The Eagles and the outside zone

Right.

Today I want to look at a run play that the Eagles used time and again against the Cowboys to pick up big yards. There are several reasons why this play interests me;

- We're always told that you can't run the same play twice in the NFL, because if you do, the defense will figure it out and be ready next time. Plainly that's not the case (and to be honest, never really has been),
- It follows on well from the posts I did about zone running, specifically the article that covered the play-pass off of the outside zone run,
- The tactical battle between the defense and the offense,

The last point is one that I really want to focus in on. Now without having sat in the meeting rooms during the week I can't say the following for certain - but it struck me that the Cowboys had set out their defense to take away the inside trap running that the Eagles are fond of. With the added threat of Mike Vick breaking out of the pocket and running up the middle, it made some sense for the Cowboys to protect the middle of their defense.

But there's protecting the middle and then there's loading so many guys up the middle that you leave the edge of your defensive front vulnerable. Lets take a look at the layout ahead of a 21-yard run by LeSean McCoy;

As you can see, the Cowboys have set their defense strongly to the right, with plenty of coverage against the run up the middle as well. The Eagles have brought a second tight end into the game, who is aligned just behind the starting tight end, and they're going to use that player to expose the weakness of the Cowboys defense to the left.

What they're going to do is run an outside zone to the right, caving down on a defense that has already been bunched up somewhat in the middle. The Will linebacker "W" (DeMarcus Ware) is going to be left unblocked by the offensive line, instead leaving the second tight end to come across the back of the play and make the block.

Now when Ware sees the left tackle blocking down and away from him, his job is to slant hard inside and fill the vacant hole on the backside of the play, to stuff any chance of a cut back run. He needs to keep his head up and his eyes open for that second tight end coming hard down the line to block him, and he really needs to defeat that block.

He doesn't.

DeMarcus Ware being DeMarcus Ware, he's looking for the potential sack on a pass play (he had four in the game), so he charges hard down field. The second tight end comes across and cuts at his feet, doing just enough to keep Ware out of the play and opening a huge hole to the backside. McCoy starts his run to the right, but seeing the penetration of the defensive tackles up the middle, cuts it back left and finds a hole so big you could drive an SUV through it;

Of note is the weak safety, who actually comes flying down hill, possibly worried about that second tight end leaking out of the backside of the play and into the flat, as described in my article of the play-pass off the outside zone. McCoy is able to cut inside of him and rumble for the 21 yard gain.

Right about now the cat is out of the bag. The Eagles now know that when they run the outside zone away from Ware, that Ware will come too far down hill because of his pass rush instincts. The next time the Eagles ran this play, Ware had a safety blitzing outside of him, but still didn't react quick enough to the left tackle blocking down. When he finally did turn inside to take on that tight end coming across the formation, he got his head stuck on the wrong side of the man and was blocked out of the play.

To be fair to Ware, his nearest defensive end didn't do him any favours on the second play, slanting so hard inwards as a reaction to the run action right that he ended up leaving a massive hole between him and Ware. One of the great advantages that the Packers, Ravens and Steelers have had against the run in recent years has been the discipline and stoutness of their defensive linemen against the run, occupying blockers and playing two gaps in order to free up their linebackers to make more of the plays.

I just thought I'd bring this play up because it rounds off the series of articles on zone plays nicely, showing the use of the second tight end to block the backside instead of a fullback. I also like the fact that once the Eagles had spotted a weakness that they went back to the play again and again, knowing that McCoy could make the read and cut back through that big gap. Often it's the ability or failure to spot these little things and make adjustments during the game (without the benefit of replays like me ;) ) that often separate some of the more successful coaches from their peers.

That's all for today. Tomorrow I'm planning to put down my crazy idea for an NFL alternative, in honor of the UFL potentially playing its last season. Till then, enjoy your day.

