Week 11 is in the books and as Thanksgiving rolls around we have just enough time for a quick look back before we’re straight into Week 12 action.
Once again, our two expert analysts Sam Monson and Ben Stockwell are in attendance, and once again they have a selection of three of the more interesting plays they came across this week.
Among them we’ll see a quarterback sneak (of all things), a wide receiver option pass, and a quick pass to a receiver crossing the formation against what looked to be a blown coverage by the defense. Only one of these plays went for a touchdown, and it was the shortest gain of them all.
Carolina @ Detroit | 4th Q, 5:03 | 1st-and-goal (from the 6)
Outcome:
On a QB sneak from the 6-yard-line Cam Newton follows C Ryan Kalil to the second level, cutting off of his right hip for a touchdown run.
Why it worked:
This is a unique play design and execution that works off of the Lions’ desire to have their defensive tackles get up the field and the immediate gap that is created between those attacking linemen and their linebackers. On 1st-and-goal from the 6 there is 5 yards between the defensive tackles (Ndamukong Suh and Sammie Lee-Hill) and middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch at the snap. With neither tackle shading Kalil there is a huge gap to attack through the middle and, whether by design or adjustment, the Panthers attack it immediately, catching the Lions’ defense cold.
Both tackles, Suh to the left and Hill to the right, are thinking pass and, taking no contact from either of the guards, fly immediately into the backfield and are left to turn back inside and watch Newton follow Kalil closely to the second level.
Kalil snaps and immediately takes off after Tulloch, sealing him out of the play and allowing Newton to cut off of the block to the endzone. Both defensive tackles are trapped without need of a block and RG Geoff Hangartner expands the fake by pulling out to the right, LLB Justin Durant reads this, taking a false step to the outside and taking himself out of position to stop Newton; he never reads the sneak. Chris Harris is the only man to get hands on Newton but cannot stop him short of the goal line.
You would never expect a sneak on this down and distance and the Panthers and Newton use that assumption to perfection to find the weak spot in the Lions’ defense for a tying score, courtesy of the ensuing two-point conversion. Carolina manages a run up the gut from six yards out and does it by barely blocking anybody, rather by taking advantage of the Lions’ own scheme.
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Seattle @ St Louis | 1st Q, 14:57 | 1st-and-10
Outcome:
The Seahawks open the game with their longest pass play of the season, a 55-yard pass from Sidney Rice to Mike Williams.
Why it worked:
You don’t expect plays like this to work until you have something set up for a team to bite on first, and yet it's not the first time Rice has been able to execute one. You will usually turn to an end-around only after you've seen the backside of the defense crashing down towards the run – although the Redskins, for one, have used them early without this provocation. The Seahawks and their anemic offense elected to go straight into their bag of tricks early, and they came out with a winner.
At the line, the Rams play the end-around very well, Chris Long stands up and has contain on the potential run and Fred Robbins is also able to press the run from the receiver behind the formation. Unfortunately for the Rams, just containing the run wasn’t enough on this play.
It’s a one-on-one matchup that turns the X’s and O’s into a big play for the Seahawks here as RWR Mike Williams perfectly sells LCB Josh Gordy on the fact there is an end-around coming. Williams sets out to run Gordy off of the line before making a stalk block, clearing space in the flat for Rice on the play. But before engaging the block, he takes off downfield getting behind Gordy on the play. From that point it's on for the Seahawks and Rice floats a perfect pass that Williams is able to haul-in for a 55-yard gain as Gordy is just able to chase Williams down to make the tackle. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, their next two pass plays ended in interceptions and they had to wait a while longer to ensure their second straight victory. The Seahawks didn’t wait for the Rams’ defense to show them they were vulnerable to the trick play, but they did take a chance that they could catch them cold on their opening play of the game.
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Arizona @ San Francisco | 2nd Q, 10:35 | 3rd-and-1
Outcome:
San Francisco move the chains by picking up 12 yards on 3rd-and-1 with a quick pass to Michael Crabtree coming across the formation.
Why it worked:
The 49ers set this play up beautifully, and they fake things so well that it causes a total breakdown in the Arizona coverage, turning a simple short yardage pick-up into a healthy 12-yard gain. The 49ers align two receivers to the left of the formation, two tight ends to the right, with Frank Gore 7 yards deep in the backfield. This is a pretty conventional run set and suggests they are going to try and get the first down with a power-run play. Before the snap, they motion Michael Crabtree in tight to the right of the line to try and overload the strong side with blockers. This sells the Cardinals’ defense on the run.
Patrick Peterson tracks Crabtree across the formation pre-snap, suggesting they are running man-coverage, but he gets completely lost after the snap and never comes close to playing any kind of assignment correctly. Adrian Wilson, up at the line over the tight ends, crashes into the line of scrimmage at the snap to try and affect the run, before he reads the play fake and desperately tries to bail into coverage. By this time he is well out of the play and Alex Smith is already delivering the pass. Crabtree retraces his steps to where he just motioned from, back across the front of the formation and Alex Smith is able to hit him as he comes out of his play-action bootleg.
The defense has crashed down on the run fake so hard that the only player anywhere near Crabtree initially is outside linebacker Sam Acho, but as soon as he recognizes the play he makes a beeline for Smith. Inside linebacker Daryl Washington is the man that chases Crabtree out of bounds after a dozen yards, but it looks as if he was simply the first defender to recognize that they had been duped and tried to repair the damage. This is a great example of selling the defense on exactly what they expect to see run in a given situation, and then taking advantage of it by running something slightly different.
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