PATRIOTS FILM ROOM: Demario Douglas BREAKOUT Game & How He Can Continue Momentum

CLNS Media Sports Network

Join CLNS Media's Taylor Kyles as he dissects the game film from Demario 'Pop' Douglas in his breakout performance against the Buffalo Bills in Week 7. Taylor provides insights on how Pop can maintain his momentum in Week 8 against the Dolphins, breaking down all the key aspects of his game.  FanDuel Sportsbook is the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. NEW customers can bet $5  and get $200 in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Now is the best time to join FanDuel! The app is easy to use and you can be on everything from spreads to player props and more! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won’t wanna miss.   21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.  Ever wished you could navigate the betting field with the confidence of a pro Download the Odds-R App! They're not a sportsbook, but they're the sports betting advisor you've always needed. Patriots Press Pass viewers get a 30-day free trial! Elevate your game day and join the smart betting revolution! Go get it at https://oddsr.com/presspass  Visit https://factormeals.com/PRESSPASS50 to get 50% off your first box! Factor is America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit, can help you fuel up fast with ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door.

Transcript

00:00 Patriots Daily is brought to you by FanDuel,

00:02 the exclusive wedgering partner of the CLNS Media Network.

00:05 - What's going on, everyone?

00:07 It's Taylor Kiles here for CLNS Media.

00:10 DeMario Douglas had a solid start

00:12 the last time the Patriots and the Dolphins

00:13 faced off in week two,

00:15 catching two passes in just the first quarter.

00:18 Unfortunately, as many may remember,

00:20 DeMario ended up fumbling on his second catch

00:23 and was benched for the rest of the game.

00:25 But fast forward to last week,

00:27 DeMario Douglas had a career-high 54 receiving yards

00:31 after coming back from concussion protocol.

00:34 He was a key member of the offense

00:36 and showed how dangerous he can be,

00:37 not just with the ball in his hands,

00:39 but also when working downfield.

00:41 In this breakdown, I'm gonna show you

00:43 not only how DeMario Douglas succeeded

00:45 the last time he played the Dolphins,

00:47 but also how Bill O'Brien was able to put him in position

00:50 to succeed last week against the Bills

00:53 and how that might affect what we see this Sunday

00:55 in the Patriots-Dolphins rematch.

00:58 All right, so first play we're gonna look at,

01:00 second and two, one of the Patriots'

01:01 first offensive plays against the Dolphins.

01:04 Gonna let it run through real quick.

01:06 Pop Douglas going in motion as he typically does.

01:09 Counteraction, but throw the bubble screen.

01:11 Whoop, make a guy miss.

01:14 Get a good gain, more than you need on second and two.

01:18 So formation-wise, the Patriots are in a three-by-one

01:21 formation with Hunter Henry as the only receiver

01:23 to the bottom of the screen.

01:25 Now, Xavier Howard is the cornerback to that side,

01:28 meaning the Dolphins are most likely in zone coverage.

01:31 Now, this creates a mismatch with DeMario Douglas

01:34 lined up against a linebacker.

01:36 And the play, as I mentioned, is gonna be

01:38 a bubble screen off of orbit motion.

01:40 So DeMario Douglas is gonna fake

01:43 like he's going across the screen.

01:44 Then he's actually gonna go into the backfield

01:47 and arch around so that he can get that bubble action

01:50 with Kendrick Bourne and Devontae Parker blocking for him.

01:53 Now, ideally, the way that this looks initially,

01:56 DeMario Douglas is just gonna have to make

01:57 a linebacker miss, pretty simple.

01:59 You got a safety at depth, and he's probably

02:02 not gonna be in a position to stop this on second and two.

02:05 But what the Dolphins actually do is

02:07 they actually blitz the linebacker,

02:09 so it creates a situation where now the safety

02:12 is the one who's responsible for tackling DeMario Douglas.

02:15 Again, playing from depth on second and two,

02:18 he's probably not gonna make the stop,

02:19 but you're hoping that he can just make the tackle

02:22 once he catches up to DeMario Douglas coming downhill.

02:24 Now we're gonna play this motion again.

02:29 Now you see the blitz, DeMario getting the ball,

02:34 go inside, beat the safety's angle,

02:37 run past another defender, go by that one more time.

02:41 Now this is the magic, it's DeMario Douglas

02:43 being able to make that first guy miss consistently

02:46 and break angles with his burst and with his speed.

02:49 Probably could have gotten an even better game

02:52 from Andre Stevenson can make this block,

02:53 but he doesn't know where DeMario is, so good play.

