Big Green Right West V motion Explode to Viking Left RB Fly 97 Waco Y Whip

I am back again with another cool play. This one reminded my a lot of my old days as we abused shifts and motions almost to a fault. It became super hard to balance using trickery and making it difficult to actually identify the defense. I wanted to bring this play up for multiple reasons as it utilizes some unique shifts and motions but also that it resembles a 2pt play instead of a true 1st and goal play. By this I mean I believe they actually pulled this off their call sheet from the 2pt play sheet not just their goal line call sheet area. This is important because teams often go into games with only 2 unique 2pt conversion plays that they believe are near automatics to score. When people talk about stats on who teams should go for 2 more I believe these “automatics” screw up the numbers because you don’t have 50 of these plays per week, so the more you run the worse you will be at it. Would love to go through some discussion about this in the comments.

Also I changed up the formatting a little bit and it took me a little bit longer. Let me know if you like this better or not. Just want to make best possible content I can for you guys.

EDIT Thanks to user /u/skepticismissurvival he informed me that this was another layer on top of a previously used goal line play. Against the Browns they handed off the fly sweep and the Y does go all the way to the other side. This adds to the panic of the MIKE and SAM because they think they have seen this before. Thanks again for helping me out fellas. Here is the GIF of the play:

Vikings TD vs Browns Similar shift and motion

TL;DR

• Big People personnel and show traditional goal line formation
• Motion out and find its man coverage
• Shift to confuse LBs and defense on who to cover and follow
• Fly Sweep with RB to bring eyes and flow of the play away from primary target
• Zig motion and fake block by Y for easy touchdown

Thanks to /u/Booshea for pointing this out to me

EDIT 2 PAT SHURMUR AT IT AGAIN!! Week 11 we saw the third iteration of what will now just call “Explode” package (get your jokes in while you can). This time it was not used on the GL but instead in a SY situation. Also from my viewing I do not believe anyone was fooled on defense. I think having the FB motion out was confusing in the previous times it was run. The best advantage you got from the play was that the Line was able to run “Wedge” style where everyone just blocks their inside gap. Most often seen on QB sneaks. The Fly sweep held the backside edge defender well enough to where you weren’t wasting a blocker outside. IDK if this would even have an affect on the play but its a nice thought. No LBS flowed with RB and no one was faked out by the pirouette of the Y. THIS IS ACTUALLY GOOD NEWS for Vikings fans. Your coordinator has proven capable of making schematic advantages for the offense, that’s good. But in the playoffs the game is often just won by the players making plays, you can only hurt your team in a lot of ways. We saw both OC’s in the superbowl call terrible second halves but players on the NE side were able to make some big plays when needed.

This play may seem insignificant but your OL won this battle in Week 11 1st quarter…but against Aaron Donald. This should give confidence in not just your ability to scheme up a good play but also know Pat Elflein and the boys in the middle can win when called upon. Anyways heres the play:

Explode to Viking Left FB Dive

TL;DR

-Big People personnel and show traditional goal line formation

-Motion out and find its man coverage

-Shift to confuse LBs and defense on who to cover and follow

-Fly Sweep with RB to bring eyes and flow of the play away from primary target

-Zig motion and fake block by Y for easy touchdown

TV Copy with Sound

Full Breakdown Vid

Like I will try to do each week we will start off with the TV copy to see what the play looked like in real time. Its 1st and goal from the 1 and the clock is rolling. Vikings have all 3 timeouts but they choose not to use it. They rush up to the ball and run a play that is more like 2pt conversion than a normal goal line play. 2 motions and a shift all involved just to run a play that is installed in the playbook week 1. 2pt plays are often very specific types of trick plays to confuse the defense like this.

It is this combination of 2pt type play, and overall creativity presnap that made me want to break down this play.

First Motion

First motion David Morgan TD Lets dive deeper into how we come up with the name of the play and overall responsibilities.

Big (forgot on picture)= Closed backside by TE Green=FB behind QB with RB behind him Right=Y go to the Right West=V in west position off ball

V motion=Motion outside Explode to Viking = Y Zig motion, RB to Right Slot, FB to Left West

Explode is the word used to describe tons of people moving around in different directions. you can do different things to get to the final position and that’s why its “TO” something. Another big difference between a motion and a shift is a shift you always ending up in another formation

Viking is the name i gave the unique formation they used on this play. It could be something like Empty Big West Left Slot but they probably never use this formation again. Better off just giving it a random one word name as this is probably a non repeater.

