Packers Film Room: Zayne Anderson’s interception against the Saints

Zayne Anderson’s first game action for the Packers resulted in a late 3rd quarter interception of Spencer Rattler.

Late in the third quarter of the Green Bay Packers’ game against the New Orleans Saints, safety Zayne Anderson, making his first career start in his fourth year in the NFL, intercepted Spencer Rattler to record his first career interception. In 47 snaps on defense, Anderson recorded a Pro Football Focus overall grade of 85.2 for the game, third behind Rashan Gary and Brenton Cox.

The interception came on the infamous play action “leak” concept, a concept made famous by the Shanahan tree and run a handful of times throughout Matt LaFleur’s career as the Packers head coach. Did you also know that LaFleur is off the Shanahan tree? That may be news to some!

In any case, Anderson did an excellent job reading the play and sinking under the throw to pick it off. He may have been aided by an exceptionally poor decision but nonetheless his play ensured a shutout in a 34-0 victory. It was the closest the Saints got to the end zone all evening.

The Saints get into 22 personnel (2 running backs, 2 tight ends) with Rattler getting under center to run play action. The pass play is a familiar concept to both Packers fans and the team itself: Leak. It is a designed play action shot play where the tight end leaks out back across the formation as the defense is chasing the run action and then the flow of the other route concepts.

Even the Packers have had success running it this season and in the past (here and here). For the Saints, this is a good call because they run out of 22 personnel 74% of the time. They have every reason to call this play. The defense might be expecting run and they certainly bit hard on the play fake.

The defense is in Tampa-2 again but from a single high safety shell pre-snap. Anderson walks down late into the box and ends up being the flat defender if the play is a pass. Carrington Valentine, the corner to the bottom of the screen, ends up being the deep half safety versus a pass.

The late rotation pre-snap most likely informed Rattler’s decision to throw the leak route if he thought he was getting cover-3 or single high defense post-snap. In cover-3, the deep third corner is more prone to running with the deep crosser and leaving the leak route wide open. But that isn’t what happens here.

Foster Moreau is the tight end running the leak route and for a brief moment he looks open to Rattler, who didn’t verify what he was seeing and probably thought that since it was open all week in practice that it would be open here. Moreau’s landmark is the imaginary red line and he gets there but Rattler left the pass too far inside.

Anderson is flying to the flat and is reading the quarterback the whole. He sinks under the route and picks the pass off. If he hadn’t picked it, Valentine would have. For this pass to have any chance, it needed to have more air under it and over Moreau’s outside shoulder. A rookie mistake the Packers defense capitalized on.