02:56 Like I said, more than you need on second and two.

02:59 Good game by Pop.

03:01 All right, now we saw against the Bills,

03:06 the Patriots using similar concepts

03:08 to get DeMario Douglas opportunities and space

03:11 to make that first man miss, which isn't an attribute

03:13 you see for most of the Patriots receivers.

03:15 Kendrick Bourne has a bit of that,

03:17 but no one has it quite like Pop.

03:19 Now this is from the very first play

03:21 the Patriots ran against the Bills.

03:23 I'm gonna let it run through first.

03:26 Again, Pop in motion, jet.

03:30 Think a guy missed, that's what he does,

03:34 then slide, avoid a big hit, smart.

03:37 All right, so again, Patriots in a three by one formation,

03:40 but this is more typical, it's a condensed look,

03:43 but you got Hunter Henry lined up off the line,

03:46 but attached to the formation with DeMario Douglas

03:49 as the outside most receiver to the three receiver side.

03:52 Now, when you have most receivers

03:53 to the weak side of the field,

03:55 it usually means that someone's gonna end up

03:57 coming in motion 'cause the Patriots aren't a team

03:59 that use a ton of unbalanced looks,

04:01 and especially when you see DeMario Douglas

04:02 with that much depth and being as far away

04:04 from the bunch look as he is,

04:06 you know he's probably gonna be coming in motion.

04:09 All right, so the play, once he comes in motion,

04:12 it's gonna look like a bubble screen,

04:14 but what it actually is is what's called a snag,

04:17 where you can see at the top of the screen,

04:18 Devante Parker is running just a little curl route,

04:21 which acts as a pick if the defender

04:25 that travels with DeMario Douglas

04:27 decides that he wants to take more of a shallow path

04:30 to the receiver, he's gonna run into traffic,

04:32 but what's gonna happen here is you're actually gonna see

04:36 the defender that follows DeMario Douglas bubble over,

04:38 and that puts Pop in a good situation to make him miss.

04:42 So we're gonna see the motion,

04:44 and you see Teron Johnson, slot defender,

04:47 going across the formation with DeMario Douglas,

04:50 indicating that he's probably gonna have to make him miss

04:52 because the Bills are in a single high

04:55 man coverage defense.

04:56 Now we're probably gonna see this from the Dolphins

04:59 if they decide to lean into more man concepts,

05:01 assuming Jalen Ramsey and Nick Needham are able to return,

05:04 so the Patriots are gonna need some answers,

05:06 and they're gonna need a way to generate big plays.

05:09 Now once DeMario Douglas goes across the field,

05:11 you're also gonna see the safeties rotate.

05:13 So rather than having a safety down in the box

05:16 who can maybe help tackle DeMario Douglas,

05:18 we're actually gonna have that player

05:20 become the deep safety with the safety to the boundary

05:24 going down into the box, basically just gonna waste him.

05:27 Now we see throw quick, DeMario, this is tough.

05:33 With a guy with his speed,

05:35 Teron Johnson's gotta work over the bubble,

05:37 then he's gotta try to break down in space,

05:39 you see it there, but a tough position to be in.

05:41 DeMario acts like he's gonna go outside,

05:44 brings it back inside to make his man miss,

05:46 cuts back inside once again to follow his blocks,

05:49 and like I said, gets down, he's a smaller guy,

05:52 so you'd like to see him avoid contact

05:53 in situations like this where he's got multiple defenders

05:56 about to collide on him, nice play.

05:58 All right, same game, second and 10 in the third quarter.

06:05 Gonna let this run through, DeMario, similar formation,

06:07 but this time he actually gets the ball,

06:09 he's not just in motion, and that's what he can do

06:13 when you're in chase mode against Pop Douglas.

06:17 All right, so let's break this down.

06:18 Patriots under center, three by one formation.

06:21 Now this is where you're gonna see a lot of their jet action

06:24 is when Mack Jones is under center.

06:26 Again, you got most of the receivers

06:28 to the weak side of the field,

06:29 indicating DeMario Douglas is probably gonna end up

06:32 going across the field.

06:33 The Bills, once again, are in a man coverage defense.

06:36 Pre-snap, that's what they wanna make it seem like,

06:39 but they're actually playing zone,

06:41 but because they want to have their slot defender

06:43 to the strength of the field,

06:45 you're gonna see him travel when DeMario moves.

