Third Down Thursday: NFL Week 9, 2023
The 49ers on a bye means this week’s article is unlocked! We have two man beater concepts and an interesting RUN play to cover on 3rd Down Thursday this week!
RAMS
The Rams’ offense struggled, to say the least, with Matthew Stafford sidelined due to a thumb injury. However, it seemed to be slightly more creative schematically, as evidenced on this 3rd & 8 play from the LA 27. McVay opts for a loose bunch with Kupp (F) in a Nasty split on the weak side.
The Packers run a 6 man pressure with Man Free coverage behind it. It appears the bunch check to me for the defense is Lock & Combo. The defense is playing Man-to-Man on the point man in the Bunch (Lock) and Combo coverage (In/Out) on the two off-ball receivers. The slow Cheat motion really strains this coverage. Because Atwell (X) motions outside of Higbee (Z), the CB has to widen as the X is now “out,” giving the SS terrible leverage being man on a receiver on the other side of the point man.
The concept is Sail Basic with a Drag China instead of a regular Flat route. Against zone, Atwell is going to occupy any ½ or ¼ player, leaving the Sail open. The Sail is also the primary read against man, as we see in this clip. A Sail route has the option to take more of a 45 degree angle like a Corner route or to round it off more like an Out route against man, which is what Nacua (Z) does here. Ironically enough, the Drag China is actually covered because of how far the defender is behind it after the Cheat motion. Ultimately, a decent throw plus a good route combined for an 18 yard gain and the first down.
DOLPHINS
The Chiefs run man coverage against the Dolphins on 3rd & 6, but a late formation recognition gets them out of position, making it hard to decipher the exact coverage. McDaniel calls for his RB to be the #1 receiver to the weak side, and the LB who should have followed him out to play man coverage on him doesn’t until the Safety calls for him to come out. This puts the Safety in no man’s land at the snap. My assumption would be that the original call would have called for a funnel on the Y where whichever side he went to, that Safety covered him while the other rotates to the deep middle. If it had been In/Out (Combo) coverage between #2 and #3 to the strong side, the Nickel would have taken the Y to the flat instead of staying on the slant.
I like this route combination overall, a simple quick game strike on 3rd and Medium. The Ohio concept on the front-side gives an answer against middle open zone, and the Lion Y Flat concept on the back-side covers middle closed zone and man. With no middle hook defender and the Safety vacating, it’s an easy decision to hit your best receiver over the middle after winning the inside release.
PACKERS
It’s not often that I get to cover a run play on 3rd down, but this concept is very intriguing. What we are going to wind up with is same-side Inside Zone with a Y Sift tag. The motion is going to widen the Weak Safety out of the box so that he can no longer fit the cutback lane, and notice that nobody else replaces him in the box. The linebackers “pull the string,” but there isn’t anyone new in the box. The sifting Y is going to handle the back-side EDGE that would normally be read on a regular zone play, and the lone receiver left on the play-side is going to climb to block the support player. Everyone in the front 7 gets blocked up, and the RB squeezes through the hole for a 5 yard gain on 3rd and 3. I am all but certain this will get confused with Duo, so if you want more on that subject, watch my video on Inside Zone vs. Duo here.
Although there were only 3 of our 4 teams playing, we still have over 20 minutes of 3rd down clips for this week.