Football Film Room Monthly Newsletter
June Recap
This month at Football Film Room…
The Falcons Have Something in Michael Penix
With all due respect to Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, Michael Penix made more impressive throws in his 3 starts than either did in their 17 and 12 starts respectively. That’s not meant to be a knock on Williams or Maye. It’s more about how well Penix played in those three starts.
What Does Aaron Rodgers Have Left?
Aaron Rodgers is going to the Steelers, which officially makes the AFC North the most interesting division in football.
Drake Maye Made the Necessary Strides in Year 1
Of the six first-round quarterbacks taken in the 2024 NFL Draft, Drake Maye showed the most improvement from college to his rookie season.
The Film Room
We’ve started a new section on Football Film Room called “The Film Room.” There, I go into more depth on certain topics, breaking down far more plays than a standard post. This month, I broke down over 50 plays of Drake Maye and over 25 of Michael Penix from last season. You can check those out here.
We plan on adding more breakdowns like this moving forward. The first 8-10 plays or so are free to view, but you’ll need a Founding Member subscription to see the rest.
And remember, a Founding Member subscription also gets you access to our playbook with over 75 breakdowns grouped by concept (e.g. passing game, running game, situational, coverages, pressures, etc.).
Tennessee Titans 2025 Profile
This post is the first of our 32-part series previewing each NFL team. We plan to focus mostly on the changes made during the offseason, how they addressed their holes, and the questions that remain entering Week 1.
Cleveland Browns 2025 Profile
The Browns went from a pleasant surprise and a playoff appearance in 2023 to a complete disaster in 2024.
New York Giants 2025 Profile
Aside from the quarterback position, the Giants didn’t really address any other aspect of the offense in a significant way. They added some depth pieces here and there, but by and large, they’re rolling out the same group in 2025.
New England Patriots 2025 Profile
Given the presence of Mike Vrabel and the influx of talent this offseason, the Patriots look like they can quickly get back to their roots as a defense-first team that can win some games with this side of the ball alone.
Brian Flores' Pressure Schemes
Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores’ calling card is his aggressive 6-up and 7-up blitz schemes. This is where he loads the line of scrimmage with 6 or 7 potential pass rushers (generally one more than the offense can protect), and then attacks in an assortment of ways.
Neutralizing Great Pass Rushers
Not every team has a game-wrecking pass rusher. There are only so many Myles Garretts, Micah Parsons, T.J. Watts, and Nick Bosas. So when offenses face these types of players, they can’t just treat them like any other pass rusher. Instead, they have to center their game plans around neutralizing them, first and foremost, in order to let the offense operate at a high level.
Blitzing Out of Tilted Fronts
The tilted front, which I’ve written about before, is great for creating 1-on-1 matchups and executing stunts. And if you drop a 5th or even a 6th man down onto the line of scrimmage, you’ve created a look that puts protections schemes into a serious bind.
Toss Crack
Toss Crack is a great play for getting the running back to the perimeter and forcing cornerbacks to be involved in defending the run.
An In-Game Adjustment That Helped the Dolphins Steal a Win Over the Ravens
We always hear about teams making “halftime adjustments.” More often than not, this is overblown. The truth is that NFL teams aren’t just waiting until halftime when their players are taking bathroom breaks, eating orange slices, and gulping down juice boxes to make adjustments. They’re constantly doing so throughout the game.