How Joe Lombardi hit his stride against Bears

The drought is over

I chose to use the above angle not to illustrate that Calvin Johnson was open on the play, because he isn’t.  This was another masterful play design, and an even better execution of the play.  This is almost the exact moment the ball is released. The Bears were running another zone blitz, but this time it was actually the correct play call and coverage.  The thing is, even when you have the right coverage you can call plays that can’t be covered.

The deep safety didn’t know who to cover with deep routes on the other side.  Fuller was pulled down by his brother at the bottom of the play, though he would ultimately be the one closes to saving the TD.  Calvin’s guy?  Don’t worry about him.  He guess the play wrong and plays it as if Calvin is running a post, taking himself completely out of the play (Though it wouldn’t have ultimately mattered).  The end result?  This is where execution comes in.  Now remember, the ball is already in the air at this point, Calvin still has 13 yards to go.

I could watch that catch 1,000 times and it would never stop being awesome.  This pass wasn’t thrown “To Calvin”.  It was thrown to a spot.  That’s the importance of my screen above showing when the ball was in the air.  The ball was placed in a position that Calvin Johnson, and only Calvin Johnson, could get to it.

Kyle Fuller has some serious wheels and good enough instincts to have made him my top corner in this class, but he’s far more human than Megatron.  With a safety over the top, this play might, MIGHT have been defensible.  Bears didn’t play two deep, Joe Lombardi called a perfect play, Stafford made a perfect pass, and seriously, look at that catch.  I want to frame it and put it on my wall.

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