Film Room: Bengals secondary could confuse Andrew Luck

It was Week 7. First-and-goal.

Andrew Luck was under center. The Cincinnati Bengals defense showed two safeties, both on the goal line.

The Indianapolis Colts had two receivers on the formation’s left. One was outside the numbers in a plus-split, the other closer to the hash than the numbers in a reduced split. Across from them were cornerbacks in what looked like man coverage.

But when Luck took a three-step drop, the coverage changed. Down came the strong safety, who expanded with the tight end to the right flat. The free safety shifted to the left of the formation and, slowly, backpedaled.

The Colts’ slot receiver ran three steps and slanted inside. The cornerback across from him didn’t jam him and instead waited to see where Luck would look.

Luck glanced to the middle of the field, then craned to his left.

***

In 2014, his third year, Luck blossomed like a peony. He set career highs in yards and completions, completion percentage, yards per attempt and quarterback rating. He led the NFL with 40 touchdowns.

He was also, however, third with 16 interceptions. His interception rate jumped one percent from last season to 2.6. At times he struggled to throw under pressure and without his feet set. Other times he was fooled by well-disguised coverages, which could be a problem on wild-card weekend.

In Week 14 against the Cleveland Browns, Luck was in shotgun. He had a Trips set to his right, where three receivers were covered by three Browns defenders. There was a free safety deep between the hashes.

The free safety rolled over the Trips set. There were only two receivers running deep routes with the furthest receiver outside (No. 1 receiver) ran a clear out to create room for the No. 3 receiver’s deep out.

Even though they had two receivers to the Browns’ three defenders, the play looked promising. When Luck hit the top of his three-step drop, though, it turned grim.

The cornerback squatted to the inside of the No. 1 receiver and passed him off to the free safety. He then peeled off underneath, jumped in front of the No. 3 receiver’s deep out and snatched Luck’s throw. It was a coverage trap. He hurried across the field to the opposite pylon for the score.

Six of Luck’s 16 interceptions this season, according to Pro Football Focus, have come under pressure, third-most in the league. They've come when he’s been throttled by defensive linemen at the last second, when he’s held the ball too long or when he hasn’t had enough room in the pocket to set his feet, as was the case against in a Week 8 shootout against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Luck stood just outside of the Steelers’ 30 in shotgun. He again had Trips Right. The Steelers had their free safety deep in the middle of the field and cornerbacks off in four under, three deep Cover 3.

Deep and outside the right numbers, a cornerback turned his back to the sideline and shuffled his feet. He used the sideline as an extra defender against the Colts receiver running something between a clear out and a go-route. They were essentially the same, but usually on clear-outs, the receiver isn’t targeted.

Yet, Luck took a three-step drop and looked to the receiver. In front of Luck, though, the left guard was pushed back inch by inch. Each step back constricted room for Luck. When Luck stamped his left foot, he didn’t circle his hips. The ball, as a result, didn’t have enough air under it as it traveled to the far right.

The ball flew high and inside, into deep cornerback’s hands for the Steelers’ second interception of the game.

***

The Bengals have seen how self-destructive Luck can be in the playoffs. Last year, he threw seven interceptions in two games. He makes mistakes under pressure and there’s no greater pressure than the playoffs.

They hope to force him into the same mistakes he made last year and against the rest of the AFC North this season when they travel to Indianapolis for the wild-card matchup.

The Bengals’ defense ranks third in both interceptions (20) and opposing quarterback rating (75.8) this season. Despite a league-low 20 sacks, the defense has held up well because of the secondary's discipline and technique. It has kept its shape throughout plays, even when they break down.

In Week 3, the Tennessee Titans’ offense was in shotgun with a Trips Right. Their quarterback took a five-step drop and stared down the middle of the field.

The Bengals had a two-deep shell, with their cornerbacks and linebackers underneath except the middle linebacker, who dropped straight down the seam. It was Tampa 2 coverage. The middle linebacker ran with the Titans’ No. 1 receiver, who looped up and outside on a corner route, and then left him to the safeties.

Suddenly, the quarterback panicked and scrambled out of the pocket’s left. As he rolled left, the Bengals’ secondary shuffled their feet without overcommitting outside and kept their eyes on him and the receivers.

With pressure mounting from pass rushers, the Titans quarterback quickly set his feet and tossed the ball toward the middle of the field, toward the No. 1 receiver in the endzone. Two Bengals safeties converged to close the window and intercept the pass.

It’s not always this easy, not for the defense to force interceptions, not for the quarterback to read their coverage. The Bengals are one of the NFL’s best at baiting and confusing quarterbacks with their coverage, showing one shell before the snap and then another after the snap.

Luck’s predecessor, Peyton Manning, learned that in Week 16.

It was second-and-five. Manning was in shotgun set. The Bengals had two deep safeties walking around at varying depths. The free safety, to the two-receiver side, was a dozen yards downfield, while the strong safety, to the tight-end side, was 10 yards downfield.

Their cornerbacks also showed different looks. The two outside cornerbacks were tight to the line, with their eyes on the receivers in front of them. This indicated man coverage. Yet, the nickel cornerback had his eyes on Manning. This indicated zone coverage.

At the snap, the outside cornerbacks funneled the receivers inside. The nickel cornerback dropped outside the slot receiver. The free safety rotated to the middle of the field. The strong safety beelined down to the flat and chased the tight end. In the end, it was Cover 3.

Manning looked to exploit the coverage’s weakness: the flat. He stood for a second and stared at the tight end, then threw the ball. The throw was too far inside, which allowed the safety to run from the outside hip to the inside hip.

The safety jumped in front of the throw and wrestled it away from the tight end for the Bengals’ second of four interceptions in the game.

***

As Luck looked left after his three-step drop, the ball was winding up in his right hand. It circled past his rib cage, past his shoulder and to his ear. All he saw was his outside receiver’s slant pattern inside the boundary cornerback.

The nickel cornerback, who had passed off the No. 2 receiver without ever touching him, sat underneath. He was still waiting for Luck. He knew where Luck was going.

Luck fired off the throw and never saw the nickel cornerback. The ball landed straight into the cornerback’s hands, but he dropped it.