Here is the final Cool Play of the Week for 2018 and thanks for all those who read, gave advice, and contributed to awesome discussion. I really enjoyed making these and enjoy chatting with you all about strategy and different views of the game. I will still make content throughout the summer and hopefully it is something you will be interested in reading through the offseason. As always let me know your thoughts and what you would like to see. Congrats to Philly fans, well deserved and earned champions. Also Pats fans don’t be down, Football is a coin flip game and you played in 8 super bowls and have flipped heads right 5 times. Thank you for the amazing Super Bowls! (Also McDaniels had the best gameplan I’ve seen in years to stop a dominant pass rush, Screen, reverse, or hard play action every play)

**TL;DR**

* Motion and QB fake audible
* Direct snap to get defense on toes
* outside zone with opposite flow from TE’s
* QB pause to sneak out to receive pass from former tight end
* The sound of brass balls hitting the field turf is heard near Doug Pederson

Cool Play of the Week: Philly Special Nick Foles 2yd TD

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TV Copy

Sideline Copy

End Zone Copy

Bears Eagles Side by Side

Hi all back for the last Cool Play of the Week for the 2017-2018 NFL Season. I will be doing more full game analyses about how teams game-plan and how they execute or how they fail miserably. For now I will breakdown one of the coolest plays of the year in the biggest game of the year at the biggest moment of the year. We have all heard by now the story of the “Let’s run Philly Philly” and the play call of “Philly Special” but lets break down exactly how this play comes to be and is executed.

(Edit: Most people that read my posts know that I breakdown play calls and what they mean. This is a “Special” which is a trick play. These often are just 1 word that says Formation, Motion, Snap count, and Routes all in one….If this where a play call it would be something like Gun Bunch Left Q AudFake Fake 97 Zone Reverse Pass Right QB Release….Thats why its one world….)

Bears 2016 Philly Special

Here is the play Doug Pederson said he took the play from. In a meaningless game Chicago breaks out a pretty cool play. (It’s so funny to me that a play where neither team had a chance to go far in the playoff in a week 17 game had an impact so huge over a year later in the biggest game)

It is a goal line play that starts out in Empty. Motion back in and then have the qb act as if he is changing the play, then have a fake outside zone, with a reverse coming around the backside to have a delayed release by the QB into the flat, with the edge covered by a slip block by the Y. THIS IS DUMB JARGON. Doesnt make any sense when you say it out loud like that because there are so many moving pieces and things that can go wrong, why its called a “Special”.

Truth of the matter is what makes this play so great is it does a lot of things that are “Dangerous” to a defense. Defenses don’t like empty on the goal line, spreads them out too much. They don’t like bunch because there is a lot of room for pick plays. All this makes the defense become laser focused and forget about the QB, so many things they have to re go over in their head. Now lets get to the play that actually mattered

SOMETHING IS WEIRD

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So here is a still image to start out. What is important about his image is that this formation should signal something screwy. The Eagles had run these bunch formations with the deep Y but the RB is directly behind the QB. The eagles don’t run a lot if any pistol (RB directly behind QB in shotgun, also QB is at 3.5-4 yards instead of 5.) So right here i started freaking out. When i saw them go here I go oh something is up. I thought maybe they would run trap with Clement, something they had done a lot of against Dallas. But no right when I saw this formation come up my atennas for a trick play was coming.

SL Presnap Gif

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Now lets get to the presnap look. Foles signals to get Clement behind and then goes to act as if he is changing the play. 3 big things to note about him faking the audible. 1, at no point has he audibled like this on film or during this game. Huge tell out of place. 2, the defense isnt doing anything extraordinary on the right side. There is an extra overhang player but he doesn’t really matter, the RB could pick him up in a pass or the line would side to him. Lastly its not loud enough in a neutral site field to necessitate a audible like this. Having played in neutral site games its sometimes easier to hear than a home game going to the visitor side of the field. These fakes should not have worked on the defense but 4th and goal in the Superbowl will make any man flinch.

SL Mid Play and End Play Gif

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Once the play is in action the most important aspect to see is that they are trying to freeze the backers with reverse flow from the Line in contrast to the F and the Y. Offensive line blocks as if it was outside zone and they are trying to get Clement to the near pylon. The foil to the stretch outside zone blocking is the Y slipping underneath and the F coming around the back. The LBS are frozen looking at the line and the opposite flow of the TEs. This freeze and eye candy is important to let Foles slip out behind them.

RB carries out the fake FULL SPEED. He knows hes not the star but he commits hard to bringing as many people with him.

On the Goal Line you will often get man and you have the X run a slant to clear out the endzone for Foles.

One thing really important is to see the Y flash in front of the WILL. The WILL is who they want to fake out and bringing the best offensive weapon in the redzone (Ertz the Y) into your face is important to not only protect the throw on the edge but to occupy the WILL.

