Browns Offense Vs The Steelers defense Route Concepts out of Empty

The Steelers and Browns met in week 17 then in the Playoffs. One of the reasons the Browns won was their effective use of empty formations agains the Steelers. The Browns took advantage of favorable matchups and threw the ball all over the field in empty. 18 snaps of it over 2 games and they were 15/18 or 161 yards. They also did it out of 12 personnel which made it difficult with Lb trying to play zone agains a top wr Jarvis Landry in the middle of the field. 

In the divisional playoffs, the Browns were vs 6/7 for 67 yards vs the Steelers. They took advantage of the mismatch at linebacker over the middle and gave their #3 wide receiver an option route in those matchups. In all truthfulness they would have been 7/7 if Hopper ran a normal route vs the lb instead of the out and up route he ran. But here are some examples in the game. 

Example #1

It's 3rd and 2 and the Browns are in 12 personnel. The Steelers go base coverage which puts Watt out on #2 and #3 is covered by the Mike. Whether it's zone or man its a mismatch. The WR can still work the middle of the field. The Browns run an option route by the #3 WR Landry and he runs the out cut against the LB who tries to wall him off. 

Later in the game, he breaks the route inside against the same LB. Last time he ran the whip route. this times he runs the in route. 

Example #2

Ok Here's the situation

Down and Distance 2nd and 5

Steelers are showing 2 high, with the mismatch of the mike linebacker against Landry again Landry has an option route. He can run an in route or work back outside depending on what the LB does and plays it.  This time the Steelers are in Nickel but the bad matchup still applies. 

Protection call is fairly easy (4 man pressure shown, pre snap) Steelers only ever show 4/5 man pressure vs empty so they just make a right or left call for the center. They don't have to check or do anything special because the Steelers don't show 6 man pressure. Just look at the safeties in the picture. 2 high, Pre snap thinking 

In Week 17 the Steelers were 9/11 for 94 yards in empty.

In week 17 The Steelers went 12 personnel and went 11 snaps of empty. They were 9/11 in this situation for 93 yards. This set the stage for doing it in the playoffs  vs the Steelers in the wild card game where they had great success with it.  Of the 2 plays in week 17 that they weren't successful, one was a drop in the hands of Hopper, the other was a sack on a missed read by Mayfield. Pretty successful day for them throwing it out of 12 personnel. 

IN WEEK 17 , Defensively the Steelers played base personnel the 1st 2 times vs 12, then got out of it and went Nickel on 7 of the snaps and dime on the other 2 which were 3rd and 5 situations. 

Here's one of the routes they ran on 2 occasions

This is a great execution of a cover 2 beater as the LB tries to wall of the hitch route which opens the window for Hopper behind it. 

Later in the game the get a 2nd down and again are in their 3-4 defense. The Browns exploit it by running Landry on an in route with the Clear out by #3. Great route concept as they work Landry to the middle of the field. It s cover 2 pre snap and post snap stays 2 and Mayfield makes the right read for the 17 yard gain.

Here is more analysis of the week 17 game and how the Browns used Empty vs the Steelers. 

I hope you enjoyed my coverage of the Browns offense vs the Steelers and how they took advantage of the 

Dana Holgorsen West Virginia/ Houston Counter RPO Game

 Dana Holgorsen Counter Run Game With RPO Principles.

Dan Holgorsen was the head coach at West Virginia in 2018. Below are some variations of his counter run game with RPO principles.  Later in this article, I look at some of his counter options including running same side counter.  It's a great play against odd fronts out of 3x1 who like to play the 4i to the side of the back. You get an easy down block from the Tackle on the 4i and usually there is no edge defender vs these odd front defenses you see. 

West Virginia runs it's RPO game with counter blocking and has a few variations. The bottom line is if they get a light box they will run the football. If the qb likes the options in the passing game they will throw the screen or route progression.

Let's look at the options they ran vs. Kansas in 2018. Here we will look at the counter blocking 1st. They ran it 2 times for 65 yards vs Kansas.

