Me or You? You or me? How the Browns Have Become the Best Pin/Pull Team in the NFL

 

The Browns have one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL. With outside zone being their bread and butter, they have built complementary schemes around it, one of which being Pin/Pull

Pin/Pull is a sweep-style play common in many levels of football. It is a great compliment for outside zone. Depending on the front, different members of the offensive line will be assigned to pull and kick out or pull and lead up for the running back. The Browns are the best team I have studied to date at running Pin/Pull. 

The following breakdown is a small section from my latest book. In The 2021 Cleveland Browns Complete Offensive Manual, I take an in depth approach at every concept in the Browns playbook. 

The Manual is over 300 pages of concept breakdowns identical to the one in this article. 

At the end of the Pin/Pull breakdown, I have also linked a cutup of the concept. 

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I have also uploaded a cutup of the Browns running this concept. Click Here to check out the link on YouTube. 

Examining the 49ers Game Plan for the Seattle Seahawks

For my latest project, I take a week by week game plan view of Kyle Shanahan's offense with the San Francisco 49ers for the 2021 season. 

In week 13, the 49ers had game planned a few really neat play action concepts to attack Seattle's defense. The following examples are also included in my latest book. 

PLAY 1

The 49ers featured their Counter – Solid run scheme against the Seahawks in week 4, and also in this matchup. The next image shows a neat play action concept off this motion and run action.

 

The route concept has been in the 49ers playbook for a while now. The tweak is the fast motion and bluff from the F, Kyle Juszczyk. The first off-ball defender is responsible for fitting a new C-gap created if the F slices/kicks the DE, so he has to work downhill and under control with the motion.

Against single high coverage, with the first off ball defender in a bind and the post clearing out the corner, the bluff-wheel route has a ton of space to work with down the field. The next image shows how this plays out. 

Many of the 49ers play action concepts in this game attacks the seam/flat player with a run/pass conflict.

 The 49ers call this at 1^st Q 4:02.

PLAY 2

The next image shows another way the 49ers put the seam/flat player in a no win situation. The play shows another way to get to the same concept on the previous page. A bluff-wheel with a bang route on the other side of the field. 

In this clip, Kittle (Y) sells like he is arcing for the down safety in a single high structure. He bluffs the safety and gets vertical, having the same effect as the concept on the previous pages.

If the defense has a hard edge (a man outside the Y), Kittle would sell the reach block on this defender before releasing.

PLAY 3

Around 6:30 in the 3^rd quarter, the 49ers ran a nice constraint off their gun 2-back Counter – Solid action. The next image shows the play. 

This concept is a combination of a crack toss (without a puller) and outside zone. I have classified it in the past (and in the 2019 49ers Manual) as a version of lead outside zone (weak). The 49ers like this concept against heavy/5-down fronts, especially with a 3 technique set weak. With a 3 technique weak, this allows for a double team up to the first linebacker. 

PLAY 4

The next image shows another fun play action concept from week 13. 

This concept is similar in structure to the two previous play action calls. This time, the bluff-wheel/seam runner comes from inside the new C-gap. Additionally, the route land marks witch and the bluffer is now the seam route instead of working up the sideline.

 This concept was called at 4^th Quarter 12:43

After writing the 2019 San Francisco 49ers Complete Offensive Manual, I wanted to dive deeper into the week to week adjustments and how the 49ers prepare for each specific opponent. the format of this book allowed me to do so, and also explore some fun one-off plays. A few of these examples are included in this article!

CLICK HERE to pick up your copy of Game Planning With the 2021 San Francisco 49ers today!

Project Links

Here are links to my recent books and projects: 

The 2019 San Francisco 49ers Complete Offensive Manual

The 2017 New England Patriots Pass Game Manual

The 2020 Green Bay Packers Complete Offensive Manual

The 2020 Las Vegas Raiders Complete Offensive Manual

Game Planning with The 2021 San Francisco 49ers 

Game Planning with the 2021 San Francisco 49ers is Now Available!

 

 Game Planning with the 2021 San Francisco 49ers is now available! CLICK HERE to get your copy today!

