Through the Linebacker's Eyes: Robert Spillane
Breaking down Spillane's key interception vs. the Browns
It took a while for the Patriots to get the upper hand against the Browns on Sunday, but in the second half, they finally broke through. And after taking a 16-7 lead, the defense slammed the door shut.
On this play, the Browns faced a 3rd-and-7 from their own 33-yard line in the middle of the 3rd quarter. They came out in a 1x3 formation with a bunch to the left and tight end David Njoku to the right:
The Patriots would bring a blitz and rush 5. Linebacker Robert Spillane, who started the play on the line of scrimmage, dropped out into coverage:
“We were blitzing, I was covering the back.”
“He picked up in protection, so that kind of lets me roam [and] be a free read-the-quarterback player.”
That meant the running back, who Spillane was responsible for, stayed in to help protect against the blitz:
And since he stayed in, that freed Spillane up to read the play and help out elsewhere. He first checked to see if any routes were coming his way from the 3-receiver side:
“I’m looking for anything from the field coming back shallow. Nothing came back shallow.”
Since no receivers from the other side of the formation were running shallow routes in Spillane’s direction or threatening him, he was free to read quarterback Dillon Gabriel and play the ball:
Spillane was then able to get under the intended target, David Njoku, for the interception:
From the end zone angle, you can get a better look at how Spillane went from reading the back, to checking the field side for shallow routes, to reading Gabriel’s eyes:
The Patriots would go on to win the game 32-13 and have now won 5 in a row. There’s a long way to go, but they’re going to be a tough team to deal with down the stretch.