RB Fly=Fly sweep motion, run through the mesh point 97 Waco=Fake outside zone left bootleg out right

FINALLY we get to the play. And its one of the most basic ones. It swaps out the fake to the RB from the 9 position (basic line up under center spot, where he starts in the clip) and uses fly sweep action to get the similar eye candy for LBs.

The first motion is a basic tell. Often teams will motion the V (third TE) out and get 1 on 1 to run a fade. here we have the corner go out with him. Sometimes this is the match up you want with Kyle “Big Country” Rudolph out there vs a smaller Josh Norman but that can be used later, we gotta do more window dressing.

Explode to Viking Left

Here is the explode shift. Y acts like hes shifting across the formation but he “Zigs” back to his original location. With high stakes of end of half, rushing the ball, and it being on the one people are scatter brained on defense. They are trying to keep track of who they have man and they lose track.

At the start the MIKE has the RB but when he motions out he knows the SAM is supposed to take him. The SAM gets caught up in the Y zig and then his eyes are taken to the F going into West Left. MIKE yells at SAM and is pointing to the Y screaming “WHO’s HERE , WHO’s HERE!?!?!” . But like all jobs MIKE needs to do his and he stays concentrated on the RB going into the slot. That has his guy originally and he can’t get yelled at if he does “his job”… Also its better to cover the rb then the 3rd TE…

What needs to happen here is communicate better. MIKE needs to physically grab SAM as he is trying to come across the formation. Dude is clearly lost and needs help. Who cares what it looks like just get everyone right.

Fly Sweep into Touchdown

Final wrinkle is the fly motion. Lots of teams have been utilizing this on the 1 yard line/goal line situations and it draws everyone’s eyes. Teams are looking not at just their opponents games but games across the league as well. Vikings know this and use it to their advantage. So many players from the Redskins are out of position.
Y does a good job still selling the block before he Whips out to the flat. QB has to just beat 1 man and get the ball over Kerrigans the DE hands.

This play was over right at the explode to shift. It got the main LBS confused and they were running around with their heads cut off. My big takeaway here is that teammates need to hold each other accountable and make it a big deal to be in the right spots. It’s not enough to just point it out, you have to get everyone right.

So TL;DR

-Big People personnel and show traditional goal line formation

-Motion out and find its man coverage

-Shift to confuse LBs and defense on who to cover and follow

-Fly Sweep with RB to bring eyes and flow of the play away from primary target

-Zig motion and fake block by Y for easy touchdown

Gun Split Right Swap F Motion Sprint Draw Left

I am back with another play breakdown. This one isn’t a long touchdown run but it is a cool play to get a unique player the ball in his hands. I hope you enjoy the breakdown and I look forward to hopefully bringing you some video content tomorrow. Let me know what you think!

I hope you all enjoyed this: here is the TL;DR:

-Early play first drive scripted to get a special player the ball

-Window dressing with the motion and fake sprint out to get the block on the SAM

-Simple Draw blocking up front but executed perfectly

-Got AJack on a Safety, just like you drew it up….go make someone miss

TV Copy Gif

Added a TV copy to give you a quick glimpse of what I see on Red Zone that peaks my interest (Also this quality image is so much better haha). I was wondering who the little guy in the backfield was and then realize its Jackson so it must have been something cool and tricky. It should be a tip off to the Defense when 25 is in there that something wild is happening, and hes getting the ball.

This was another one of my favorites we ran, we also used it as an opportunity to get a special player the ball. You have to teach the play on its own so might as well let someone unique get it. Lets dive deeper into this play

Sideline Gif

Sideline Pre-Snap

This play does not use the normal west coast naming nomenclature (i.e 96 power king, Hound 2 Double Go etc.). It is a “Special” (trick play) which are often just a word to tell you everything. The key is being in the Gun so it tells the back to do a little different ball handling and footwork. The A-Back, Jackson, fakes the sprint out right like they are running Q8 and then winds back to the QB to take the Draw to turn up the middle.

