Checking in with Chip: How the 49ers & Their New Coach Will Attack Teams Through the Air

Chip Kelly’s stint with the Philadelphia Eagles was shorter than anticipated. In his final season, the offense struggled to produce on the ground, and through the air. In the passing game, the offense ranked 21^st in the league in yards per attempt, and 22^nd in passer rating. This is a startling decline from the 3^rd ranked scoring offense in 2014. What went wrong? A big reason is the quarterback position, as the Eagles had a new quarterback. Sam Bradford did not perform as well as Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez had in the previous season.

So what will Chip Kelly change about his offense? From watching week 1 of the preseason, the base concepts will be similar to what was used in Philadelphia. In a trips-closed formation, inside zone paired with a quick screen is a staple of the Chip Kelly offense. The video below shows an example of the play:

After the 49ers used this play a couple of times in a no huddle manner, the 49ers scored a touchdown on a play that is designed to take advantages of defenses recognizing the formation. The smash concept to the tight end side will take advantage of a loaded box, and should get a tight end matched up with a run defender.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szEWpdjDuEg

Chip often uses a trey formation in the run game. His main pass concept out of this formation takes advantage of defenses playing the run. The 49ers used a full field curl-flat concept, anticipating the defense loading up the box on a run down. This play works best against a cover three, which is typically what defensive coordinators will call against a run heavy look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhyaGihURXA

This last video shows a shallow cross concept the Eagles used quite often the past couple of seasons. This play was called on a 3^rd and 8, and the 49ers converted for a first down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hXJXl-Mlbw

With the right people around him, Chip Kelly can be a successful coach. He understands offense and puts his players in positions to make big plays. It will be interesting to see how his tenure in San Francisco concludes.

"Stick" Adjustment: Adding Some Explosiveness to the Concept

The stick concept is arguably the simplest concept in football. There are many variations of the concept that can be used out of almost any formation. The basic theory of the play is to horizontally stretch a defense, specifically the linebackers. The figure below diagrams the traditional stick concept out of a trips formation. The quarterback reads the flat defender, and throws either the out route or the stick route.

 

Oklahoma ran a unique version of stick against West Virginia in 2015. The adjustment involves a switching of route responsibilities by the two receivers farthest to the right. These receivers will switch their landmarks, and run each other’s routes. The outside receiver will run a hitch route, and the slot will run what many coaches refer to as a “Spray 9”, or a “Spade” route. The play is diagrammed below.

The adjustment adds a few benefits to the play. First and foremost, a deep threat has been added to the concept. In the typical version, the fade route is merely a decoy. The throw is much too difficult for a majority of high school, and even college quarterbacks. The spade route is an easier throw, as the route takes longer to get to the same landmark. This allows the quarterback to put a little bit of air on it, unlike a traditional fade route to the wide side of the field. 

Secondly, the quarterback now has an option against man coverage. The original version struggles against man coverage and is widely regarded as a zone beater. The video below shows Oklahoma hitting the spade route against man coverage for a big play.

https://youtu.be/fo6_AlMemOA?t=8

Making small adjustments to the most basic plays in football can pay large dividends. All it takes is the creativity to put your players in a better position to succeed.

P.S.: My Book is now available on Amazon

Quarterbacking Mechanics: The Misuse of the Pump Fake

 

During film study, a specific play jumped out to me in the Oklahoma TCU game from 2015. This play summed up the entire game for TCU, a day of missed opportunities. 

But before we get into the actual play, we need to watch a play from earlier in the game. Oklahoma defensive back Zack Sanchez payed attention during film sessions the week before. He jumps a slant route to a single receiver formation. See the video link below:

 https://twitter.com/b_peters12/status/715954927621709824

TCU counters by running a SLUGGO (slant-and-go) to the single receiver side later in the game. The play call was brilliant. Sanchez, the same corner that made the interception, bites on the slant route. The result, however, was not as great. See the video below:

 https://twitter.com/b_peters12/status/717552640754892800

TCU’s quarterback uses a shoulder pump fake before he throws the SLUGGO. Enter one of my personal pet peeves of quarterback mechanics: using a pump fake to throw the ball to the same side of the field that the pump fake was made on!!!!!!!!!!   If you watch the video closely, you can see the corner jump the slant route BEFORE the quarterback makes his pump fake. The only thing the pump fake does, is ensures that the safety will make his way over to that side of the field. If the ball is thrown on time without the pump fake, TCU has a big play. If the quarterback is a half second later than he already was, the ball is intercepted.

On a lighter note, enjoy this video of three ridiculously timed, successive jump cuts 

  https://twitter.com/b_peters12/status/717762854967910402

How the Arizona Cardinals Have Become the Top Offense in the NFL

The Arizona Cardinals have shredded opposing defenses up to this point in the season. The beauty of their offense is how they execute simple concepts at a higher level than the average NFL team, both in the running game and the passing game.

The running game is incredibly simple. The Cardinals want to create double teams at the point of attack, plain and simple. Their main run play is a simple dive play out of a single back formation. The video below shows an example of their dive play. Well executed double teams that climb up to the second level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRTqDQz0Z_s

They will also call “bounce”, which is the same as dive, except the running back will bounce the play to the outside. Bounce takes advantage of edge defenders that cheat inside to help the dive play. They will also occasionally mix in Power and Counter schemes.

