Here is Spacing on the backside of two-man Scat, which the Saints run a good bit in the cut-ups I have seen. Both are good 1 Hi concepts, which is what the Bucs Defense is in here. Scat can be deadly vs. Man in that it has an option for the RB to wheel up if the LB is chasing him. Scat takes a little bit longer than the regular Quick game concepts, so it is technically a five-step concept. Brees takes a quick three-step drop from the Gun. He sees that his frontside concept is not there, so he hitches up and begins his Spacing progression: Sit to Mini-Curl to Flat route. The Sit route is covered, but the Mini-Curl is open and Brees shows his precision by putting the ball to the side away from the defender maximize YAC (yards after catch).
Pass Protection
The Pass Protection is a six man protection: half-man, half-slide with the FB check-releasing the two LB/DBs in the box to his side. This would be called 60 protection (60 = to the Right, 61 would be to the Left). 60 Protection is to the Right, so the covered/uncovered rules would start from the Right and go to the Left. The RT is covered and the RG is covered because both have a man head up or outside of them. They are the "Man" side and they will block the defender covering them. The Center is the first Uncovered lineman and he starts the Slide to the Left. The Center, LG, and the LT all slide backside--one gap to the Left. The LG will help out the Center with the 1 technique NT until a LB causes him to come off that block.The FB check-releases by reading 1 to 2, from inside-out. If both 1 and 2 blitz, he will block #1, who would be the most dangerous. Also, if both 1 and 2 blitz, #2 would be an unblocked defender that the QB is responsible for. If 1 and 2 are coming from depth (blitzing from LB depth), the QB should be fine. If both 1 and 2 walk up on the LOS (line of scrimmage), then the QB or Center might need to change the protection.
There are also two LBs to the left of the Center. The Saints have 3 OL vs. 2 DL to the left, so one of the OL will be able to pick up one of the LBs should they blitz. If both LBs blitz, the OL is responsible for the most dangerous LB (the one nearest to the QB) and the QB is responsible for the other LB. The QB will have to get rid of the ball before the unblocked rusher gets there.
We will conclude the Spacing series with part 4 being the final read in the Spacing progression: the Flat route. Click on the Spacing tag below to see the previous Spacing posts.
Great stuff. very conceptual routes are easy to attack with various formations and 'spacing.' it is a 1 high ripper and can be good vs. 2 high with some kind of stretch on a safety. Vs. 2 high we go 3 x 1 and scat to the single side, with almost an option route by the insid emost slot on the 3 man side, with post/fade by the others. if you get any kind of 'sticky corners' that will not sag in cov 2 then your safety and will get put in a bind quickly by the back.
ReplyDeleteCoach,
ReplyDeleteGreat info as always.
1. Do they slide left on this because they want to free release the tailback?
1a. Or is it because typically the slide goes to the same side as the QB is reading?
1b. Or is it unknown and interchangeable?
A final question:
We use a slide pro and all 5 linemen slide a gap. The back checks backside (outside) and then releases. He typically will end up blocking the D-end. Could you address the advantage/disadvantages of the protections?
Sorry my questions are protection based and the post is about the spacing concept. I just think the protection is more complex!
Great Stuff!
ReplyDeleteCouple questions:
1. Why do they choose to slide left? (to release tailback free? because route read was from L to R? no reason?)
2.We slide all 5 linemen and then usually block backside D-end with our back. Could you discuss why they choose to use Man on the non-sliding side and why it might be better than full slide?
Thanks. Route concept is quite easy and great. I was watching reply of 2008 Colts game and saw this.
Charlie,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds a lot like the Florida Option route you are talking about. I like the idea to pair it with Scat. Also, nice sluggo cut-up on your site.
Kevin,
Great Q's as always. Protections are definitely more complex. The Half-Man/Half-Slide protection is set to the side you want to check-release the RB. The OL will slide away from the RB. It is better to have the OL protecting the QB's backside than the RB, since they are better pass blockers. The RB blocks to the frontside, which doesn't need to be as protected because the QB is looking in that direction.
Usually you want the QB's primary read to be in the direction of the RB so the QB can see the unblocked rusher. Spacing is an exception to this.
Teams can do some things to attack and take advantage of Half-Man/Half-Slide protection. Blitzology has some great posts on this:
http://blitzology.blogspot.com/search/label/Attacking%201%2F2%20Slide
Slide protection has its pros and cons. Pros: easy, everyone has a gap. Cons: RB blocking a DE might not be a good match-up.