NFC East Prospects

Nope, it has nothing to do with the draft. Well, not overtly anyway. It's time to peer into the crystal ball of a sport notoriously resistant to the power of crystal balls. Or maybe crystal balls are just junk. Who knows? Who cares? Either way, let's look at the NFC East. Dallas Cowboys: We'll do it alphabetically, because that's about as good a method as any. So that means the Cowboys are up first and what a season it was. To forget if nothing else. The loss of Tony Romo muted any questions about whether he would be able to repeat on his playoff win from the season before. A season where the Cowboys dreamed of playing the big game in their big new stadium ended in despair. Instead it largely fell to Jon Kitna to steer the ship, a job which he didn't do too bad at. But he wasn't awesome either. Neither was much of the Cowboys team, leading to the early exit of Head Coach Wade Phillips. After a protracted period of engaging in the letter of the Rooney Rule, if not the spirit and intent, the Cowboys appointed Jason Garrett as the new top man. Previously just the offensive coordinator, Garrett now has to get used to being directly accountable to Jerry Jones. Good luck with that Jason. To compliment Garrett and basically to fill the gap left by Phillips, the Cowboys have hired Rob Ryan to come in and run the D. It's a 3-4 already so the transition on the surface should be quite smooth. Not sure how DeMarcus Ware is going to take it though. As the leading sack collector in the league this year he will surely get plenty of shots again next year, but the Ryan pedigree will likely mean a more diverse range of blitzes than the Cowboys have run in previous years, perhaps nipping Ware's sack tally a little at the expense of an overall increase in sacks for the D. Providing everything goes well of course. As for the impending free agency, which for the sake of argument we will presume as going ahead as normal, the biggest question is where the Cowboys will drop their Franchise tag? On the market this off season will be offensive tackles Alex Barron and Doug Free, one of whom I'm guessing the Cowboys would rather like to hold on to. Another candidate is possibly Marcus Spears, who only played 8 games this season, though it's a much less likely option. To be honest, I'm not sure how worthy any of the 3 are. Two other names worth mentioning, though certainly not in the franchise debate, are Sam Hurd and Gerald Sensabaugh. The loss of Sensabaugh would hurt more, by far, but Hurd is a handy little player to have around, even if Miles Austin, Roy Williams and Dez Bryant are burning holes in your cap sheet. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Cowboys dump the expensive Williams this off season and retain Hurd as a back up. But then Jerry does seem quite smitten with Roy. As for the draft, the Cowboys start at number 9 this year. So, choices abound. The expectation at the minute appears to be that there will be a run on defensive ends/outside linebackers, which isn't really a position the Cowboys will have much interest in, so don't be surprised to see them move back a few spots. A new tackle would be nice, but the only one estimated to be worth a 9 slot would be Gabe Carimi, who could already be gone by that point. Other than that, the Cowboys really don't have many needs. Maybe a defensive back, if someone like Prince Amukamara falls that far. All in all, 2011 should be a good year for the Cowboys. They have good coordinators now. They will have Romo back. They have three great running backs, plenty of speed at the wide receiver position, they have Witten at tight end and their defense is relatively well rounded. What could possibly go wrong? They're the Cowboys. Something always does. New York Giants: Despite speculation that he might be shoved out the door for missing the playoffs, Tom Coughlin has hung in there. Of course I say "hung in there". The Giants were 10-6 last season. Their defensive line tore Jay Cutler a new a-hole. At times they looked collectively like an unstoppable juggernaut. Unfortunately there were far too many occasions when they looked eminently stoppable. That will be the focus for change in 2011. There's not really a lot to say though. The Giants will go as far as Eli Manning takes them. I know people love to rave about Eli because of his Super Bowl performance, but that's starting to look like a forgotten memory. His play recently just hasn't matched that of those around him. I personally believe that far from being one season away from greatness, Eli is the piece that is holding the Giants back. Sadly I don't think enough people agree (a statement which presumes that I'm right). The list of unrestricted free agents however is what catches the eye most. Kevin Boss, Ahmad Bradshaw, Barry Cofield, Derek Hagan, Domenik Hixon, Mathias Kiwanuka, Steve Smith, Jim Sorgi.... Ok, so Sorgi isn't such a big worry, but that is a lot of talent potentially walking out the door there. What is surprising though is that when you look at the Giants roster at those various positions and, except for maybe tight end, you can't help but say "they won't miss that guy....". The Giants are actually pretty well stocked. Their attention then would probably swing toward the draft, with the Giants picking at number 19. The obvious shot is at mike linebacker. Last year many in New York had their sights set on Rolando McClain, but when the Raiders swooped on him early, the Giants were left fuming. Their response was to take Jason Pierre-Paul, who turned out (so far) to be an unexpected steal (of sorts). This year there is no real leeway for the Giants. Unless something very tempting comes up in free agency, it's going to be a linebacker draft for the boys in blue. Maybe one in the first round if the talent is there, probably one in the second if it's not. Tack on perhaps one mid-round choice and maybe a late round project. That's really how bad the situation is for the Giants. Defensive back is also a weakness. Looking ahead at their season? It should, theoretically speaking be a good year for the Giants. They have the talent. They really, really do. But again it comes back to Eli, or maybe even just the Giants reliance on Eli. If he has even just a mildly good year, they can go far. If he bottles it, then the rest