EZ Pre-Snap Gif

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Here is the endzone view. Another shot of what the Direct snap would look like. 4 down lineman from NE and in inside gaps. Something the MIKE is probably looking for is the RB taking the direct snap and going off the guard right. They get a hat for a hat and can try and stuff it up in there. This effects the eyes of the MIKE thinking hes the last resort for the Dive.

Look at the WILL. He’s in track stance. He wants to fire off the ball. He never even comes close to even looking at Foles. He is keying off the ball and is going to fire up field to try and mess shit up. DUDE THE GUY IS YELLING NONSENSE AT YOU AND YOU DONT EVEN LOOK AT HIM! JUST PEEP HOW WEIRD THIS IS! The play was won before it was even snapped thanks to the WILL. Moment got too big for him.

EZ End Play Gif

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And now you gotta execute. Here you can see the reverse flow and how the line and back get the defense running one way and then they all react at the same time. Q just nonchalantly vacates the area and sneaks out the back.

Now something that I don’t talk about a lot and is actually the most important part of the game. This is another dumb quote from a football coach that is actually imperative, “Players win games”. A coach can draw up the perfect play, line it up perfectly and call it at the perfect time but the players have to block throw and CATCH it. I am impressed by Burton keeping the glove on (my team had a guy take the glove off, if the other team was looking it was a dead give away when the F looked like Michael Jackson with one glove on) and executing a throw he hasn’t done since Freshman year at Florida. And Foles making the catch when asked to. It’s not hard when you watch it but when you think of the stakes and the timing then its pretty hard. Big game Nick just plays big in big games.

So thanks again for reading along this season, I had a blast making these and look forward to producing more and hopefully making videos in the future.

Bonus Side by Side

Funniest part about this angle shows that both plays are illegal procedures. In the eagles play Alshon (X) is not on the line of scrimmage making it only 6 men on. In the Bears one QB is moving at the same time as the RB and the ball is snapped before each get set for 1 second.

Cool Play of the Week: Gun Right 16 Sweep Jay Ajayi 13yd Run

Cool Play of the Week: Green Right West Pass 92 Lead F Pipe Tommy Bohanon 19yd TD

Divisional Week brings out some of the best stuff. Love this whole gameplan and execution is even better.

TL;DR

• Run Iso 10 times in the game
• Run 2 plays in a row with the exact formation
• Fake the Iso and release FB past the MIKE
• Let the FB get a TD after fusing the C6 and C7 of his spine

• TV Copy Bohanon TD
• Coaches Film of Whole Play

Hi all back again with a breakdown of a cool play I saw from the Divisional Weekend, AKA best football weekend of the year. 3 games were so close, saw upsets, and saw probably the most exciting play in the history of football, the Whiff 6.

Although the Miracle in Minneapolis got the most attention this week, I wanted to breakdown the coolest play I saw after watching the entirety of the Jag’s beatdown of the Steelers. I really wanted the Steelers to win to get the Pats vs Steelers rematch but could not help but be impressed with the execution of the Jag’s offense. After digging through the coaches film of this game I have come to the conclusion that the Jag’s “Identity” (the mantra and approach to the game) is to “Body Blow, and Punch opponents in the Mouth”. This is why they drafted Fournette because they never want to be in 2nd and 11. On 61 plays of offense (Below the League average) they moved backwards ONCE. It may seem small but never going backwards is HUGE for an offense built around an identity of attacking the midsection to then get the KO by surprising the opponent up top.

This TD is a really cool design that is based off the 3 different Inside F Lead concepts that the Jags ran. Overall they ran 10 total Inside F Lead plays split between 3 concepts Mike, Weak Easy, Lead (all are in this post at the bottom). They started the game running the flavor of the month for the whole NFL 95 Mike (Lead with a planned cutback), Weak Easy (Weak Lead, with an “Easy” block by on off the ball TE to play side), and lasty 92 Lead (From 22 personnel…2 Tight Ends, 2 Backs).

I know this is a lot of set up but it is important to know how the Jags were setting up the killshot with plays that were going for 4,2,3,3,2,1 etc yards to ultimately score this touchdown.

• Play right before the TD

Here is the play directly before the TD. If you look back at the TV copy you will see this is the EXACT same Defensive formation to the EXACT same offensive formation. This play is literally a throw away to do 2 things: gather information on defensive formation, how will the defense play once the ball is snapped.

More on the identity. You run these plays to set the tone, to get the defense tired so the end of the game they are making mistakes. The play may go for only a couple yards but you are priming and hurting the opponent. You can see the committment to this identity to WHEN they Jags ran these plays:

1st & 10 15:00 1st play of game 2nd & 6 11:32 4th & 1 10:44 1st & 10 9:00 2nd & 10 4:56 1st & 10 9:02 1st play of half 1st & 10 7:04 1st & 10 9:04 1st & 10 5:06 2nd & 8 4:24 Starting of each half with iso and starting of 6 new counts. They want you to expect it and feel it from the start.

