Tracking the Passing Game: 2013

[mascho]

Rev:

You've got it right. In a Cover 3 the weak side cornerback is responsible for the deep third to his side of the field. It is up to the weak side backer to get out to that weak side flat. So using that play above, if the weak side corner is all over that comeback route, as a QB you are counting on your RB winning that matchup with the WLB, either by making him miss a tackle or beating him on the route. And if the WLB were to blitz...then we're into hot reads, which I will address later in a response to baka's latest post.

Tony C:

I think it is always fair to wonder how in the world a QB misses not one, but two guys running open deep. As I noted earlier, I think Brady gave it as much time (3.53 seconds) as he could before his internal alarms were screaming that he had to move on.

 

[Reverend]

Cool. Follow up question:
 
Would a Cover-3 always be the CB on the weak side dropping back into coverage? Or could the D in that pic dropped into Cover-3 with the CB on the strong side dropping back? I can see from the play that if that's the case, the play still affords similar possibilities on offense, but I'm wondering how many different possibilites might be in play that QB has to consider to make the read that it's Cover-2 versus Cover-3.

 

[Stitch01]

Is it also not being too fair to Brady to say he was on to a different read and so not his fault?
 
I mean..cripes, 2 guys were wide open in the same general direction he threw it...just 10-15 yards further downfield. Brady had all day and he threw to Sudfield before his break. It seems to me a fair expectation that HoF QB like Brady will have enough field awareness to take his time and at a minimum give his rookie TE a beat more to make his break and perhaps not be so fixed on him that he misses 2 guys open for TDs -- it's not like they were on the other side of the field.

 
Sudfeld was moving across the field towards the left sideline and Edelman was at the right hashmark and moving towards the right sidelines, so they werent in the same general direction.
 
Thompkins looks open the whole play. He might have blown the read or locked onto Sudfeld. I dont think he threw it early, he either through it inaccurately or Sudfeld screwed up the route.  The ball took him by surprise
 
To Rev's point, a safety fell down, possible Brady read the safety was there and moved on his progression so he just never saw the guy fall down.
 
One case where it would be nice for us if BB was more open and a reporter could ask i if it was a massive fuckup or just sort of a fluke of how the play is read.  Looked horrible live of course.
 
EDIT: On the coaches film, looks like he looks at Edelman first, but initially there is a safety there.  Not sure why he didnt see/throw to Thompkins

 

[Super Nomario]

Brady on that play:
 

On the second-quarter pass to Sudfeld when he missed Julian Edelman and Thompkins after blown coverages down the field: “We were trying kind of a trick play, and we were expecting those other two to be covered, so I didn’t even really look at them. I wish I would have, obviously, because Julian came back and said they set him free. And Thompkins, too. … It was kind of a play where we were trying to use those other guys as decoys to get Sudfeld open, but Sudfeld was the one that was covered. Those are ones that I wish I would see the whole play and the concepts. We just kind of missed an opportunity there.” - See more at: http://bostonherald.com/sports/patriots_nfl/the_blitz/2013/09/tom_brady_explains_why_patriots_have_preferred_rookies_over#sthash.ZRVhD0kT.dpuf

EDIT: taking another look, it was a slow-developing play-action pass, even slower-developing than a normal one because they faked a zone stretch (so Brady had to run diagonally to the handoff point, then circle back). He had no more time when he threw it - a couple Bucs who had initially been fooled by the run-blocking action were able to get penetration and one got to Brady just after he threw, so if he wasn't ready to bomb it out to Thompkins / Edelman he didn't have time to see it late and change. Sudfeld was open, but it was overthrown; it would have been a nice 15-yard gain with a good throw.

 

[mascho]

Rev:  Great question and really good observation.  What you're talking about is one way to combat the play I'm talking about, which is also a unique aspect of Cover 3, in that it can be "rolled" to one side of the field or another.  Your basic Cover 3 is really "Strong Cover 3," where the CB to the strong side of the formation (TE/Z side above) covers the short flat, the SS covers the deep third to that side, the FS covers deep middle, and the weak-side CB covers the deep outside third to the weak side, leaving the weak side backer to cover that weak side short/flat area.  Now, for a number of reasons a defense might decide to roll the coverage to the weak side of the field.  Maybe the X receiver is killing you.  Maybe the weak side backer just sucks in coverage.  For whatever reason, you can roll the coverage to the weak side of the field.  It's the same Cover 3 look, just flipped.  So when we got that weak cover 3 look, that play I diagrammed above was typically covered pretty well.  You would read Cover 3, but the weak side corner is now responsible for the flat and has safety help, so he doesn't care as much about that comeback route and sits on the RB out of the backfield. The FS who has rolled over to cover the deep outside third is now sitting on that outside comeback route.  You can still make a throw, but chances are it is a much tougher completion to make
 
EDIT:  Forgot this notion.  A team might decide that their strong safety sucks in coverage, so they can decide to drop both CBs deep in a Cover 3, and instead have the strong safety be the one to roll up into a short flat zone.  
 