The offensive line treats the play like the pass play Key protection (4 down and MIKE). If there were a blitz or twists by the Defense line would sort it out just like they were running key protection. On top of this the OLine can further the fake of pass with all the normal line calls on a pass play. Defenses definitely know the basics of line calls and it tips them off, on screens and draws use that to your advantage.

Anecdote incoming I played with a guy on the DLine that was so good at learning the offensive lines calls that he would come back after the first series and the coach would hand him the white board and he would explain to everyone what the calls were. He would have pass, run, combinations, and snap count all down by the end of the first.

The hardest blocks are the Z on the SAM, the B-Back on the WILL, and the Center on the MIKE. Staying square and handing LBS in space is harder than it looks with 7 Refs and 100 cameras on the field.

Sideline Mid Play

Off the play fake neither MIKE or WILL flinches. The OLine is still selling the pass and the MIKE is about to start a drop. Center has a 2 count before he runs up to the MIKE to try to either chase RB if in man coverage or Drop into his Zone and make the block easier.

Decker takes a poor angle to get to the SAM. This is a big mismatch on the play and he has the hardest angle. Thankfully the SAM bites on the sprint draw fake.

Offensive Line does draw blocking. Block pass pro for a 2 count and then you block the up-field (Inside) shoulder of the DLineman. Let the DL dictate where he wants to go then attack block after a 2 count. The RBs sort off of the line, creating gaps in an unorthodox way.

End Zone Gif

End Zone Pre-Snap

This gives you a better view of how good this look is. Middle of the defense is pretty open, both safeties are beyond 11 yards. 2nd and 8 and no TEs makes the D think its going deep. Its really a 6 man box with the Sam Walked out. He is pointing to the F in motion and that is just a little window dressing to get his attention.
Another key to the play IMO is that it is much better to run it with a 3 tech away from the play call. It gives a clearer box and gets a guy out of the middle.

Left guard has a rough job here, he wants to set a little inside so the DT will jump outside. You can just let him go inside and drive him, but its much cleaner if he goes outside. the B Back, Murray will adjust. Being in teh gun gives him this advantage as well as not having a TE or a Tackle do it. You can run this where the Tackle sets then punches his man up the field, It will give the RB to be an extra guy on the Safety for a Touchdown block.

End Zone Mid Play

MIKE is starting his drop, perfect for the center to get up to him and able to square him up.
SAM gets faked out on the sprint out action. He has had a lot thrown at him, motion by the F catches his attention, then Jackson sprints out and he knows hes gotta match his speed, and now he is gonna get cracked by Decker. He is having sensory overload right now and just needs to play his game. Its like for all of us at work when janice from accounting wants to discuss her sons flag football exploits just because you wore a steelers hat to work one day. You just want to get your spreadsheets done and not talk about little timmy not getting to play QB even though he has a great arm and throws with his step dad daryl every weekend…Rant over…sorry its late…

Murray does a great job to adjust his track. He didnt get paid all that money to block like this but its telling for a veteran to do this well on this kind of play. Possibly the best single game performance I ever saw was Murray at his freshman Spring game at Oklahoma, was destroying first team defense.

Mariota then continues out the ball handling and sprints over to the mesh point at the hash

End zone End PLay

This is the perfect look for Jackson. Everyone is squared up and good blocking position. The goal was accomplished by the coaches to get your best play maker with the ball in his hands. He needs to be able to beat the safety and take it to the house but Cover 2 is top down and designed to limit long plays like this.

I called Decker the F here, sorry about that, pics are acting up

I hope you all enjoyed this: here is the TL;DR:

-Early play first drive scripted to get a special player the ball -Window dressing with the motion and fake sprint out to get the block on the SAM -Simple Draw blocking up front but executed perfectly -Got AJack on a Safety, just like you drew it up….go make someone miss

Gun Double Right “Pass Play” Kill 96 Cross

Shift to West Right 97 Waco Y Wheel Throwback “Oh Sh*t”

The Buccaneers ran one of my favorite plays of all time, “Oh Sh*t”. I wanted to do diagram of how it worked so well so I hope you enjoy it. If there is anything you would like more talked about or if I didn’t make sense let me know and I will do my best to help.

• Throwback TD “Oh Sh*t”
• Pre-snap Sideline view

This is one of my favorite plays ever. First time I ran this play was during scout team where all we called it was “Oh Sht” . It is called that because 1 player gets lost, often the Y tight end, and when the defense finally recognizes they lost a player they all turn and yell “Oh Sht!”. It was always a fun play to run in practice and the defense never covered it. Perfect in the red zone.

