Nickel Run Pressure

The Titans are in Nickel personnel on 1st & 10 against the Bills in 11 personnel.

Following motion by the Y to the backfield the WR goes in motion.

The Titans travel the Nickel with the motion. This is a common Nickel adjustment on Change of Strength (COS) motions. The Nickel aligns to the pass strength, when the offense uses COS motion the Nickel often travels to maintain the Nickel being to the pass strength spacing of the defense. Many of the coverages in Nickel personnel want the Nickel aligned over the slot to the pass strength. 

The defense also reloads the front changing the alignments of the DT's and flipping the ILBs.

The Rush:

The Nose is ripping across Center (RAC), the DE is on the inside move with the Nickel coming off the edge.

The Coverage:

3 Under 3 Deep Fire Zone

The run is a lead scheme with the TE. The scheme is designed to handle the 6 box defenders with the 5 OL + TE to create a 6 vs. 6 matchup. 

The C/G combo is working to the Mike, the lead is working to the Will. If the Will fits outside the Y's block the ball should run inside the lead off the combo.

If the Will fits inside the Y's block the ball should run outside the lead.

If the Mike plays across the combo to vise the lead block with the Will, the ball should stay playside in the B gap.

In all three examples the blocking scheme doesn't/can't account for the Nickel as a 7th body in the box. 

The Bills motioned twice on the play. The motion forces the defense to move and in theory helps control the Nickel.

The Titans travel the Nickel with motion and edge pressure. The Nickel was pressuring strong and is still pressuring strong when the offense presents COS motion. The DT on the RAC disrupts the play by beating the Center with speed and interfering with the Y's lead block. The Nickel off the edge cannot be accounted for by the scheme. 

The offense is matching the run scheme to the defensive personnel. Defense is in Nickel, the run scheme is designed to attack a 6 man box Nickel personnel. The defense can disrupt the scheme with Nickel pressure. The offense knows this and attempts to account for the Nickel in the box with a Y motion followed by a COS WR motion. The Nickel travels with the motion but still edge pressures leading to a 3 yard TFL. This is the back and forth of football. 

Really good plan and execution from the Titans and Mike Vrabel. Nickel travel pressure is a tool in the defensive tool box to answer and offense's answer of motion to control edge pressure in the run game. Some coaches wonder why some defensive playbooks are thick and why a nickel travels strong pressure is even necessary. This situation shows why this tool exist, when you need to account for an offense's motion plan vs. Nickel personnel this can be a great tool to have in the toolbox. 

Odd Front CrossFire Pressure

The 2015 Eagles are running in an odd front spaced Nickel personnel vs. 11 personnel.

The Rush:
3 technique looping to contain, Nose & DE slanting away from the pressure. The Mike is 1st in the A gap with the Will wrapping 2nd over the top to the opposite B gap.

The Coverage:
3 under 3 Deep Fire Zone with a Safety as the 3RH drop

Several nice elements to the run pressure. The stem down to a 3 technique influences the OT. The OT hesitates when the 3tech loops out across his face creating time & space for the wrapping Will on the cross fire. The Nose, DE, and OLB do a nice job building a wall on the front side of the zone forcing the wind back into the pressure and drop in Safety.

Nice pressure from former Eagles Defensive Coordinator Billy Davis.

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. 

Ambushing Power Read

Wisconsin is in a 3-4 personnel using the field OLB as the 4th rusher. The spacing created is like a 4-3 over front.

The Rush:

4 man rush with the Sam as the 4th rusher in the charge.

The Coverage:

4 under 3 deep Cover 3 concept

Nebraska is in 12 personnel with both TE's flexed as receivers. The RB is aligned as a receiver before the jet motion to run jet power read. The concept could be a stress play for this defensive call.

If the Sam runs up the field to the jet sweep, the read will be a clear keep for the QB. The run will hit behind the pulling Guard/Double team off tackle. The Will LB will have a difficult fit and task to make the play. The Mike has to block shed vs. a flexed TE.

If the Sam sits at the LOS or crashes flat down the line, again there is a clear read for the QB. The ball will get handed to the jet sweep. The offense has a 3 for 3 on the perimeter including a TE on the Mike and a Corner who will be slower triggering from the deep 1/3. 

Either outcome is a difficult run fit for the defense. The Badgers instead chose to ambush the power read.

The Sam attacks up the field off the edge. The read key is up the field the ball should be kept on the power. Once the Sam is up the field he flattens off to play the QB. Simple plan: force the keep and tackle it. The QB's action meshing with the jet keeps him deep in the backfield giving the Sam the chance to play up then go flat.

Good technique and pressure design from Jim Leonard to take the stress out of a stressful play with edge rusher technique.

Scrape Fire Zone Teach Tape

Here is a short teach tape on an America's blitz variation. I discussed this pressure on the podcast I did with Coach Vass a while back (Coach Vass Pod). This pressure pattern has been an effective run pressure for us. 

