Gang Green Nation
Aaron Rodgers has had a number of easy touchdown passes in his 21 year career. Few were probably easier than the one he tossed in the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Jets. It was the result of a coverage breakdown.
The Jets appear to be in man coverage on this play. Michael Carter II is in the slot against Ben Skowronek.
The Steelers run a play action fake, which sucks defenders in. This includes Carter who must respect the run.
He does recover quickly, though, and gets his hands on Skowronek within the first five yards of the line of scrimmage.
Then something odd happens. Carter just lets Skowronek go and drifts back as though he is making a drop into zone coverage. Skrwronek cuts across the field by himself while the other receivers are picked up in man coverage.
You can see how open Skowronek is at the point Rodgers throws the ball and how far away Carter is.
My guess is that Carter just thought the play was zone coverage.
There is one other possibility. Defending the middle of the field is tough because the receiver can break in either direction. Sometimes a defense will put a player in the middle to provide help. Carter could be responsible for outside breaks from the slot receiver, while Jamien Sherwood would be there to help out on a break to the inside. It is possible that Sherwood got drawn too far up by the play action to provide help.
I don’t think that is the case, though. I will tell you why. If Sherwood’s job was to help, Carter would likely be tasked with filling in Sherwood’s spot to provide inside help if a receiver broke to the middle of the field from the other side. But Carter makes what appears to be a normal zone drop.
Either way, the result for the Jets was not ideal, and it was the start of a day of busted coverages.