You will see the Defenses answer to this big formation is to run their traditional under front, Nose guard (low shade/fattest guy on the field over the center) to the strength, and then bring a Strong safety down into the box. This is called a “SUP” (Strong Safety Up). Some teams will change their blocking structure to account for a SUP if he is playside, some teams just see if those guys really wanna tackle.

One of the more important things to notice is the Free Safety. He comes from ALL the way outside the frame on our right (offense left). Normally with a SUP, the F/S is in teh direct middle of the field. The Steelers said screw it and were focused on stopping the 1:1 matchup with the WRs and were daring the TEs or backs to get open.

• Sideline Pre snap Gif
• Sideline Pre snap Image

So lets break down the play call first before diving deeper into it.

Green Right West Pass 92 Lead F Pipe

Green: F directly behind QB with RB directly behind F. 3.5 yards in between

Right: Y goes to the Right of the formation

West: U off the ball on the Y hip

Pass: Running a play action off of a Running play

9: Run is going to the player in the 9 spot

2: Running play is hitting in the 2 hole (yes please laugh at this as every player has)

Lead: Play specifics are Lead (Iso, Dbl teams Front side combination to WILL, F Leading to MIKE)

F: Specific player being tagged with a Route

Pipe: Go/Fly up the middle of the defense. As its a F play give the guy a head fake on your way

This is the exact formation as the play before. They gathered their intel and know exactly how the Steelers are choosing to play this big personnel formation. They also know that after 9 of these lead plays the Vincezo Williams (MIKE) is tired of getting Tommy Bohanon straight to the dome piece. He’s get new ideas and if he sees down hill action he’s gonna take his chance. Because MIKE sees the same formation again he is going to assume its the same play (4 minute offense to burn clock). The Body Blow identity gets the opponent tired of taking the big hits over and over again to finally let their guard down when you can hit them with the knock out up top. they spent 44 minutes setting up this play.

Another aspect of this formation is to spread out the defense to the weak side. You split the X so far out that the F/S needs to make a decision on either helping out the Corner 1:1 or playing the middle of the field like he normally does. He helps over the top which gives the green light to the F Pipe.

This really is a 1 read play to the F Pipe. Its closer to a trick play then it is a normal play you would run. If you listen to the TV copy you even hear Bortles change his snap count to “Green 80 Green 80 Hut” (Normally its “White 80” or “Red 80″…Green means there is a Green light to run the play, a key to trick plays). F has to run at the MIKE full speed on the Pipe route and stay straight to make sure he does draw eyes from either safety or nearside corner.

The line is blocking 92 Lead just like they normally would BUT with the knowledge its a pass. Come off the rock hard but still have the balance and eyes for your responsibilities. The U’s route is just a clear out. If the pipe was covered they would throw the Fade most likely.

• Sideline Mid Play Gif
• Sideline Mid Play Image

Here is the midplay action. Right at the start you can see the MIKE literally dive around the F to try and get the back. He took the block on 9 times through out the game but was fed up and tried something out of his teaching. He chose the perfectly wrong time. F gives a head fake and is in the end zone uncovered.

You can see the Will take too many steps up as well on the play fake. He gets caught not doing anything, throwing a no hitter and not making contact with anyone the whole play. This is Sean Spence filling in for Shazier, a guy who has bounce around a lot (was the greatest high school football player i ever played aganst…but that doesnt help him here). He is lost on this play and could have been a safety valve but he is slow to react.

• Endzone Pre Snap Gif
• Endzone Pre Snap Image

Watch 20 the F/S. He takes 2 false steps and then sprints downhill. I dont think he would even do a lot in the run game but he is clearly confused on what he wants to do. I am not a huge fan of bringing safeties into the box. Let them be at 9 yards and read the play instead of at 6 and having to use quick reactions.

Take a look at the footwork by the offensive line. They all take hard steps, bringing the fight to the defensive line. Normally in pass pro the line sets back to give them time to react to the defense. Also when you step forward you are often on your toes and can get shed easier by the D Line. Watch the RT here as he sets on the 4i 94. He gets tugged and swam outside…BUT THATS OK. Get beat outside if you need to and then you can react because QB getting the ball out quick.

• Endzone Mid Play Gif
• Endzone Mid Play Image

Look at the WILL in the freeze frame. You can see where his eyes are. “God created the stripe on the helmet so you sack of shits can’t lie to me about where your eyes are”-Coach. The stripe is going from the QB and then gets locked in on the double team. The action gets him to hold for just a second so he cant react.

Normally on a pass play you have a man side and a slide side. If this were Hound 2 (a Lead play action pass protection. The center would just slide left and only provide a Hand to the Right Guard. But on Pass 92 Lead he wants to sell the “Ace” block (double team to the Will). He steps into the play and has his eyes on the WILL. A Saying coach used to have was “3 hands on the Nose, 4 eyes on the Will”. Be ready to come off if you have to.

Pocket is clean for Bortles to make an easy throw. He executes well and get the ball to the open man. Can’t ask for more.

