Sean Weatherspoon knows plenty of 'layers' to defending Drew Brees

[Goober Pyle 7,269]

http://www.espn.com/blog/atlanta-falcons/post/_/id/22684/falcons-sean-weatherspoon-knows-plenty-of-layers-to-defending-saints-drew-brees

 

NEW ORLEANS -- Drew Brees is 10-5 all-time against the Atlanta Falcons while a member of the New Orleans Saints, and Brees has thrown for 300-plus yards in 12 of those 15 meetings going into Monday night's matchup at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Brees has two or more touchdowns in nine of those 15 games, but he has thrown only one touchdown in each of his past four games against the Falcons. The teams split those four contests.

As the NFC South rivals prepare to meet again, Falcons starting inside linebacker Sean Weatherspoon offered an extensive scouting report on Brees, a player he has faced eight times in his career.

 

How do you read where he’s going with the football?

"He’ll drop back, and his first look, he’s playing with you. You can’t really just go out there and try and read him. You’ve got to be true to your defense and then read him. So you get to your area first, then you can adjust. But if you’re adjusting before you even get to where you're supposed to be, he’s going to go right where you should have been.

“He’s one of the best in the game at keeping the play alive. He doesn’t run to run. He moves to set up something else. They’ve got the same type of guys they’ve always had in their offense. They’ve got speedy receivers. They’ve got the big tight end. They’ve got the big receivers. They’ve got running backs that catch the ball out the backfield in the screen game well. I think they just really do a good job of showing everything that they do, every look that they give you. You can’t just say, 'That formation means that.' You’ll get everything out of every formation. And for Brees to be able to do that, it just tells you where they’re at with their offense and how much confidence their coach has in him."

What routes does he seem to favor?

"We call it layers. They put one guy deep, they put one in the middle, and they throw one guy short. That’s kind of like a big plate for Brees. If he wants to go deep, he’ll take the big one. If he don’t got that, he’ll take the intermediate, which will be kind of like a tight end on an out-breaking route. And that’s usually the route that’s going to affect me because I’ve got to get back and secure that route first and then go up to catch the break on the short one. He just makes you stay true to the defense, and he puts it in front of you, and he lets those athletes make plays.

"Some teams call it sail. We call it layers. Others call it OVS [outside vertical stretch]. It’s just one on the top, one on the middle, one under. It’s a great, easy read for a quarterback. Boom, boom, boom."

Is he struggling to make any throws, from what you’ve seen on tape?

"I think the older you get [Brees is 37], people are going to say maybe he might not be the same or something like that. I still see him going down the field, and they’ve still been productive with it. People are going to say what they want, but he can make every throw in that offense. He can get them on any route. He does a good job of communicating with them and getting them right where he wants them. He’s the best in the game at that."

You were injured in 2014, when the Falcons got pressure on Brees with five sacks and forced him into two interceptions. As an observer, what was the key in that game, a 30-14 Falcons win?

"That’s when we’ve had our best games against him, when we’ve gotten up in there and made him move laterally. He’ll try to throw it over you, and you can get your hands up. He can throw four or five picks if you move him off the spot. But you’ll also see him go out there and light you up on a Monday night five years ago and set the record.

"Their offense is amazing. They really make you stay true to your defense. You’ve got to defend everything. You’re not dictating nothing. We’re just reading and reacting."

[likeriver 6,234]

Basically, what Spoon is saying, the offense needs to show up or we're screwed.

[RazorWing 724]

We need for hageman and jarrett to be very disruptive. Especially hageman. I want to see him sling Jahvri Evans around again like a ragged doll. "We need it out of you Rashede. Even when you are tired they still can't stop your power."In my Brian Cox voice

[sonnyjim 583]

31 minutes ago, Goober Pyle said:

http://www.espn.com/blog/atlanta-falcons/post/_/id/22684/falcons-sean-weatherspoon-knows-plenty-of-layers-to-defending-saints-drew-brees

 

NEW ORLEANS -- Drew Brees is 10-5 all-time against the Atlanta Falcons while a member of the New Orleans Saints, and Brees has thrown for 300-plus yards in 12 of those 15 meetings going into Monday night's matchup at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Brees has two or more touchdowns in nine of those 15 games, but he has thrown only one touchdown in each of his past four games against the Falcons. The teams split those four contests.

