Welcome to our new weekly column, “Three and out”! The concept is simple. Each week I will pick out three notable plays from the previous weekend and break them down.
These could vary from big highlight reel plays to simply some special playcalling and scheme design.
This week we’ve got a couple of creative offensive plays from two of the best schematic minds in football, as well as an interesting blitz from the Cowboys.
Let’s get to it!
The Dolphins’ whip-and-go
Fans of offensive football worship at the altar of Mike McDaniel and it is easy to see why. The Miami offense is captivating with its interesting plays and cool schematics, but one play from Week 2 stood out from the rest.
It came in the second quarter, with 29 seconds left on the clock. The Dolphins are at the edge of the red zone and come out in an empty formation.
Given the game situation and the fact they are in the red zone, they are expecting some kind of man coverage from the Patriots. With that in mind, they have designed up a perfect man-beating concept.
Braxton Berrios lines up as the No. 1 receiver to the field side. The Patriots have cornerback Shaun Wade playing from off coverage with inside leverage.
At the snap of the ball, the Dolphins sent Tyreek Hill in short motion. When the Patriots defense mirrors the shift, this indicates that New England are indeed playing in man coverage.
Hill and River Cracraft both work vertically, creating space underneath for Berrios to exploit. Berrios runs what looks to be a slant. Sensing a quick throw, Shaun Wade drives on the route in the hope of breaking up a pass. This is where the magic happens.
Instead of running a slant, Berrios is actually running a ‘whip and go’. He sells the in-breaking route, before reversing course and heading out and up. This fools Wade and gives Berrios the leverage advantage and space he needs to work vertical. Tua delivers a beautiful throw into a tight window for a big gain.
Atlanta’s Windback Counter
From a creative pass play to an interesting run concept. And who else but Atlanta – one of the most dynamic rushing attacks in football.
This play came during the fourth quarter of the Packers-Falcons game. The gain here is admittedly modest, but the play design is excellent and worth highlighting. The play is known as “windback counter” and it is a variation on the popular gap scheme run, counter.
In a traditional counter run, the offense will use two players from the backside of the formation as pullers. Typically, this will be the guard and tackle. They will work across the formation, with the running back tasked with following the path of the second puller.
With windback counter, things are a little different. There are still two lead blockers for the running back to follow, but they arrive at that point a little differently.
As the name suggests, it is all about selling the run in one direction before winding back to attack the other side. On this play the Falcons make it look like they are running outside zone to the strong side (this is where the inline tight end is). The offensive line makes it look exactly like outside zone, all blocking to their right and leaving the backside end unblocked.
At the snap, running back Bijan Robinson takes a step to the right, further selling the outside zone run. Outside zone is one of the Falcons’ bread and butter plays, so the Packers defense are ready for it and begin to flow towards the strong side of the formation.
This is where the creativity and misdirection come in. Before the ball is handed off, the running back and fullback reverse track, along with the left guard. The guard picks off the edge rusher, with the fullback leading the way and taking out the unblocked linebacker.
If it wasn’t for an impressive display of speed from Packers linebacker Quay Walker, it feels like this could have been a much bigger run. Expect to see the Falcons use this again over the coming weeks.
The Cowboys’ wrap stunt
Dan Quinn’s defense is, to quote Principal Skinner, delightfully devilish. His varied fronts and pressure package will give opponents sleepless nights and have the potential to wreck games. We saw that happen against the Jets in Week 2.
The play I want to focus on came midway through the first quarter. It’s 3rd and 5 and the Cowboys line up in a six man front. The Jets have six potential pass blockers (five offensive linemen and the running back) and with #1 and #55 walked up to the line of scrimmage, the Cowboys know that the running back and right guard will be accounting for potential blitzes.
Over the left hand side of the offensive line they are in a BOSS alignment. BOSS stands for ‘bigs on same side’ and as the name suggests, involves three defensive linemen on one side of the front.
On this play the Cowboys have called a “wrap” stunt. In essence, a wrap stunt sees the two interior linemen on the BOSS side work one gap outside of their alignment. The aim here is to bring the center and guard as far over as they can, creating a lane in the middle of the pocket for Parsons to attack.
With the right guard focusing on the potential blitz from #1 and #55, he can’t get across to help pick up Parsons, who levels Zach Wilson for a drive-ending sack.