A lot is positive but… If you EVER move backwards this all goes to shit. You need to be in 3rd and manageable and to allow the qb to dump it off or have a RBs fight for 3rd downs. They are going to need to for this same level of execution to stand a chance against the Pats. Another thing to note is that when a fullback is in its almost 90% chance they run the ball. It lead to 2 touchdowns (outside zone check by bortles, and this play) but its still way too high of a percentage for a team like the pats to not be ready. Should be fun.

Cool Play of the Week: Gun Trips Left 2 Jet Scat Texas F Smash Christian McCaffery 56yd TD

Cool Play of the Week: Gun Bunch Left Swap Tight F Fly 39 Truck Ameer Abdullah 7yd TD

Cool Play of the Week: Trips Right Y Swap 15 Front Read F Slant (RPO) Eli Rogers 18 Yd TD

Edit: it has been brought up that this is even more of an aggregious penalty than originally thought. Many users have brought it up to me that the NFL rule is is only 1 yard downfield fo ineligible man downfield. I previously had 2.5 yards as it is closer to the college rule. My mistake.

I am back again and this time I am highlighting a play concept that I have been meaning to put off. The “Run Pass Option”, or colloquially called “RPO”, is the flavor of the year (although it has been popular in college for 5 years minimum, and around for 10 years at least). It is an evolution of the Zone Read out of the gun. Teams were bringing down an extra safety in run to account for the QB running so teams decided lets beat this guy by passing it at the area he vacated for QB run. Here is the main point for why I hate this play:

THERE ARE RULES AGAINST THIS! You can’t call a run and take the time for the QB to read the fake, assess where to throw the ball, and then release it. The rule that stops this is “Illegal Man Downfield”. For beginner football fans this means that a lineman (5 ineligible players) can’t be more than 1 yard downfield during a forward pass (ball passes the line of scrimmage before received. After the ball is THROWN then the lineman are allowed to progress downfield.

Now teams have been calling runs and throwing QUICK game for years. But its different, you tell the team 15 Front but then just throw a fade right off the snap. The lineman move to slow to get too far downfield and you are safe. BUT in the RPO it takes too long to develop and you get stuck and players lineman are downfield and engaged with linebackers.

But heres my issue. My motto when I played was “It is not my job to obey the rules, it’s the refs job to enforce them.” I was not a dirty player by any means but i did everything beyond the letter of the law. Move the ball up on 4th down, grab a guy and then pull him down to me as I get into his legs, an occasional “safe” leg whip you name it I did it. It was about protecting my teammates and getting success when things go bad. SO under this logic I love the RPO. If the refs are not going to enforce this rule and you can get easy touchdowns then like Stone Cold would say “Give me a Hell Ya” run this until the cows come home. I would just like them to actually enforce this rule, especially when they call it like they did on this particular one and then pick it up off the ground.

Ok soap box over. Lets break this play down:

TL;DR:

• Trips to the field with Antonio Brown to sideline (get better looking coverage)
• Run Read but with all receivers looking for a quick pass instead of blocking
• Identify middle field open and get it to the F on a 1:1 matchup
• Profit

• TV Copy
• Pre-Snap Sideline Eli Rogers TD GIF
• Pre-Snap Sideline Eli Rogers TD Still Image

Trips Right Swap 15 Front Read F Slant

Trips: 3 receivers to a side, 1 to the other

Right: 3 Receivers to the Right 1 opposite

Swap: Exchange places of the Y and F for Trips

1: QB Run option play

5: Inside Zone read to the Left (odds are left, evens are right)

Front: Open side play side, if danger comes bring whole line (PUSH IT call), Center combination is working to the Will instead of MIKE

Read: Zone read, QB can pull the ball, tackle and backside TE know to leave the DE for read

F: F position is being tagged for a route

Slant: Slant is the tagged route

So the line only cares about running Front Read. They do not care about the F Slant, because if the defensive backfield was different they would be running the ball and they would be live. But the QB is the one who makes the read, and does it both presnap and mid play.

Pre Snap Big Ben sees that they are doubling the X (Antonio Brown) into the boundary. Belichick loves to double the bet receiver and then play man to the rest in these type situations. Normally to trips you would roll to Cover 3 and have the Boundary Safety more in the middle of the field and have the boundary safety rolled down. NE shows a 2 high and Ben sees the middle of the field is open. So he knows the pull is a possibility.

The Y and Z are so weird on this play, they are running like half blocking and just staring at the QB to be ready if they ball is thrown to them. They labor off the ball with eyes in the backfield the whole time.

• Mid Play Sideline GIF
• Mid Play Sideline Still Image

Mid Snap Ben is reading the MIKE and Boundary Safety. His first target is to get it to the F on the slant. But if when QB pulls it the MIKE is aware of the RPO he gets into his middle zone he needs to have an outlet. Walking Boot Ben is definitely not running it so he goes to his Y or Z as his outlet or he just grounds it at them.

Like stated earlier RPOs are supposed to screw up the extra safety in the run game for the QB. What Steelers do is identify they have the best player in the game and needs to be doubled in the redzone so thats how they get rid of the extra player.