This play is a wrinkle on the often run Bootleg. In our offense we had 2 called Whiskey and Waco. They are just different route combinations on the same action: Offensive line and RB run fake outside zone and the QB bootlegs the other way. Normally its all traffic flowing back to where the QB is running to. On “Oh Sh*t” you take advantage of the monotony of seeing bootlegs over and over and have a guy escape out the backside for an easy touchdown.

In the picture you will see the different responsibilities for the players. Before this play occurs there is a Shift and a motion by the F/U. He starts out in a normal fullback position, then shifts to weak off ball TE left, then motions over to his final spot in west behind the Y TE. Why this is important is I believe the LBs are in man. At start the MIKE probably has RB unless FB goes to his left but on the shift he probably exchanges responsibilities with the WILL but then on the final motion he is supposed to go man on the Y. So to recap, starts on F/U, then to RB on shift, then lastly to Y on motion. This is all part of the plan to get the Y lost in all the garbage happening: presnap up until the very end.

• Mid-play Sideline

The X runs a really slow over. This to try and attract as many eyeballs as possible to his route. Want to get everyone to really follow him has its one of the top routes to throw on a normal bootleg.

The key is the Y running super flat down the line. He needs to act like he is a blocker for as long as possible. OJ runs this perfectly blending into offensive line.

Offensive line does a great job of keeping most men on the line of scrimmage. They know the launch point is a pull up so they need to stop the fake.

• End-Play Sideline

QB pulls up finds the perfectly executed throw to an all alone OJ Howard.

There are 3 people staring right at the over route. I believe either the corner shouldn’t have followed across the field, the Safety maintaining the deep half. Most importantly the MIKE should have stayed man on the Y throughout the play

• Throwback TD End Zone
• Pre-Snap End Zone

This is the look that is supposed to end up with. You can see the MIKE has his eyes still in the backfield, his positioning with nothing to do with the Y and has no real interest in the pass. Just wants to shut down the run game. If you watch the shift and the zone in the gif you can see eyes changing and rotation down by the SAM. MIKE never changes.

• Mid-Play End Zone

MIKE eyes still go to the QB on the bootleg. He bails out .

The WILL 57 comes down hill for the RB. He is running down hill on the run fake. If he is supposed to have a zone he has no way to recover to get back to it.

Corner follows the over all the way. I do not know if he is supposed to but i know for sure him and the Safety arent supposed to be covering the same guy or in nearly the exact same spot. One of them has to be wrong.

• End-Play End Zone

QB sells the fake extremely well. Doesnt turn his head until the last second. Gets every DB committed to the normal bootleg action. and follows the slow over.

OJ runs the perfect wheel on the throwback and gets wide open. Commits to the fake and has the speed to have great exit velocity once the fake is over. I think he ran a similar play for a touchdown in both national championships he was in. Hard to cover him on a wheel route.

Thanks for reading about this play “Oh Sht” . I hope you will see this play and do what I do (even in public places) and scream “OH SHt!!!!!!” when it happens. Such a fun play

(P.S.) I am not fully convinced about Winston as a top guy in the NFL but he takes a massive hit here. He can clearly take a hit and loves football and that is one of the most important keys to success at anything.

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

This time I am back in the run game diagramming one of my favorite plays, in my favorite personnel grouping. The Titans (Flaming Thumbtacks as I have been told by the mods) utilize the extra lineman more than any team I’ve seen this year. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. On this specific play it does exactly what they want, get someone at the point of attack in a 1:1 matchup that is normally in favor of the defense (Defensive End vs TE) and reverse it to your favor. Also formationally and situationally the play is unique because they only need 5 yards to win the game, and give the RB 2 reads, right up the gut or outside. Let me know what you think about the play and I hope you enjoy it.

• 97 Power King Sideline Gif
• 97 Power King Sideline Diagram

You will hear “71 has reported as eligible” about 20 times throughout the game when Tennessee plays. It creates great match ups at the point of attack. It helps especially in the max protect game/7 man protections have an extra experienced blocker in. It is a unique tactic that gives a lot away personnel wise but it also puts you in a position to win more 1:1 matchups.

