FanPost

An Analysis of Seahawks Quarterback Matt Flynn: Breaking Down Flynn's Performance vs Detroit

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(DK edit: Here's another great in-depth analysis of Matt Flynn's performance against the Detroit Lions in Week 17 last season, a game in which he went 31 of 44 for 480 yards and threw for 6 touchdowns.)

I wanted to scout Matt Flynn now that we know he will be around here for the next few seasons. I know Beekers (pronounced Bakers) had already done a play by play by play by play analysis of the GB-Detroit game, but two days ago member biggiestylez posted this video of every Flynn passing play from the GB vs. Detroit game from Jan 1, 2012, so I decided it was time for me to wade into the fray. Following is my shorthand play by play interpretation of what I saw on the film, and a summary at the end, after the second jump.

0006 14 air yards completion to a wide open DD (Driver), 4 YAC. JN (Nelson) was double covered and JF (Finley) was triple covered (OLB, MLB, SS). MF looks at Finley after play action to keep SS more in the middle. Good decision, accurate throw. Play clock at 15s when ball is snapped - I will keep an eye on this because it was something I noted in the first 4 plays.

0021 incompletion, hit low as he is releasing what ends up a floater. Good job keeping his "eyes" (helmet alignment) straight upfield until he has already started his throwing motion. Good decision, bad throw due to blind side low pressure and hit. 3s on play clock at the snap

0047 8 in the box with single deep middle safety. MF looks at JN twice pre-snap and sees press coverage, likely audibles to the route we see. The CB does a reasonable job rerouting JN off the line, JN a step slow and a step outside in his route. The ball lands exactly 25 yards downfield from the LOS, and 4-5 yards from the sideline. This is a dead on accurate spot throw, and if JN more cleanly beats the press coverage, it is a completion. Good decision, accurate throw, but an incompletion. 2s

0102 Less than three seconds before he is hit on the blind side, fumble. Pocket collapsed instantly from the snap, and there wasn’t much to do except not fumble. You hope for better pass protection. Always have to rate a fumble a bad play. 2s

0115 Looks off DB towards DD, incomplete 4Y drop on a crisply thrown ball to JF back shoulder – the throw could have been a bit softer and would have turned JF into a better position to get YAC, or could have been to the front shoulder for an easier catch. Good decision, poor throw, clear drop. Play clock not posted.

0127 3rd and 9. Det has DBs and LBs 6-8 yards deep, and at the snap, they all back off to 10-12 yards deep. Easy 9Y completion to JF underneath the coverage. No YAC. Good decision, good throw. 4s

0146 screen play, Det read and defended perfectly, incomplete pass is a little crisp and low, but when you let Detroit’s DL through for a screen play, they get to the QB fast. It was better for GB that this was incomplete, but: No decision, mediocre throw, clear drop. 11s

0151 Pocket collapses, rolls left to buy time, keeps eyes downfield, 16 air yards completion to JN with 2 YAC. Good decision, good throw. 1s – the LT jumps offsides but it is not called.

0203 JN and JF lined up wide left with a DB and S in coverage, both playing well off the line. At the snap, the safety and DB both drop back to around 8-10 yards, and the deep safety bolts to cover the long left throw. 6 air yards to JN, no YAC. Again, MF keeps his "eyes" aligned straight downfield until he steps into the throw. I really like his footwork on this play. It looks like he is just in practice doing boring footwork drills. If I could swing the golf club on the course like I do on the range, I would be good. Likewise, it’s good to see a QB using footwork in the game you’d like to see in practice – there is a comfort level that appears absolutely ingrained. I doubt Matt Flynn has many bad habits (as far as technique) that he reverts to under pressure. Good decision, good throw. 9s

0215 Play action, blind side hit as he throws the ball, high floater likely intended for an open JJ (Jones) on a crossing route, but no one is within 15 yards of where the ball lands. Good decision, bad throw from blind side hit at release. 1s

0226 Delayed LB blitz. Looks off at crossing WR to the right, comes back to JF in the middle of the field on an accurate in-stride strike. 9 air yards, 4YAC. 5s

0238 Screen pass, too crisp for Grant to handle, I could rate it a drop, but you can’t throw a pass to a guy 4 yards away with any pace at all – it’s a shovel pass or Hasselbeck shotput, not an overhand throw. No decision, poor throw. 1s

0246 Tight throw to DD, hits the window, decent play by the CB, but I think if Driver runs his route more crisply the CB is not in the play; Driver should catch this, and I rate it a drop. Good decision, good throw, drop. 6s

