Explosive Plays: Week 10, 2024

Two of my favorite passing concepts exploded this week, running vs. an 8 man box, and more!

18 OSCAR

Loaded box, light work for CMC. I believe this is Oscar based on the fact that they shifted to a completely balanced formation. The motion is there to attempt to uncover any defensive issues that would necessitate the run being flipped/Oscar-d, but the defense plays nearly as balanced as the offense. They want to run this play either towards a bounce read (which neither side presents) or away from rotation, and the play was called away from the rotation to begin with. I’ve always wondered why running away from rotation was preferable to running toward it, if given the choice. Wouldn’t you want to run at a Safety instead of a Linebacker? I think I might have found the answer in this clip: the cut.

When McCaffrey cuts this ball up, the point of attack is the back-side B gap - much closer to the safety than the linebacker. The safety dives into the run fit and doesn’t have the tools to defeat that block like a linebacker might. As a result, McCaffrey has a 1-on-1 with the FS who does a good job turning it into a vice drill with the CB.

I primarily picked this play to showcase that the ball can be run against 8 man fronts with a 7 man blocking surface. One of the biggest things I look for in plays every week are plays that explode because of the design, not because an all-world player makes a good move. This is essentially a 5-3 Bear front. Control the back-side EDGE with a boot or a read, and the offense has a hat-for-a-hat!

SAIL

Flood has become potentially my second favorite passing concept, behind Hi Cross. It has an incredible amount of utility and versatility in that it keeps a consistent progression that has answers regardless of the coverage (if you include bunch variations vs. Man) and there are an infinite number of ways to dress it up. This rep includes one of my favorites: running the Sail with the #3 WR.

Shanahan catches the Bucs in a Nickel fire zone pressure here with this boundary Trips formation with McCaffrey as the #2 WR. To that side of the formation, McCaffrey is far and away the biggest offensive threat. When the Nickel blitzes, the ILB pushes to the Curl-Flat zone, and as he is expanding, he sees McCaffrey running the flat. You can sense the ILB’s urgency to get out to McCaffrey, particularly in case he turned up the sideline on a Wheel route, but this completely vacates the Curl window. The CB is essentially run off by the #1 WR, the Curl-Flat defender is only in the Flat, and with the Nickel on the blitz, it essentially leaves a deep middle safety responsible for the Sail route, an impossible task.

The start of the off-season has been phenomenal for Wide Zone Warriors, and I greatly appreciate the support! Best of luck to all of you still fighting in the playoffs. Paid subscribers will have access to the rest of the article, concluded by over 15 minutes of explosive plays from this week - mostly passes.