SCRAPE PATTERN

The DL is looping away from the pressure. The 4i to the pressure is on a stick to the A gap. However, we allow this player to stem to a 3 tech pre-snap if necessary. The stem allows for a couple of positives:

1. The DL can use the one gap movement technique we use and practice most often. This can be an easier technique to execute than a traditional long stick moving 2 gaps.

2. Helps prevent the DL from getting cut off from the A gap on zone runs away

3. Helps on block back pull schemes - More on this later

The OLB to the pressure is on a low track. On any read scheme the low track has the lower threat. The low track will cross any block from the OT and spill any kick out block. The low track blitzer is on a path through the outside hip of the OT.

The ILB has the wide track pressure. On any read scheme the wide track has the widest threat. The wide track is the edge of the defense to the pressure. The wide track will go at the snap, wrapping tight off the outside hip of the low track blitzer.

The DL may be tagged to use a Nut stunt instead of looping away from the pressure.

The Nut allows the 4i away from the pressure to penetrate and the Nose will loop over the top. 

READ SCHEME

Here the looping Nose does a good job stopping the flow of the zone run allowing the low track blitzer off the edge to make the tackle for no gain. The 4i cheating his alignment down allows the stick technique to get to the A gap preventing the RB from punching the back side A gap when the Nose built the wall in the front side A gap. The wide track ILB is in position if the QB had kept on the read.

Here the zone read has a cruiser Y off lead block for the QB when he keeps. The low track forces the keep read allowing the wide track ILB to quickly pressure the QB on the keep. The seam drop safety could improve his technique here. The seam dropper is relating to the #2 which is initally the RB. Then the RB's flow and the Y off's cruiser path cross the Y off is the new #2. The safety should react faster to this exchange to provide the extra defender when the Y off cruises past the low track blitzer to wrap for the wide track blitzer. 

KICKOUT BLOCK

Here the pressure is into power. The low track blitzer does a good job getting under the kick out however we would like more pry up the field and finish with shoulders square. As it plays out the low track does get part of the pulling guard but with more pry up the field the low track blitzer can get a true two for one. Nice job by the wide track blitzer using his hands to shock the crack block and by the back side ILB reacting to the pulling guard. The seam dropping safety must do better making a run/pass read, specifically following the rule of Don't Go 'Til You Know. 

Here the loop of the DL builds the wall on the split zone which forces the RB to hesitate. There is no clear hole to hit. The low track blitzer does  get under the block of the cutter Y off. We would like the contact to be thicker, more body on body. The Wide track blitzer does a good job of checking the QB for open hands before chasing down the RB. Weak side the seam dropping OLB is walked up on the LOS. His #2 receiver is the Y off. When the Y off goes on the cutter path the new #2 is the RB. The OLB should see those keys through the end of LOS. Nothing here reads as pass. The OLB should be more firm at the LOS and shock the block of the OT setting a hard edge.

Here the play is GY counter. The low track blitzer is excellent prying under the kick out and finishing with shoulders square. The wide track blitzer should stay tighter to the outside hip of the low track blitzer on his path but does a great job anchoring his hips to attack the 2nd puller. The seam safety drops in to be the free hitter making the tackle on the running back.

VS. HARD TE

Nice example of the 4i cheating to get to his work in the A gap. The low track blitzer is good here beating the cutoff block of the TE. The loop of the DL again builds the wall play side allowing the low track to chase the play down from behind.

NUT

The low track is under the kick out block. The Nut on the back side allows the 4i to shed and work strong. The non-blitz ILB should react faster to the pulling guard and backfield flow. Nice example of the nut by the 4i and Nose.

PULLER AWAY FROM PRESSURE

Here the offense is running power away from the pressure. The issue is the offense is adding a pulling OG and we must add defenders to match the numbers. The wide track ILB does not read out with the pulling guard. The wide track is the edge of the defense to the pressure side. The DL here must cross on block back pull schemes. This is a good example of the 4i seeing the guard on the pull and crossing the center's block back. The 4i should use a more compact technique on the arm over. The Nose also does well looping and crossing with the block back pull scheme, crossing the face of the guard blocking back. The low track OLB is completely wrong here. The low track should cross the block of the OT. 

Several clips of scrape pattern to show situations that happen when running this type of pressure. Hopefully there is a tip or coaching point here you can use when coaching your pressures. 

America's Blitz Variation

This pressure variation has been discussed several times on Blitzology. I've received several questions after I talked about it in the pop up clinic I did with Coach Vass over the summer. Here is some more info.

The Rush:
The OLB is rushing off the edge. The Nose and DT way are playing 2 gap technique and working away from the pressure vs. the pass. The ILB is the read player. If the A gap is open he will run through. If the A gap is closed the ILB will convert to the C gap. The ILB will read out vs. a pulling guard.

The Coverage:
3 Under 3 Deep Firezone 

We like this concept for several reasons:
It lets a LB do the athletic redirection portion of the blitz. Not every DL is great on a long stick technique.