Soapbox, do not read unless you want old man yells at sky

Look at the RG with the MIKE. He is beyond 3 yards (the red line on the screen). Worst off he is actually engaged with the MIKE. 2 hands in the breast plate. Perfect form. BUT THE BALL IS THROWS 7 YARDS DOWN FIELD. With all the “Rub, Pick, Brush” hatred this is beyond that. Why not just have lineman cut the LBS every pass play if we allow this? But hey again if they arent going to enforce it you gotta keep doing it.

• End Play Sideline GIF
• End Play Sideline Still Image

Defenders are out of position reading the run, checking the X for the double team, to leave too much space for the F to work on the SAM. Great route, faking the block to get the SAM to jump outside to then jump back inside.

Soapbox, do not read unless you want old man yells at sky

Y, Z, S/S, and CB are just standing around just doing what we called “Isometric Stand-Arounds”. This is what our strength coach would say when you are just trying to get out of doing work and just stand around. This isnt what football is about. Its about fighting for all 7 seconds on each play…Except no its about scoring more points than the other team when the clocks hit the final 0:00.

• Endzone GIF
• Pre-Snap Endzone Still Image
• Mid Play Endzone Still Image

Last gif. You can see the blocking assignments and how the Lineman are running full speed for the run.
Ben Reads the DE but its actually a give look with him being flat footed. But he read pre snap the middle of the field being open. So he is having eyes on the MIKE as he flows across.

The game has been turned into 1:1. SAM is in rock and a hard place. 2 way go for WR and he has to account for the block. His whole sideline might be screaming RUUUUUUN too and everyone on defense saying it too. Rough spot to be in.

Ben makes a great throw here. Gotta get it over the DE, but also drop it in quickly to the F. F is led and ball is out of reach of the SAM. Great job by Ben and F at executing. Great job by Brown for being so good he takes 2. Great job by the coordinator saying please call the penalty.

I hope you enjoyed this. Please let me know if there is anything else you would like me to cover. I am traveling and there will probably not be one next week as well. Wake up for my flight in 3 and half hours yay! Still need to pack baby lets do this, hard mode or nothing at all.

Cool Play of the Week: Big Green Left West Tight Spider 2 Y Release

Back again and we get to breakdown the greatest play/result in all of sports history. THE FAT GUY TUDDY. Lets jump into the play.

TL;DR

-Tackle Eligible

-Spider 2 is great GL play action

-Tackle fade into endzone creating space

-Soft hands of the Lineman makes for easy Tuddy

• Fat Guy Celebration

Disclaimer: I was a center and a fat so this one means a lot to me. My girlfriend also thought it would be a good idea to make this clear so to know I am not shaming but loving the people in this play With that said….

Starting off a little different this week as we need to celebrate the greatest result in sports….when one of the Fats AKA Hogs AKA HogMollies AKA Cows AKA Chubby Boy Swag AKA Husky boys AKA Husqvarna Finest scores a touchdown. Every Lineman dreams of this day. Every fat gets overly excited when the offense even dares to install this play for a week. Every subsequent week you think about it actually happening in the gameplan. Everytime you are in the down and distance you might run it you think its coming….only to get disappointed.

BUT NOT TODAY! This is one for the whole line up front. It’s to be shared. But when Leonard Wester thinks back to this day, and all the times he visualized the TD it will be his.

Lets look at how they did this formationally and were able to take advantage of the situation and rely on some key issues from the Detroit defense.

• TV Copy

Here is the TV copy. Lets you see what I saw. On the broadcast you will here “#66 has reported eligible”. They announcers were talking about this a lot as well, it should have been no surprise to anyone in the building or watching that 66 was an eligible receiver. For beginners to watching NFL football due to roster restrictions and jersey sales there are rules that indicate you can’t switch numbers of a player and you can put an ineligible number in at any position you just have to indicate to the ref that you are an eligible player.

Personally I think this is a dumb rule and rather have what the college team has (only 11 more eligible players) the players change numbers during the game to an eligible one. having ineligible and eligible numbers are important to make teh game easier to understand on who needs to be covered and who doesnt, i dont want to watch A-11 punt formation offense ever again after watching 1 game of Freemont High School

• Sideline Pre-snap Gif

It should be Tight in the play call to tell the V to be attached to the formation. sorry for confusion

So lets start with coaches film. Its first and Goal. All 8 GL plays you typically have are available and you can play it safe. There is not a time issue you can do whatever you feel you will find the most succes.

First thing that jumps off the page to me is that the Bucs set up the offense FSL (Formation into the Side Line). It is not the college game but FSL is still a weird thing to to do in the NFL. The Extra lineman, Wester 66, is set as the Y. Typically you put the extra lineman in and you run at him, you want the matchup of your lineman on an smaller player, typically LB, in the run game.