06:48 Now, the Patriots are gonna make this look like outside zone

06:51 with the entire offensive line

06:53 and Romandre Stevenson going right.

06:56 But as we saw, it's actually gonna be a jet sweep

06:59 to DeMario Douglas.

07:00 So you show 'em the action, and then some defenses,

07:03 you know, they may decide they don't respect it

07:06 if you're not actually handing off on these kinds of plays.

07:08 You have to respect it to some degree,

07:10 but there's a different fear when there's a ball carrier

07:12 who's explosive in space

07:14 who can actually get the ball in these situations.

07:16 And we're seeing the Patriots do a better job

07:18 of exploiting those opportunities.

07:19 So here, DeMario, Teron Johnson,

07:23 once again, traveling with him

07:25 because DeMario's going into the strength of the formation.

07:27 Now, pre-snap, this looks like man coverage,

07:30 but we're gonna see that,

07:31 you see that corner to the bottom of the screen

07:33 start to bail, so you know it's actually zone.

07:36 And when DeMario gets the ball,

07:38 unlike last time where Teron Johnson

07:40 was the one responsible for tackling him,

07:41 here you're gonna see Jalen Rager

07:44 actually go to crack block.

07:46 So now DeMario is responsible

07:48 for making the outside corner miss,

07:50 and the corner's in a tough position

07:51 'cause he just bailed,

07:53 and is now trying to come downhill

07:55 when DeMario already has a head of steam.

07:57 We're gonna see how that plays out for him.

07:59 Nice block by Rager.

08:01 Ooh, little move there.

08:03 That's what DeMario does.

08:05 Defender thinks he's got a good angle.

08:08 Inside fake, gets the defender to take that angle inside,

08:12 and then, boop, nope, I'm making you miss,

08:15 and I'm accelerating downfield.

08:17 Another good play by Pop.

08:19 He's feeling himself, you see that?

08:23 He gets up like he's charging.

08:24 I love that, some energy from the young receiver.

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08:41 Win or lose.

08:43 - So we're gonna go back to the Dolphins game.

08:49 Now, this is third and seven.

08:51 Patriots need a conversion.

08:53 They're down a field goal, nothing crazy,

08:54 but they need to keep the drive alive.

08:56 And there were examples we've seen throughout the season

08:59 where not only did the Patriots put DeMario Douglas

09:02 in motion so that he can get a head start,

09:04 so that he can be a distraction,

09:05 just so that he can be an underneath playmaker.

09:09 We also see it used as a way to get him open

09:12 against man coverage.

09:14 Now, this is gonna be a great example

09:15 that we saw a lot from Julian Edelman, guys like that,

09:19 back in the Patriots' second dynasty era.

09:22 So let's run this play.

09:23 Pop motioning into a stack behind a tight end.

09:29 It's an alert that he's probably gonna have

09:30 some kind of option route or something, wide open.

09:33 And yeah, we all know what happens there,

09:35 so I'm not gonna harp on it.

09:38 It is what it is, we're moving on.

09:40 All right, now, again, three by one look,

09:44 another bunch set, but now Mike Yosiki

09:46 is the isolated guy to the bottom of the screen.

09:49 The Dolphins initially show a two high defense,

09:52 but as we're gonna see, they're gonna adjust

09:54 once DeMario Douglas comes in motion behind Yosiki.

09:58 So we're gonna see the stack.

09:59 And the safety goes from a two high structure

10:02 and then towards the boundary, he's gonna come down

10:05 and we're gonna see some communication

10:07 between him and Xavier Howard saying,

10:09 "Hey, this is how it's gonna work.

10:11 "I'm gonna take the tight end, you take the receiver

10:14 "so that we don't get any mismatch situations

10:16 "where DeMario Douglas is running a route against a safety."

10:19 That'd be a huge mismatch.

10:21 But it's still gonna be a mismatch because of the play.

10:24 So this is gonna be a high-low concept.

10:26 Bill O'Brien loves these.

10:28 And you're gonna see Mike Yosiki run the high.

10:30 So he's gonna run a dig and then behind that,

10:33 you're gonna see DeMario Douglas capitalize

10:36 on the free access he gets because of that stack alignment

10:39 and then break inside into tons of space.

10:43 So you see he kinda stems behind Yosiki.

10:48 So you don't know where exactly he's gonna go.

10:50 Am I going inside, am I going outside?

10:52 Howard doesn't know.

10:53 Bursts inside and you see Howard,

10:55 not only is he often asked to come downhill,

10:58 but he also has Yosiki and the safety,

11:02 I believe that's Sean Elliott, in his way.

