Christopher Owens' First Start at LCB

Rookie Christopher Owens got his first start at Left Cornerback against Tampa Bay last week, and has already been named the starter against the Eagles.  I wanted to get a better idea of how he performed, so I charted the game a few nights ago, taking notes as I went, trying to focus specifically on his pass coverage.  Since he only had 5 tackles and I obviously don't have access to the coaches tape, there's not a whole lot to go on.  Jump for my initial impressions.

According to Pro Football Focus, he played 47 of the 60 total defensive snaps at LCB.  Grimes was in for 10 snaps (apparently, Houston was the only CB on the field for 3 plays).  Houston played 58 of 60 snaps at RCB, with Tye Hill replacing him (instead of entering the mix at LCB) for 2 plays - we'll get to that later.

Play #1: TB drive starting at 10:22 left in 1Q, their first offensive drive, 1&10 @ TB 36.  (Shotgun) J.Freeman pass short right to J.Stevens to TB 42 for 6 yards (M.Peterson) [J.Anderson].  Stevens is Peterson's man, and he makes the tackle.  I just noted that if he had missed the tackle, Owens was right there to help clean up.  And yes, that's a QB Hit for JA98 - he had a very good game (which I'll cover in the next "Digging Deeper").

Play #2: TB drive starting at 3:50 left in 2Q, 2&14 @ ATL 41.  (Shotgun) J.Freeman pass short right to S.Stroughter to ATL 29 for 12 yards (C.Owens).  If you ever want to see a good example of why I don't think John Abraham should be dropping into coverage so often, re-watch this play.  He is the one in coverage on this play (covering a WR in his zone), and he is just screwed up from the start.  His feet were going the wrong way 3 different times on this play.  The catch is made 7 yards downfield, with 5 YAC before Owens comes in with a good tackle to clean up Abe's mess.

Play #3: First play from scrimmage in 3Q, 1&10 @ TB 20.  J.Freeman pass short right to E.Graham pushed ob at TB 35 for 15 yards (C.Owens).  It is a swing pass 3 yards downfield to FB Graham.  Owens is in good position to make the stop, but he gets stiff armed/bowled over before dragging him down after allowing an additional 12 YAC.

Play #4: TB drive starting at 6:38 remaining in 4Q, their last drive before Redman's game-winner, 1&10 @ TB 33.  D.Ward right tackle to TB 35 for 2 yards (C.Owens).  DeCoud moves in as 8th man "in the box", setting the edge as the force defender as the WR motions from across the formation into an H-back position.  That leaves nobody to block Owens, who loops around to tackle Ward from behind.

Play #5: Next play of the same drive, 2&8 @ TB 35.  J.Freeman pass short right to A.Bryant pushed ob at TB 46 for 11 yards (C.Owens).  Quick pass on a 3-step drop.  Owens had decent coverage on the short pass (Distance 6), but he again gave up a bit too much after the reception (5 YAC).

Play #6: Same drive, a few plays later, 3&5 @ ATL 49.  (Shotgun) J.Freeman pass short middle to S.Stroughter to ATL 39 for 10 yards (C.Lofton).  I have Lofton listed as the man in coverage (on a WR again), but really it was a hole/soft-spot in the zone coverage.  They showed a heavy blitz look pre-snap, but ended up only rushing 3, with one of the DT's dropping into a middle zone.  With a bit of a bunch formation to the offensive right, Owens is outside and deep(ish), Chevis Jackson is covering a guy in the short slot, and the route combination stretches the zone and allows an opening for Stroughter for the 10 yard catch (zero YAC).

Play #7: Same drive, next play, 1&10 @ ATL 39.  D.Ward right end to ATL 37 for 2 yards (C.Owens).  Almost identical to Play #4.

A couple other general notes: 1) He seemed to shy away from contact early in the game if another defender seemed to have the play stopped, but he was willing to mix it up late in the game.  2) He didn't miss any tackles, but he also didn't have a great game in that area - he always let the ballcarrier get an extra 2-3 yards (or more) falling forward.  3) The few plays where the CB's were lined up close to the Line of Scrimmage (instead of 8-10 yards of cushion) he seemed to get a decent jam on the WR before disappearing off-screen.

Here's the coverage numbers for everybody, since I went ahead and charted the whole game:

*If you compare this to PFF, know that they gave credit/blame to DeCoud instead of Hill on a 38 yard reception by Antonio Bryant in the Second Quarter.  He very well could've been DeCoud's man, and DeCoud definitely screwed up by stumbling and/or taking a false step outside when Bryant faked Corner and went Post instead.  But Hill was the closest man at the reception, and that's the best way I know to determine who is in coverage.  Plus, on the wide shot in replay, they looked like they were in 3-Deep coverage, with Hill responsible for that third of the field (DeCoud in middle third), and he was in no-man's land (there wasn't a threat in front of him, but he wasn't deep enough to cover deep).  What is important to note is that Houston came out on two plays, and TB attacked Hill when he was out there.  The very next play was the 42 yard TD to Bryant over Hill.  Originally, he looked like he was in good coverage, but the replay showed that he got beat by several steps early, and was only close because the ball was underthrown by Freeman.

Reminder:

Targets: Number of plays this defender was listed in coverage.

Distance: Average pass distance in the air on Targets (does not include Yards After Catch).

YAC: Average Yards After the Catch allowed.

Average Pass Yards: Average Yards gained on plays with this defender listed in coverage (including incomplete passes).

Final Thoughts: Two pass Targets, and five total Tackles is not much to go on, but apparently the coaches saw something on film that they liked, since he was named the starter for the Eagles game.  Hopefully he'll be up to the task.