Double A Gap Mug Cross Fire Pressure

The Patriots are in a Nickel personnel with OLB bodies at DE on 2nd & 6.

The Rush:
3 Tech DT to the side of the RB is working contain through the B gap while the opposite DT and Rush LB are in their expected rush lanes. The Mike engages the Center before crossing face. The Will shows in his A gap before timing his pressure off the Mike, ultimately the Will is pressuring the opposite A. The ILBs create a delayed A gap crossfire effect.

The Coverage:
Cover 1 with the Rush LB to the RB in man coverage on the back

The protection is a 6 man protection with the RB assigned to an A gap rush threat. The anticipated pick looks like:

The OL is handling the primary pass rush threats. The Center is handling an A gap threat while the RB has the opposite A gap rusher.

The technique of the A gap rush LBs is what makes this pressure effective.

The Mike engages the Center before crossing face. The Mike's initial rush combined with the Will's timing draws the RB to the opposite A gap. The RB wants momentum and speed to get set up to make his block. The Will's technique forces the RB to first be aggressive to the opposite A gap before being forced to redirect to pick up in the opposite A gap. This is a difficult redirect block for the RB to make effectively. The RB naturally loses power and body position on the redirect giving the pass rushing LB an added advantage. One valuable asset of pressure in general is it forces offensive players who expect to be initiators into becoming reactors. The forced reaction of the RB in pass pro helps the LB win the 1 on 1 matchup. The Rush's man technique to mirror the RB also has a nice effect. The T/G treat the situation like a twist game. The Guard still has eyes and is setting to the Rush for the twist exchange as the pressure happens inside preventing any help late from the Guard on the Will. 

The technique and timing is well coached and executed. The pressure not only creates 5 1 on 1 matchups in pass pro, it also isolates the RB on a LB in an A gap while putting the RB in a disadvantaged position to make his block. Picked up doesn't equal protected. 

As always this is really good stuff from Bill Belichick. 

Combining Open Edge Pressure & Twist to Attack the Run

The 2014 Eagles bringing 5 man pressure vs. slot set I formation run. Philly is in 3-4 personnel.

The Rush: 

The Sam is stemming down to get to an inside pressure path with the Mike scrape blitzing outside. The interior DL is working a twist with the Nose penetrating and the End wrapping over the top.

The Coverage: 

3 Under 3 Deep Fire Zone

The scrape blitzing Mike does a good job being violent on the lead block of the FB. The stem down pressure from the Sam plus the interior twist helps the Will get over the top of the OL's blocks to get involved at the point of attack. 

The Eagles ran it again against the same formational look. 

The stem down technique from the OLB makes the cutoff block of the OT very difficult. The interior twist does a good job getting the wrapping DE involved on TE side run schemes. 

The stem down pressure technique is a great way to disguise the pressure and allow the OLB to cheat to his work. The stem down also creates a psuedo-bear front effect, while not a true 3-0-3 spacing inside the pressure shares many qualities with a bear front. 

More good scheme from former Defensive Coordinator Billy Davis. 

Defending Sail Route in Cover 3

The 2017 Titans are in 3-4 personnel playing a 4 man rush Cover 3.

The Browns are in a 12 personnel bunch running a naked off zone blocking with a 3 level sail route to the the strong side.

The sail route is designed to put the strong C-F player in a high low bind. The Corner is gone with the 7 route. The C-F defender is shown a hard run action. This helps control the depth of his drop. Next the C-F defender is being quickly out leveraged to the flat. If the C-F defender stays low on flat route the crossing route will be open behind him and under the deep 1/3 Corner. Sail route is a stress route on cover 3 for this reason.

The Titans use some nice techniques to mitigate the stress area in Cover 3.

The strong side C-F defender uses a sail technique. Initially he runs to the flat route. As he regains leverage on the route he opens his hips inside and gains depth. This gives him the vision to the see the QB and work into the throw window to the crosser. The post safety uses a nail down technique. The Safety comes out of the post and takes over the crossing route. The Corner replaces the Safety in the post. The nail down not only helps cover the crosser it also helps flatten his route. If the crosser attempted to climb to gain more depth over the C-F defender the nail down Safety can undercut the route. The crossing route's depth helps the sail technique C-F defender make the play.