11:05 Now DeMario gets the pass,

11:08 makes Howard miss because he's in chase mode,

11:10 and then learning moment from the rookie.

11:13 You gotta know that people might be chasing you from behind,

11:15 gotta protect the football, but it's been a while.

11:17 I'm sure he's learned.

11:18 All right, now we saw a very similar example of this

11:24 in the Bills game on a play towards the end of the game

11:28 when the Patriots are trying to come back,

11:30 get the eventual game winner.

11:32 It's gonna be a really impressive play,

11:33 both from Mac Jones and from DeMario Douglas

11:36 on a similar concept to what we saw

11:39 in that last Dolphins play.

11:40 I'm gonna run this.

11:41 It's also fun 'cause you're gonna see

11:42 some formation wrinkles, so let the play run.

11:46 DeMario actually in the backfield,

11:47 motioning up behind Hunter Henry and another stack,

11:51 breaking outside this time,

11:52 and just a perfect throw from Mac Jones.

11:55 Good catch from DeMario.

11:57 So we're gonna see, once again,

11:59 I sound like a broken record, three by one formation.

12:02 Hunter Henry is on the backside as the isolated receiver.

12:06 Now, this time you can tell the Bills are in a zone coverage

12:09 because you got a cornerback across from Hunter Henry,

12:12 and the Patriots get kinda funky with their alignments

12:15 to not only get some coverage indicators,

12:17 but to possibly create some kinda confusion for the Bills

12:20 'cause you're gonna see DeMario Douglas

12:22 in the backfield with Ra'mondre Stevenson

12:25 as the slot receiver.

12:26 So that's when alarm bells go off

12:28 and you're saying something's funky.

12:29 But this is how Bill O'Brien

12:31 puts DeMario Douglas in positions

12:33 where he can get ideal matchups

12:35 'cause if this were man coverage,

12:37 it's a possibility he ends up getting covered by his safety,

12:39 but the Bills are well-prepared for it.

12:41 They're playing zone coverage.

12:43 So we're gonna see DeMario motion into the stack

12:46 like we saw last time,

12:47 but instead of it being two in-breakers on a high low,

12:50 we're gonna get a smash concept with two out-breaking routes.

12:54 Now Hunter Henry's gonna run to the far pylon.

12:57 DeMario Douglas is gonna break underneath him

12:59 on an out-route right, or just shy of the goal line.

13:04 So pretty straightforward.

13:08 See DeMario break.

13:09 And then just a perfect pass for Mac Jones

13:15 because this is tough.

13:17 Now the defender actually plays this pretty well.

13:19 See, he's got eyes on Douglas.

13:22 It's not like he's fooled by Hunter Henry in his area.

13:24 See him start getting downhill.

13:27 He's right on DeMario's hip,

13:29 but Mac Jones puts it far where,

13:33 you see, he even gets his hand stretched out.

13:34 This is a great throw for Mac Jones.

13:36 DeMario Douglas comes through with the catch,

13:39 tries to extend it across the goal line,

13:41 but no such luck.

13:44 And I think he drew a flag on this play.

13:45 I'm pretty, there it is.

13:46 There's the flag.

13:47 That's a good rep.

13:48 For your rookie receiver and your quarterback,

13:51 great connection and your receiver draws a flag.

13:54 Wasn't the last time either.

13:56 Now here we're gonna transition

13:57 into more of DeMario Douglas's downfield presence.

14:00 We saw what he could do underneath the explosiveness,

14:03 how Bill O'Brien puts him in positions to succeed

14:05 with motion, shifts, alignment.

14:07 Now we're gonna see how DeMario's not just a gadget guy.

14:10 He's not just somebody that you feed the ball to

14:12 because he can't really give you much downfield.

14:15 We're gonna see in the next couple of clips

14:17 that DeMario Douglas's route running

14:19 also allows him to be successful on intermediate passes.

14:23 So this is third and one right outside of scoring territory.

14:27 The Patriots are gonna come out in a look

14:29 where it seems like they're gonna run.

14:30 They're under center, a little play action,

14:32 but we're gonna see they get a little tricky here.

14:36 And I love the aggressiveness on third and one.

14:38 Fake the run.

14:40 DeMario with a great route,

14:42 makes an extending grab and draws several flags.

14:46 A little celebration at the end.

14:48 So unlike a lot of the other reps,

14:50 instead of a three by one,

14:51 the Patriots are in a two by two alignment right here.