0258 Dumpoff to Kuhn. Looks left at the start of the play trying to draw safeties and LBs to JN and JF, JJ makes an inside move and then runs a corner/fade route to the back corner where no one covers him, but the play here is to Kuhn from the start, the inside move is an attempt to get both corners following Jones to the corner/outside. Good decision, good throw. 0 air yards, 3 YAC. 1s

0306 asymmetric formation with 2TE left, play action run left, fake run blocking. The playaction really pulls in the OLB in and up giving a wide open passing lane for a very quick slant to James Jones for 4 air yards and 3 YAC. super easy first down. Good decision, good throw. 5s

0318 DB playing off JF, who just wanders 6 yards downfield into the flat. Easy 6 air yards, 2 YAC. Good decision, good throw. Play clock not showing

0327 play action run right completely sucks in the DL and LBs for a bootleg left. Film doesn’t show the receivers downfield, but rolling left, MF keeps his eyes downfield, looks like he might throw twice, but ends up tucking the ball and gaining 2 yards rushing. Looks like James Jones was supposed to run a drag route and the 8-10 yard range was WIDE open if he had not been a fair bit deeper. Good decision, no throw. 5s

0342 watches Driver run a seam route from the right slot looking the safety off of JN running a crossing route 11 yards downfield. Tripped by the DB before the ball arrives, JN makes a great catch on what was a quite accurately thrown ball. 11 air yards, 0 YAC. Good decision, good throw. 1s

0403 Unbalanced line with 2TE right, JN lined up wide right as the only wideout on the long side of the field. 2nd TE motions into the left backfield and there is a little bit of LB shift. JN faces single coverage, DB playing 7 yards off the line with the safety lined up inside the tackle box. 3 step drop and a quick throw to JN, who Marshawns the defender and makes the easy score. This is an easy read if you have a receiver like JN and the corner is giving him 7 vertical yards to play with and the defense as a whole is giving him all of the space outside of the hashes. With the safety so far on the inside and the corner on a completely isolated island this play is going to JN every time. If corner is playing press coverage, JN fakes the slant and it’s a fade to the corner. -2 air yards, 9 YAC. Good decision, good throw. 3s

0417 3rd and 5, blitz read, 3WR right JF runs a slant pulls S coverage inside, Driver and JN outside run a pseudo-pick play, JN coming underneath. MF senses pressure up the middle, moves nicely to the right, puts a ball in front of JN a tiny bit low, and just before he gets hit from behind. Def PI could have been called, and JN didn’t get 5 yards upfield, so even if it was caught it likely wouldn’t have resulted in a first down. It was a very safe throw, fairly accurate, absolutely catchable and MF avoided losing yardage and making the punter’s job a challenge. Good decision, good throw, incomplete. 3s

0444 play action, great play by the C and RG here pulling as if it is a running play, the CB falls for it, DD finds nice space 8 yards downfield under the S. MF reads the corner playing up on the play action and throws to an open DD, but the CB manages to recover, jump up and get a hand on the ball. You’d like to see MF make the throw by putting a little air under it, but props to the CB who made a good play. Good decision, poor throw. 13s on a new possession.

0453 5 man blitz with MLB and left OLB coming in fast, RDE dropping into coverage on the TE lined up left. MF recognizes the blitz at the snap, looks at the TE right as a possible hot route (double covered) or a look off and comes back to Grant on a short dumpoff. Note that this WAS NOT a screen play, but reading the first and second hot routes. The play is made by a great block by DD and two fantastic blocks by JN who takes both a corner and safety out of the play. -2 air yards, 82 YAC. Good decision, first good throw under 5 yards (soft enough, catchable, outside shoulder takes Grant away from the blitzing MLB). 11s

0512 playaction, draws in the inside corner on a bubble screen to JJ in the slot, the CB on DD is 8 yards off the line, easy pass to JJ is catchable and positioned to start JJ upfield. -3 air yards, 14 YAC. Good throw, good decision. New possession playclock not under 15s.

