Fun Bunch Friday: NFL Week 12, 2023

Check out the new-look newsletter, featuring 3 explosive run plays, 3 explosive pass plays, and an All-22 cut up of every MIA, SF, LAR, and GB explosive play!

Third Down Thursday is now Fun Bunch Friday! We will still be covering the same teams, the head coaches of the group known as “The Fun Bunch” during the Mike Shanahan-era Washington Redskins. Instead of focusing solely on third downs, we are going to focus on the exciting plays, the explosives! We will finish out the season looking at 3 explosive runs (runs of 12+ yards) and 3 explosive passes (completions of 12+ yards). Each team will have at least one play featured in the article, and the articles will be structured such that only paid subscribers will have access to my top run, top pass, and the cutup each week.

 Instead of having lengthy cutups primarily of incomplete passes, each play in the cutup at the end will be an explosive play. Every single explosive play from our 4 teams will be together in that cutup. In the off-season, when there are no new clips to watch, we will dive deeper into the concepts themselves. Let’s dive in!

RUNS

GF Counter Around

One of the most popular plays in football this season across any level has been the Counter Bluff Reverse/End Around. This particular play is an End Around because the Quarterback gives the ball to the Wide Receiver directly, whereas a Reverse is handed to the Halfback who gives the ball to the Wide Receiver.

The play is run off of GF Counter action. The Guard is still going to kick the defensive end, but instead of wrapping to a linebacker, the Fullback is going to spin back around and lead for the around. The Quarterback will fake the handoff, hide the ball, and either hand the ball to the Wide Receiver or pitch it up to him on the End Around.

I like this particular version of the play because the End Around gets three lead blockers: the FB, the HB, and the LT. When running gap schemes away from a 3-Tech, generally the back-side Tackle will have a Hinge block. He is going to step hard inside to try and post up the 3T to allow the Center time to get back to him then open up to block the back-side EDGE defender. Here, Trent Williams (LT) steps hard inside like he would on a Hinge, but instead of opening back up, he clears the first level to block the second. I would assume this play was initially planned for the CB that Williams tries to block to be playing from depth. Even one of the most athletic Offensive Tackles of all time is going to have trouble getting to a CB playing low. Juszczyk (FB) sees this and also ends up blocking the CB. McCaffrey (HB) completes his fake and also lead blocks, picking up the inside linebacker.

I think a potentially better version of this play that allows everyone better angles would have the LT simply climbing and picking up the first threat coming out of the box, the FB blocking the CB, and the HB should be clear to either clean up the hole or block the Free Safety. See the diagram below.

Another interesting point to note for me is the right side of the Offensive Line zone blocking to try and get the best angle on the Jack when he scrapes over too. A great play design by one of the best in the league to get the ball to one of the best spatial playmakers in the league.

Outside Zone Force Cat

I absolutely love this way to get to 19 Force Cat by Mike McDaniel, starting with the formation. The tight 3x1 alignment essentially forces the defense to set the 3T to that side, and then he shifts the Y to create a condensed 2x2 formation. That shift simply balances the run strength, and defenses won’t always shift the front to that.

18-19 Force has a lot of rules, but in its simplest form, it is a 21 personnel, strong side run where the Fullback is going to isolate the Support (Force) defender. Adding the “Cat” tag tells the Z that he is going to block the Support player, and the Fullback is going to block the Cornerback. McDaniel gets to this idea from 12 Personnel using Spirit motion. The Spirit motion happens too fast for the defense to shift their front, and now they aren’t aligned how they would like to be for the run, as the run strength of the formation has gone from the offense’s right to balanced to the offense’s left without any adjustment by the defense from initial alignment. Notice that by the time the ball is snapped, the F is essentially where a Fullback would be in the I Formation. The blocking surface has their normal outside zone rules with the Cat by the Z, and the F is simply leading around the edge for the Halfback with a running head start.

