FanPost

Was Dwight Freeney really doubled and held all game?

[Note by JimmyK, 11/12/10 2:34 PM EST ] - Promoted from the fanpost section. Fantastic work here by d-jackfan10, who compiled video of every snap by Dwight Freeney and Trent Cole in Sunday's matchup vs. Indianapolis. Note on the Freeney video the absolutely stellar game by Jason Peters. d-jackfan10's post after the jump...

So after the Colts @ Eagles game there was a lot said about how much or how little Dwight Freeney and Trent Cole were doubled and/or held. So given all the talk about this issue (mostly on the Colts blog) I took the liberty of documenting every single Dwight Freeney and Trent Cole snap to close this issue (and prove Colts fans wrong).

Trent Cole:

Chipped: 4 times

Doubles: 1 time

Missed Holds: 8 (:07, :48, 1:14, 2:15, 3:09, 3:31, 4:49, 5:43)


Dwight Freeney

Chipped: 9 times

Doubled: 1 time

Tripled: 1 time

Missed Holds: 2 (1:10, 2:10)

So, as you can see with the video evidence of every single snap Trent Cole and Dwight Freeney took that Freeney was not doubled the entire game, nor was he held all game.

Plus I think this game-tape only goes to show you who the better end is. Trent Cole very clearly plays the run much stronger than Freeney. Cole moves around more often, playing LB in what is known as the Oakie package where two defensive ends line up over the A gap. There are even occasions where Trent Cole drops into coverage.

Dwight Freeney on the other hand is a one trick pony. On LeSean McCoy’s big run is unblocked by the offensive line only to be completely eliminated from the play by a FB. Dwight Freeney is a one trick pony (speed pass rusher) and when you take that trick he is completely useless, as he was against the Eagles. The Eagles chipped him a lot and he did nothing. The Eagles also had Jason Peters who was strong enough to anchor against his bull rush and quick enough to deny him the outside. Aside from one spin move he created very little pressure, the only other time he created pressure was on a stunt that took him all the way to the other side of the line.

Dwight Freeney also claims that Brent Celek never blocked him one on one but I would like to point out plays at 2:05, 2:23, 2:36, 2:58, 3:37 to prove him wrong. There were multiple ocassions where Brent Celek did in fact block Freeney one on one. Surprisingly Celek didn’t get eaten alive, that’s when you know you’ve had a bad day, when you’re blocked by Brent Celek.

Oh and on a slightly related note, Brandon Graham had a fantastic game, had he faced just about any other QB he would’ve had 2 or 3 sacks.