As an aside, a quick word on reading coverages.  I'm sure some of you have seen the Belichick "A Football Life," and remember the scenes when Brady would meet with him before playing the Ravens, and they would talk about how hard it is to play Ed Reed.  Reed is not only a playmaker, but he is phenomenal at disguising coverages.  A QB first spots the FS to get a pre-snap idea of the coverage.  If the FS is aligned over the center, you're thinking Cover 1/Cover 3/Cover 5.   If he's on a hashmark, you're thinking Cover 2/Cover 4.  If he's cheated down into the box somewhere, you're thinking man.  Now rolling a coverage at the snap is tough to do, but Reed and the rest of that Baltimore secondary were able to do it better than anyone.  To this day when I'm watching games I find myself watching the FS pre-snap and after the snap to get an idea of the coverage.

 

[Super Nomario]

As an aside, a quick word on reading coverages.  I'm sure some of you have seen the Belichick "A Football Life," and remember the scenes when Brady would meet with him before playing the Ravens, and they would talk about how hard it is to play Ed Reed.  Reed is not only a playmaker, but he is phenomenal at disguising coverages.  A QB first spots the FS to get a pre-snap idea of the coverage.  If the FS is aligned over the center, you're thinking Cover 1/Cover 3/Cover 5.   If he's on a hashmark, you're thinking Cover 2/Cover 4.  If he's cheated down into the box somewhere, you're thinking man.  Now rolling a coverage at the snap is tough to do, but Reed and the rest of that Baltimore secondary were able to do it better than anyone.  To this day when I'm watching games I find myself watching the FS pre-snap and after the snap to get an idea of the coverage.

Patrick Chung was a master of disguising coverage like this and then being unable to get into position to play the actual coverage.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

Is it also not being too fair to Brady to say he was on to a different read and so not his fault?
 
I mean..cripes, 2 guys were wide open in the same general direction he threw it...just 10-15 yards further downfield. Brady had all day and he threw to Sudfield before his break. It seems to me a fair expectation that HoF QB like Brady will have enough field awareness to take his time and at a minimum give his rookie TE a beat more to make his break and perhaps not be so fixed on him that he misses 2 guys open for TDs -- it's not like they were on the other side of the field.

 
I'm at work and can't go digging for the quote, but Brady came right out and said that his coverage read was that the safeties would drop and cover the deep field and that Sudfield should have been open. He admitted to dropping the ball in that situation.
 
This makes me wonder...are teams to the point where they are practically daring Brady to throw deep? Other than the dropped ball by Dobson, I can't really recall them keeping the safeties honest. Are teams not respecting the deep ball by Brady? If so, the patriots have to take advantage, right?
 
Right?
 
EDIT: Forgot I wasn't on the last page of the thread. I'm dumb.

 

[Super Nomario]

I'm at work and can't go digging for the quote, but Brady came right out and said that his coverage read was that the safeties would drop and cover the deep field and that Sudfield should have been open. He admitted to dropping the ball in that situation.

I posted the quote above; he called it "kind of a trick play" designed for Sudfeld to get open.
 

 
This makes me wonder...are teams to the point where they are practically daring Brady to throw deep? Other than the dropped ball by Dobson, I can't really recall them keeping the safeties honest. Are teams not respecting the deep ball by Brady? If so, the patriots have to take advantage, right?
 
Right?

The Jets definitely dared the Pats to throw deep, and Brady did 9 times (per ESPN play-by-play), but only hit once (38-yarder to Thompkins) due to drops, inaccuracy, and probably weather conditions. Against the Bucs, the short stuff seemed to be open (Brady did complete 25 of 36 passes), and Brady only threw deep 5 times (completing one 20-yard pass to Thompkins and drawing a DPI and an illegal contact penalty).

 

[Bellhorn]

 
And I think those early Pats teams threw deep more than people remember. Unfortunately, no way to test statistically.