Great stuff from the master Dick Lebeau in is final NFL season. 

1 Rat A Gap Pressure

2014 Eagles are in Nickel personnel with OLB bodies at DE on 3rd & 6.

The Rush:

4 DL are rushing from an even front spacing with the Will LB on the A gap pressure

The Coverage: 

1 Rat with the Mike dropping off the LOS to the Rat. The pass rush is peeling to account for the RB.

The 5 up look from the Eagles puts the OL into 5 games of 1 on 1. The RB is forced to account for the A gap run through LB. The pressure prevents the RB from getting into a route and dents the middle of the protection. The contact between the LB and RB happens in front of the QB helping to get him off his spot and break his throwing progression/rhythm. 

The Nickel is playing outside on the #3 receiver expecting help from the rat LB. This is an excellent example of the rat technique. The rat cuts #3's crossing route causing the Nickel to fall off to become the new rat in the hole. 

Nice pressure design from former Eagles Defensive Coordinator Billy Davis. 

Attacking Bonus Protection

If you like to bring 4 from a side overload pressure (come on who doesn't) at some point you are likely to encounter an offense that employs bonus protection.

As there is no universal terminology in football, we will begin with a definition and a rationale for bonus protection. 

The defense brings a 4 from a side overload backstopped with cover zero. The offense could be in BOB or Half Slide; the protection problem is the same. Any two blitzers from the side of the turn of the protection (where the Center is working) is a problem for the offense. The 2nd blitzer is the QB's responsibility. Here the defense is presenting 4 (SS, E, T, M) vs. the offense's 3 (OT, OG, C). The QB has to throw hot off the unblocked SS. The RB cannot scan across the formation if the Will uses a rush to cover (green dog) technique in man coverage. The Will has the RB man to man, at the snap the Will steps up and goes to his man. The RB feels threatened by the Will and stays on his side to pick the up the Will in pass protection. This action holds the RB from scanning across the formation to block the Mike or SS keeping the overload intact. 

The QB is forced to get the ball out quickly or get hit by an unblocked edge blitzer. While possible for the QB to get the ball out, this scenario is specifically problematic on 3rd & Long. The goal offensively is to throw a route to get a first down. A hot route will likely be thrown and caught short of the line to gain. Now the QB must be quick and accurate under pressure and added pressure falls on the receiver to break a tackle to get to the first down yardage. 

One possible protection solution is to use a bonus protection scheme. Bonus is the concept of putting the RB on the same side of the turn of the protection. In a standard 6 man pass pro the offense is 3/3 meaning it has 3 (OT, OG, C) and 3 (OT, OG, RB) on each side of the Center. In a bonus concept the offense is 4/2 by having 4 (OT, OG, C, RB) and 2 (OT, OG) on either side of the Center instead. This allows the offense to pick up the 4 from a side pressure making longer developing route concepts more viable.

The offense may use a hard count or fake clap to get the defense to show pressure and check to bonus at the LOS. The QB can easily communicate to the RB to block as the bonus to the pressure side.

Other teams get to bonus by alerting the RB to flip quickly pre-snap to get to his work as the bonus working to the side of the OL's turn.

In either situation the Will can still rush to cover and create an overload on the RB. The overload will happen later as the LB has longer to travel. This may buy enough time for the QB to step up and throw deeper routes giving the offense a better chance at a first down.

Bonus protection is more commonly checked into at the LOS by the offense as opposed to being hard called in the initial play call.

This type of protection adjustment creates opportunity to attack Bonus protection.

Defensively the structure can present the 4 from a side overload to put the offense into bonus protection. Post snap the pressure is a standard quarters concept. Likely the coverage tools need to be 2 Read/Palms in order to protect the qtr flat players (SS, E) from being outleverage by the #2 receiver fast to the flat. The concept is a non-traditional 4 man rush. The protection is not expecting the Will on a fast rush in the A gap likely creating quick midline pressure. The expected cover zero is now a quarters concept giving the defense a different matchup vs. longer developing routes. Quick effective pass rush and good coverage is a tried and true combination. 

This type of concept is something a defense can easily be watching for in the box on any 4 from a side overload call. The spotters can easily see if the offense is throwing hot or checking to a bonus protection. If their solution is bonus the defense can come back with a complimenting piece to attack the bonus protection as an in game adjustment.

