Friday, July 12, 2019

Chicago Bears' Scissors - Double Move

Offensive coaches at all levels of football are constantly seeking out ways to create explosive plays. These are the "cheat codes" to flipping the script in a football game, especially early on. If a team finds themselves down a few scores early on, pressure sets in to abandon a well-conceived game plan in the attempt to hold serve and score points at an equal rate.

Matt Nagy's Offense is full of these "shot plays". It is his personality to attack down the field and stress defenses vertically. One of my favorite examples of this is his double move off of the scissors concept. Three of the variations that Nagy used in 2018 are drawn below.








This concept has a lot of flexibility. It can be a tag off of your base version of scissors, or you can max protect and insulate your quarterback better against a blitz. The neat part about the concept is that you do not necessarily have to major in the scissors concept for it to be effective. With the route stems looking nearly identical to the flood concept (one of the most commonly used concepts in America), you can treat that as the base look for the double move.

This double move can be quite potent against any coverage. Lets take a look at some video examples, in order of the diagrams above:




The pre-snap motion from Allen Robinson shows that the Packers will most likely be in an off-man coverage. After the ball is snapped we see that this is the case. Robinson, a tremendous route runner on a weekly basis, runs a smooth double move and keeps the defender in a trail position. With a little better protection and a little more pocket patience from the young Trubisky, the Bears were looking at 6 points.

The next video shows the play that corresponds to the second diagram from above.




This play is very similar tot he first example, but with a flat control route from the running back. Max protection will theoretically buy the quarterback the extra second he needs to get the ball off on the double move. Both Trubisky and the rolled-down safety slip on the notoriously slick Soldier Field turf. Great route from Burton to create separation and panic, leading tot he slip.

The last video shows the concept in the third diagram, out of a trips formation with an exchange of routes from the #2 and #3 receiver.




This play variation is another way to get to the same concept. Here, Nagy runs the double move with Cohen at the #3 spot in trips. The offensive staff for the Bears made a clear effort in 2018 to get Cohen favorable matchups in the pass game, and this is an example of creating an explosive attempt in that context.

Connecting on these explosive plays early on against Tampa Bay really took the visiting team out of the game mentally. Explosive plays can have this effect on teams. We are all humans with emotions (well, most of us).

The chart below shows the overall efficiency for the concept in 2018.



Nagy had a second double move off the scissors concept that also created open explosive play opportunities for the Bears in 2018. You can find this concept diagrammed and discussed in the 2018 Bears Offensive Manual, found on Amazon. The book details Nagy's entire offense in 280 pages. Click Here to get your copy today

 

Monday, July 8, 2019

Running the Weak Side Option Route to the Strong Side(?)

One of the more thought provoking concepts I saw while studying Matt LaFleur's 2018 offense was a play that was only called once. The concept appeared to me as a neat way to run the weak side option route that I often discuss (click here for an article on it). The play is drawn below (diagrams via JustPlay Sports).



This diagram unfortunately did not make its way into the Passing Index. I have a general rule that concepts that are only used once are just charted in the back of the book. This one, however, needed some more attention.

As discussed in the linked article above, the weak side option route can be covered up in single high safety structures. This play from the Titans struck me as a good way to get the 1on1 matchup with the option route against single high looks.

If you draw this play with the comeback-seam combination on both sides, it appears to attack the same landmarks as the often discussed "Hoss Juke" concept. The return route on the backside creates the differentiation here.

Against a single high safety, the running back will be isolated against the strong side hook defender. If the quarterback feels the option route getting squeezed from a second defender, he will move to the route left open by that squeezer. This will be either be the return route from the weak hook defender or the seam route from the strong flat defender. The double move of the return route will stretch the weak flat defender, leaving a nice window if the weak hook defender vacates for the option route.

The 1on1 should still hold up against two high safeties. The RB will have a two way go on the Middle Linebacker. If the weak hook defender cheats to the RB, the return route will open up in that void.

Here is the clip of the Titans calling it in 2018.



With the hook defenders playing deep, Mariota hits the RB on time.

I also saw Kyle Shanahan run this concept later on in the season.  The clip is below.




Based on how much time Mullens spends looking at the option route, I am going to assume he was expecting an inside break from the RB with the even leverage. The Giants do a nice job of covering up Kittle on the return route as well. A better throw probably gets a completion here, however.

Shanahan has run this throughout the years, with different back side combinations and formations. The diagram and video below shows the play out of a trips set. The drive route from #3 and the back side dig create a high low on the weak side. This has the same effect as the return route in the versions above.