0523 playaction, DB reads it all the way, jumps the route. MF telegraphed the throw and didn’t put much pace on the ball. JN shortarms the catch attempt and if fully committed, likely would have disrupted the interception, but at a certain point, you have to expect the WR to protect himself on such a bad throw and the sound of footsteps. The only positive for Flynn on the play is that he knows immediately it is a pick, taking off for the tackle even before the ball is caught, and taking a good enough angle to cut off the pick 6 and redirecting the DB back inside where there is help and a tackle after a 30 yard return. Bad decision, bad throw. 13s

0553 3rd and 4. MF looks left for the short pass off the snap, but the corners are playing up. JF gets the OLB to bite on the short outside curl, turns into the open middle of the field. The read here is the MLB who moves - for no apparent reason, leaving JF wide open. (if the MLB drops, the read is probably DD in the vacated left flat, who is falling down just as the ball is released to JF). The throw is a little high and behind JF, likely would have resulted in at least a 25-30 yard gain if it led the receiver. 11 air yards, 4 YAC. Good decision, poor throw. 6s

0606 looks right for primary reads, safety stays deep, turns back to another spot throw exactly 20 yards downfield and just outside of DD’s reach. A Def PI is thrown, but I can’t really see what happens, and the way DD doesn’t even start to complain, I don’t imagine there was much there although just a little hand play could have kept DD from turning and making an attempt at the catch. Very safe throw with no chance of defense making a play on the ball. Good decision, good throw. 7s

0620 hard count draws RDE offsides. Free play, the deep safety on the left side moves up at the snap, and MF passes up a wide open Quarless in the left flat for the endzone shot to JN who is essentially 1 on 1 with a corner, perfect pass travelling exactly 35 yards past the LOS to the 1 yard line, 1 yard inside the sideline – this throw might have hit the EZ pylon if not for the catch. Safeties never had a chance to assist – the ball was not in the air a long time. Good decision, perfect throw. 9s

0644 last possession in the 1st half, 2nd and 4, 1:21 on the clock. 7 air yards (0 YAC) to JF who just finds an open spot in the middle of the zone after the MLB drops to center field. Good decision, good throw. 2 minute drill won’t be running down the play clock. GB calls timeout.

0655 screen play. 1st and 2nd reads to JF and JN lined up wide left are likely misdirection only, perfect setup for the screen as the secondary on the right has dropped deep in coverage on fly routes by JJ and DD. Brandon Seine has two blockers to beat the MLB, who splits the blockers and sticks Seine for a 4 yard gain. For some reason Seine chooses to run inside instead of heading for the sideline to stop the clock. Good decision, good throw (again better touch on the very short pass than at the beginning of the game – his nerves had to be affecting his touch). 2 minute drill. No timeout

0702 resets the team in 16 seconds, decent following a screen where 3 defenders are laying on top of the RB at the end of the last play. At the snap, looks defenders off left to JN and DD, I think misdirection not a read b/c DD is open for the 1st. Snap throw back right to JF, 3 air yards, 4 YAC, 1st down. Good decision, good throw. TO GB.

0715 a few reads left while Kuhn chip blocks on his way to the right flat, easy pass, leads Kuhn in stride. 0 net air yards, 7 YAC, stays inbounds. When you see how open Kuhn is after the throw, it’s amazing he only gets 7 yards. Good decision, good throw. 0727 has the team lined up and ball is snapped 13 seconds after the prior play ended. 5 air yards, 5 YAC, stays inbounds. with 16 seconds left on the clock and the ball at 29, GB settles for a missed FG as time runs out.

2nd half


0744 3rd and 2. power run formation, playaction pass, JJ is the only receiver who goes out. The other 9 stay in max protect with no checkdown options. MF reads the play, JJ is triple covered by the DB, deep safety, and the MLB who dropped into coverage down the field. MF makes a very conservative throw that absolutely cannot be intercepted, and which JJ drops from his finger tips. The ball was catchable but just a little ahead and short (to a receiver 22 yards past the line of scrimmage on about a 32 yard throw), but it would have required a good diving effort, if JJ had been perpendicular on his crossing route instead of slightly upfield, this would be a catch. Good decision, can’t judge the throw but I think it was the right one and JJ was just slightly off on his route, either way, it is not a terrible throw, but a near miss. 6s

0755 Detroit has 7 the box, and an 8th comes in at the snap. Quick throw to JN in the left flat after the DB drops back 10 yards from the LOS. 0 air yards, 5 YAC. Good decision, good throw. 15s

0806 play action pass. Det brings 8 in the box, JN isolated on press coverage wide left, JN gets 4 yards separation on the curl route, ball arrives with time and accuracy for JN to turn around, make a move and get 7YAC after 7 net air yards. Good decision, good throw. 14s 0820 play action pass, JN runs a post route. The pass is just a touch behind JN giving the secondary a real play on the ball, but JN is damn fine, pulls it in, and trots the remaining 17 yards to the end zone. Watching the play, looks like MF might just slightly abbreviated his follow through as a few big bodies have broken free right up the gut of the pocket. Good decision, bad throw could have been intercepted if the DB was a bit better. 8s

