The Peters Report: 2018

Thursday, April 19, 2018

The Philadelphia Eagles 2017 Third Down Manual

CLICK HERE to get your copy of the Philadelphia Eagles 2017 Third Down Manual

Matt Bowen (ESPN NFL Analyst): “Peters’ natural ability to break down and explain the game of football allows readers to step inside the Eagles offense. From the play diagrams to the modern terminology, this book should be viewed as a teaching tool as Peters pulls back the curtain on the offensive system that led the Eagles to a Super Bowl Championship.”

The Philadelphia Eagles 2017 Third Down Manual will give readers a thorough analysis of the different concepts the Eagles used in critical situations during their Superbowl run. The Eagles found success on third downs with a variety of schemes, incorporating endless variations of their core concepts. Within each concept, the Eagles ran different versions from week to week to prevent the defense from picking up on tendencies. The best example of this is the H Post concept. The Eagles ran seven different versions in the eight occasions they called the concept. The video below shows three of these variations.

Doug Pederson and his coaching staff created space for his plethora of skill position players to work. Finding unique ways to get Alshon Jeffery, Zach Ertz, and Trey Burton open are found throughout the book. Specifically, the All Curl concept allowed the Eagles to find 1 on 1 matchups with evenly spaced routes near the first down marker.

The Eagles had a unique blend of old school “West Coast” play designs that incorporated modern trends found in all levels of the game. This gave the Eagles the best of both worlds and placed them on the cutting edge of offensive football. Specifically, the use of the Slot Fade concept gave the Eagles one of their most efficient third down calls in 2017.

The coaching staff’s creativity has been well documented. We can all remember the gutsy play calling in the Superbowl. These were not one-off decisions for Pederson. Many examples of gutsy play calls can be found in the regular season as well. This next video clip is a great example. The Eagles faced a critical third and one against Dallas in week 11. Down by a score in the third quarter, Pederson was not saving anything in his arsenal. The unbalanced formation surely tipped a run tendency to the defense. This allows the tight end to leak out to the other side of the field.

The Eagles excelled in the red zone in 2017. This was a result of their meticulous game planning and pin point execution. The “Bison” Concept allowed the Eagles to convert two for two in the red zone on this particular play call.

This book will take you through each concept the Eagles used, explaining why it worked and did not work. This book is meant to serve as a resource for high school coaches, college coaches, and anybody who wants to understand what propelled the Eagles to a Superbowl title in 2017.

CLICK HERE to get your copy of the Philadelphia Eagles 2017 Third Down Manual

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

What to Expect in the Los Angeles Rams 2017 Third Down Manual

Click Here to get your copy of the Los Angeles Rams 2017 Third Down Manual for only $14.99

As the top scoring offense in the NFL this past season, the LA Rams are an interesting team to study. The design of the offense has a lot of carry over to the lower levels of football. Coaches have many things they can take away from this past season.

Easy Answers for the Quarterback

With well thought out play designs, the Rams were able to get their primary receiver open often. This gives the quarterback less to think about and asks the offensive line to protect for a shorter amount of time. Rookie wide receiver Cooper Kupp emerged as the Rams primary target on third downs. Sean McVay had many concepts that featured Kupp as the primary target. One of the most commonly used ones was a deep out from a trips set. This concept is often referred to as “Train” in west coast playbooks. The diagram below shows one of the versions the Rams used in 2017.

This concept is meant to look like four verticals. The goal is to clear out room for the #3 receiver on the 10 yard out cut. Many modern pattern-match defenses will instruct the outside defenders to turn and run with the vertical routes. This gives the quarterback a lot of room to work with on the out cut.

Use of formations

The Rams used tight split bunch formations often. These formations neutralize the press-man techniques that many successful NFL defenses use. When offenses line up in a bunch set, defenses will typically have a go-to check against the formation. Sean McVay has a few concepts that will attack the leverage of these calls to get receivers open by design. In conjunction with the previous section, these plays also tend to get the first read in the progression open.

Eliminating Pressure Possibilities

Using simple progression reads, McVay gave his second-year quarterback an easy way to find open receivers. The stick-spacing concept allows the quarterback to get rid of the ball quickly, while still having the ability to go through an entire progression. The Rams were 5/5 when calling this concept on third down. The video shows how Goff can get to his third read quickly, before the pass rush has a chance to get to him.

Another way the Rams eliminated pressure possibilities was with the use of the crack toss. Defenses see third and 4 as a great chance to bring pressure and force a young quarterback into a bad decision. Sean McVay stayed one step ahead of teams with the use of the crack toss. The toss play gets the ball on the edge quickly and will still give the offense a good chance at converting the first down without over-exposing their quarterback. This call had great forward-thinking qualities that gave the Rams a better chance of converting these third down situations.

When the toss call would not convert, a common theme was present. On each case, the first down block outside of the tackle failed. This is often a tough block for wide receivers. This block should be carefully planned out by coaches. Using the team’s best blocker in this spot will give the offense a better chance of converting.

As a high school football coach, this manual will not only give you play designs, but an insight into successful offensive philosophies. There are many key points that I will be taking with me into the 2018 season.

Click Here to get your copy of the Los Angeles Rams 2017 Third Down Manual for only $14.99