Category Archives: Game Situations

Packers v. Patriots: A Superbowl 49 Preview?

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Week 13 features a cross-conference matchup between the two hottest teams in the NFL, the Packers v. Patriots. Let’s take a further look at what to expect in this potential Superbowl 49 showdown:

WHEN GREEN BAY HAS THE BALL 

In their last two games against some of the NFL’s most prolific passing offenses (Colts & Broncos), the Patriots shut down the opponent’s run game early and forced obvious passing situations with New England in the lead during the 2nd half. (Broncos under 40 yards rushing, Colts under 20 yards rushing). This plays right into Belichick’s hands, as he wants to primarily stay in either Nickel, Dime, Big Nickel (3 S), or Penny (4 CB 1 S) personnel. Expect New England to be in some kind of sub-package (More than 4 DB’s) for most of the game. With that, Green Bay should try to establish some kind of run game in the 1st half to make the Patriots Safeties downhill players. However, Vince Wilfork and recent acquisition Alan Branch have done a good job against the run, and the Packers have had struggles of their own in the run game. While Eddie Lacy was able to seal the game late last week, Minnesota was able to effectively stop the run in the 1st half multiple times with Nickel Personnel (2 LB 5 DB), even when Green Bay played with a Tight End or Fullback (seen below). Overall, the success or failure of the Packers run game will likely be essential for how the Patriots use their defensive personnel.

Packers Wide Receivers vs. Patriots Secondary

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Kiffin’s Creativity leads ‘Bama over LSU in Death Valley

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Alabama pulled out an exciting OT victory against LSU in Death Valley Saturday night. LSU rarely loses in Death Valley, and it appeared LSU was headed for a sure victory, leading with less than a minute remaining in regulation. Alabama got the ball to start OT, and Bama Offensive Coordinator Lane Kiffin called the perfect play to essentially guarentee an Alabama TD drive. The play involved deception, shifting, and a quick count. Alabama sprinted to the line and came out in an odd formation: Unbalanced. #74, who traditionally plays Tackle, was split out wide and ineligible. On the other side of the formation, a Tight End lined up traditionally where the Tackle would have and actually eligible. Alabama then quickly shifted into an “Empty” formation, where the Quarterback is in the backfield by himself:

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Note that #74 is not actually an eligible Receiver on the play, because the Receiver outside of him, #2, is on the line of scrimmage. #2 is “covering” #74, and #74 therefore cannot be illegally down field at the time of the pass. (He is ineligible) However, the Tight End noted in the picture IS eligible, although he is lined up traditionally where a Tackle would be. He is eligible because he is the first “uncovered” player on the line of scrimmage. This means no player outside of him is on the line of scrimmage. Alabama then shifts, with the Running Back moving from the backfield to the outside Receiver spot, and All-American Wide Receiver Amari Cooper moving a few steps toward the sideline. This seems to cause a bit of confusion in the LSU secondary, as they are unsure how to handle the formation:

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Brady vs. Manning Part XVI: A preview of one of the NFL’s Greatest Rivalries

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Excited for Brady vs. Manning Part XVI? These two Hall of of Famers go at it once again, and as always it should make for a great X’s and O’s chess match. Let’s analyze what we could see when each team has the ball.

WHEN DENVER HAS THE BALL

I’ve previously written about how Denver loves to use Tight End Julius Thomas as a threat from the Dakota formation. How will New England match up? Expect Darrelle Revis to play plenty of man to man on Broncos Demaryius Thomas, and Kyle Arrington to follow Wes Welker in the slot. With that, what if 6’5 250 Julius Thomas splits out wide? Most teams must match up either a Safety or Linebacker against Julius Thomas, which reveals the Defense and creates match up problems elsewhere and opens up the running game. However, expect New England to occasionally match up 6’4 220 Brandon Browner in man to man coverage when Julius Thomas splits out wide. This allows Safety Devin McCourty (#32) to remain the middle of the field and also allows Linebacker Jamie Collins (#91) in the box to play the run. (These would be the other two candidates to cover Julius Thomas). The Patriots appeared to implement a form of this strategy last week against the Bears, where Browner was matched up man to man with 6’6 265 Martellus Bennett:

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Battle of the Birds: How the Cardinals Cover 0 Escaped with a Victory against the Eagles Deep Crossers

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Week 8’s Arizona Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Eagles exciting ending featured a long Cardinals TD putting them in the lead late in the 4th Quarter, 24-20. The Eagles drove down the field and with :01 seconds remaining in the game, Philadelphia needed a Touchdown from the Cardinals 16 yard line. Chip Kelly designed a beautiful play to pull out the victory, but the Cardinals Rashad Johnson pushed out Jordan Matthews before he could get 2 feet down, ending the game. Let’s analyze the play further: the Eagles line up in Trips to the left with Jeremy Maclin as the sole Wide Receiver to the right. As seen below, the Eagles are running a Deep “Scissor” around the goal line with Riley Cooper and Jordan Matthews, hoping to create separation. Riley Cooper essentially runs a Post Route, with Jordan Matthews coming underneath with a Corner route. Tight End Zach Ertz originally runs to the flat, but then carries up the sideline:

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TD or Penalty? Analyzing the Controversial End to Notre Dame vs. FSU

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This weekend’s prime time college football game featured #5 Notre Dame visiting #2 Florida State. With seconds to play, Notre Dame appeared to score the game winning TD on 4th and Goal, only to be called back for Offensive Pass Interference. But what made it Offensive Pass Interference?