0847 play action pass to Quarless who just finds a little spot in the zone to the right and is the 1st read. 5 air yards. Good decision, good throw. 13s

0900 Suh abuses the LG and sacks MF before he would’ve really had a chance to step into his throw. This is a good play to look at MFs footwork. He receives the ball in shotgun, and he still does the classic WCO 5 step drop, mini steps gaining a few additional yards of clearance. At the back of the 5 steps, he plants and steps forward. Go back and look at the footwork on the deep throws to JJ at 744 and JN at 820 and see him plant the back foot and delay the throw (gain time for the route to develop) by the little forward hop step that can also turn into stepping into the throw. There is really no chance for Flynn to do anything, even attempting a throw away would be a risky proposition and expose him to injury. I could rate it a good decision, but I’ll just say there wasn’t one. 5s

0910 designed screen, looks off defense to the left side where JN is lined up, makes a 2nd read for Quarless in the middle of the field who is bookended by two LBs, and then makes a nice toss to lead Seine out of the backfield with Kuhn out front blocking. -7 air yards, 18YAC. Good decision, good throw. 12s

0928 3rd and 8. 7 man blitz shows before the snap (waiting until 4s on the play clock to expose the defense), 4 secondary players are 7-9 yards deep. JF settles 8 yards out in the soft spot in the zone like he has for multiple 1st downs in this game, and MF throws the ball straight at him drawing in the safety, but DD cuts underneath and catches a perfect ball in stride and right on the numbers, and has an easy sprint to the endzone. 7 air yards, 28 YAC. The throw here is an easy throw, and Flynn does it perfectly, but the real winner here is Rodgers who was calling the plays. It’s like the entire game before this was a set up for this play. Hopefully, we see this higher level game planning as our WRs (and offense as a whole) start to work better in unison. Good decision, good throw. 4s

0942 Tom Crabtree (TC) at FB, Seine at RB. Looks off at JF isolated wide left, TC and Seine move upfield left and right respectively and the read is where the MLB moves. MLB moves left to TC who is out of the backfield first, and Seine is open for a 3 air yards, 2YAC reception that leaves MFs hand just as he is hit from behind. Good decision, good throw, leaving a manageable 3rd and 6 after 2nd and 11. 7s

0957 after a false start, 3rd and 11. Pocket falls apart pretty quickly, and after being hit hard 2 plays ago, maybe Flynn is a little gun shy. He tucks the ball away and takes a 1 yard sack. Looks like JN was coming open underneath left but he had already been forced to abandon the pocket, and I’m not sure there was a window where he could have gotten the ball off without being destroyed or risking a deflection or fumble. Appears to have sensed blind side pressure which was something that maybe he hadn’t earlier in this game. Good decision, no throw. 4s

1008 Change of possession, GB down 3, 2:34 left, ball at GB 20, only 1 TO left for GB. Goals are time preservation, ball security, and 60 yards for a reasonable 47 yard FG attempt. The advantage for GB is they are now a 4 down offense instead of a 3 down offense. At the snap, MF looks at DD who runs a fly from the right slot, drawing the deep safety as he passes the second level. Right after the safety bites, MF hits JJ who is running a skinny post against man coverage. Throw is over the OLB covering JF, ends up a bit inside (maybe to avoid the OLB) and a bit short, but JJ catches on a half dive for a 14 air yards completion with no YAC. Second read had to be JN underneath in the right middle, but JJ had beaten his 1 on 1 coverage with inside position and the deep safety had bitten deep right. A safe throw, but a better one could have been a big YAC. Good decision, good throw.

1021 17 seconds to reset the offense, call play, and snap the ball is pretty decent given the timeout and 2 minute warning. Suh cuts JF at the LOS at the snap, kind of a dirty play. I think JF was the primary, MF looks left quickly on the drop, then looks where JF should be, then hits Seine in the middle for 4 air yards and 3 YAC. Good decision, good throw. Time runs down to the 2 minute warning.

1031 throws way short to an open JN wide right on a comeback route. Not sure if maybe JN slipped on his comeback move or if the throw was just horrible, probably the latter as Flynn does the old touch my chest "my bad" maneuver. Good decision, bad throw. Offsides on the next play on Suh gains GB the 1st down.