of the team will get dragged down with him. Again. Philadelphia Eagles: Andy Reid strikes again!! Last year it was McNabb who was assured of his spot on the team, only to find himself shipped to Washington. This year it was defensive coordinator Sean McDermott. It looked like he was staying in Philadelphia one minute, then the next Reid had shipped him out of the building. His replacement was naturally going to be.... wait, what? Juan Castillo? What the hell? This is what many Eagles fans were wondering when they heard the news. Juan used to be the offensive line coach, a job that has now been taken over by former Colts line coach Howard Mudd. And while the Mudd hiring is a smart move, I just don't get the Castillo appointment. I think Andy Reid must have been drunk. Or maybe he was just being Andy Reid, except instead of having one his temporary bouts of insanity during a game and while holding a red flag, he instead had it while making this personnel move. Who knows though. Maybe Juan Castillo has some secret plan. Maybe he's dug out his old playbook from when he was a high school/college defensive coach and is ready to unleash all hell on the world. Maybe as an offensive line coach he has spent the last 12 seasons studying so much tape of teams blitzes that he has managed to absorb just about every blitz the league has to offer, and can draw them up on a borad, techniques and all, without even having to refer to the playbook. I'm going with the Andy Reid insanity plea. On to free agency then and I guess there is little doubt now that Michael Vick will find himself slapped with a franchise tag. That'll be an interesting situation to watch as I'm intrigued to know if anybody might see Vick as worth the hefty price given his skills and the impact that he had on the Eagles offense. There are a lot of other noteworthy names on the Unrestricted list as well. Kicker David Akers, Stewart Bradley, Omar Gaither, Jerome Harrison, Ellis Hobbs, Quintin Mikell, Sav Rocca, Ernie Sims and Reggie Wells all deserve a mention. That's a long list, and if they tag Vick you have to wonder how much money will be left over to start paying these guys. That then leads to draft time and a swathe of "needs". LeSean McCoy will be the only true running back left on the team. They'll only have three true linebackers left on the team. No punter or kicker assuming Akers and Rocca don't return. And we all know how sketchy the Eagles defensive backs can be. The question is where do you start on that list. The Eagles might just go for a 'Best Available' strategy and treat 2011 as a rebuilding year of sorts. Which answers the question about where their 2011 season is headed. Namely down. Vick is special, as is DeSean Jackson, but that's two players on offense. The defense will need some serious work and some serious help just to stay competitive. Unless the offense can tear teams apart like it did in 2010, it's going to be a long and miserable season in Philly. Washington Redskins: Finally we come to the second most dysfunctional franchise in football after the Raiders. No, scrap that. The Raiders drafted well in 2010 so despite the inexplicable decision to dump Tom Cable, the Raiders get a pass for now. The Redskins are the kings of "What the hell are you doing?" this off season. So what are they doing? Who knows? The combination of Dan Snyder and Mike Shanahan leaves everybody baffled it seems. Take Donovan McNabb for example. They trade for him, pay him up nicely, then for some reason turn against him and try to make him public enemy number 2 in Washington. The number 1 spot goes to Albert Haynesworth. On reflection, you have to see both sides of the Haynesworth story. On one side you have the fact that he took $100 million from the Redskins, and as a result they should be able to play him at any position on the field that they see fit, including but not limited to; Nose Tackles, 3 technique, quarterback, cheerleader, water boy. On the other hand, it is slightly deceitful when you hire a guy who thinks he's going to be rampaging through the offensive line, only to turn around and say "ah ha, gotcha! You're really just going to be used as a road block in the middle!" Neither Haynesworth nor McNabb is up for free agency this year, but something tells just about everyone that both will likely be gone. Initially the Redskins will be expected to hold out, looking for a trade. But given that nobody seriously believes that the Redskins are going to hold on to these two into next season, the much more likely outcome is that they will be dropped some time before the start of free agency, possibly at the eleventh hour. As for their general list of unrestricted freebies, the Redskins actually don't have too much to worry about. Rex Grossman is on the block but as the preferred choice of the Shanahan's, I imagine he will get tied up before deadline day. Rocky McIntosh and Jamaal Brown will be missed in their own ways, as will Santana Moss and Casey Rabach. But the Redskins aren't big on bringing back free agents. They much prefer to go out and splurge on brand new ones. They also pick tenth in this years draft, so more opportunity for Snyder to open the check book and hand someone a wad of money. It's possible the quarterback will be one of the positions of interest, maybe with names ranging from the more sensible like Ryan Mallett to the more Snyder-esque hit and hope approach, such as Cam Newton or Jake Locker. The 'Skins could probably also use a corner (or two), a decent wide receiver (or two), and another decent linebacker (or two). Looking ahead to their 2011 season. God, please don't make me do it. I seem drama appearing. I see a spat between father and son Shanahan. I see a team in revolt. I see a team that is revolting. I see a fan base in revolt. I see a fan base that is revolting. I see Dan Snyder in revolt and revolting at the same time, while also hanging his Head Coach out to dry. And I see yet another bottom of the pile performance from what is quickly becoming a laughing stock of a franchise. Wait, did I say becoming? :) Ah who am I to talk. I'm a Niners fan.... Anyway, that's the NFC East done. I can't decide whether I want to go NFC South next or AFC East? I'll think about it, probably over the weekend. Till then, keep praying for a new CBA everyone.

