Since there has been a lot of criticism directed at Travis Fisher for poor play, I decided to go back and look at the game tape to see whether or not the claims proved true. Specifically in this article, I'm focusing on what Fisher did against the Seattle Seahawks.
I've spent over two hours going back and watching the Rams/Hawks game, taking notes while doing so. I'm going to share the conclusions I drew based on reviewing the tape, in which I mostly paid attention to what Fisher was doing but also at times checked on other coverage plays, and also went back to review specific plays multiple times when necessary. If anyone wants a specific quarter and minute mark for anything I bring up here, please respond and I will supply it. For the sake of brevity, I'm not including it in this initial post.
Starting with the first half, Fisher did not allow a catch. When in man coverage, he was thrown at twice, and both were off target. The first, Fisher was step for step with Branch in man coverage, playing him well. The ball was overthrown, and OJ Atogwe dropped an easy pick. In the second play, Fisher's coverage was loose as he covered Branch on a drag while Hass rolled on a bootleg, and could have been tightened up on the drag route. There were additional catches made against zone coverage, but they were simply the result of good receivers finding and sitting in the holes with Fisher in a deeper zone on those plays. So the first half was fine. Overall, nothing bad from what I can see in this half. Drag coverage could be improved, but I'd hardly call that bad and certainly is balanced out by his earlier man coverage.
In the second half, the Seahawks hit Branch three times on slants on Fisher's side of the field. All of them were adjustments to counter Ram blitzes. On the first two, the Rams were zone blitzing and the passes were delivered right where they needed to be, in windows between zones. There wasn't much that could be done on the first, as there was simply a hole in the coverage - Adeyanju had the flat, Fisher had the deeper sideline, and Pisa had the inner field. Branch caught the pass in the hole between Victor and Pisa, and Fisher dragged Branch down by himself.
On the second slant (Rams in zone), again, Raonall Smith blitzed from Fisher's side, exposing a hole in the coverage where he used to be that it appears Atogwe was late to fill. I draw this conclusion because as soon as Atogwe read the play was a pass, he stepped up towards that hole rather than staying put or dropping back. Branch caught the ball in the hole and Atgowe hit him to bring him down. After the play, Fisher pointed and said something to Atogwe, and OJ was silent, another clue that he likely was late to the spot.
The third slant came on Seattle's last drive. Rams blitz two LBs and whoever is covering the slot receiver (can't tell if it's a LB or S), Seahawks adjust with the quick slant. Fisher pops Branch after the catch and stops Deion in his tracks long enough for him to be brought down.
Again, Fisher was okay on those three plays. The Seahawks on all three occasions countered the blitz with a quick slant, twice against zone and once against man, so credit Seattle for adjusting to our playcalling and taking advantage of our aggressiveness. Fisher made two tackles on these three plays, one of which took a second or two to drag Branch down, the other where he hit Branch fairly well to stop him.
Speaking of tackling, there was another tackle to note in the second half that Fisher made. On a third and twelve,
Corey Chavous had DJ Hackett in the slot and tried to press him off the line. Hackett got by Chavous and turned a 14-yard catch into a 37-yard catch and run. Chavous, Carter, and Atogwe are in pursuit. Carter isn't fast enough to keep up and is losing ground. Corey and OJ are close but don't go for the tackle, instead trying to corral Hackett toward the sideline. Before he can get there though, out of no where Fisher comes from behind and doesn't just go for the tackle but throws his body into Hackett to knock him down by himself. Very good play by Fisher chasing the play down field and physically bringing Hackett down.
The only other second half throws Fisher was involved in were the pass interference call and the Branch touchdown. I've already made numerous posts about the coverage on the Branch touchdown play, but I'll try and summarize. Fisher is one on one with Branch and has no safety help. Fisher was step for step with Branch, read and reacted to Branch to know when the ball was coming, and used his arms to try and disrupt the pass. It was very good coverage (both announcers concurred), but a perfectly delivered pass. Branch did not have to slow down and made the catch right over his shoulder. This will be important to remember in a second.
As for the pass interference, I believe this was a ticky-tack but technically correct call. Fisher was once again step for step with Branch - this is I believe the third instance this game where in man coverage Fisher is right in his guy's hip pocket. Fisher is watching and reacting to Branch when Hasselbeck underthrows the pass. Here's the key - as the ball is in the air and Fisher is watching his man, Branch slows slightly and turns his entire torso when trying to make the catch. For Fisher, that should have been the tip off that the ball wasn't going to be well placed in front of Branch and that he needed to turn to make a play on it. So on this play, I fault Fisher for not reacting properly to what he was seeing from Branch.
So where does that leave us overall? Let's summarize:
-Both tight and loose coverage in the first half. Grades out to be about a push.
-Three solo tackles in the second half, two of which were good hits with the other leaving a bit to be desired since he got dragged for a few yards before bringing the receiver down.
-Tight coverage and good reaction on Branch's TD catch, which was simply perfectly executed.
-Poor reaction to Branch's signals on the pass interference call.
All in all, it looks like a decent balance and a solid game. The only play I'd classify as bad was the pass interference on Branch. Loose coverage on the drag and taking a bit to tackle Branch on one of the slants need to be shored up but I wouldn't call either bad since he did make the tackle and was only a few steps away on the drag. The other two tackles were good, the end zone coverage IMO was very good, and the coverage on Hass's first pass was very tight.
So there you have it. Again, I'd like to emphasize that I don't believe Fisher is a great corner. However I don't believe he's horrible either. I think he's a solid player who is playing solid football, and I can't fault him for playing to his talent level, and I certainly don't think it's fair to claim he's bad because he doesn't exceed his talent level.