1045 Looks off right at JJ for a second, likely misdirection. Looks back left where DD has slipped and JN is basically double covered. Flynn has enough time to recognize that the play there is blown, but for some reason throws where DD should have been without the slip, but at least 4 yards ahead of DD and 4 yards behind JN. He is very very very lucky to not give up the game losing pick. Very bad decision, and a very bad throw. This was worse than his earlier pick and maybe the biggest mistake of the game.

1106 JN runs a crossing pattern underneath the prevent defense coverage garnering 6 air yards on a good throw. Good decision, good throw.

1114 JJ faces prevent coverage with the corner 10 yards off the line protected by a deep safety. JJ makes a minimal inside move and then redirects outside the corner on a sideline pattern. MF makes a fake on the deep safety with just a slight stutter in his footwork – this is elite level footwork and the safety bites like a hungry fish. JJ blows by the corner on the outside to release for an almost perfectly placed 43 vertical yards throw about 1-2 yards inside the sideline, the ball was probably a yard short of ideal, but the coverage was beat by a fair bit more than a yard. 38 net air yards, 4YAC. I disagree with Beekers' evaluation of this throw requiring a lot of windup to get it downfield. Flynn has time in the pocket, uses just a tiny bit of his initial windup in the footwork pump fake, and throws an high arcing dart right on target with a ton of touch.

1147 Abbreviated 3 step drop and instant release to JF in single coverage, back shoulder throw, 5 yards past the line of scrimmage. Good decision, good throw. Game over.

*************

SUMMARY

Footwork: First and foremost, Flynn has fine footwork (feel free to forgive the alliteration). Really though, his footwork is really good. It looks refined and natural at the same time. It’s consistent whether he is dropping back from center or receiving the ball in the shotgun. At the end of his 5 and 7 step drops, he plants his back foot firmly. He consistently steps forward into the throw; I didn’t see a single throw where he was falling off his back foot (nor a single jump pass for all you Tarvaris haters).

After his drop, but before the throw, he is constantly moving his feet in the classic WCO shuffle step forward or sideways as appropriate, and does this with a consistent rhythm. Solid footwork is the start and end of timing in a WCO, and Flynn has phenomenal footwork (with feet like this, I am not sure why Rex Ryan didn't make a move for Flynn).

Arm/Accuracy: Flynn is a very accurate passer for throws that are within about a 15-18 yard radius of where he is standing. Early in the game, he had a little too much pace on very short passes, but as he calmed down and got into the flow of the game, this was corrected and I interpret it as a little bit of adrenaline. After the first quarter, his short passes consistently led his receiver quite well and/or protected the ball from the defense. He used multiple trajectories when throwing the ball, sometimes with a little more air to get over the underneath coverage or let a receiver run under the ball. Outside of 20 yards, his accuracy can be divided into two types of throws. One type is the JJ crossing pattern we saw at 0744, where Flynn is watching the receiver and trying to hit him at any time in his route when he becomes open.

On the only throw of this type in the game at 0744, Flynn missed just a bit short even the though the pass was on Jones' fingertips; I think the spontaneous deeper throw might be a weakness for Flynn and this might be the limit of his range on a quick release throw. The second type of deep throw is a timing throw to a point on the field where the receiver is supposed to be able to get to: examples are at 0047, 0620, and 1114. His timing and accuracy on these throws is quite good and would likely improve with more game time with a consistent set of receivers; in contrast to Beekers' assessment, I didn't see a single deep pass taking so long to get there that the safety could remotely constest the ball (though I don't know how good Detroit's safeties are).

Flynn was 31 of 44 in the game, with 1 interception and 12 incompletions. Of those 12 incompletions, one more should have been intercepted, three were very short passes very early in the game that carried a little too much heat from his nerves (and this corrected after the 1st quarter), 3 were clear drops of catchable balls, 2 were on receiver fingertips, and only 4 or 5 were actually really bad throws. All of this on a day where there were tiny snow flurries and a wind chill corrected temperature of 19F (and he didn’t wear a glove on his throwing hand).

Pocket presence: Flynn seemed to have trouble sensing blind side pressure in this game, but Detroit also has the one of the best DE tandems in the league and it is not surprising that there was a fair amount of pressure. He moves around the pocket well, always maintaining a natural WCO shuffle step until it’s time to abandon the pocket. His mobility leaving, and outside of, the pocket didn’t appear to be a handicap in any way, but he is obviously not an RGIII. Pocket failures led to one lost fumble, 8 and 1 yard sacks, scrambling for 2 yards, scrambling to get time for a 16 yard completion to JN, and a pair of incomplete floaters when he was hit as he released the ball.

