Thread: Carimi Gets Ready For His Former Teammate.................

Jay faces a tough batter in Houston Texans DE J.J. Watt

BY MARK POTASH mpotash@suntimes.com November 7, 2012 10:16PM


HOUSTON, TX - NOVEMBER 04: Ryan Fitzpatrick #14 of the Buffalo Bills is knocked down by J.J. Watt #99 of the Houston Texans in the fourth quarter at Reliant Stadium on November 4, 2012 in Houston, Texas. Houston defeated Buffalo 21-9. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)





Updated: November 8, 2012 2:26AM


Until Bears cornerback Charles Tillman went on his rampage, Texans defensive end J.J. Watt was the popular early favorite for NFL defensive player of the year. And he still might be.
Tillman and Watt play disparate positions but have one thing in common: a knack for getting their hands on the ball. Watt not only has 101/2 sacks, 28 tackles for loss and 21 quarterback hits in eight games, but he also has 10 pass deflections.


Watt’s ability to block passes at the line of scrimmage could be most problematic of all for Jay Cutler and the Bears against the Texans on Sunday night at Soldier Field. Four of Watt’s 10 deflections have led to interceptions, including a 52-yard touchdown by Johnathan Joseph and an 86-yard return by Brice McCain. In the playoffs against the Bengals last season, Watt picked Andy Dalton clean at the line — not even a deflection — and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown.


‘‘He did that in college, too,’’ said Bears right tackle Gabe Carimi, who played with Watt at Wisconsin in 2009 and 2010. ‘‘He’s a tall guy, so he uses that to his advantage. He’s probably done it more now because he’s an interior guy. Using his height on the interior is probably getting [him] more batted passes.’’


Carimi said the only counter move to Watt’s pass-deflecting is to ‘‘hit him low so he doesn’t want to jump up high. That’s the only way. That’s what offensive linemen are taught across the league.’’


But it’ll be mostly on Cutler to prevent Watt from deflecting his passes. All 10 of Watt’s deflections have come against four quarterbacks — the Dolphins’ Ryan Tannehill, the Jaguars’ Blaine Gabbert, the Jets’ Mark Sanchez and the Ravens’ Joe Flacco. Watt had no deflections against the Broncos’ Peyton Manning, the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers, the Titans’ Matt Hasselbeck and the Bills’ Ryan Fitzpatrick.


‘‘We have to be aware of where he’s at,’’ Cutler said. ‘‘He lines up in a lot of different positions. Wade [Phillips, the Texans’ defensive coordinator] does a great job of moving him around and using his athletic ability to their advantage.


‘‘We’ve gone against some pass rushers this year, and I thought we’ve done a better-than-average job. So hopefully we can continue it with him.’’


The 6-5, 295-pound Watt, a first-round pick (11th overall) in 2011, is in the Jared Allen mold as a high-motor, whirling-dervish type of pass rusher. In only eight games, Watt became the 11th player since 1991 to have 10 or more sacks and 10 or more pass breakups in the same season.


‘‘It’s not like facing others,’’ Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice said. ‘‘He’s one of the top players, if not the top player we’ve played against this year. He lines up in different places, so he’s going to take turns going up and down the line, trying to make plays on us. We have to be up to the challenge, and hopefully we put in the right protection schemes to take that into account.’’

Jay faces a tough batter in Houston Texans DE J.J. Watt

BY MARK POTASH mpotash@suntimes.com November 7, 2012 10:16PM
HOUSTON, TX - NOVEMBER 04: Ryan Fitzpatrick #14 of the Buffalo Bills is knocked down by J.J. Watt #99 of the Houston Texans in the fourth quarter at Reliant Stadium on November 4, 2012 in Houston, Texas. Houston defeated Buffalo 21-9. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

Updated: November 8, 2012 2:26AM


Until Bears cornerback Charles Tillman went on his rampage, Texans defensive end J.J. Watt was the popular early favorite for NFL defensive player of the year. And he still might be.