The defense lines up in a GL Bear 5-3. For a refresher, Bear signifies that all 3 interior offensive lineman are covered up by the defense. Something interesting here is the extra LB (who i called the S/S in these Drawings) is Viced on the Y. The V is also viced by the corner on the opposite side. A Vice is when a defensive player lines up on the ball directly over the man attached to the LOS. The defense does this to make sure there are no easy releases off the ball and get a man unaccounted for in the box. This Vice look should indicate its actually a bad idea to run this play, there should be a guy just staring straight at the Y when the offense is trying to hide him, but hes been found. They run it anyway and its why you play the game out.

Big: Extra Lineman in the game

Green: RB and FB in line of QB

Left: Y goes to the left

West: U goes to the west position off the ball play side

Tight: V is attached backside

Spider: OL slide gap opposite of strength OF PLAY | V in flat, F fake block into Flat, RB block Edge

2: Direction of play is right OL slide Left

Y Release: (poetic license taken) Y runs specific route, called a Release here. U knows to do opposite and run an over to clear out

• Sideline End Play Gif

Wester does a great job selling the Pass. Takes 2 Kicks to get the DE upfield and then sells the S/S on it being pass…But him bot being a target. He slips out of the play and gets loose and creates width. He doesnt just pivot but he fades to the endzone to go away from possible threats.

Something I want to point out that I only see now after watching for the 100th time is the way they drop the center out of the slide to cover Winston’s Left side. In case the DE doesnt hesitate the Center is there to block the left tackle. This is normally a huge rule breaker as you want the line to always just own the gap over and not slide behind the rest of the line. This is unique and i think solvable in a classical way but they clearly are doing something else to make sure DE doesnt get a clean shot.

All of the flat routes create a clear out of the backside. Every LB bites on either run or trying to keep up with their man.

The MIKE “Green dogs” the RB. He sees him commit to blocking and that gives him the “green” light to go after the QB. Best way to beat Spider 2 or other full slide protections. DE also loops outside, they put 3 in 1 gap but on this protection its not the worst thing in the world, its the only way to actually stop it formationally (without wining a 1:1 matchup inside).

• Endzone Pre-snap Gif

Here you can see the formation better. The vice on the Y is more apparent. When he sees teh initial kick he becomes a pass rusher. he shouldn’t. that guy is still eligible. Its not like hes actually a tackle. The Vice needs to trust his eyes. SO many times we see players get too locked on in man coverage but Id rather that here.

You can also see the flow of the LBs better off the snap. The reverse out from the QB the RB+FB flow make the LBs look like they are shot out of a cannon. Had this been run they would have been great. But thanks T-Roosevelt for the forward pass so we can slow down LBs with play action. I also don’t fully like how the SAM and MIKE have eyes in teh same spot. I think the SAM could be playing his gap better and may have been able to help more on the Y. He gets locked on when he probably shouldnt where the vice needs to be locked on more.

You can also wsee the green dog better here too. 3 Tech goes backside as well and the RT is in a bind. He needs to say with him because it’s bear. In bear the tackle and LG cant let anyone cross their face. Bear changes teh game in so many ways because gaps are filled off the bat.

• Endzone End Play Gif

I don’t normally ridicule Qbs but this bothered me. Winston has to know that his danger zone is to the right. He uses his eyes great to look to the flats to get guys moving but he takes and extra couple hop steps and puts himself closer to the danger. He is 2 yards off his spot where he should be (right down the hash) from his launch point. Its little things like this that make the Oline look bad and take unnecessary hits. Instead of running into the EZ and throwing daps to his teammates hes getting up off the ground and rubbing his knee. He needs to be more conscious of these things if he wants to have a long career.

End of the play. Fat and Go pregame got Wester warmed up fro the day. Hands off the line great, and gets width and looks teh ball in. Worst thing to happen could be the drop. in front of everyone. No fats the rest of the season would get an opportunity. He doesnt only represent himself, his unit, or his team… he represents something bigger…Fats as a whole.

Hope you enjoyed this and hope to produce more content for you soon.

Big West Right 96 Power King HB Reverse Left

I am back after a week hiatus. The past week at work was big for me and a lot of the tools I have learned making these cut ups have helped me progress there and my big project showed it. Here is another post about the Titans. I am not a huge fan of theirs, I do not go into watching redzone being like hell ya I gotta see what the “run the ball run the ball pass short punt the ball repeat” Titans are doing but they do have awesome ways to get to their players the chance to succeed. I hope you like the post and let me know if there is anything you want to see in the coming weeks.

TL;DR

-1 play to win the game, GL personnel on both sides

-Use previous games as a way to prime your opponent

-Fake power reverse it left to take advantage of Bear formation

-RUN DERRICK RUN

TV Copy

Pre Snap Diagram

Hi All, I am back and changing up the order this time.

Let’s set the stage. Score is 17-13 Titans. It’s 3rd and 5 with converting the first down sealing the win. The Flaming Thumbtacks line up in one of their favorite formations Big West RT.