It is an easy pattern to install early because the pattern for the DL is not complex

It can be used in multiple situations to pressure run or pass

A Gap Open

On a zone blocking scheme the Center wants to provide some amount of body presence for the Nose. With the Guard zone blocking the B gap DT. This creates the A gap run through for the ILB and what we feel should be an athletic mismatch with the Center.

A Gap Closed 

Here the concept is attacking an inverted zone read. The A is closed so the ILB converts to the C gap rush. This creates the two off the edge concept we want in this situation. 

Inside Puller

The ILB reads out when the guard pulls. This allows us to gain a body against gap schemes.

Outside Pull

Again the ILB sees a pull from the guard. This time it's an outside pull on a buck sweep/pin & pull scheme. The ILB reads out and plays outside to gain a hat at the point of attack.

Corner Pressures to attack Run and Pass

Here are two cover 3 fire zone corner pressures from Louisiana Lafayette. Both are 1st & 10 calls from 3-4 personnel.

The Rush:

DL slanting strong from an odd front spacing bringing both the TE side OLB and Corner

The Coverage:

3 Under 3 Deep Fire Zone 

The edge pressure does a good job of building a wall forcing the RB to wind back into the DL movement and a loaded box. When the TE blocks the Safety inserts into the box creating a 7 on 6 advantage for the defense. The outside slant by the strong DE creates a give read for the QB making the ball run into the defense's plus one. 

The alignment of the ILB walked out to the three receiver side helps deter any RPO throws to the strong side. The walked ILB has no gap fit and is free from being in a run/pass conflict.

The second example is again 3-4 personnel, this time spaced like a even front.

The Rush:
The weak side DE and DT are running a twist game while the Nose slants strong and the Corner pressures off the edge.

The Coverage:
3 Under 3 Deep Fire Zone

The offense is in a 5 man play action protection with a pulling guard. As with any 5 man protection the OL is looking to ID and block the 5 most dangerous rushers. The Corner typically does not qualify as a most dangerous rusher and here the Corner holds the pressure and doesn't tip off the OL pre-snap. With the Guard pulling strong the Center and OT are 2 for 2 on the weak side twist game. The result is the OT works inside to collect the twist leaving the Corner off the edge unblocked. This pressure also speeds up the timing of play action pass. The play fake is designed to manipulate reads on defense. The manipulation is much less effective against blitzing defenders. Blitzers are not reading run fit vs. coverage. The blitzer is in the charge regardless and reading on the move to play the run or pass rush. 

Again the width of the ILB walked out of the box deters strong side RPO with the LB removed from a box run fit or run/pass conflict. The box is still advantaged 6 on 5 for the defense. If the ball was handed to the RB into the box the defense would again be in a favorable situation making this a versatile regular down and distance call.

Good execution from the Ragin' Cajuns. Really nice usage of corner pressure from former Louisiana and new Baylor defensive coordinator Ron Robert.

Under Front Plug Pressure to Attack Split Zone

Here are the Panthers running an under front plug pressure on 2nd & 5. Carolina is in 4-3 personnel with a hybrid DE/LB. The usage of a hybrid defender allows the front to start in an odd front spaced like a 3-4 and stem pre-snap into an under front spacing. 

The Rush: 
Will LB blitzing his open A gap.

The Coverage:
Cover 1 with the Sam and Safety playing a combo coverage on the two TE's in the wing structure

The Nose in the play side A gap helps stop the flow of the zone. The Will pressuring in the weak side A gap gets penetration denting the zone. The denting of the zone forces the RB to cut back. The Will on the pressure and the 3 tech DT prevent the back side of the zone from climbing to the Mike while the DE boxes the split zone block by the TE across the formation. 

In coverage the Sam and Safety share the two TE's. The down TE zone blocks out, as the widest of the two the Sam takes the TE in man coverage. The off TE blocking across the formation becoming the man responsibility of the Safety. The Mike manned on the RB and the Safety manned on the TE are able to add 2 unblocked defenders at the point of attack on the LOS. 

This plug pressure was featured previously link here. The earlier example was used to attack play action on a 1st & 10. This type of simple versatile pressure can be effective on regular down & distances to attack both run & pass. 

Good stuff from the Panthers and Eric Washington.

Michigan Open Edge Run Pressure

When a TE is in the game, one tried and true pressure strategy is to slant the defensive line to the TE and send extra rushers to the open side (opposite the TE). The philosophy is simple, the moving DL make the TE side runs more difficult and help build a wall. The defense is looking to force the RB to hit the wall or cut back way from the moving DL into the extra rushers.

Michigan is in a sub personnel with 3 LB's 2 Rush Backer (OLB/DE types in 2 pt stances) and 1 down lineman. The secondary is a 6 DB dime personnel.

The Rush:
The front is slanting to the DE with 2 edge rushers. The inside edge rusher is able to bend flat and chase down the RB on run away while the outside edge rusher is able to play for boot/naked from the QB.

The Coverage:
Cover 1 with the mugged up LB manned on the RB.

Good job by the TE side edge rush building the wall and the bending open side rusher chasing the RB down.

Good stuff from Coach Brown and the Wolverines.