As the NFC South rivals prepare to meet again, Falcons starting inside linebacker Sean Weatherspoon offered an extensive scouting report on Brees, a player he has faced eight times in his career.

 

How do you read where he’s going with the football?

"He’ll drop back, and his first look, he’s playing with you. You can’t really just go out there and try and read him. You’ve got to be true to your defense and then read him. So you get to your area first, then you can adjust. But if you’re adjusting before you even get to where you're supposed to be, he’s going to go right where you should have been.

“He’s one of the best in the game at keeping the play alive. He doesn’t run to run. He moves to set up something else. They’ve got the same type of guys they’ve always had in their offense. They’ve got speedy receivers. They’ve got the big tight end. They’ve got the big receivers. They’ve got running backs that catch the ball out the backfield in the screen game well. I think they just really do a good job of showing everything that they do, every look that they give you. You can’t just say, 'That formation means that.' You’ll get everything out of every formation. And for Brees to be able to do that, it just tells you where they’re at with their offense and how much confidence their coach has in him."

What routes does he seem to favor?

"We call it layers. They put one guy deep, they put one in the middle, and they throw one guy short. That’s kind of like a big plate for Brees. If he wants to go deep, he’ll take the big one. If he don’t got that, he’ll take the intermediate, which will be kind of like a tight end on an out-breaking route. And that’s usually the route that’s going to affect me because I’ve got to get back and secure that route first and then go up to catch the break on the short one. He just makes you stay true to the defense, and he puts it in front of you, and he lets those athletes make plays.

"Some teams call it sail. We call it layers. Others call it OVS [outside vertical stretch]. It’s just one on the top, one on the middle, one under. It’s a great, easy read for a quarterback. Boom, boom, boom."

Is he struggling to make any throws, from what you’ve seen on tape?

"I think the older you get [Brees is 37], people are going to say maybe he might not be the same or something like that. I still see him going down the field, and they’ve still been productive with it. People are going to say what they want, but he can make every throw in that offense. He can get them on any route. He does a good job of communicating with them and getting them right where he wants them. He’s the best in the game at that."

You were injured in 2014, when the Falcons got pressure on Brees with five sacks and forced him into two interceptions. As an observer, what was the key in that game, a 30-14 Falcons win?

"That’s when we’ve had our best games against him, when we’ve gotten up in there and made him move laterally. He’ll try to throw it over you, and you can get your hands up. He can throw four or five picks if you move him off the spot. But you’ll also see him go out there and light you up on a Monday night five years ago and set the record.

"Their offense is amazing. They really make you stay true to your defense. You’ve got to defend everything. You’re not dictating nothing. We’re just reading and reacting."

Spoon echoes Freeny.  Don't waste energy on the outside rush.  Stunt and blitz the A & B gaps and get your hands up so he has to move laterally.

[sonnyjim 583]

Spon's play has been much better than I had hoped and he hasn't even dimpled the surface of the Whirlpool.  You go Spoon let's kick sixteen tails sixteen times and head to the playoffs!

[BR400 17]

I am with Razor on this. I think Jarrett and Hags can be very disruptive right up the middle.

[HASHBROWN3 17,754]

Block his passes inside.  Ruin his throwing lanes.  If we hit him, he'll panic, he always does.

[CrimsonFalcon 4,169]

The one thing that Brees does that absolutely kills everyone is the amount of screens they run. They have shown that they are the best screen team in the NFL.  

[abstract 744]

I think our D line and LB core will have a good game tonight.  We were able to get a ton of pressure on Winston in the first half of week 1.  A lot of almost sacks.  Bree's isn't as big an fast as Winston, I'm predicting 2 sacks on Bree's tonight and around 10 qb pressures.

