During the playoffs, flaws are shown and every choice is amplified. The blitzing tactics of Buccaneers coach Todd
Bowless completely destroyed the struggling Eagles; C.J. Stroud and the Texans made the Browns defense out to be a joke; and the Cowboys defense was unable to stop simple passes. We’ll discuss all of this and more when we examine the finest and worst coaching choices made during the Wild Card Playoffs.
Among quarterbacks with at least 200 throw attempts in the regular season, Stroud’s EPA per dropback versus man coverage ranked 25th. This is more of a criticism of the receivers for the Texans. They have dependable weapons, but they don’t have a real man-beater save Nicco Collins. Their finest man-beater, rookie Tank Dell, is sidelined for the season, while Collins has lost time due to injury.
Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik did a superb job of using motion and formations to keep the Browns defensive backs from pressing his receivers and penalized their aggressiveness with double moves, even though the Browns were the top man coverage team in the league during the regular season.
