Saturday, November 14, 2015

Chip Kelly's 4 Vertical Adjustment


This play as taken from the 2015 week 1 matchup: Eagles at Falcons

This was the first game for Falcons new head coach, Dan Quinn. Dan came from Seattle, where they arguably play cover three more than any other team. This style of defense, consistently playing one coverage, fits into the Eagles style of play. When a defense stays in the same coverage, it becomes easier for the offense to call concepts designed to beat the specific coverage. This combined with the no huddle pace allows the quarterback to think less and just “play ball”.

The Eagles run an offense that is based more on execution than scheme. This means that they will run the same play multiple times, counting on the fact that the many repetitions gained in practice will pay off on game day. This execution is aided by the no huddle, it often does not allow a defense the time to adjust to the specific formation tendency that the offense might have.


One specific play that the Eagles featured is shown below. This play is a variation of the traditional 4 vertical concept, a staple against cover three teams.





A team that plays a lot of cover three understands that they will see 4 verticals multiple times a game, so the Eagles decide to dress it up. The adjustment sends one of the verticals out of the backfield to a run-heavy side of the formation. This adjustment allows the offense to run the same concept but confuse the defense as well as place a run defender on a speedster out of the backfield.

In the video clip below, the cornerback to the tight end side of the formation matches the tight end vertically, as he does not recognize any other vertical threat to his side. This creates a 1 on 1 matchup: the runningback on the flat defender.


The runningback, Darren Sproles, is a matchup nightmare for Kroy Biermann. This is a great play design that Kelly would call again just two plays later. See the video below.



This time, the cornerback stayed outside in order to help on the runningback’s vertical. The falcons also removed the flat defender from the box in order to better defend the vertical concept. This creates a clean window for quarterback Sam Bradford to hit the tight end on the inside vertical route. 

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