Analyzing Rodney McLeod's Game-Sealing Interception vs Chiefs: Film Room

Safety Rodney McLeod came away with an interception late to seal the victory for the Colts this past Sunday. Let's dive into all the finer details of this play.

The Indianapolis Colts did the unthinkable this past Sunday, upsetting the Kansas City Chiefs 20-17. It was an ugly win, but the Colts were able to get it done for their first victory of this young season.

While the entire Colts' defense deserves credit for their play in this one, I want to highlight/breakdown the play that sealed the victory. In the waning seconds of the game, cornerback Stephon Gilmore broke up a pass that safety Rodney McLeod ended up intercepting.

In today's film room, I dive into the details that went into this play succeeding like it did on Sunday.

What Pat Mahomes Saw Pre-Snap

If I had to guess as to the read that Chiefs' quarterback Pat Mahomes got pre-snap, I would say that he anticipated the Colts to be in a cover-three shell for this final play. While I don't know if that is what he saw, I do have some evidence to back it up.

First off, the Colts are showing press man coverage to the weakside of the 3x2 formation, while they are sitting back in off-man coverage to the strong side. This is a common theme in Gus Bradley's cover three scheme, as the weakside of his zone-match cover three typically matches all routes to the outside.

Mahomes is likely reading this and anticipating Kenny Moore II to match the slot receiver and for Stephon Gilmore to play outside leverage in his match. That way, in Mahomes' pre-snap read, he should have a window to the dig route behind Moore II if Gilmore is coming down from outside leverage.

Unfortunately for Mahomes, the coverage on this play was not cover three.

(Here is what Mahomes likely read pre-snap)

The Actual Coverage Call

What Gus Bradley actually calls on this play, and does a good job of disguising, is Cover One Robber. Robber looks a lot like cover three pre-snap, except that this is a man coverage call rather than a zone call.

In robber, safety Rodney McLeod is the zone defender over the middle while the rest of the defense is in man coverage across the board (safety Rodney Thomas II is in deep third coverage).

This is just a really good disguise by Bradley to have his weakside cornerbacks in press coverage. Honestly, pre-snap, I would have also thought that this was a cover three call.

(Here is what the coverage actually was)

The Pump Fake

With Mahomes thinking that the Colts are in zone on this play, he believes that all he needs to do to create a window for this throw is pull Kenny Moore II up on the slot receiver running a hitch. Once he gets Moore II pulled up, then he can fire a pass to the dig route behind him.

In order to do this, Mahomes pump fakes to that slot receiver underneath. Moore II does indeed bite up, simply because that is his assignment on the play. Mahomes likely thinks he has the opening now, as Stephon Gilmore in a typical cover three call would be playing too far outside leverage to work his way back downhill to make a play on the ball.

A Little Bit of Luck.. And Skill

Now, the Colts do get a tad lucky on this play. Even with Pat Mahomes potentially misreading the coverage, he does have a little window to hit with his receiver here. The lucky part for the Colts is that this is just a poor dig route by the outside receiver.

The outside receiver takes his route a bit too far upfield, giving Gilmore a window to break up the pass by playing through the back shoulder. This play could have been a pass breakup even if the route and the throw were precise, but the Colts definitely were given a gift by the slight sloppiness on the offense.

Mahomes throws this pass like he isn't expecting Gilmore to close this quickly (and he's expecting his receiver to sit in the window), and the star corner is able to make a game changing play while crashing downhill.

The Final Play

Overall, this play was just a perfect summation of the Colts' day on defense. Gus Bradley dialed up an excellent call that he disguised well. The defenders all played their assignments perfectly and they were helped out by a little bit of sloppiness on the Chiefs' end. The result was a game-sealing interception against one of the league's top offenses.

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— Not Zach’s Burner (@NotZachsBurner1) September 28, 2022

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