Kenny Britt's performance on Sunday was both remarkable and unexpected. We all knew this kid had talent, but I'm not sure anyone could have expected that.
Let's take a look at some of Kenny's explosive plays, and how they happened.
Situation: 3rd and 7 on Philly's 27 yard line in the middle of the second quarter
Pre-Snap: Titans are in their "11" personnel (1 RB, 1 TE), and have lined up Scaife in the backfield for extra protection. Kenny is split out wide with a receiver (Williams or Hawk) in the slot to his right. Philly has 7 guys up on the line and shows blitz. They are in man coverage on our three receivers, with a single high safety over the top.
The Play: Kerry correctly makes the right presnap read. Kenny is his guy the whole way in man coverage with only one guy to help over the top. Britt runs a go route, and effectively beats his receiver at the beginning of the play. Collins throws a great ball here to the back of the corner's head and far enough away and with enough zip that the safety can't react. Touchdown Titans.
Situation: 1st and 10 at Titans 22 in the middle of the 3rd quarter.
Pre-Snap: Titans are in "12" personnel and Kenny is on the left side of the formation off the line of scrimmage. Philly shows 7 guys in the box. Two corners are in and there are two safeties in in deeper coverage.
The play: Kerry's first read is to Nate. He checks to Kenny. Philly appears to be in cover two here. Kenny is running a flag (also called corner) route which can be effective when attacking a cover two zone. The corner releases Britt to the safety at which point Kenny plants his foot and cuts upfield and toward the sideline (check it out at 0:27 of the main video). From there, Kerry places a great ball over the safety's head. The play goes for 34 yards, but was literally inches from being a TD.
Situation: 1st and 10 from the Titans 20 yard line at the beginning of the 4th quarter
Pre-Snap: Titans are in "12" personnel. Kenny is lined up on the left side of the formation. Philly has 4 down linemen with three LBs in coverage in addition to the two corners and safeties.
The Play: The Eagles appear to be in a cover 2 zone look. Again, Kenny is running a go route. He's not split out wide, and it appears that the original intent of this route was to attack the seam. In any event, Kenny gets of the line and it's clear that they are in zone by the way that Hobbs releases Britt to the safety. In every aspect of this play, Britt just abuses this poor safety. First, he beats him deep, then noticing a horribly underthrown ball, he adjusts to the ball, and cuts up field for an 80 yard TD, all almost completely untouched.
Situation: 2nd and 9 from the Titans 35 early in the 4th quarter
Pre-Snap: Titans are in "12" personnel and Kenny is on the left side of the formation (sound familiar?). Philly has 7 guys in the box. Two corners and safety are in coverage.
The Play: I can't really tell what kind of coverage Philly is in here. At first it appears that they are in man, but based on how open Kenny was it makes you wonder if Hobbs again released Kenny to the safety. Whatever the case, Kerry checks off his first read, and down to his second read, Britt. Kenny is running a deep post (really more of a skinny post) up the seam. If this ball is thrown better, it goes for six. Even so, it's a great play. Kenny is beginning to make this rookie safety look really bad. It's worth pointing out that he made every defender covering him look bad on Sunday, though.
Situation: 2nd and 9 from the Eagles 16 in the middle of the 4th quarter
Pre-Snap: Titans are in "12" personnel, but it's a different look this time. Both TE's are stacked to the right. Kenny is to the left side. Nate is split out wide to the right. Kerry is in the gun. Philly appears to be in nickel, and rushes 4 down linemen.
The Play: This might be Kenny's best play of the game. He makes over half of the Philly secondary look like they are playing Pee Wee ball. Kerry's first read is to CJ. He then checks down to Kenny. Britt is running a double move here. He fakes a quick slant, and then explodes up the seam. Kerry throws a beautiful ball up the seam as Kenny splits both safeties.
Synopsis
This was an incredible individual performance. Kenny showed us last Sunday that he has all the tools to be an elite NFL receiver. Two other plays weren't covered here, but they are worth watching as they display just how great Britt has become as a route runner. His routes are precise, yet he manages to look fluid throughout the process. Kenny really showed everything you'd want in an NFL receiver in this game. Hands. Explosiveness. Size. He's got all the tools to be one of the best in the league, if he wants it.
Kudos to Reinfeldt and company on this one. They got a #1 receiver. Oh, and I understand that many may think that some of this is premature, but I'm 100% sold on Kenny Britt.
(h/t to Michaeltastic who had some great videos available)