We can use the play-by-play data available at advancednflstats.com to go back as far as '06.  Unfortunately, whatever game log source they are using only divides pass attempts into "deep" and "short" (and does not provide any such breakdown at all for seasons prior to '06.)  Just for fun, I checked 2012 - the Patriots' pass attempts were classified as "deep" 19.2% of the time, a tick below the league average of 19.5%.  Perhaps more interesting is that pass attempts against the Patriots D were thrown deep 24.4% of the time. 
 
Before setting up any more of these clunky pivot tables, I'd be interested to see if anyone knows of a better source of downloadable PBP data - are there any from game logs that have a tripartite classification of pass attempts?

 

[Super Nomario]

We can use the play-by-play data available at advancednflstats.com to go back as far as '06.  Unfortunately, whatever game log source they are using only divides pass attempts into "deep" and "short" (and does not provide any such breakdown at all for seasons prior to '06.)  Just for fun, I checked 2012 - the Patriots' pass attempts were classified as "deep" 19.2% of the time, a tick below the league average of 19.5%.  Perhaps more interesting is that pass attempts against the Patriots D were thrown deep 24.4% of the time. 
 
Before setting up any more of these clunky pivot tables, I'd be interested to see if anyone knows of a better source of downloadable PBP data - are there any from game logs that have a tripartite classification of pass attempts?

I don't know any better sources. BTW, you can use the QB rankings at http://wp.advancednflstats.com/playerstats.php?pos=QB to get Brady's deep pass attempts
 
2013 Brady - 15.7%, (27th of 34)
2012 Brady - 19.9%, (20th of 39)
2011 Brady - 18.6%, (32nd of 43)
2010 Brady - 14.3%, (41st of 43)
2009 Brady - 18.9%, (30th of 44)
2008 Cassel - 16.3%, (30th of 40)
2007 Brady - 17.6%, (37th of 48)
2006 Brady - 21.4%, (17th of 44)

 

[Super Nomario]

Damn, you got me--I wrote it too different ways; I meant to say vis-a-vis gunslinger.

I agree on the Favre though. And I think we may have stumbled into a new facet of the "built for the playoffs" debate that is probably under-explored. I think it would be really interesting to do a content analysis study of how quarterbacks were discussed over time. As I recall, as Brady continued to win, people started invoking Montana and questioning what "really" made for a winner, which is consistent with the broader trend of emphasizing not just innate athletic gifts but more holistic views of play. And I do believe that Brady was a huge part of that, although not because he's "special," but because of the timing with respect to sports going to a whole new level of big money, which means people upping their game with respect to understanding what makes a winner. But I'm way off topic--well, maybe not. This is about what makes a working passing game... So, yeah, I think Brady's success in the Weiss offense changed a lot of perceptions, even if the reality was already changing.

Not 100% aligned with our discussion, but Matt Waldman breaks down Johnny Manziel while drawing distinctions between "task-oriented" and "creative" QBs: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/futures/2013/futures-texas-am-qb-johnny-manziel
 

 
Johnny Manziel is a creative manager of the game. He’s intuitive, improvisational, daring, and he has the prerequisite physical skills to start in the NFL. But like most creative managers who need seasoning, those moments of intuitive daring can backslide fast into boneheaded mistakes. On any given play, Manziel can have a coach shouting from the sideline, "No, no, no, no ... No!" or "No, no, no, no ... Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!!"
 
 
  
It’s a fine line. And when you look at the careers of quarterbacks with a high creative quotient to their management style, fit might be even more important than it is for task-oriented passers. It’s not because one is better than the other; a high-functioning creative manager and a high-functioning task-oriented passer can both lead teams to championships. However, creative managers are less common.
They’re like left-handed people. Because they’re uncommon, there aren’t a lot of considerations made for left-handed people. Creative managers require leadership -– in this case coaching and player personnel directors –- who understand what they have and how to best develop it.

 

[Reverend]

And I think those early Pats teams threw deep more than people remember. Unfortunately, no way to test statistically.

Interesting. That would be fascinating, as there was definitely the perception that they didn't throw deep much. I did a cursory search and these were two of the first hits I found:
 
Clayton from 2001:
 

Playing from behind isn't their style. Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis calls nothing but short, safe passes. Except for David Patten, the Patriots don't have great speed at the receiver position. And when Brady goes shotgun, the offensive line has to readjust because center Damien Woody can't fling a ball 5 to 7 yards behind him, so Woody has to move to guard and guard Mike Compton has to handle the snaps.
 
"But it does work," Brady said with a smile following an improbable 17-16 come-from-behind victory over the Jets at the Meadowlands on Sunday.
 

