San Diego Chargers vs Broncos: Breaking Down The O-Line Film

by Bewsaf on Oct 12, 2011 9:28 AM PDT

San Diego take sole possession of the AFC West with a 4-1 record. The Chargers defeated Denver last Sunday in what ended up being a tight game. But in the end, San Diego finds a way to win.

The Chargers tried to flex their run game muscle a little bit more this week. San Diego ended the day with 206 yards on 43 carries for and average of 4.6 yards per carry.

This week Kris Dielman has a good game run blocking as he records a 88% assignments grade and a +5 power score. He particularly look good when he pulled and locked onto or kicked out a defender. He just seem to have some kind of magnet that draws the defender into him and doesn't allow them to get off his block.

Let's take a look at the rest of those scores...

If you like this article check out more film breakdown at Pro Football Spotlight

	10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	100
Percent Scale

Team Run Blocking	Power Blocking	Power Blocking Score	2nd Level Blocks
Did the lineman get the job done or not? These grades are good for understanding value for a team and not necessarily for comparing across teams. A game in the mid 80s to 90% is a decent score.	How often did the offensive lineman dominate the block or how often did he get dominated? These scores are good for comparing across teams and finding the most dominant lineman in the league.	Anything over zero is a good score. The more over zero the more the lineman dominated the defender. Each lineman is scored a minus for being dominated, a zero for a draw, or a plus for dominating the defender.	The number of success over failures for the lineman when blocking linebackers and safeties on the second level. The lineman must be athletic to accomplish a high second level score.

Run Blocking Grades

Percent

100

Power

Pull

2/Level

Grade

Blocking

Blocks

Blocking

McNeill

77%

Dielman

88%

Hardwick

75%

-1

Vasquez

84%

Clary

73%

-2

-1

Green

66%

Run Blocking Notes:

At 13:31 in the 1st quarter Louis Vasquez and Jeromy Clary have a combo run block on the defender and get a nice push off the line. If you haven't watched these two combo block during a game then you need to watch. The Chargers appear to understand that running at the right guard/tackle area is a good idea, because they seem to do it a lot. Sometimes the blocking of the tight ends thwarts attempts to get more yards...but it is an area to watch, none the less.
You might also check out the Vasquez and Clary combo blocks at 6:44 in the 1st.
At 12:52 in the 1st quarter, Marcus McNeill pulls left on a stretch play and demonstrates his agility and ability to block in space. Nice 1st down block and run. You can check out the AFC West left tackle rankings, here.
Kris Dielman ended the day with a +4 on the 2nd level. One great 2nd level block comes at 9:20 in the 2nd, when he picks up a linebacker to spring a big run.
Pro Football Spotlight writes an article about how good Louis Vasquez is and at 8:08 in the 2nd quarter he gets beat. Vasquez started slow in the Denver game, but by the second half he was back to dominating defenders again.
The Chargers did a lot of pull blocking this week against Denver. On one of the plays, 4:13 in the 2nd, the defense starts to catch on and stunts a linebacker through a gap the pulling lineman just vacated. San Diego's running back was tackle in the backfield for a loss.
You have to like Dielman. He gives out as much as he gets...and sometimes he gives out a little more. at :38 in the 2nd quarter he give the defender a little extra blocking (only till the whistle). Which the defender didn't like. Check out the AFC West left guard rankings, here.
Dielman has a nice power block in which he move the defender out of the hole at 14:57 in the 4th quarter.
To see how an offensive lineman has done in previous weeks then go, here.

Team Pass Blocking	Passing Power Blocking	Pressures	Combo Help
Did the lineman get the job done or not? These grades are good for understanding value for a team and not necessarily for comparing across teams. A game in the 90% is a good score for pass blocking.	How often did the offensive lineman dominate the block or how often did he get dominated? Each lineman is scored a minus for being dominated, a zero for a draw, or a plus for dominating the block.	How often did the offensive lineman give up pressure on the quarterback? Every once and a while a lineman can do his job but give up pressure on the QB. This stat will help glean more info from the line grades.	How often did the offensive coordinator provide help for a tough defender or a struggling lineman. Yea, two lineman ended up with the same grade...but how much help did either of them get?

Pass Blocking Grades

	Percent	10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	100	Power	Pressures	Sacks	Combo
	Grade											Blocking	Allowed	Allowed	Help
McNeill	87%											0	5	0	9
Dielman	93%											-1	2	0	17
Hardwick	84%											-3	3	0	16
Vasquez	87%											+2	4	0	14
Clary	78%											-4	7	1	9

Pass Blocking Notes:

At 1:26 in the 1st quarter, Philip Rivers gets sacked. The announcers were calling a coverage sack. But from my view Rivers appeared to drift to the right when he didn't need to and left the comforts of his pocket. A defender, looping wide ended up getting him. Rivers did have a long time to through...
The Broncos were sending a lot of blitzes by the end of the game. More defenders than the linemen can be expected to block. At first Denver catches Rivers unprepared for the hot route and ends up looking like a lot of pressure on the quarterback (which there was).
Clary has a rough day in pass protection. He ends the day in pass protection with a -4 power score. To check out AFC West right tackle rankings go, here.
Another instance that Rivers was caught off guard was at 4:23 in the 3rd quarter. Right after the snap Rivers appears to see the blitzing defensive back coming off the edge and he immediately starts running to the right...which breaks down the pass protection. If you watch the play you can see the hot route receiver to the side of the blitzing defensive back come open.
Rivers gets sacked at 9:28 in the 4th quarter after having over 4 seconds to throw the ball. Coverage sack.
You can find the Tight Ends and Backs Film Breakdown, here.

Chargers TEs and Running Backs Film Breakdown

If you liked this analysis, I've also posted the TEs and Running Backs Film Breakdown and you can check it out over at Pro Football Spotlight, here.

This FanPost was written by a member of the Bolts From The Blue community and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bolts From The Blue editors or SB Nation.

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Comments

Your run blocking grades line up with my left/right/middle YPC math – makes for some nice mutual validation.

by Orz on Oct 12, 2011 1:53 PM PDT reply actions

It's all about the match-ups in the NFL :-

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by Bewsaf on Oct 12, 2011 4:18 PM PDT up reply actions

Post fail

I didn’t finish my smiley face…. :-)

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by Bewsaf on Oct 12, 2011 4:18 PM PDT up reply actions

Seems to be borne out

McNeill continues to be a stronger pass blocker that run blocker. While he moves his feet well & takes advantage of that huge wingspan in pass blocking, he doesn’t always bend his knees well enough to get good drive in the run blocking game.

Vasquez is looking better. I see him as also being better in the run game but that’s not altogether a bad thing in a guard.

Once again Clary shows his struggles with the speed guys. It is what it is. He’s a hard worker & tenacious guy, but there is no more upside.

I seriously don’t see Green around for next year.

If the thunder don't get ya then the lightning will!!

Robert Hunter

by Buck Melanoma on Oct 13, 2011 1:02 AM PDT reply actions

It could also be

That run blocking at LT is harder to score a high grade than pass blocking. Hard to say without knowing what the average or replacement level grades are for each specialty at the position.

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by Wonko on Oct 13, 2011 3:50 PM PDT up reply actions