This thinking is also important as more defenses adopt 2 under 3 deep pressures into their playbook.

The basic premise of the 2 under 3 deep concept is the pressure will overload the protection forcing a quick hot throw or the QB will take a sack. If an offense begins checking the protection to a bonus concept the protection can pick up the 4 from a side overload. The ability of the offense to buy time against 2 under 3 deep is a problem for the coverage. The longer the routes develop the more holes are exposed for receivers to exploit in this type of aggressive zone concept. 

Having a complimentary bonus protection scheme exploiting the light protection opposite the bonus is a must to avoid an offense having a plan for overload pressures.

Another example:

Defense goes dime personnel with OLB bodies at DE. The concept is 4 from a side overload backstopped with Cover 1 Peel expecting the rush to handle the RB on any route. This pressure can force a hot throw and deny many intermediate routes. An offense isn't going to simply get gassed up every time this pressure is run on 3rd & Long. Two solutions may be to bonus the protection and slot fade. As a complimentary piece:

Same presentation with a Tampa 2 coverage concept. The weak side twist is designed to attack man protection and hopefully exploit the 2 on 2 with the OG/OT. 

Having a section on the call sheet for bonus protection adjustments and carrying them into every game is a good way to protect 4 from a side overload in a defensive scheme. 

Reading the Slide - Putting the Center on an Island

Previously I wrote about reading the slide to get pass rushers home for Coaches' Lounge.

Here is another example of reading the slide of the protection.

The Rush:
End and Rush - Contain Rush
Tackle - Slow Under on the OT's set
Nose - Strong A
Mike - Reading the set of the Guard. If the Guard sets inside to the Nose the Mike will run through in the B gap. If the Guard set out to the B gap the Mike will convert to the his rush to the opposite A gap

The Coverage:
Cover 1

The protection is a 5 man scat protection with the RB free releasing. The width of the Tackle and Rush force the Guard and Tackle to set wide. The Mike reads the set of the Guard coming to him and wraps. The width of the sets creates space inside for the wrapping Mike to win one on one vs. the Center. The Center is forced to redirect off the Nose to block a superior athlete in a large space. The degree of difficulty for the Center creates a major advantage for the blitzing LB. 

This concept plays similarly vs. a half slide concept.

 The RB is in good position to help on the wrapping Mike. When the RB blocks the Will adds to the pressure using a green dog technique. 

Another likely protection from this formation is full slide.

The Tackle is slow under allowing him to stay outside when the OT slides away. This allows the Rush & Tackle to create the 2 on 1 overload on the RB.

If the offense uses a half slide with the RB crossing the formation the pressure can attack the RB. 

The Mike reading the slide allows for a run through in the open B gap. The RB is forced to pick up a full speed Mike from across the formation. 

Reading the protection allows rushers to avoid running into blockers and attack daylight.

Attacking Buck Sweep with Safety Rotation

On a 2nd & 4 Georgia is in Nickel personnel spaced as a 2 high 4-2-5.

The coverage rolls late in the cadence to space as a 4-3 with the roll down safety taking on the roll of the "Sam" backer. 

The Bulldogs are able to leverage several advantages by rolling to a 1 high safety coverage:

Playing this coverage allows for the corners to play press and the Nickel to stay over #2. This allows for an aggressive denial of the split receiving threats on quick game and RPO concepts. On 2nd & 4 a short completion is likely to make the line to gain and a 1st down.

The pre-snap presentation has combination of the LB's alignment with a 2 high shell to deters weak side run or pass concepts. The looks invites the strong side run directly into the safety rotation. 

The roll down safety becomes the target of the crack block by the motion WR. The result is the Nickel and ILB being able to vise the pulling guard. The defense is able to outnumber with point of attack with defenders close to the LOS. 

The over front allows weak side ILB to hold for the QB read/keep schemes while the safety rotations allows the fits to handle the pullers strong.

The DT's on the twist is subtle advantage also the 3tech on the penetration picks off the back side puller while the looping shade is able to add a body to strong side run fit. 

Really nice usage of a denial 1 high coverage to create a gain of zero and set up a winnable 3rd down. Good stuff from Georgia Defensive Coordinator Dan Lanning.