Thoughts on Patterson:

ch13ba · Oct 6, 2019

A brief overview of his play by play performance yesterday:

First play of the game is an option look out of a balanced 4 WR set. Patterson pitches the ball to Charbonnet before forcing the DE to commit. A nice 7 yard gain but the DE pursues down the line and makes the tackle. If Patterson attacks the DE he’s not able to pursue and Charbonnet can then cut inside of a Eubanks block and pick up a few more yards.
Handoff to Charbonnet.
Almost throws a pick while trying to hit Ronnie Bell on a designed roll out to the left. Poor execution. Nico runs a 10 yard stop route on the left sideline and Bell comes all the way across the field on a drag route. He runs right into Nico’s space and allows the CB to come off Nico and almost pick it off.
This is obvious zone coverage all the way. Ronnie Bell runs right through tons of open space and into a covered zone. The design was good; Eubanks leaked out into the flat and pulled the LB out of the short zone in front of Bell, Ronnie needs to sit down in the open area instead of running into coverage.
Patterson doesn’t make a presnap read and decides to dump it to Turner out of the backfield. The ball is way over his head but Turner wasn’t going anywhere as a LB was in his face. You could see the S to Patterson’s left creep toward the line of scrimmage prior to the snap, indicating he was playing the intermediate middle in a zone scheme. That likely means the CB have deep responsibility on the outside. DPJ runs a 6 yard stop route and is wide open for an easy gain but it looked like Patterson’s mind was made up prior to the snap.
Patterson throws it away after getting pressure up the middle.
Patterson slightly overthrows Black in the end zone after the Iowa fumble. Pretty good decision and a pretty good throw. The Iowa DB kind of pulled back on Black’s jersey as the ball was arriving and it prevented him from getting two hands on the ball. Patterson had Nico wide open on a shallow drag that would’ve picked up the first down.
Handoff to Charbonnet.
Patterson hits Nico on the drag route this time but the ball is delivered too late. Almost immediately Nico’s open a yard short of the first down but he’s between the LB’s in the zone. A quick throw allows him to turn it up for an easy first down. Instead Patterson waits until Nico’s in no man’s land and he’s tackled two yards short in a contested area.
Patterson makes a great throw to Nico on a deep post for 51 yards. God I wish he did this more. He’s got Nico 1 on 1 with a smaller CB and Patterson puts it up there an lets him make a play. Good throw.
Handoff to Haskins
Patterson goes back to Nico in the corner of the endzone but it’s incomplete. The angle required more loft on the ball than Patterson put on it. Tough throw and not a bad decision but he needed more air under it to allow Nico to run under it.
Quick throw on a comeback route to Sanristill for a first down. Good throw and a good decision.
Hands off to Charbonnet on a read option. Not a bad decision to give.
Handoff to Charbonnet for the TD on another read option. Good decision again.
Handoff to Turner who fumbles.
Terrible terrible terrible. This is a high school level read where you flooded a zone and have a single read on the CB. If he jumps the TE you throw it over his head. If he sinks you hit the TE. He sank deep and All was open for 10 + yards but Shea tries to force it deep and the S picks it off. Ridiculous play that a So in high school shouldn’t even make.
Handoff to Charbonnet.
Patterson scrambles for a gain of 8. Hard to tell where the routes where at on this play due to the TV angle.
Iowa’s in press man coverage and Patterson throws it away. Again, Fox rarely shows decent replays so I’m not sure what was there. First read didn’t appear to be there so he burned it out of bounds.
Handoff to Charbonnet.
On an RPO Patterson pulls the ball and hits Eubanks on a skinny post. Really nice throw.
Pass dropped by Ronnie Bell. Good throw again by Patterson over the middle but Bell drops what would’ve been a 12 yard gain.
Wildcat run by Charbonnet.
On 3rd & 9 they run a speed option to the wide side. Actually, that’s a pretty good call as the WR’s do a nice job blocking against man coverage and there’s a lane for Charbonnet but he doesn’t win 1-on-1 against the S.
Patterson gets sacked inside the 10. DPJ was 1-on-1 deep in the middle but Patterson holds it and takes a sack. Should’ve let it fly.
A little flair screen to Turner to the short side of the field. Blah call.
Another screen to Eubanks to the short side against zone coverage. Almost a zero chance for success against a conservative zone.
Handoff to Wilson.
Handoff to Wilson.
Handoff to Haskins.
Patterson throws to DPJ for a gain of 7. A quick decision late in the second half though he may have had Bell open down the seem for a big gain.
Patterson throws complete to DPJ for a gain of 7.
Ball incomplete right before the half.
Handoff to Charbonnet.
Patterson keeps on a read option and picks up 15. Very nice design with Eubanks leading up.
Handoff to Turner.
Patterson throws it away. He has All open for a short gain throughout the entire play but Patterson never gets that far in his progression.
Patterson throws to Charbonnet for 5 yards on 3rd & 11. Confusing call as only 1 route went last the sticks. Iowa kept everything in front of them and made an easy tackle.
Bubble screen to DPJ. Eubanks does a bad job of sealing the CB.
Handoff to Turner
Patterson scrambles for a first down. He wants Black on a crossing route but Iowa covers it. I’m wondering if Eubanks is in the wrong spot because the middle of the field is wide open for Nico on a crossing route but Eubanks is just standing there in the middle with a LB on him. I’m guessing his route was supposed to continue to the flat to pull the LB and CB outside the hashmarks and open the lane for Nico.
Ill-conceived handoff to DPJ on a jet sweep. As Klatt pointed out, could’ve been a pass to All but he fell down.
Patterson sacked. I don’t get it. Patterson play fakes and wants to throw immediately but everyone’s running deeper routes. Shea kind of freaks out and runs himself into pressure and gets sacked. He was in no danger of being sacked. If he stays in the pocket and waits he’d have seen Eubanks come open in the zone for a first down.
Screen to Charbonnet for a few yards on 3rd & forever.
Complete to Nico for a first down on a stop route. Nice throw.
Handoff to Turner
Nice throw to DPJ on an out route for a first down.
Possibly Patterson’s best throw of the day to Black on an out route. He throws it right at a CB blitz and delivers a nice ball. He also had Bell 1-on-1 with a S deep that he could’ve went too.
Handoff to Wilson
Handoff to Wilson
Incomplete to Sanristill on a corner route. Had Bell open in the middle for a first down or more. Would’ve been a much easier throw.
Handoff to Turner
Throws to Bell in the corner incomplete. Poor throw as he leaves it too far inside. If he throws more to the sideline Bell’s got a shot but that’s a low percentage attempt.
Handoff to Charbonnet
Handoff to Charbonnet
Patterson’s throw to Black dropped. If he throws it a step earlier it’s an easy completion but Black still has to make that catch.
Patterson keeps on the read option. It’s the right read as the DE collapses.
Handoff to Charbonnet on the read option. Definitely should’ve kept. Easy read missed.
Patterson keeps for 4 yards

So what’s the deal? Well, I’ve said this before but we don’t challenge the middle of the field enough. But how much is that design and how much is it Patterson not getting through his progression? I actually think the OL is playing fine and I agree with Klatt; we don’t make S’s respect the deep part of the field but, again, is that really by design?

I’ve been a Patterson guy since he got here, but I’m losing faith. He doesn’t get it out on time often enough and he doesn’t give receivers a chance to make a play when in the right matchups. And the worst part is that it doesn’t look like it’s getting better. I don’t know what McCaffrey’s status is but it may be time to make a change. Patterson’s leaving plays on the field and it’s really gumming everything up.

timmieb · Oct 6, 2019