Tillman and Watt play disparate positions but have one thing in common: a knack for getting their hands on the ball. Watt not only has 101/2 sacks, 28 tackles for loss and 21 quarterback hits in eight games, but he also has 10 pass deflections.

Watt’s ability to block passes at the line of scrimmage could be most problematic of all for Jay Cutler and the Bears against the Texans on Sunday night at Soldier Field. Four of Watt’s 10 deflections have led to interceptions, including a 52-yard touchdown by Johnathan Joseph and an 86-yard return by Brice McCain. In the playoffs against the Bengals last season, Watt picked Andy Dalton clean at the line — not even a deflection — and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown.

‘‘He did that in college, too,’’ said Bears right tackle Gabe Carimi, who played with Watt at Wisconsin in 2009 and 2010. ‘‘He’s a tall guy, so he uses that to his advantage. He’s probably done it more now because he’s an interior guy. Using his height on the interior is probably getting [him] more batted passes.’’

Carimi said the only counter move to Watt’s pass-deflecting is to ‘‘hit him low so he doesn’t want to jump up high. That’s the only way. That’s what offensive linemen are taught across the league.’’

But it’ll be mostly on Cutler to prevent Watt from deflecting his passes. All 10 of Watt’s deflections have come against four quarterbacks — the Dolphins’ Ryan Tannehill, the Jaguars’ Blaine Gabbert, the Jets’ Mark Sanchez and the Ravens’ Joe Flacco. Watt had no deflections against the Broncos’ Peyton Manning, the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers, the Titans’ Matt Hasselbeck and the Bills’ Ryan Fitzpatrick.

‘‘We have to be aware of where he’s at,’’ Cutler said. ‘‘He lines up in a lot of different positions. Wade [Phillips, the Texans’ defensive coordinator] does a great job of moving him around and using his athletic ability to their advantage.

‘‘We’ve gone against some pass rushers this year, and I thought we’ve done a better-than-average job. So hopefully we can continue it with him.’’

The 6-5, 295-pound Watt, a first-round pick (11th overall) in 2011, is in the Jared Allen mold as a high-motor, whirling-dervish type of pass rusher. In only eight games, Watt became the 11th player since 1991 to have 10 or more sacks and 10 or more pass breakups in the same season.

‘‘It’s not like facing others,’’ Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice said. ‘‘He’s one of the top players, if not the top player we’ve played against this year. He lines up in different places, so he’s going to take turns going up and down the line, trying to make plays on us. We have to be up to the challenge, and hopefully we put in the right protection schemes to take that into account.’’

J.J. Watt = Dan Hampton v2.0. Damn I wish we could have drafted him. I would have liked to but he was long gone when we picked. Houston got themselves a stud DLineman in this kid.

play has to go to the side Watt IS lined up. The confusion alone would help

My apologies. This is a duplicate of a post JABF99 put up yesterday so if one of the staff wanders in here maybe you could combine this one with his. Sorry 99.

This guy will bring heat, and that's a given.

The answer is for Cutler and his receivers to be aware of this. Be smart. WR's need to be smart and bale Cutler out by giving him that hot read to hit.

Cutler needs to be smart by getting rid of the ball quickly - don't hold on to the ball and give up unnecessary sacks & fumble the ball away to the Texans.

The oline needs to be smart and not react to Watt by giving up false start penalties (putting Cutler into long yardage situations where Watt can pin his ears back and clobber Jay).

Tice needs to be smart and have a game plan that doesn't require our tackles to be pro-bowl level blockers. And Tice needs to be smart and call realistic plays. Run the ball. Short, high-percentage passes & you don't need to try to look like a powerhouse offense. Just keep it sane.

It's all about being smart. Understand what you need to do. And just do it.

Originally Posted by soulman

My apologies. This is a duplicate of a post JABF99 put up yesterday so if one of the staff wanders in here maybe you could combine this one with his. Sorry 99.

There were no replies yet in the thread I started, Soul, so I just now deleted it. No problem.