An often overlooked issue with all of the eye candy offenses are presenting to defenses, however, is confusing the offensive line. Completely flipping the strength of the formation and how defenses play that makes targeting the correct second and third level defenders somewhat challenging, and I believe that is what happens here. The MLB, 57, should have been the identified Mike that the LG/C combo was working toward, and that is how I drew up the diagram. He flows completely unblocked. Had he been blocked, the HB would have been one-on-one with the Free Safety with about 10 yards of room to make him miss, and that’s the goal for almost any run play.

Swirl Follow

The 49ers are the first team to double up this week, and I really like this Swirl Follow concept. Concepts like this really demonstrate Kyle Shanahan’s ability to make the game easier for his Quarterback. This is a simple Pure Progression zone beater, especially against middle open defenses. While the defense aligns in a middle closed structure, it rotates to middle open coverage behind a simulated pressure, and the defense got what it thought it wanted. The Offensive Line slides the protection to the right, the defense drops the Sam (#53) and brings the Weak Safety (#33) from the other side of the formation away from the slide, forcing the Y to stay in and protect.

The coverage is generally considered a “super rotation” because the Strong Safety is going to play the Deep Half to the weak side of the passing strength and the Nickel is going to play the Deep Half to the passing strength. This is opposed to a regular rotation where one safety is going to rotate to the middle of the field to play the Deep Middle instead of to the other side of the formation completely.

What Shanahan dials up couldn’t be a better answer for the coverage presented, as he has a version of a Smash concept away from the rotating Deep Half Safety, and the Safety simply cannot get there in time. I have this down as a Swirl route instead of a Corner because it looks like Purdy hitches to throw exactly on time to where Deebo (Z) sits down his route. The other option is that it was a Corner that was converted to a Swirl. Deebo was open, saw the CB sinking to the Corner, and maybe sat down his route to avoid running into coverage. He could have also recognized the pressure from the Strong Safety and made himself friendly to the Quarterback. However, I think the entire process happens in too much of a rhythm to have been a route conversion.

I believe the Z is the primary read here, but I think this concept as a whole is effective against any zone coverage, and I want to highlight that. The high-low on the flat defender we get from the Smash concept is still incredibly effective against middle open zone. I still think this concept works against middle closed zone as well. Had the defense been playing middle closed, the Weak Safety may have played the Flats and covered the HB to allow the CB to sink to the Corner by the Z, and the Strong Safety rotating to the Deep Middle instead of the opposite Deep Half. The Basic by the F would be the third read in the progression. Against middle closed, that route is going to be between the underneath coverage and the deep coverage. If the underneath coverage doesn’t drop underneath it, then he is open. If the underneath coverage does drop, then the progression moves to the Under by the X. I especially like this  from the condensed stack because the Widen action forces the CB to stay outside while running away from the Hook defenders. When the X snaps his route, the CB has outside leverage, and the Hook player is completely unaware.

Play Action Dagger

The Packers absolutely had their way with the Lions in the first half on Thanksgiving Day, opening up the game with a play action bomb and adding another here in the second quarter. This is one of my favorite formations in football, especially from the gun with the HB offset to the twins. It forces the defense to account for a 4 man surface while at the same time defending a Twins flank. From the gun, the defense has to also be prepared for an RPO or a zone read and have that extra player back-side for the QB, which evens out the box for the offense.

Running weak is also effective, and we can see that here. This is an overall fantastic combination of scouting and execution by Green Bay’s offensive staff. The weak run threat forces the OLB to fit the run, bringing him down from the Hook zone. LaFleur dials up probably the best concept to attack the void behind the Hook: Dagger. The Z is going to run off the deep coverage, and the X is going to run the Dig right behind the Hook. I especially like this version because the RB leaks out into the flat after carrying out his fake, which forces the OLB to cover him instead of sinking underneath the Dig late. The Safety recognizes the Dagger concept, but Love does a good job bringing his receiver down to the ball and away from the Safety for a 16 yard gain on 2^nd & 5.  

The Rams had both of my favorite run and pass concept of the week with a variation of Y Cross and one of my favorite ways to run Wide Zone Insert. Paid subscribers can read about both and will have access to the cutup including EVERY explosive play by our 4 teams from Week 12 of the 2023 NFL season.