Overloading the RB with 2 Under 3 Deep Pressure

Clemson is in a Nickel personnel on 2nd & 7.

The Rush:

Pressure side DE stems down to a 4i. The full line is slanting away from the pressure with the ILB and Safety pressuring off the edge. The ILB is first going up the field and wide, while the Safety is outside and going through the heel line of the up field ILB. The path gives the Safety a straight line run on the QB.

The Coverage:

2 Under 3 Deep

The usage of the stem down by the DL is a huge factor in allowing the overload of the RB.

If the defense has aligned the DE is a 4i initially the OL may have declared the protection accounting for the defense like a odd front spacing. 

The Guards and Tackles could work a fan/fan concept with the Center on the Nose. This would allow the protection to pick up the pressure.

The strong side OG/OT would handled by the DE/DT. The Center would lock the Nose. The OG would set the pressure side 4i and travel back with him as he tries to cross face. The OT would pick up the first edge threat from the ILB while the RB would pick up the 2nd threat from the Safety. This would allow the QB time to hold the ball and give routes a chance to get open vs. the 2 under 3 deep. There is no doubt a 2 under 3 deep coverage wants the ball out fast to prevent the routes from finding the open space in the coverage concept.

The DE's alignment however wasn't initially in a 4i, he stems down to the 4i alignment.

The 5 technique DE gets the OL into a half slide protection. The OG is uncovered starting the slide putting the OT manned on the DE. The RB is responsible for the either the ILB or Safety blocking inside out. If both blitz the QB has to handle the 2nd free rusher with a hot throw. The RB wants to block the most inside threat.

When the DE stems down during the cadence it is too late for the OL to get into a fan/fan concept. The OT stays manned on the now 4i aligned DE. This functionally turns the protection into full slide with the whole OL setting away from the pressure. One tried and true pressure plan against full slide is to get 2 rushers off the edge vs. the RB. That is exactly what this concept creates. The bonus is the pressure path.

The ILB and Safety present spacing off the edge with the ILB first and inside and the Safety second and outside. The spacing appears to the RB that the ILB is the most inside threat. The RB aggressively commits to blocking the first threat. When the Safety goes through the heel line of the ILB it creates an efficient straight line run on the QB. The RB has difficult pick up against this look to ID the Safety as the most inside rusher. The RB is already committed to the ILB leaving the inside most rusher free.

The QB is forced to get the ball out fast with immediate pressure in his face. The QB is forced to throw at a pressed up X receiver before the route has time to develop. The QB also had no time to work back to the route combination to the strong side.

Nice pressure design from Brent Venables. 

2 Under 3 Deep Overload Pressure

Pitt is in a 3-3-5 sub personnel package. 

The Rush:

Overload America's blitz concept. The DL is slanting away from the pressure with the pressure side DE on a long stick. The Mike is going slow under off the edge while the Sam is the outside blitzer. The SS shows a bail only to add in between the Sam and Mike creating the overload.

The Coverage:

2 under 3 Deep

The offense is running a split zone run scheme. The pressure does a good job of crossing the zone blocks. The Nose crosses the OG, the long stick DE crosses the C, and the Mike crosses the OG. By crossing the blocks the defense is able to cancel the interior gaps when the initial look shows defensive strength on the edges and potential creases inside. By crossing the blocks the RB looks to jump the ball outside into the overload. The zone blocking scheme can't account for the SS. The Hot dropping Will LB serves as a clean up player against any runs that might squeeze through on the inside.

Nice overload blitz from Pitt and Randy Bates.

CoachTube

I did my first CoachTube video. This is a mini-clinic about the safety technique in 2 under 3 deep hot coverage. The video is FREE and takes about 8 minutes. I wanted to test out CoachTube for posting coaching videos. 

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. 

2 Under 3 Deep Double A Gap Blitz

The Colts are in a dime personnel on 3rd & 10.

The Rush:

The DL is in wide alignment DE's and double 3 techniques. The Dime and Down Safety are the double A gap rushers. 

The Coverage:

2 under 3 deep with the Mike and Nickel in the underneath hot drops

The mugged up Mike LB on the Center creates a bear front spacing. With all 5 OL covered the pass protection is forced into being manned up with the 5 immediate rush threats.

With the OL all covered any blitz threat from off the LOS belongs to the RB. The RB is threatened with a blitzer on his side of the protection which keeps the RB's eyes and block on the weak side. The Center's pass set and eyes are occupied by the mugged up Mike. When the Mike drops weak the Center's set and eyes work weak to the blitzing down safety. The initial presentation in combination with the drop out LB occupy the Center and RB to the weak side allowing the Dime to run through in the strong side A gap. 

The Dime's pre-snap alignment and demeanor suggest he is going to cover the #3 receiver. The Dime even has a subtle outside tilt to the #3. The pre-snap off coverage alignment of the weak side Corner suggests access in the passing game against the Corner. As the post-snap pressure shows the QB looks to throw to the weak side access throw against the Corner 1 on 1. The coverage strong is very light here. The Nickel in the strong hot drop is stressed with threats from both the #2 and #3 receivers. The post safety can potentially drive down on the #3 late. 

The pre-snap presentation and pressure encourage the QB to throw to the X receiver in expected isolation. The QB is forced to process quickly against the run through unblocked A gap blitzer. Really interesting manipulation of the offense and QB here. The throw ultimately goes into a double coverage.

Interesting usage of 2 under 3 deep coverage and great execution by the Colts and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. 

2 Under 3 Deep Overload Blitz

Here is an overload pressure from the Colts in a Dime personnel.

The Rush:

The Colts cover the center and go 5 at the LOS with two wide DT's and the mugged up Mike creating a bear front look. The strong DE is up the field for contain. The DT's are looping weak. The Nickle is up and under, the Dime is down the middle of the strong guard. The Mike bluffs dropping out including turning his shoulders to sell a drop out off the LOS. The Mike then adds back into the rush in the A gap. 

The Coverage:

2 Under 3 Deep 

The up and under by the Nickel creates a straight line path to the QB through the heels of the contain DE. The RB scanning across the formation has a tough pick up on a full speed blitzer. Having a DT and DE weak holds the guard and tackle away from the pressure and forces the Center to travel back with the strong DT. The Center has no way to know the weak side guard is going to be freed up. The Mike bluffing a drop out gets lost by the pass protection and when he re-inserts himself in the rush he is free in the A gap. Good execution from the Colts and nice pressure concept from Matt Eberflus

2 Under 3 Deep Overload Blitz

 2 Under 3 Deep has gained popularity in college football from Michigan St, Pitt, Clemson etc. Here is an example from the NFL.

The Rush:

Roll down safety off the edge, Dime in the B gap, bull rush DE and A gap DT create a weak side overload. 

The Coverage:

2 Under 3 Deep with the weak side corner playing an aggressive technique on the single side WR

Using zone coverage against the bunch is a good way to let routes distribute and allow for an effective cover down. Zone technique by the underneath droppers also helps the defenders avoid being picked which is the risk in man coverage. The overload pressure creates four from a side weak. Against a half slide concept four to the man side should force a hot throw. The issue for the QB is it isn't clear there will be four weak rushers. Typically a six man rush with four weak requires a cover zero coverage look. The sight picture strong and weak both show zone coverage and it is. Six man overload pressure is very unexpected from this look. Good stuff from Romeo Crennel and the Texans.