 The San Francisco 49ers are my favorite offense to study each offseason. This is made possible by their elite coaching staff and unique personnel. Their base system allows them to customize their game plan each week to stress each defense they face.

Since I wrote the 2019 Manual, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to take a deeper look into their offense beyond the idea of a concept breakdown. I settled on a game plan format, that will take the reader week by week through the season. This breakdown is titled Game Planning with the 2021 San Francisco 49ers.

 This format builds upon the 2019 Manual, with a baseline understanding of each concept in the 49er offense, we can take a look at the weekly variations and tags used to attack specific defenses.

 The next image shows one of my favorite examples of this. As the season went on, defenses started aligning two defenders outside the play side tackle to stop one of the 49ers base 21/12 personnel outside zone calls by forcing the ball back inside. Adding the extra tight end allowed the 49ers to create two double teams and still get the ball outside.

 

 

A concept the 49ers liked against heavier fronts, specifically the Bear front of the Seahawks and the odd/under front of the Rams, is what I refer to as “Counter-Solid”. The next image shows the play from week 4.

 

The offense ends up with two “pullers”, without pulling an offensive lineman. The fast motion, a critical piece in the 49ers offense in 2021, allows them to do this.

 When the 49ers played the Seahawks again in week 13, they called the play action concept shows in the next diagram. The play looks identical to their Counter-Solid concept, while at the same time is quite similar to a pass concept that has been in their offense for years. The flat/seam defender (FS in the diagram) will be in a trail position on the wheel/rail route after filling his run responsibility for his first step after the snap.

 

The next image shows a pass concept the 49ers called in week 9. This play combines a frontside vertical/hi-low concept with a back side dig concept. The 49ers called this sparingly, but I really liked the design so I wanted to devote a few pages to it. 

Against single high, if the weak hook player doesn't work to help on the now-slant from the #1 receiver, the strong hook player is in a high-low. Even if the weak hook player pushes strong, the seam form the tight end (#3) stays on the other side of the field and doesn't bend to the opposite seam. It is a well-designed front side concept.   

The next image shows the concept against cover two, with the will linebacker isolated on the back side after the defense has taken away the front side vertical concept. 

 

This book was a ton of fun to put together. This new format allowed me to go down some rabbit holes that would just not be feasible in a manual format. This book is a great resource for coaches who want to improve their weekly game plans and streamline what they want to focus on. The book is also a great resource for fans who want to learn why the 49ers coaches are some of the best in the league. 

 CLICK HERE to get your copy today!

Raiders Low Red Zone Concepts

 Jon Gruden and the Raiders have a few low red zone specific play calls that they like. One particular package revolves around nick/flag nod routes with an underneath return route. They like to call these out of two man snug/stack sets. 

The following pages are from my latest book, which breaks down Gruden's entire offensive system from 2020. Pick up a copy on Amazon by Clicking Here.

Jon Gruden's Unbalanced RPO Concept

In an up-tempo environment, Jon Gruden and the Raiders like to run an unbalanced 1-Back Power RPO with the TE on an Arrow route. This concept, which averaged over 8 yards per use for the Raiders in 2020, forces the defense to adjust quickly to an unusual formation.

In week 15, the Chargers adjusted nicely to line up in a sound defense against the concept. 

The following screen shots are from my latest Book, which breaks down the entire 2020 Raiders offense. CLICK HERE to get a copy of the book today!

Deep Dive on the Packers Base Inside Zone Scheme

 The Packers were a great inside zone team in 2020. Inside zone is a common scheme in the NFL, and is arguably the base run concept in college football. 

With their base version of inside zone (no slice block), the Packers averaged over 6 yards per play, and a 90% conversion rate on third down. 

Matt LaFleur and the Packers have many ways to gain the numbers back in favor of the offense. Whether it be creative RPO designs or adjustments to the run call, they can always find a way to block up what the defense is presenting.  

The following screen shots are my analysis of this scheme from my Book. The Packers Manual breaks down their entire offense in the same manner of their base inside zone scheme below. CLICK HERE to order your copy today.