All in all, I thought this was a neat way to fool-proof the weak side option route against all looks. This play matches a concept already in their playbook, just different guys running the routes vs different defenders.

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

The Los Angeles Chargers "Super Drive" Concept

With a lack of sustained playoff success and not too many prime time offerings, the Los Angeles Chargers are often forgotten about in the NFL X&O landscape. This off season, I decided to take a deep dive into their passing game and learn what put Phillip Rivers at the top of the league in 2018.

There were a few concepts that immediately jumped out to me. This article will focus on one particular concept. I refer to this concept as "Super Drive". This play is featured as the cover illustration for my book, The 2018 Los Angeles Chargers Pass Game IndexThe concept looks nearly identical to the traditional 2x2 Drive concept. The traditional variation is diagrammed below (diagrams via JustPlay Sports Solutions).


"Super Drive" is very similar to the traditional 2x2 Drive concept, with one minor tweak. The running back will free release swing to the front side of the concept instead of check-releasing to the back side of the play. "Super Drive" is diagrammed below:




The quarterback reads this concept outside - in. After a quick glance at the post route (pun intended), the quarterback can work the wheel to the swing to the drive route.This minor adjustment has major implications for defenses. The video link below shows how effective this concept was for the Chargers in 2018.

https://twitter.com/b_peters12/status/1128101109619359744?s=21

By calling this concept on first downs, the Chargers saw a high percentage of single high safety looks with this concept. Against single high coverages, the strong hook defender is placed in a tough spot. With the free release of the back, he must commit to getting width and depth. This opens up a wide lane for the drive route. If the weak hook defender commits to the drive route, the inside release dig route will fill that void in the defense.

The slight inside release of the dig route plays an important role in freeing up the drive route against true man and man-match coverages. The inside release will help prevent any route exchanges between the two weak side defenders, and in some cases created communication lapses for the Chargers' opponents.

These minor tweaks are the avatar of Anthony Lynn and Ken Whisenhunt's offense. The Chargers used many unique variations of traditional NFL staples to maximize their efficiency in the passing game.

I decided to turn this off season study into a reference book that shows each concept the Chargers called, along with a breakdown of the concepts' efficiency based on down/distance/red zone etc. The 2018 Los Angeles Chargers Pass Game Index can be found on Amazon by Clicking Here.





Monday, July 1, 2019

Articles and Books


Here is the most up-to date index of my books/articles/podcasts. I still need to add a few of the recent podcasts. I will try and update this as often as possible.

Books

The 2018 Chicago Bears Complete Offensive Manual

The 2018 Los Angeles Chargers Pass Game Index

The 2018 Tennessee Titans Passing Index

Philadelphia Eagles Third Down Manual

Los Angeles Rams Third Down Manual 



Podcasts

Run the Power 8-18-2019

Coffee House Stunt: LA Chargers Offense

The Purple Podcast: Bears Offensive Manual 

The Purple Podcast: Matt LaFleur's Offense

Da Bears Brothers Podcast: Matt Nagy Scheme Breakdown through the first four weeks

Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints


How to incorporate short option routes into your passing game:


Sprint Smash Concept

Kyle Shanahan 

 

Kyle Shanahan's Trips Slant Concept 

Kyle Shanahan's 21 Personnel Running Game 

Kyle Shanahan's Deep Cross Concept

"All Curl" Concept

Andy Reid & Matt Nagy 


Andy Reid's Shallow Cross Concept

Matt Nagy's Unique Concepts 

Chief's Trips Levels Concept

Chiefs' RPO's

Doug Pederson and the Philadelphia Eagles 

 

 Eagle's Slot Fade Concept

Trey Burton's Skill Set in the Modern NFL Offense

ESPN 1500 Interview on John DeFilippo's Offense

Eagles Man vs Man Concepts

Sean McVay


Passing Concepts in the Trips - Stack Formation

McVay's Option-Return Concept 

 

Miscellaneous Articles 

 

Dana Holgorsen and Kliff Kingsbury's Counter Trey Variations and Play Action

Kendall Briles' Unique Run Game

Dallas Cowboys' Passing concepts in the Trips - Stack Formation 

Jim Harbaugh's Play Action Concepts

Waggle/Bootleg Variations: The Delay Route

Bruce Arians X&O Impact

Play Action off of the Duo run concept

Scissors Concept

Ohio State (Ryan Day) Third Down Calls

Ohio State (Ryan Day) Explosive Play Calls

2013 Broncos Hank Concept