 
 
Pasquarelli from 2002:

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- On the third play of the Patriots' 38-7 rout of theBuffalo Bills on Sunday, facing a third-and-10 at his own 32-yard line, New England quarterback Tom Brady tossed a swing into the right flat to Kevin Faulkand the "nickel" tailback ran 19 yards for a first down.
 
So wide open was Faulk on a play where the Bills blitzed from the opposite side that, if Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis hadn't already been plotting a steady diet of swing passes, screen passes and dump-off plays, he would immediately have altered his game plan.
 
But he didn't have to adjust because the Bills never caught up to the horizontal passing strategy, and even if they did, their defense tackled as if it was performing in straitjackets. The New England short passing game was relentless and deadly effective.
 

   
 
 
I am totally open to the idea, though, that they threw long more than people realized simply because people were so fixated on the emphasis of the horizontal and short passing game under the Weis offense. The obvious comparison to Bledsoe woud be in play as well. On the other hand, it's hard to parse out in my memory throwing long and long gains on short pass plays like the one described above. But yeah, I'm a big believer that a meme can get planted into the public consciousness that causes people to believe a thing that isn't true. And there's every reason to believe that the short game could spring a guy long now and again, as with mascho's frustrated safety example. Hrm.

 

[Super Nomario]

And I think those early Pats teams threw deep more than people remember. Unfortunately, no way to test statistically.

Interesting. That would be fascinating, as there was definitely the perception that they didn't throw deep much. I did a cursory search and these were two of the first hits I found:
 
Clayton from 2001:

In 2001, I think this was probably right. We don't know how many deep passes or attempts the Pats had, but they only had 32 Brady-thrown pass plays that gained 20 yards. That number increased every year - to 37 in 2002, to 44 in 2003, to 52 in 2004, and to 59 in 2005. For reference, the Brady threw 56 passes in 2007 that went for 20+-yard gains, and 40 of those were classified as deep. In 2008, the Pats had 38 20+-yard passing gains, 15 classified as deep. Let me post the whole chart:
 
[table Passing Plays, 20+ Yards] Total WR Slot WR TE RB "Deep" 2001 32 18 7 2 5 N/A 2002 37 20 3 6 8 N/A 2003 44 25 4 10 5 N/A 2004 52 36 2 9 5 N/A 2005 59 33 4 13 9 N/A 2006 46 21 2 16 7 30 2007 56 33 10 8 5 40 2008 38 19 13 1 5 15 2009 43 22 11 7 3 33 2010 53 19 8 21 5 27 2011 71 14 21 33 3 38 2012 56 13 12 22 9 31 2013 6 4 2 0 0 4 [/table] 
 
It's pretty remarkable how consistent the number of completed deep passes has been, excepting the one Cassel year: 30, 40, 33, 27, 38, 31. That's despite wildly different compositions of receiving corps. I suspect if we had full "deep" numbers, 2003-5 would be in line with these, with 2001-2 more like the Cassel season.
 

Pasquarelli from 2002:
   
 
 
I am totally open to the idea, though, that they threw long more than people realized simply because people were so fixated on the emphasis of the horizontal and short passing game under the Weis offense. The obvious comparison to Bledsoe woud be in play as well. On the other hand, it's hard to parse out in my memory throwing long and long gains on short pass plays like the one described above. But yeah, I'm a big believer that a meme can get planted into the public consciousness that causes people to believe a thing that isn't true. And there's every reason to believe that the short game could spring a guy long now and again, as with mascho's frustrated safety example. Hrm.

I should clarify (/ backtrack?) on my opinion here: no one was confusing Brady for Mad Bomber Lamonica at any point. But I think a) people underestimate how much the Pats threw deep (at least, from 2003-on) and overestimate how much they threw deep in the Moss era and how much they throw deep now. I don't think there's been much change in how often Brady uncorks the long ball in the past decade. Generally, they pass deep a little less frequently than average, but it's a game-plan offense and week-to-week things will vary. I'm just sick of hearing, "that's not what Charlie woulda done" every time Brady goes for the home run ball.

 

[Bellhorn]

I don't know any better sources. BTW, you can use the QB rankings at http://wp.advancednflstats.com/playerstats.php?pos=QB to get Brady's deep pass attempts
 
2013 Brady - 15.7%, (27th of 34)
2012 Brady - 19.9%, (20th of 39)
2011 Brady - 18.6%, (32nd of 43)
2010 Brady - 14.3%, (41st of 43)
2009 Brady - 18.9%, (30th of 44)
2008 Cassel - 16.3%, (30th of 40)
2007 Brady - 17.6%, (37th of 48)
2006 Brady - 21.4%, (17th of 44)

Thanks for that - I should have known that someone else had already tabulated the results of that data.  Very interesting that the deep % was higher in '06 than '07. 
 
