Tag Archives: Bunch

2018 Week 8: X’s & O’s Review

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Week 8 of the 2018 NFL season is in the books, and teams continue to score at a historic rate. I broke down two plays that caught my eye: MVP candidate Todd Gurley’s 30 yard reception TD along with the Texans’ Will Fuller’s 73 yard touchdown.
With 7:39 in the 3rd quarter down 10-8, the Rams line up in 11 personnel on 1st & 10 from the Green Bay 30. From Empty, the Rams have three receivers bunched right and Brandin Cooks and Todd Gurley split left. After Jared Goff appears to make a check at the line, the Rams essentially run a one man route; Todd Gurley is running a drag underneath, with all three bunch receivers breaking in to block off Packers defenders. The Packers are in Cover 1:

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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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