Thoughts for the week

I promised a fantastic and well thought out article on some subject. Unfortunately you're left with this:

• Watching back the video of Chris Johnson vs. the Raiders, the most interesting thing for me was the way he ran behind his pads, often cutting back into the middle and earning those tough yards. Last year he sometimes had a tendency to hide behind a blocker and keep working to the sideline. That did produce him some big gains, but there was also times when the Titans just needed him to get North/South and instead he got stuffed. It's a testament to his character and maturity that he has gone away in the off season and developed his game further, despite being the leading back in the NFL last year.

• The Miami Dolphins, the Dallas Cowboys and the Atlanta Falcons all have serious questions to answer on offense. These are three teams that had high expectations for their offenses to have a prolific year and have failed to live up to that promise. Even in the pre-season they struggled to score points. This week they at least need to start looking like they might put the ball in the end zone, or you can expect the media to ramp up the pressure and for fissures between offense and defense to start forming in their locker rooms.

• The 49ers secondary was supposed to be more organised this year. They were going to finally support Patrick Willis and the rest of the front seven. But they struggled mightily against Seattle and I can't imagine Mike Singletary was best pleased. Still, as long as they don't have to play New Orleans any time soon......... ah f**k!

• Having seen Michael Vick gash the Packers for over a hundred yards, could the unthinkable happen; could Andy Reid start running the ball more? Will he see the possibilities? I doubt it.

• And talking of Andy Reid, his poor game management is legendary. I found a great article covering this on NFL.com. What was shocking for me was that it was written by Michael "did I ever tell you about my time with Bill Walsh?" Lombardi. Yes, Michael Lombardi wrote a good article. Don't say I never give credit where it is due.

Right, I shall be back tomorrow with some picks for the weekend ahead. Hopefully this week I'll go a little better than my abysmal 6-10. Hopefully.....

Have a great day everyone.

Wildcard weekend Saturday round up

NFC - Eagles 14 @ Cowboys 34 -- It's been 14 years but it was worth the wait. The Cowboys finally break their miserable streak and win a post season game. And what a win. The score looks impressive, but even that doesn't do it justice. The Cowboys chalked up 10 more first downs than the Eagles and given the explosiveness of the Cowboys in this game, that's saying something. They executed in all facets of the game and the Eagles didn't. Compare the 3rd down totals for example. Eagles 2/11 (18%), Cowboys 9/16 (56%). As predicted, the Eagles abandoned the run. McCoy and Weaver shared the prize for most carries on their team with 5 each. That's pathetic. The end result is a one dimensional offense that modern defensive co-ordinators have little trouble dealing with. They can dial up the pressure and let their pass rush loose, safe in the knowledge that gap soundness can be relaxed just a touch. The result was four sacks and not a lot of offense from Philadelphia. Their best play was when Michael Vick entered the game and on his first throw he sent a laser pass to Jeremy Maclin, who took it 76 yards for a TD and the longest play in Eagles post season history. And it was a laser. Whatever Vick lost while he was incarcerated, he's gradually getting it back. Next year is going to be a good year for him. Meanwhile, Tony Romo was going wild with 23/35 for 244 yards and 2 TDs. But the real star was Felix Jones. 16 carries for 148 yards and a TD, including a 73 yard dash that is now the longest run in Cowboys post season history. He also made one catch, for 30 yards, which involved tearing off down the sideline at break neck speed before vaulting a poor excuse for a tackle and then tippy toeing a few more yards until he finally went out of bounds. It was, as Sterling Sharpe is fond of saying, 'a thing of beauty'. And so was my pick! AFC - Jets 24 @ Bengals 14 -- Ask yourself a question. Knowing that your opposition for the next game a) has the best (and the only true shutdown) cornerback in the league & b) is very fond of exotic blitzes, and bearing in mind that you have three very good running backs and an O-line that is pretty dominant, would you prefer to run the ball a lot or pass it a lot? If you said pass then you can read the mind of the Bengals coaching staff. And you're also an idiot. The Bengals went 18/36 for 146 yards, 1 TD and 1 Int. They have a perfectly good (possibly even exceptional) 3 man rushing attack and their O-line has man handled people in the run game all year. Yet they are now out of the post season due to their inexplicable desire to be ranked among the more pass happy teams of the pass happy NFL. The Jets are the opposite. You get the feeling that their Head Coach Rex Ryan doesn't care whether it's pretty or not, a win is a win. And that's what they got. It was ugly, brutal, down in the trenches football (love it!) and it did indeed get them a win. Sanchez attempted just 15 passes (less than half as many as Palmer), but he completed 12 and clocked 182 yards (36 more than Palmer) for a TD and crucially, no INT. And as the Bengals stuck doggedly to one back, despite having two others to spare, the Jets shared the wealth between Shonne Greene (21 carries, 135 yards, 1 TD) and Thomas Jones (15 carries, 34 yards, 1 TD). The result was a bruising ground game that went hard for 60 minutes and set up some great play action for Sanchez to exploit. Throw in three sacks for the Jets (to the Bengals 0) plus a forced fumble and an interception for Darrelle Revis, who held Chad Ochocinco to just 2 catches for 28 yards, and you have yourself a recipe for a playoff win. The Jets advance and rightly so. They were the better team, with the better gameplan, and they've earned every last bit of praise that they'll receive in the run up to their next game. Including my thanks for making it 2 out of 2 for my Saturday picks!