Here the Colts are trying to get the ball back. It’s 3rd and 5 with a little over a minute left so they could possibly get the ball back with around 20 seconds left if they stop them here (no timeouts). They have numbers in the box based on sheer personnel so they put safety help over the top of the lone WR to force the titans to run. IMO this is their first mistake, you pay Davis to win this matchup vs Decker, let him earn it. They then have an extra man, the JACK, in the 4-4. He is holding the edge defense in case Mariota pulls the ball. IMO this is bad formationally because Mariota was hobbled all night. Better to give up edge and have another guy at second level.

• 97 Power King End Zone Gif
• 97 Power King Blocking Assignments

Power King is a Gap Scheme play. This means there are double teams where applicable. In Gap Scheme play side double teams go:

Ace: C+pG (to WILL) Deuce: pG+pT (to WILL) Trey: pT+TE1 (to WILL) Quad: TE1+TE2 (to MIKE) Super Quad: TE2+TE3 (to MIKE)

Based on where the defense lines up in the gaps, determines which lineman have the double teams.

In Gap Scheme the First double team always go to -1 the MIKE Point (identify who the center of the defense on every play), also known as the WILL. Both lineman take a backside step (in this case right foot first, play is going left) and then drive directly into the down lineman. All 4 eye of the double team are on the WILL while they move the DL vertical, or a gap minus. Guard has to have his eyes inside in case of run through or Slant across by DL.

On power king there is always a second double team outside. in regular power king this is between the TE 1 and the TE 2. But because the FB which is normally on power king is moved up to the line then the TE2 and TE 3 perform a Super Quad on Edge defender (SAM) to the MIKE

• 97 Power King Assignments Cont.

Puller has their responsibility play-side and their on Power King their aiming point is the second double team. In this case it will be a long Pull because there is a Super Quad. This is a unique play because it makes the running back have 2 choices on the play, the initial gap of play side A gap (right down the centers left butt cheek) or follow the puller to glory. it always starts playside A because sometimes the double team washes the DL so far down that it becomes wide open.

The hardest job against this defense is that the bT has to cover the B gap (his inside gap) where the Guard vacated, and the edge from making the play as it develops. Thankfully the JACK isn’t doing much as he just is containing the “sucker Pull” (tag on a play to let qb know he can pull and run bootleg. But technically the tackle needs to hunker down and control the B gap, AND block the end. The DE and JACK should probably be ashamed of themselves on this. The Center would normally come all the way back on end but because there is an extra player on the field he has to block the nose in his backside A gap.

• 97 Power King Mid Play

WILL is expecting the run up the gut so he blitzes the gap. He was likely on a run blitz. I would rather have him stay stationary and scrape where needed. By running through you can hopefully make a TFL if the guard doesn’t see run through. Here he did, executed perfectly giving henry time to follow puller patiently.

The major unseen part of the play is the extra OL does his job. At TE1 he is able to gap block enough to make sure playside is sturdy and the puller can go around. Often the TE1 is at a mismatch on the 1:1 block and can knock the puller off his track.

Super Quad does a great job of being patient and influencing same to commit inside. They are then able to work him up field and get just enough on the MIKE to bow backwards and help Henry get the 5 yards needed to win the game.

• 97 Power King End Play

Guard absolutely destroys the SUP. He is really good in space uses his speed to his advantage and is able to adjust to the fill the SUP does. Lots of times pullers get scared of being in space vs faster guys but always leverage your track and momentum to influence them.

The Super Quad does a good job stopping the SAM from penetrating the line and giving enough to bow the MIKE. They did enough to win the game.

If you remember the Free Safety being stacked over the lone WR, he is way too out of position to have any impact in stopping the RB from getting 5 yards let alone the inevitable touchdown. His angle is also rough as just one cut by Henry makes him look silly.

Formationally they were set up for greatness. But the key here is 2 personnel decisions. Having a running QB who can be a threat to pull it to hold a defender, and subbing the Extra OL in to win the 1:1 matchup at the point of attack.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Let me know any ways you want me to get better and if there is something you would like looked at.

12 Front Arc Dak Prescott TD Cowboys vs Packers

Pass 96 Split Zone Fake Reverse Left X post U Sail Marvin Hall TD + Pass 96 Split Zone Fake Reverse Right Bengal Jarvis Landry TD vs Falcons 

Meme is the body