Allen breakdowns versus zone coverages 1st half of season versus 2nd half of season---in short, Colts are in a world of trouble today

[Big Turk]

I messaged Mark Schofield who broke down Allen versus zone and man coverages in his article talking about how the Colts could slow down Allen by playing certain types of zone and asked if he could further break down Allen's zone coverage numbers into 1st and 2nd half of the year because it appeared there was a stark difference in his play versus those coverages and what worked for Tennessee and NE the first game clearly did not work when SF, DEN and NE tried it again.

 

He agreed and said he noticed the same thing then said he would break it down and get back to me. Just received this message from him:

 

In short...Allen against zone:

1st half of season: 35 of 42(83.3%) for 332 yards 1 TD, 4 INTs rating 67.9

 

2nd half of season: 52 of 74(70.3%) for 617 yards 4 TDs, 1 INT rating 107.7

 

Mark Schofield

@MarkSchofield

 

"So I pulled Allen versus zone from earlier in the season (KC/TEN/NE Week 8 - I stripped out the jets game that was in that stretch because...Jets) and then Allen versus zone later in the year (SF/DEN/PIT/NEWeek 16) Allen versus zone in that earlier stretch: 35 of 42 for 332 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTS and an NFL Passer Ratng of 67.96. Allen versus zone in the later stretch: 52 of 74 for 617 yards, 4 TDs 1 INT. An NFL passer rating of 107.77. (Data is from SIS and there might be a play or two missing if they misread the coverage, etc, but this is probably pretty darn close to the god's truth) So yeah, there was certainly a split. From watching Allen - and Doug Farrar and I have talked about this a bit on our pod - earlier in the year Allen struggled to hit some of the throws between zone defenders in the intermediate areas of the field. He also wasn't taking checkdowns in some situations where he could have, and instead forced some throws. Later in the year he wasn't struggling to hit those windows - for example that rocket shot against SF, the dig route on the left side that he got over the linebackers and in front of the safety? That was Cover 4 iirc - and he took some checkdowns as well. So there's definitely truth to the idea that he's figured out zone coverages. As I said on the pod, it's a "pick your poison" thing right now with Allen. You certainly don't want to play man - he's got a TD/INT split of 25/2 versus man this year - and some zones either he's "less good" or the Colts are better at. Hope that helps. Good luck today!"

 

Edited January 9, 2021 by Big Turk

[fergie's ire]

It is interesting...and demonstrates Allen's work habits...that the book on him last year was that he could kill zones, but struggled against man to man.  Though I don't have numbers, it seems that intermediate passes were really his specialty.  It seems like he struggled in one area and worked on it until it was a strength...and when his former strength becomes his weakness he works on that.  Last year, against zone, his strength was to be able to rip the ball through seems in the zone, but now he is putting touch on the ball like that great through against SF.  His progress really is amazing to watch.  He's also so good at learning that I wonder if he is just going to make a habit of killing teams the second time he sees them (like he did against NE and Miami).  Once he sees a defense and figures it out, look out. Bodes well if he can get past Indy today.  He has seen most of these other teams already.

[GunnerBill]

I think you have to play primarily zone but you have to disguise. If Josh knows what they are in when he gets to the line it is over. 

[Frat-Train]

I would forget about Zone or Man, honestly and try to focus on a more realistic defensive scheme...  Like calling in sick or something.   

 

 

[Scott7975]

Thanks for sharing.  Allen has progressed at an unBillievable rate.  I knew from game one he was going to be our franchise guy but I never expected this play this year.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

42 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

I messaged Mark Schofield who broke down Allen versus zone and man coverages in his article talking about how the Colts could slow down Allen by playing certain types of zone and asked if he could further break down Allen's zone coverage numbers into 1st and 2nd half of the year because it appeared there was a stark difference in his play versus those coverages and what worked for Tennessee and NE the first game clearly did not work when SF, DEN and NE tried it again.

 

He agreed and said he noticed the same thing then said he would break it down and get back to me. Just received this message from him:

 

In short...Allen against zone:

1st half of season: 35 of 42(83.3%) for 332 yards 1 TD, 4 INTs rating 67.9

 

2nd half of season: 52 of 74(70.3%) for 617 yards 4 TDs, 1 INT rating 107.7

 

Mark Schofield

@MarkSchofield

 

"So I pulled Allen versus zone from earlier in the season (KC/TEN/NE Week 8 - I stripped out the jets game that was in that stretch because...Jets) and then Allen versus zone later in the year (SF/DEN/PIT/NEWeek 16) Allen versus zone in that earlier stretch: 35 of 42 for 332 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTS and an NFL Passer Ratng of 67.96. Allen versus zone in the later stretch: 52 of 74 for 617 yards, 4 TDs 1 INT. An NFL passer rating of 107.77. (Data is from SIS and there might be a play or two missing if they misread the coverage, etc, but this is probably pretty darn close to the god's truth) So yeah, there was certainly a split. From watching Allen - and Doug Farrar and I have talked about this a bit on our pod - earlier in the year Allen struggled to hit some of the throws between zone defenders in the intermediate areas of the field. He also wasn't taking checkdowns in some situations where he could have, and instead forced some throws. Later in the year he wasn't struggling to hit those windows - for example that rocket shot against SF, the dig route on the left side that he got over the linebackers and in front of the safety? That was Cover 4 iirc - and he took some checkdowns as well. So there's definitely truth to the idea that he's figured out zone coverages. As I said on the pod, it's a "pick your poison" thing right now with Allen. You certainly don't want to play man - he's got a TD/INT split of 25/2 versus man this year - and some zones either he's "less good" or the Colts are better at. Hope that helps. Good luck today!"

 

 

Kudos to you for reaching out to Schofield and Kudos to Schofield for recognizing an interesting question and digging into it!

 

DIGGing into it, see what I did there?

 

Actually part of what the Bills did to help Allen with zone at times (with Brown out) is to pull Diggs off the deeper routes where they were doubling him, and play him on intermediate routes where now they had two incredibly shifty hard to cover guys in Diggs and Beasley.