Do you know if completion % and YPA for deep/short passes are also available anywhere?

 

[Super Nomario]

Thanks for that - I should have known that someone else had already tabulated the results of that data.  Very interesting that the deep % was higher in '06 than '07. 
 
Do you know if completion % and YPA for deep/short passes are also available anywhere?

Actually, it looks like ESPN has this on their individual players splits - and dating back to 2002.

[table Brady's Deep Attempts]Year Sh Att Sh Comp% Sh Y/A De Att De Comp% De Y/A 2002 550 0.66 6.3 51 0.20 6.0 2003 464 0.64 6.1 63 0.32 12.7 2004 398 0.66 7.2 76 0.34 11.0 2005 468 0.68 7.6 62 0.26 9.3 2006 453 0.65 6.2 63 0.37 11.7 2007 509 0.73 7.3 69 0.41 16.1 2008 10 0.60 5.0 1 1.00 26.0 2009 503 0.70 7.3 60 0.27 11.7 2010 455 0.68 7.4 36 0.39 14.9 2011 557 0.69 8.4 47 0.32 11.1 2012 565 0.67 7.3 68 0.32 10.6 2013 115 0.63 5.7 11 0.09 3.5 [/table]
 
Their splits are more granular - behind LOS, 1-10 yards, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41+; I'm defining "short" as anything up to 20 and deep as 21+.

 

[Bellhorn]

Actually, it looks like ESPN has this on their individual players splits - and dating back to 2002.

[table Brady's Deep Attempts]Year Sh Att Sh Comp% Sh Y/A De Att De Comp% De Y/A 2002 550 0.66 6.3 51 0.20 6.0 2003 464 0.64 6.1 63 0.32 12.7 2004 398 0.66 7.2 76 0.34 11.0 2005 468 0.68 7.6 62 0.26 9.3 2006 453 0.65 6.2 63 0.37 11.7 2007 509 0.73 7.3 69 0.41 16.1 2008 10 0.60 5.0 1 1.00 26.0 2009 503 0.70 7.3 60 0.27 11.7 2010 455 0.68 7.4 36 0.39 14.9 2011 557 0.69 8.4 47 0.32 11.1 2012 565 0.67 7.3 68 0.32 10.6 2013 115 0.63 5.7 11 0.09 3.5 [/table]
 
Their splits are more granular - behind LOS, 1-10 yards, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41+; I'm defining "short" as anything up to 20 and deep as 21+.

Damn - that's the last place I would have thought to look.  Very interesting - thanks!

 

[Dogman]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9742987/tennessee-titans-fielding-offers-kenny-britt-sources
 
FA at season's end. Cracked a rib last week and has some baggage but he can play.
 
What's he worth to you?
 
I'd offer a 5th.

 

[TomRicardo]

Why bring in a distraction?  Thompkins, Dobson, and Bryce look steadily better each week.

 

[bakahump]

Well he is from Rutgers.......
 
Seriously I dont know if bringing a guy with a cracked rib in is a good idea.  Yea "he can play" but how much and how effectively.  We need stability more then anything.  Injuries that COULD affect game time OR Practice time (where he can sync with Brady) is a scary idea to me.  Especially considering they will want a pretty decent pick (2nd? 3rd?).

 

[mascho]

Ugh.  Real life sucks.
 
Anyway, since I have a few spare moments before my wife awakes and it is time to start one of the countless projects piling up on the "to do" list, I thought I'd at least share something in advance of today's game.  I give you, the "follow route."
 
Cincy does a lot of underneath zone stuff with their LB corps.  The basic way to attack a zone coverage scheme is to force a player to choose who to cover in his zone.  You can "high-low" a defender as we have previously talked about.  You can bracket a defender, such as running two slot receivers on fade routes against a deep free safety, forcing the FS to choose which to cover.  Or you can flash someone in front of a defender, forcing him to "vacate" his zone, and then have someone fill that slot.  One way to do that is with "follow" routes.
 
Remember that drop Thompkins had on the Patriots' first drive Sunday night?  Here's the pre-snap look with the routes diagrammed for you.
 