14:55 And we're gonna see that DeMario and Devante Parker

14:58 are gonna run a double dig concept

15:00 where they're both gonna go about well past the sticks

15:04 and they're gonna break inside on the same route.

15:07 But this is a great play to run against man cover,

15:11 especially single high,

15:12 because it breaks right underneath that safety.

15:15 And typically that cornerback is gonna have outside leverage

15:19 because he's got help in the post.

15:21 So we're gonna see off the line of scrimmage,

15:25 DeMario Douglas, a little hop step

15:27 so we can read the defender's leverage.

15:29 You can see the defender's got outside leverage.

15:31 So DeMario's gonna say,

15:32 "All right, I'm running in and breaking route.

15:34 "I'm just gonna get right by you."

15:36 Slips inside, stacks a corner,

15:38 and then that head fake at the top.

15:40 That's what draws the flag.

15:41 It's that little boom.

15:43 Pretend like you're going outside.

15:45 Come back in.

15:48 Tron Johnson yanks on him a little bit.

15:50 Still isn't in position

15:52 'cause DeMario does a great job flattening this route.

15:56 Extends to make the catch.

15:57 Where the, there they are.

16:00 Two flags, more mojo from the rookie.

16:03 We love to see it.

16:05 Got a little something from Jalen Rager too.

16:06 They know that's first down.

16:08 We're about to score.

16:09 All right, first and 15 in the fourth quarter,

16:13 Patriots up six points.

16:15 Now here, we're gonna see something pretty familiar,

16:17 a little Haas-wide juke.

16:19 I'm gonna run it first so you can see.

16:22 Another dime from Mack

16:28 and another great catch from DeMario.

16:31 So here, we're gonna see the Patriots

16:33 in an empty formation.

16:35 Gusicchi as the number three,

16:37 and DeMario Douglas is the number two weak side.

16:39 Now, according to Bill O'Brien,

16:41 those are the playmaker spots

16:43 where you want your guys who can either get open

16:46 or make plays after the catch.

16:48 Now, as I said, we're gonna see Haas juke.

16:51 Now, the trick with Haas juke is he got hitches outside.

16:55 That's what the HO in Haas comes from,

16:57 but it can convert to a fade or go route

17:01 if you see a corner back in press coverage.

17:03 Now, we're gonna see to the bottom of the screen,

17:05 we're gonna get press coverage

17:07 because that corner is gonna be one-on-one,

17:09 although the rest of the defense

17:10 is gonna be in a two-high zone

17:12 because he's one-on-one in man coverage and pressed up.

17:15 That's gonna convert to a go route.

17:17 On the bottom, you're gonna see it turns into a hitch

17:20 because that defender's gonna play soft in zone coverage.

17:23 Mike Gusicchi is gonna see he's walled off inside

17:26 and break outside, but the keys here are the seam routes,

17:29 stretching the defense vertically.

17:30 You got Tyquan Thornton on the top slot as the number two,

17:34 and then DeMario Douglas to the bottom.

17:36 So we're gonna see him get upfield,

17:38 and once he gets past that defender,

17:41 he starts to stem it inside so he can also beat the safety

17:44 because what essentially happens

17:45 is since the defender to the bottom is in man coverage,

17:49 that's gonna pretty much create a bracket

17:51 with DeMario Douglas.

17:52 So when you draw this up,

17:54 DeMario should be perfectly covered,

17:56 but see the defender tries to carry him.

17:59 DeMario breaks inside,

18:00 does a nice job using his hands to fight contact,

18:04 and then Mac Jones puts it right on him

18:07 over the defender's head,

18:09 and DeMario comes through with a great contested catch.

18:13 Not only just the guy who's covering and making the tackle,

18:16 but you also got a safety coming in late.

18:19 Excellent catch.

18:21 Tyquan Thornton saying first down.

18:24 There you have it, folks.

18:27 DeMario "Pop" Douglas,

18:30 growing into a real playmaker for this Patriots offense

18:33 that desperately needed somebody like him

18:36 to be able to bring a burst

18:37 and kind of that spark plug energy to the offense.

18:40 Obviously, Kendrick Bourne has done a great job

18:42 as he's continued to be the front runner

18:44 in the wide receiver room,

18:46 but I'm expecting DeMario Douglas to once again

18:48 be a focal point for what the passing game does

18:51 and be a contributor, possibly not just through the air,

18:54 but also on the ground.

18:55 Thanks for watching.

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