Make no mistake about it, the Cardinals offense is based on creating big plays in the passing game. In the passing game, Carson Palmer has been reading defenses at a very high level. A great example of how he is embracing the concepts that head coach Bruce Arians calls is a touchdown he threw midway through the second quarter against Seattle in week 10. Before we can understand how the touchdown came to be, we must start with a play in the first quarter.

The play call is what many coaches refer to as the “flood” or “sail” concept. Almost every high school, college, and NFL teams run a version of this play. The play is designed to stretch the field vertically, with a high, medium, and low target spaced out on the sideline. This play is typically favored against teams that run cover three, which Seattle uses extensively.

Typically, the middle level is where the quarterback is looking to throw the ball, with the low level route as a check down. Palmer does a nice job of timing his throw to hit the middle level receiver before the hook/curl defender (in this case, the strong safety) has a chance to trigger down and make a play.

The Cardinals ran this play twice in the first quarter. Click the video link below for one of the plays:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBgurb-UqSI

Many coaches will often tell the quarterback that the deep receiver is just a decoy in the “flood” concept, in order to simplify the read and make it easier for the quarterback to get the ball out on time. After Palmer completed a few of the middle level throws, the Seahawks get closer and closer to making a play on the ball. Palmer is aware of this, and it pays off big for him. The third time the Cardinals call the “flood concept” they score a touchdown.  

Palmer notices Richard Sherman, the corner to the side of the flood concept, cheating the middle out route. This opens up the deep receiver for a touchdown. The receiver is wide open, so to the untrained eye it looks like an easy read and an easy throw. The difficult part is that this receiver isn’t even supposed to be an option to throw the ball to on the play. Palmer is playing at such an elite level, that all his eligible receivers are a viable option to him. Clock the link below to watch the touchdown:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGeSMnIR1GE

The Cardinals make good use of simple concepts in both their run game and pass game. If Carson Palmer continues playing at this elite level, the Cardinals will be a very dangerous team in the playoffs and are my pick to win the Super Bowl.

If you are interested in other concepts Bruce Arians and the Cardinals use, check out these links to previous articles I have written:

http://theofficialpetersreport.blogspot.com/2014/11/play-of-day-smash-long.html

http://theofficialpetersreport.blogspot.com/2014/12/play-of-day-shake-route.html

P.S.: My Book is now available on Amazon

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJleqiEajho

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCcgPvxUo7A

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. 

Season Preview: Kevin White and the Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears drafted a dynamic receiver by the name of Kevin White in the 2015 NFL Draft. White is a dynamic play maker with exceptional size and speed. In college, White ran a limited number of routes. This is no criticism to his skill set, it is the nature of Dana Holgorsen’s offense at West Virginia. Holgorsen’s offense is a branch on the elegant tree that is the air raid offense. The air raid offense is much simpler than an NFL offense and does not ask receivers to run a wide range of routes. Instead, the air raid focuses on getting receivers to master a few routes in order to perfect their technique.

Dana’s version of the air raid takes this simplicity one step further. After Geno Smith left West Virginia for the NFL in 2013, Holgorsen decided to simplify his schemes. Traditionally, the air raid offense does a nice job of stretching the defense horizontally, not as much vertically. Holgorsen recognized this and made changes in his scheme in order to create more big plays for his dynamic receivers.  He began using tight ends and fullbacks (air raid using a fullback?!)  in order to focus more on the running game. The tighter formations and the focus on the running game provided more opportunities for Kevin White to make big plays down the field. Defenses started bringing a safety down into the box to help out against a more focused ground attack. This created many 1 on 1 matchups for White, a nightmare for even the best of defensive backs:

http://youtu.be/oou3vK0wEZg

https://twitter.com/b_peters12/status/624956605495386112

To help him adjust to more complicated NFL offenses, Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase should provide White with ways to make early impacts in the month of September. This screen play used by Chip Kelly and the Eagles is our first example. This screen play is a packaged play. The Eagles are running a sweep to the left, along with a tunnel screen to the right.

The play call worked well, as the Arizona Cardinals brought a blitz. The quarterback appears to be reading the #2 defender to the side of the screen (either the safety or outside linebacker). If this defender is either in the box or is influenced by the sweep to the left, the quarterback will throw the screen to the right. The right tackle, who will perhaps be Kyle Long in the near future, slides for a few steps to his left to influence the defense, then releases to block the corner. The tight split by the receiver ensures that the defense will not press him, as the play will not work if he is pressed. See a video link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOPRosKzvCM

This play will provide White with the opportunity early in games to get his hands on the ball and settle in to his first few games in the NFL. After the Bears call a few of these screen plays, White can really show off his downfield skill set. The play below is a diagram of a screen n’ go used by Oregon in the College Football Playoffs.

White is also a physical blocker who can block on the edge for other receivers such as Alshon Jeffery or Eddie Royal. This threat will create the above diagramed play to be open. In the video clip below, the receivers are wide open. In the NFL, this play will get recognized more often than not. It will, however, create the 1 on 1 matchup down the field that offensive coordinators desire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prGeOCXSqlA

Having a receiver with the size and speed of Kevin White causes offensive coordinators to salivate at the opportunity to draw up plays on the white board. I am excited to see what Adam Gase has in store for Bears Nation.

WTBMC #6: Backside Post

East Carolina used a typical play action scheme to create a one on one matchup for their X receiver. The defense played Cover 1, or man free. The key to the play is getting the free safety to roll with the quarterback after the play action. This allows the X receiver to get behind the defense for a big gain. Click the youtube link below to watch the clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY_vBpGN4a8