[Pacific_Falcon 4,659]

3 hours ago, CrimsonFalcon said:

The one thing that Brees does that absolutely kills everyone is the amount of screens they run. They have shown that they are the best screen team in the NFL.  

And we have been horrid at defending screens forever. It's been a big part of our struggles against them.

[TheRisen999 494]

6 hours ago, Goober Pyle said:

http://www.espn.com/blog/atlanta-falcons/post/_/id/22684/falcons-sean-weatherspoon-knows-plenty-of-layers-to-defending-saints-drew-brees

 

NEW ORLEANS -- Drew Brees is 10-5 all-time against the Atlanta Falcons while a member of the New Orleans Saints, and Brees has thrown for 300-plus yards in 12 of those 15 meetings going into Monday night's matchup at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Brees has two or more touchdowns in nine of those 15 games, but he has thrown only one touchdown in each of his past four games against the Falcons. The teams split those four contests.

As the NFC South rivals prepare to meet again, Falcons starting inside linebacker Sean Weatherspoon offered an extensive scouting report on Brees, a player he has faced eight times in his career.

 

How do you read where he’s going with the football?

"He’ll drop back, and his first look, he’s playing with you. You can’t really just go out there and try and read him. You’ve got to be true to your defense and then read him. So you get to your area first, then you can adjust. But if you’re adjusting before you even get to where you're supposed to be, he’s going to go right where you should have been.

“He’s one of the best in the game at keeping the play alive. He doesn’t run to run. He moves to set up something else. They’ve got the same type of guys they’ve always had in their offense. They’ve got speedy receivers. They’ve got the big tight end. They’ve got the big receivers. They’ve got running backs that catch the ball out the backfield in the screen game well. I think they just really do a good job of showing everything that they do, every look that they give you. You can’t just say, 'That formation means that.' You’ll get everything out of every formation. And for Brees to be able to do that, it just tells you where they’re at with their offense and how much confidence their coach has in him."

What routes does he seem to favor?

"We call it layers. They put one guy deep, they put one in the middle, and they throw one guy short. That’s kind of like a big plate for Brees. If he wants to go deep, he’ll take the big one. If he don’t got that, he’ll take the intermediate, which will be kind of like a tight end on an out-breaking route. And that’s usually the route that’s going to affect me because I’ve got to get back and secure that route first and then go up to catch the break on the short one. He just makes you stay true to the defense, and he puts it in front of you, and he lets those athletes make plays.

"Some teams call it sail. We call it layers. Others call it OVS [outside vertical stretch]. It’s just one on the top, one on the middle, one under. It’s a great, easy read for a quarterback. Boom, boom, boom."

Is he struggling to make any throws, from what you’ve seen on tape?

"I think the older you get [Brees is 37], people are going to say maybe he might not be the same or something like that. I still see him going down the field, and they’ve still been productive with it. People are going to say what they want, but he can make every throw in that offense. He can get them on any route. He does a good job of communicating with them and getting them right where he wants them. He’s the best in the game at that."

You were injured in 2014, when the Falcons got pressure on Brees with five sacks and forced him into two interceptions. As an observer, what was the key in that game, a 30-14 Falcons win?

"That’s when we’ve had our best games against him, when we’ve gotten up in there and made him move laterally. He’ll try to throw it over you, and you can get your hands up. He can throw four or five picks if you move him off the spot. But you’ll also see him go out there and light you up on a Monday night five years ago and set the record.

"Their offense is amazing. They really make you stay true to your defense. You’ve got to defend everything. You’re not dictating nothing. We’re just reading and reacting."

Dang Spoon knows his stuff. I have a good feeling about tonight for some reason.  Lets hope im right. I can't stand loosing to the Aints. 

[LookAboutFalcon 3,373]

Just cover the f-ing Tight End.

[LookAboutFalcon 3,373]

4 hours ago, CrimsonFalcon said:

The one thing that Brees does that absolutely kills everyone is the amount of screens they run. They have shown that they are the best screen team in the NFL.  

I would say the Patriots are the best screen team in the NFL.  Saints are a really good at it tho.