The play is a common goal line pass play for many college and NFL coaches: a Slant route and a Shoot or Flat route with the hopes of a natural “pick” to make it difficult to cover in Man to Man coverage. Notre Dame ran the play from a “Bunch” formation, which is 3 Wide Receivers aligned in a triangle close together. The Apex, point man, (Middle WR) runs to the goal line and attempts to make himself a big target and box out any defender. The outside Wide Receiver runs a Slant route, and the inside most Receiver runs a Flat route. Florida State matches this with straight Cover 0: FSU is in all Man to Man with no Safety help anywhere, with everybody else blitzing. Notice the backside Tight End and Running Back do not go out for pass patterns, and the pre-snap assignments are shown below:

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Romo’s Pocket Presence and the Scramble Drill lead Dallas to Victory in Seattle

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While DeMarco Murray sealed the win at Seattle with a great run, an incredible 3rd and 20 completion from Tony Romo to Terrance Williams allowed the game winning drive to continue. Romo showed great pocket awareness to escape pressure and the Cowboys Wide Receivers executed a “Scramble Drill” to set up the Romo-Williams connection. Below is the look pre-snap with the route combinations. There’s not many play calls for 3rd and 20, so Terrance Williams and Cole Beasley are running to the First Down marker and curling up, while Dez Bryant is trying to stretch the field vertically. DeMarco Murray and Jason Witten each “chip” a pass rusher to help the offensive line before getting into their routes. Take note of 3 key elements to this play: Wide Receiver Terrance Williams, Quarterback Tony Romo, and circled Seahawk defender Bruce Irvin:

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Dakota formation: How Julius Thomas makes it look “So Easy” vs. NYJ

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Week 6’s Jets vs. Broncos match-up featured another two Julius Thomas Touchdowns, his 8th and 9th of the season. The second TD came from a formation and play the Broncos have fallen in love with in the Red Zone, a simple backside slant from the “Dakota” formation (also known as X-Iso). The Broncos have clearly revealed a tendency from this formation; the question is whether anybody can stop it. The Dakota formation features 3 Wide Receivers split wide to one side, with a Tight End split out alone as the backside Receiver. Given the Broncos personnel, the defenses must make tough decisions. Multiple defenses have decided to cover backside Tight End Julius Thomas with a Safety with no other defensive back to the lone Receiver side. The Broncos have repeatedly attacked this defense with a basic slant route. Here is a freeze frame of last year’s Chiefs v. Broncos game using a Dakota formation:

Screen Shot 2014-10-14 at 11.46.08 AM

Via Bleacher Report

This play resulted in a Touchdown via a Julius Thomas backside slant route. Fast forward to week 1 of the 2014 season. The Colts see the Dakota formation and decide to play Safety LaRon Landry in Man-to-Man coverage. Julius Thomas runs a slant again:

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Cruz Capitalizes on Multiple Washington Errors covering Flood Concept

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Week 4’s Thursday Night game wasn’t much of a game, with the Giants blowing out Washington 45-14. Washington made countless coverage and game management mistakes throughout the contest. One especially egregious example occurred at the end of the first half with the Giants leading 21-7. The Giants had 0 timeouts, there were 7 seconds remaining in the half, and the ball was on the +40 yard line. Any pass completed in the field of play would result in the end of the half, and the Giants were slightly out of Field Goal range.

The Giants called a Flood concept in a closed trips formation, with 1 TE, 1 RB, and 3 WR. The outside WR runs a post route at 10 yards, hoping to attack the deep part of Washington’s secondary and “take the top off” the defense. Larry Donnell, (Giants Tight End, #84) runs a 10-yard out, hoping to get a catch and get out of bounds before time runs out. Victor Cruz (Giants WR #80) runs a deep flag route with a high break toward the sideline at 12 yards. The underlying goal for the Giants is to stretch the defense, get a completion toward the sideline, and if this does not happen, throw the ball away to attempt a long Field Goal. Here is the play from a Giants perspective:

Cruz is the middle WR in the trips set running a deep flag route

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Denver’s Improbable 58 Second Drive with the “Post-Wheel” Combo

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Last week’s Super Bowl rematch featured the Seahawks keeping Denver’s potent offense mostly at bay for the first 59 minutes. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Denver pulled off a near miraculous 80-yard drive in 59 seconds with no timeouts. How did this happen against the best defense in football? Amazingly, Denver ran the same type of route combo (The Post-Wheel) 3 times on the drive, twice for huge completions, including the Touchdown.

The Post-Wheel combo involves the outside Wide Receiver running around 10 yards and breaking 45 degrees toward the goal post. The inside, or slot Wide Receiver will break as if he is running an out route, then turn up the field looking for a big play.

On defense, Seattle is playing Cover 1 Robber. Seattle defensive backs are all matched up man-to-man, except Earl Thomas (the robber) and Cam Chancellor (playing deep middle). Another indicator of man coverage is that Denver’s running back (Montee Ball) is lined up on the bottom of the screen closest to the sideline, and Seattle’s Linebacker Bobby Wagner follows him. Richard Sherman then moves inside to line up with Wide Receiver Wes Welker.

Here is a still shot of what Peyton Manning sees pre-snap and what will unfold schematically:

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Unconventional/Inverted Tampa 2 Zone Coverage w/ “Robber”

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In last week’s Georgia v. South Carolina game, Georgia was able to create a huge turnover in the 4th Quarter with a less common version of Tampa 2 Zone coverage. Tampa 2 is a modification of traditional Cover 2 which goes back to the Steel Curtain, but was made famous by Monte Kiffin and Tony Dungy’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. As opposed to traditional Cover 2, Tampa 2 involves the Middle Linebacker dropping into the “Deep Hole” or vulnerable deep middle of the defense.

Tampa 2

MLB drops into the deep middle zone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a video example of how each Safety attempts to cover a Deep 1/2 of the field on either side and the Middle Linebacker (Urlacher #54) drops in between to cover any deep middle routes from slot receivers or tight ends.

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