 
Thompkins was split left and on an island, and he runs that fade/go route that Brady ends up throwing to his back shoulder.  They then have a trips to the right.  Dobson (highlighted in yellow) is on the outside and runs a slant.  The middle guy in the trips runs a deep out.  Watch Edelman.  He is in red.  He runs what looks like an out, but once Dobson cuts in front of him, Edelman "follows" Dobson's slant route.  Here's a link to video of the play:
 
http://s809.photobucket.com/user/mascho030916/media/ScreenCaptureProject1.mp4.html
 
You'll notice that Atlanta is in man-press coverage across the board.  All 11 players are on or right near the LOS.  The "follow" route concept does not work well against man, given that someone is already shadowing the following receiver.  So Brady makes the right read against man coverage and throws the back shoulder fade to Thompkins, and puts his young receiver in decent position to make a play.
 
If Cincy sticks with a lot of underneath zone with their young and talented LBs, look for some routes like this today.
 
 
 

 

[mascho]

More later, but here's a quick preview of the Week 5 recap:
 

 

[mascho]

Okay, figured I'd do some stuff in preparation for the upcoming Baltimore game.
 
Here are two plays from the opening drive against Miami that I wanted to highlight.
 
First is a 2nd and 2 play.  New England is at their own 41.  Here is the pre-snap look.
 

 
Patriots come out in a basic offset I formation. TE to the left, FB offset to the strong side of the formation.  This is a fairly basic route combination:  886.  Boyce and Hooman run posts from the strong side of the formation.  Edelman runs a shallow dig route.  The reason why this is an interesting play to look at is because of the design, and because it also is illustrative of the "deep to short" concept I've been talking about.  Based on coverage, the reads would be from Boyce to Hooman to Edelman and down to Develin on a flat route strong side.  
 
Pre-snap, Miami is in a classic two deep look.  At the snap (which you can see both diagrammed and in the video of the play) they roll this into three deep coverage.  The safety to the weak side of the formation rolls up into "robber" coverage and the strong side safety rolls into the deep middle.  The two corners bail into deep third responsibilities.  
 
Rolling the coverage into three deep takes away the two post routes.  The outside safety stays with Boyce until the throw is made, and the robber jumps on Hooman knowing he has help over the top.  (In the video you can see Brady look first to Boyce, then Hooman).  He comes back to Edelman underneath.  Now, since we've got two deep routes, the secondary is occupied.  Leaving two LBs on Edelman.  Edelman makes a nice move after the catch to get up field and get close to a first down.
 
When you watch the video, take a look at Brady's helmet.  You can see what I'm talking about with the "quick look" concept.  At about the :10 mark of the video is when he comes off the post route and comes down to Edelman.  
 
Here's the video:
 
Here's another play which is just a nice example of route design.  Also from the same drive.  3rd and 10 at the Miami 43.  Offense needs to make a play and keep the opening drive alive.  
 
Presnap look:
 

 
Pats come out in the gun with trips to the right, Edelman, Boyce, Amendola (inside to outside).  Miami shows and stays in Cover 1, with one free safety and man underneath.
 
Amendola runs a post route from the outside.  Boyce never really runs a route because he gets jammed, but that's probably by design.  Edelman runs a wheel route, coming under the Boyce jam and then breaking upfield.  The slot DB trying to cover Edelman can't get there because of the mess with Boyce, and Edelman is open for a big gain.
 
Now, we often see "pick" type plays and routes at or near the line of scrimmage.  What is cool, IMO, about this play is that the post route from Amendola occupies the FS.  He can't get over to help out on Edelman's route until it's too late.  On the video, watch for that.  Pretty cool IMO.  
 
Video here.
 
If I have time I hope to look at some Baltimore specific stuff to watch for Sunday evening.

 

[RedOctober3829]

That is awesome Mark.  Great analysis and use of video.  Boyce's job on that play, as you said, was to "dummy" the route and draw the player away from Edelman.  They were fortunate to draw the extra defender to Boyce while Amendola occupied the safety. 

 

[Super Nomario]

Jeff Howe breaks down Vereen's usage Sunday, and determines Miami didn't specifically scheme to take him away; they just did a better job in coverage:
http://bostonherald.com/sports/patriots_nfl/new_england_patriots/2013/12/patriots_notebook_no_fish_net_for_shane_vereen

 

[RedOctober3829]

Merrill Hoge must lurk here because he used the same exact play on NFL Matchup that mascho broke down to exemplify Edelman's importance to Brady. That speaks to the level of knowledge this forum has. Love it.

 

[mascho]

Matt Bowen on the passing game/route tree.
 
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2016841-nfl-101-breaking-down-the-basics-of-the-route-tree