Nelson has gotten unfair criticism. Nelson is a bit undersized so bigger WRs can give him difficulty. But first off: our scheme by design is difficult for CBs. Our 3-4 zone-blitz leaves a CB to cover a deep 3rd of field. The Eagles really concentrated an effort to attack this matchup with the larger Travis Fulgham.
Consider Nelson was “responsible” for surrendering the longest pass play all year: 73-yard TD vs AJ Brown & Titans. We’re playing a vary basic and undisguised Cover-3. There’s 5 on the Line, with 3 DL/2 OLB. There is no easier defense for a QB to read — so imagine what Big Ben would do to it.
Nelson is playing 8 yards deep — because the last thing he wants is to let their best WR take him down the sideline with no help. He’s not Joe Haden (who can be more aggressive and slide into press if he wants) and Tannehill hits Brown breaking inside in the seam, just over Williams reach. Ideally—yeah you want a CB who can play this more aggressive but considering it’s 27-7, you’re in a run-focused formation and you want to play containment, Nelson is playing this as they’d want.
Brown broke it for a TD — but the man who missed the assignment was Fitzpatrick. His breaks too fast despite having no angle to play the ball before catching it and Brown easily runs past his missed tackle. Bam—Titans are back in the game with an easy TD instead of having to work their way down the field.
“Stats” say Nelson gives up a score. But that’s the thing about data. It’s useless without having anything to compare it against - be it a baseline, variance or other standard of measurement.
When I say Nelson is the “weakest link” it’s more a measure of his role being to contain and playing within his limits. It’s not inherently a bad thing, just a reality.
In reality—Brown was in a crossing pattern. It was as base a Cover-3 defense as a Defense can play (which to say is by far is the easiest for QB to read) with
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