Big=3 TE (the Y is an extra offensive lineman)

West=Y+U on same side (with Big tag so is V…If it was West RT Tight, V would go to the backside and it would be normal west)

RT=Formation is to the Right

The stage is set, now we can dive into the interesting part.

This formation is nearly identical to another play the Titans ran to end a game

Cool Play of the Week: Big West Left 97 Power King Derrick Henry 72yd TD Titans vs Colts Week 6

. In week 6 the Titans ran a similar formation and ran Power King. They know the Texans have been watching film and definitely watched the colts game on both sides of the ball. Using this knowledge the Titans dial up trick play to take advantage of the marathon that is the NFL Season.

96 Power King HB Reverse Left

9=Play is directed from the 9 spot (where the rb lines up)

6=The gap the ball is going (this situation its a fake so it speaks to the guys up front)

Power=Gap scheme play where the F has man on line of scrimmage and the guard pulls for the MIKE (in this formation V is the F

King=Power from a West formation. U gives the ability to have 1 more double team play side.

HB=OOOOOH! and added tag! we doing something fun and it involves the HB (RB is how i typically write it)

Reverse= Ok we got a lot here lets separate it out…

RB to counter step to the playside then fake out the backside for a pitch.

QB Reverses out (normal ball handling for power) then pivot to quick pitch

LT Fake out the 3 and track to the WILL

C “Bad” block back on the 3 and then work up to the MIKE

Left=Direction the reverse is going. Sometimes you can drop this tag because reverse means the ball is going the other way from the original play

The play is meant to, like some of the other plays I have broken down, turn the game into a 1:1 matchup. The DE (in BEAR) is in a tough spot as he is going to try and make a big play to get the ball back for 1 play, DH is a big back, but he gets caught upfield and DH has the speed to get outside

Sideline Gif

In this gif you can see how the center and the LT are able to track up to the backers. to create that easy path for DH to run through. By putting the 3 TEs to one side you also get the Strong Safety down in the box strong. The colts made the mistake of putting the safety over the X and taking this option away, now the Titans counter punch that by hitting the reverse.

The OL isn’t super concerned about giving up penetration up front (which normally kills teh gap scheme) they are more concerned about getting positioning on the upfield shoulder and blocking off the defenders path the interrupt DH. Remember this is only to get 5 yards right now and win the game

EZ Diagram

EZ gives a better view of the defense. Much like the Colts going into a GL 4-4 the Texans also get into a GL formation but this is a variation on the BEAR defense. Subbing in a DL for a DB to get more beef on the field to counter the beef the Titans brought on they can form a Bear defense.

Bear is often defined as a defense when the interior offensive lineman are all covered by defensive lineman. This eliminates a lot of double teams and lets the LBS to often come free. It is the defenses way of making the game about 1:1 matchups by trying to put your bigs 1:1 with the bigs upfront. The Issue i often find is at the second level you don’t have enough people to capture the edges. Teams often attack teams a similar way as the reverse here. One way I would suspect to get the same kind of effect is to run Speed Option Left and pitch directly off the open side stand up DE. The tackle angle is so good on the Will it would still be easy to get to him.

But back to the reverse. Here the Backers shit over the the 3TE trips side. The DL stays the same, sometimes teams will New center an extra OL as a TE (New center means that the RG would be labled the center as he would be teh new “center” of the offense….heavy formations are where you will see this the most). The shift gives the LT and the Center great angles to get up to the backer.

The center has a unique block. I really enjoyed this one when I played (maybe because I wasn’t the best at the normal back block haha) but this gave me the ability to play in space. You block back but let the 3Tech think he beats you inside. Then you run to get width before going track to the backer to make the best possible angle.

EZ Start and Mid Play Gif

When the guard pulls he freezes the LBs. To get the 5 yards needed to win all you need is that little freeze to help teh line get up to the backers. The Y wants to work into the legs of the MIKE and make him hesitate as well.

Watch the first steps of the 3Tech the Center blocks back on and the DE to Left as well. They step towards the strength of the play. My assumption is they either had a “Pirate” call on (slant down…normally only happens from the boundary not to the boundary..) OR something cooler which is the O-Line all making dummy calls. If you run power enough the DL is going to learn your calls. They don’t want to take that punishment without preparing for it. So I think he steps into the block expecting to blow it up and the center hits him with the Okie-doke and gets up to the backer clean. The 3tech (maybe jj could have) won’t make the play at all so you don’t worry about him really.

You can also see the DE getting upfield extremely fast. He is ready to blow it up and save the day. No inclination that there will be a misdirection run at him. If he hesitates a little bit he may be able to make the play.

End Play EZ

The game has been won but DH love him some fantasy points. Also it’s this part of his game that is most impressive and he needs to show out. For a guy who is 6’3 240 he is at his best getting a full head of steam on the edge. He isn’t as good in the tackles IMO and can get ankle tackled easily. But when you get this guy on the edge he has track speed and is scary to try and take down.

