Every NFL Sunday, the “Zone” run play is called and executed countless times. However, few run it better than the Texans’ Arian Foster. For years Gary Kubiak made the “Outside Zone” or Zone Stretch play a staple in the Texans playbook, and Bill O’Brien has continued to run the play with one of the NFL’s best Running Backs. A perfect example of the Outside Zone was on display this past Sunday on a 3rd Quarter Arian Foster Touchdown.

The basic premise of the outside zone (or zone stretch) play is simple; every lineman will “zone their gap”, or block the immediate area to the side of the play. (in this case, the linemen’s left). Lineman are given the “On or Outside” rule, meaning they should block the player immediately on them, or if nobody is on them, the first player to the outside. If a lineman has a defender immediately to the inside, they will give help so the next lineman can “take over” the block. Arian Foster will run to the outside leg of the Tight End and then make one cut: either continue outside if all the defenders are sealed, or if a defender has overrun the play, plant a foot in the ground to make a zone cut up the field. Here is the look the Texans saw against the Cowboys pre-snap:

Here, the Tight End (#87 C.J. Fiedorowicz) will help the Left Tackle “take over” the Defensive End, (#58 on Dallas), and then attempt to reach block up to the Linebacker, #52, Justin Durant. Meanwhile, the rest of the line takes their Zone step in sync:

In the next frame, you see how the play works to perfection for the Texans: The Cowboys Defensive End (#58) has been completely reached and sealed off, and the Tight End (#87 C.J. Fiedorowicz) for Houston has perfect leverage to seal Dallas Linebacker #52 (Durant). Meanwhile, the Texans G-C-G (Guard, Center, Guard) work in perfect unison. Their job is to reach the Defensive Tackle, take over, and work up to seal #59. The freeze frame below shows how well the Texans execute:

Because of the Texans’ perfect execution to begin the play, only two Dallas defenders can stop this play now: either #59 can work over the top and tackle Foster after a 6 yard gain, or #42 Safety Barry Church can come down and make the tackle:

However, the Texans O-line’s dominance doesn’t stop there: The Left Guard works up to #59 on Dallas and completely seals him off from reaching Foster. Foster sees this and continues on his stretch path until it is decision time. This leaves the Safety, Church (42) 1 on 1 vs. Arian Foster:

This puts Church (42) in a nearly impossible position. At the time Foster must make his zone cut, usually the blocking dictates whether he should continue on his Stretch path or cut it up the field. Because the Texans’ O-line did such an excellent job, Foster has a huge alley. But big runs in the NFL don’t occur without the efforts of the Running Back: No lineman is schematically responsible for the Safety, so Foster must make him miss in order to score the TD. Foster is one of the best in the game, and his incredible move sets up the score. Below is the video at 1/4 speed to really see how the zone blocks develop, with the fast motion to appreciate Foster’s cut to conclude:

The play highlights two things: The Outside Zone, a run play commonly called in the NFL executed to perfection, and the patience, vision, and athleticism of Arian Foster.