Anatomy of the analyst.

I've just and watched the latest 'Anatomy of a Play' on NFL.com, and to be brutally honest, I was disappointed. For 4 mins and 20 seconds I had to watch a nauseating account of Miles Austins 59-yard TD grab and how the Cowboys had apparently prepared all week for just this particular look and that when they got it, they nailed it. We were regaled with stories of great protection by the Tight End and fullback, of the many hours that the coaches had spent developing this play to beat this blitz and to get the ball to Miles Austin deep and in space. We heard repeatedly from Tony Romo blessing his coaching staff for this work of football art. It was put together in a way only NFL films knows how. But it wasn't until 3 minutes into the segment that we finally get to the crux of the matter. We then get a nice description of what the safety was doing and what he was looking at etc. And at this point you begin to wonder why the whole thing lasted any more than about 2 seconds. You literally could have come on and just said "The deep third safety on strong side blew his assignment. Touchdown." And that would have been that. And to be honest, that's really all there is to it. The Falcons were playing Cover 3, which meant that both safeties and one corner each had to drop back and account for a deep third of the field. Erik Coleman, the safety on the right hand side (from the Falcons perspective) is supposed to take a few steps back and start looking for people coming into his deep zone. The corner back on his side was assigned to blitz to force an early throw and the Linebacker on the opposite side (the 'Will') comes right across the formation to cover the short zone. But the trouble is, Coleman didn't drop. His first steps were forward, towards the Line Of Scrimmage. When he realises that the TE Jason Witten isn't releasing into a route, he stalls, turns, and then notices with no doubt wide eyed horror, that he has blown his assignment completely and that Austin is about to tear through his deep zone and get the ball. All this is independent of the Cowboys. It was just a dumb mistake by the Coleman. That's the key to the play. He should have dropped back and stayed there. The Will backer coming across the formation would have covered Jason Witten in the short zone. If Coleman had dropped back deep then Romo would have been forced to hold the ball for a bit longer and the pressure would have got to him. That's the whole point of a zone blitz. Make the QB hold the ball while the extra pressure gets to him and when it does you get a sack or a badly thrown, often dangerously interceptable (??), pass. If Coleman drops back properly, the Falcons likely get a sack or a pick. That's it. There really is no more to it than that. And this is why I kinda hate listening to TV pundits. There are some good ones. Jamie Dukes and Rod Woodson make a great combo. Jason La Canfora has proved to be a steal for the NFL network. Charles Davis is one of the more relaxed and informative analysts out there that I know of. And then we have the already unbeatable looking combo on NBC of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. But other than that, you have to question what some of these guys are up to. There seems to be a big culture in football punditry of "I know more than you at home, especially about X's and O's." But as this weeks anatomy of a play shows, that's not always true. Later tonight I'll give you my picks for the week. After going 10-3 last week (should have taken the damn Saints and Eagles) I'm concerned, because this week there are some seriously tough calls to be made. As the saying goes "Who dares, wins." Most of the time.