Also check out the WR backing a huge block. Again he doesnt need this to get a TD, they just need 5 yards. But he does his ass off to block through the whole play and help his boy go get some fantasy owners in the greater Mobile area some fantasy wins

Gun Double Left 31 Trap Corey Clement 11yd TD

Green Right Tight 96 Force Kill 97 Force Kenyan Drake 66yd TD

TL;DR

-Symmetrical formation and OTTO/KILL play to Corner/Under structure

-Sort and sift front side with DE crashing down pre-snap

-Great job getting to second level

-Kenyan Drake is fast

TV Copy

Kenyan Drake TV Copy 66 yd TD As always lets start with the TV copy. Its 3rd and 1 and Miami subs in an extra OL to play TE. MIA sets him to the right and that’s where Carolina sets the strength. The formation is near symmetrical aside from the WR out wide and the ball is in the middle of the field. Carolina could have set the strength towards the true TE but they chose not to as you often have teams run at their extra lineman instead of away.

Also lots of teams run ISO or GAP concepts on short yardage. Teams don’t often run outsize zone (Force with a leading fullback) on short yardage but MIA had a good plan. They knew either how CAR would line up to extra OL or they must have known they like to keep the F/S back and bring the C on the ball, don’t care who it is they are typically a worse defender.

All this gives way to one of my favorite things a QB can do when they have a symmetrical formation They can OTTO (opposite) or KILL the play to the other side. I did Kill here because that is what my team did at the end is always having 3 plays,. Some teams can have an OTTO check (OMAHA! OMAHA!) and just flip the play before the count. Let’s dive into an important factor.

Re-Miking the point

Re-Miking the Point One of the unique things about Killing or OTTO a play to the other side is it changes the defense without the defenders changing spots. It is then on the line to denote who the new players are. The job often falls on the Center to identify who the new MIKE is. Once the MIKE is set (the middle of the defense) people can go “Oh, 59 is 1 player minus the MIKE point (away from the strength), he’s the WILL and my combination is to him.” The other side gets trickier because now the TE needs to recognized that since the MIKE point is now 58, the Corner on the end of the LOS is now a SAM backer.

The defense has changed from a 55 (first 5 denotes OVER structure by DL, second 5 denotes SAM on LOS) to a 25 Corners Over (2 denotes UNDER structure by DL). Blocking assignments are different so knowing what the new structure of the defense is, and how they are going to define it is important.

Green=RB+FB in line behind QB

Right=Tells Y to go on line strong

Tight=Tells U to be in line on teh backside

9=which player is getting the ball, the RB is in the 9 position

6/7=which hole the play is hittingForce=Outside zone concept with a FB leading the way

*Over means there is a 3 technique strong

*Under means there is a NG strong

Sideline Angle

97 Force was a day 3 install for us. We did not live in outside zone like some other teams but its a basic concept. Everyone has a target of the outside playside shoulder-pad of the defender. OL take flat footwork and try to gain ground lateral to stretch the DL. DL have a gap to maintain so they don’t get chewed out by their coaches, OL can use that against them and have them run to widen the hole.

CAR was expecting some down hill running and you can see that with how tight the backers were and how down hill they run. From the SL angle you can see that the MIA OL didnt get that much movement but they were able to hit some targets playside and stop Keuchly enough backside to get up throw the second level.

Also i had to rewatch this angle like 10 times to see where the deep safety was.His is standing right abve the F in 97 Force. Wild to have him so far back when Landry averages a catch of under 5 yards. If they were gonna throw to him it would be way closer. Id rather center him up more and bring him closer to the box, not set him up at 20 yards.

EZ Pre-Snap

Here you can see Cutler KILL/OTTO the play. looks back at the backs to make sure they got it too. He sees why run outside at teh 3 tech, and at their SAM when we can run at their corner and a low shade. He gets em too with the DE jumping down.

Front side you see the DE crash down into a 3 technique. He is probably doing this to limit double teams playside or more likely make it a really hard block on the LT if they ran 96 Power, he would be able to shoot the game well.
Once the DE crashes down the LT makes a WAX call. This means everyone front side take proper zone footwork and let the slant come to you. Watch teh LT take his steps still keep square and then get up to the backer. Stay on Zone track because something may come to the OL.

LG gets away with some stuff here. He needs to have a better target and shoot his head across once the 3 declares himself a B-gap player. needs to be more gap sound. RG is a big boy. But he moves well, look at his first few steps tracking up on an angle. All he has to do is stall the best 2nd level defender in the league for a 2 count…sounds easy enough right. Well he gets on him and locks him down enough to spring a TD. Great job by him.

EZ End of Play

Great end to the play. You see the follow the FB and then use his eyes and ability to hit the whole north and south. He then shows why they didn’t need Ajayi and what he can do to be a game changer.

Really enjoyed this play from an anemic MIA offense. This was schemed up well, ran well by 10 of the players on the field, and then rolled the dice on a hold front side. And that is why watching football is so beautiful and agonizing, you never know who, what , or where it is gonna happen