his blocker, forcing Leach to go through the hole, missing Ryans and leaving Ryans with the ability to now go to either side of Mitchell, whichever side Rice was to choose. Rice has good vision and saw Ryans go to the right hole, get tied up with Leach and he opted for the left hole. Rice has the cutting ability to do that and he did. Ryans moved too quickly and allowed himself to be taken out of the play by Leach. Rice gets a free pass through the line and the rest is history. He’s now in the open field doing what he does.

I didn't do anything wrong!.... and, I won't do it again.

by Rip Jersey on Oct 19, 2011 10:10 AM CDT reply actions

Gotcha

I wonder if we’ve seen the last of pre-injury Demeco? He has yet to jump out at me when I’m watching the Texans. Hopefully he either gets back to playing like his old self quickly (or let us pray his new contract is light on the guaranteed $$, well I’ll pray since I don’t know the language of his deal and I don’t feel like looking it up).

by benbiggles on Oct 19, 2011 10:24 AM CDT up reply actions

I can't say when or if on DeMeco

If I were a LB Coach on the Texans, which I am far from being, but WTH, let’s give it a whirl. This is what I would teach:

When the other team is lining up with two in the backfield, the MLB who is tasked with filling the hole on a run needs to decide before the snap, how he is going to avoid being blocked by the lead blocker. When the ball is snapped, quickly diagnose the play. Is it a run or a pass? In this case it was a run, so the next step is to realize you are the guy who needs to fill the hole in the line, so follow the lead blocker with your eyes, with the intent to brush him off and not allow him to take you out of the play. Don’t take the FB on. You want to be left standing and mobile, able to move to tackle the ball carrier. Use your linemen. Shade off the linemen. Don’t move in too fast. Don’t commit before the ball carrier commits. The MLB has to have some quickness of mind and body. The MLB should be agile enough to at least cause the rushing FB to glance off him and not plow into him head-on. Sure, I am writing this in slow motion and the actual play is coming at the MLB at NFL speed. But, this should all be second nature to DeMeco. He needs to be able to do these things, especially when the other MLB is blitzing. I don’t think Baltimore’s execution of that play was so dominating that the outcome was inevitable. I think DeMeco misplayed it and I think if he didn’t misplay it, he could have stopped it for three yards. I will agree that Mitchell was taken out of the play which made it a three yard play, by opening a bigger hole to the left. But, DeMeco should have been there and wasn’t because he engaged the FB.

I didn't do anything wrong!.... and, I won't do it again.

by Rip Jersey on Oct 19, 2011 10:45 AM CDT up reply actions

you mentioned anger...

how can i have anger anymore about the texans? am i no longer human? have i drowned out my true feelings? have i become a lemming for the texans (i’m not sure i understand what i just said)?
anyway… if we were by chance not play up to our capabilities this next game…. then maybe i’ll find anger…. i mean… it is bud adams we’re talking about.

by Danpassurweenie on Oct 19, 2011 8:55 PM CDT reply actions