Flynn only appeared remotely flustered on one play despite a fair number of QB hits, and even under 5-7 man blitzes he maintained the same consistent and natural footwork and kept his eyes downfield. He may have short-armed one throw due to pressure up the middle, but the throw still resulted in a TD. No passes were batted down by a lineman, but a CB faked out into no man’s land did manage to leap up and tip one ball.

Confidence/Temperament: Flynn seemed to shake off mistakes after just a few more offensive plays. After his lost fumble, Flynn had an incompletion (drop by Finley on an early game short throw with too much heat) followed by a 3rd and 9 conversion to JF and the nice scramble and throw to JN. After his interception, he prevented the pick 6 with his quick reaction, and followed up with a slightly inaccurate throw to JF that results in a catch and a first down, a good/safe 20 yard throw that results in a defensive pass interference call, and a heady 35 yard TD strike to Jordy Nelson on a "we drew ‘em offsides so I’ll take a free shot at the endzone with my best receiver" play.

As Flynn entered the 2 minute warning with the game on the line, he made a couple of poor plays including a throw that should have resulted in game winning interception, likely from nervousness and pressure. Two plays after nearly giving up a Favreian (Hasselbeckian?) interception, he makes a subtle pump fake with his footwork only, completely fooling the deep safety coverage, and resulting in what was essentially the game clinching big play. It was a smart and crafty move, indicating a real student of the game. It really is worth going back and watching at 1114. Within the 2 minute warnings, Flynn displayed good clock awareness and team management, going from end of play to next snap in 12-17 seconds.

Pre-Snap: Not much pre-snap footage here, but it appears Flynn is very patient pre snap, and very often will run the play clock down under 5 seconds. This will be maddening to the uninformed C-Link masses (especially after years of Hasselbeck, Whitehurst, and Jackson delay of game penalties), but the readers here will know he is running it down to stress the defense by keeping them on the field (and on their toes) longer, and for the benefit of the defense perhaps showing it’s hand before the snap.

Progression: Post snap, Flynn keeps his helmet aligned downfield during his drop backs. He consistently made either multiple reads or faked a progression in attempts at misdirection. Flynn consistently made reads on safety and LB coverage, and responded with the appropriate throw. Flynn manipulated the defense and deceived LBs and safeties with his look-offs. Flynn suckered the Detroit defense very consistently with his play-action, sucking in LBs and opening up intermediate crossing routes and slants. Flynn didn’t reveal screen plays. Flynn essentially won the game with a footwork only pump fake on the second to last offensive play by GB.

Weaknesses: On his interception, he did telegraph the throw to Nelson, and the corner made a good play. He also locked on to Driver and made a very ill-advised throw just inside the 2 minute warning at the end of the game that should have been the game losing INT. I wouldn’t say he looked at all like a gunslinger, and he wasn’t forcing balls into bad places, but he did make a few mental mistakes and maybe panicked on two plays in the game. Flynn does not appear to have that exceptionalism or creative knack PC was talking about where a QB can make something out of nothing and carry the game on his shoulders (but he is consistently good).

Overall assessment: Flynn is a slightly above average athlete compared to the spectrum of 32 starting NFL QBs. Flynn has adequate arm strength such that it is not a liability (he can make the deep throw accurately given some time in the pocket and adequate familiarity with a WR that runs a clean route). Flynn’s biggest strengths are his "student of the game" approach: technically consistent and natural footwork and timing, pre snap patience to stress and assess the defense, progression/reads with appropriate misdirection and crafty fakes, and safe throws. Flynn is able to quickly move on from mistakes within the game from play to play.

Flynn could get in trouble when asked to play against an elite secondary (like ours with tight press coverage within 10-15 yards and elite safeties, or elite CBs like Philly), as there is nothing in this single game to suggest that he can beat good coverage with his arm, but this largely remains an unknown because playing against Detroit didn’t require elite accuracy, only good accuracy, and the read/throw may be different if the window doesn’t look as nice. The biggest plus of all is that Flynn's skills/talents are a fairly stark contrast to Tarvaris' skills/talents, providing the FO and coaches a good chance to see what works best for this team and scheme, and providing Tarvaris a role model and likely teacher in his quest to become a more complete QB.

Hope you enjoyed the read.