Fun Bunch Friday: NFL Week 16, 2023

Thoughts on one play many ways & structuring passing concepts from the best offenses in the league!

19 F SIFT (WENDY)

The Packers run what I would call 19 F Sift, but I don’t differentiate strong and weak runs in my system. For this tree, this would probably be Wendy, which features the F sifting on a weak-side run.

The Panthers show a Cover 2 from a 3-4 structure to the Packers’ nasty bunch formation (technically, Bundle RT Nasty). Cover 2 is a good call against condensed formations because the tight nature of the formation puts Cornerbacks in a good position to be the force defender in the run game, opposed to when they are split out wide.

There aren’t many plays more visually appealing to me on film than a well-executed split zone run, and this is no exception. The defense played right into the offense’s hand here by pulling the string to the motion, and the ball cut right underneath the Inside Linebackers, even though it was a perimeter zone play. Very rarely do we see a successful perimeter zone run play cut all the way back to the back-side D gap, but we do here.

The LT does a phenomenal job matching out the wide EDGE, and the back-side Tight End could have taken a better angle up to the Inside Linebacker. I love everything about this play except for the back-side Wide Receiver’s assignment. He executes well, but why not send him after the Safety instead? The unblocked Cornerback can do two things. First, he can stay outside and not make much of an impact on the play anyway. Second, he can aggressively fit in the crease created by the sift block, and if he does that, there is absolutely nobody stopping a Keeper pass because there won’t be anyone in the flat. What the offense has to gain by sending the Wide Receiver to the Safety is blocking the last person in position to make a play! If you pause the clip around the time that the Running Back goes down, imagine the third level cutback lane if there was one more hat for the Safety.

15-14 F SIFT (WENDY)

The Dolphins ran the Inside Zone version of F Sift (Wendy), and one of the things that I admire most about this offense as a whole is how each coach can run the exact same play behind a different presentation. The Rams didn’t have an explosive run this we

ek, so we are going to break down two runs from the Dolphins and see the “Illusion of Complexity” in action on two explosive runs from Split Zone.

The defense does the offense some favors by presenting a B gap bubble to the play-side, which I personally prefer to run Inside Zone at because we get two combos at the point of attack. They also opt for a 4-4 Over presentation with a Wide 9 to the single width side. Not only does the offense get the two combos, the back-side TE also gets a pretty clean release up to the second level. The only unblocked player in the front is the Cornerback, but he is still controlled by the boot of the QB. You can see him freeze for a split-second before beginning his pursuit. If he doesn’t, the next time the Dolphins are in a similar situation, a bootleg pass should get called, get both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle on different levels of crossing routes, and have Tua boot out with nobody to force the throw.

Later in the game, they get to the exact same fit, just behind a jet motion. This time, The RB is offset as opposed to the Pistol, but the end result is going to be the same: 21P split zone weak.

The motion forces the defense to flow early, and the designed cutback of the Inside Zone gets right underneath the second level before they realize it. I do, however, think Waddle (17) should have continued climbing to the Safety, which may have offered a third level lane for the RB late in the play. The player he stalk blocks should be accounted for by the offense through the jet motion, and I don’t like having multiple players account for the same defender because they have just as many on defense as we do on offense.

Nonetheless, the OL does a fantastic job pinning out the front once they overflow, and anytime the offense can get a player as incredible as Micah Parsons on the ground is a win.

SEAM-RAIL-SLIDE

It’s fitting that we detailed multiple looks for the same play when looking at the Dolphins’ run game, and now we are looking at yet another variation of the Seam-Rail-Slide. This play has been run by the Dolphins out of many, many different presentations. This iteration features a single-width/nub formation. The motion is going to turn into the Rail, and in so doing is going to take the attention off of the Seam by the in-line TE.

The defense ends up out of luck here, too. The TE-side safety blitzes, creating a 3 under 3 coverage. The TE runs right past the blitzing Safety into the space he vacated and sits the route down while in the open space, being friendly to his QB. As high school coaches, we talk often about “One play many ways.” This play is a prime example.

COVERAGE BEATER + GOOD VS ALL CONCEPTS

The Rams run a concept similar to a few of those in my system, and it showcases one of my favorite ways to structure passing concepts, particularly drop back - pairing a concept that beats the coverage you’re expecting with a “good vs. all” concept on the back-side to be progressed to in the event that we don’t get the expected coverage. I would still coach the QB to go through the progression, not skipping around based on the alignment of the defense, and I also think that’s what happens here.

The concept is a version of a Smash concept with the #1 WR and the WR in motion at the snap running the flat. On the back-side, we have an OTB with a Shallow coming underneath it then the RB leaking out into the flat. I would imagine the high-low read was meant for a Cover 2 concept, but that’s not what the defense plays. Even so, a great route wins enough space that Stafford throws it. From a condensed formation, the CB maintains outside leverage early in the down. As soon as he begins to carry the vertical, the WR snaps it off into an Out, and a good throw by Stafford brings the WR to the ball.

PICK-A-SIDE CONCEPTS

My other favorite way to call passing concepts was beautifully executed by the 49ers, and that is “pick-a-side” concepts. Based on the coverage shell, the QB is going to decide which concept he is going to throw. This combination is Disk-Dragon. Disk = Double Stick with an outside Go, and Dragon = Slant-Flat. Disk is a middle open beater, and Dragon is a middle closed beater.

Purdy does a great job recognizing the late rotation of the Safeties. It’s easy for us to see on the film, but it’s much more difficult to see from ground level on the field. The Weak Safety rotates down, indicating middle closed coverage, and Purdy rips the slant right in rhythm, letting his receivers that are so good with the ball in their hands do the rest of the work.