The 1st time they run it they get a 4-3 but a 4-1 box. They run it and get good down blocks. A nice 46 yard gain and excellent execution.

The 2nd time they run it the get an odd bear type look with a 3 tech to the left side and a 4i to the right side. Nice blocking again for a good 19 yard gain. This time a 6 man box.

Below is the film that goes with the top 2 plays.

RPO Options. On both runs above they had the following rpo options. 

1) At times they will run a wr screen option from a stack set  to the side of the back.

run #2 Below again he has the screen option to the side of the rb. He feels he has an advantage in the run game and gives the football

Here is a 3rd route with the quick out by the  h back and the #1 and #2 wr blocking. 

Nice design and 25 yard gain but it's called back on a holding penalty.

After the penalty they run it again for 8 yards.

You can see both plays below:

11 personnel.

The other way they block it is with the h back pulling it's a change up but they still have the RPO option on the outside. The guard kicks out and the Tackle leads up. Here's 1 they ran vs Kansas.

In 2019 He brought his offense to Houston when he became the head coach. He ran some interesting variations with the H back. Here is some cut ups vs UCF.

In the 1st clip it's just straight counter. tite front below! disregard the 4-2 mistake!

In the 2nd clip they motion the h back out and have the screen option. If the DE widens give the ball on the counter. They read the give and it's a 12 yard gain. The other nice part of this play is they run counter to the same side of the back. The back does a nice job with his footwork and reads the play nicely. Good play with no edge defender vs odd fronts. Usually get a 4i and no edge defender. Good scheme.

Here are 2 clips that go with the pictures above.

The Same play variation they run vs Texas who plays a 3 man front often. It is an excellent play against teams that run 3-3 stack. 

Here are some additional clips of the counter play they ran throughout the year. 

.

Screen off the Counter 

They fake counter left , pulling the rt guard and run the h screen back to the right. Great design by Holgorsen and staff.

They get the Center and RT out on the screen on the excellent screen design. 

Holgorsen does an excellent job with his counter game. He adds an rpo component, uses the same side counter and it is an integral part of his run game. I hope you enjoyed this article 

Press Quarters and cover 2 the perfect marriage

 Press quarters is a great football coverage. It has been run by some great programs including Michigan State, Pitt, Arkansas State and others. It has some really good uses.

Advantages of press quarters:

1. Utilizes your athleticism at CB, forces low percentage throws on the outside(fade routes)

2. Allows 9 guys to play the run with safety support

3. Underneath defenders can be very aggressive in their zones and play the flat routes aggressively

4. It simplifies things for the CB, will get mostly fade and slant routes vs press coverage. Understand that and know what you're going to get. 

Press quarters is a coverage you see more at the college level. It is a coverage which plays your CB at 2 yards and has them press bail on the snap. Depending on the release of the WR he can end up being man to man on the #1 WR or passing him off and playing a deep quarter. His rule is simple, he has the #1 WR man for man unless he goes inside under 5 yards. The Safeties then play # 2 if he releases vertical at a depth of more than 8 yards. Again, if #2 goes inside or outside less than 6\8 yards he will get help from the LB's underneath. The reality of it is it becomes man to man coverage quite often. 

Here's how it looks 2x2 

Vs 3x1

The weakside safety will now key #3 vs 3x1. If #3 releases vertical he will play #3. The CB to the weak side has to be taught to expect no help over the top in this coverage. 

There is some flaws with the defense and some reasons why I think teams that play press quarters should play some cover 2. This is highlighted below. Again, I love quarters but think you need a changeup at times to give teams a different look. 

Why teams should play cover 2  who play press quarters.

The #1 reason is you need answers.

 The #1 problem with press coverage is the #2 wr to the flat. You are also starting to see the better teams take advantage of it. Most of the route concepts you see that hurt press quarters  can be defended with cover 2 as a change up.

If you played cover 2 above you would have the CB taking away the RB the safety and sam helping on the   in route and may be better with the flat defender. It would force the read to to the crosser and you'd be in better shape.

Pitt plays a ton of press quarters. Here on a key 4th and 4 with a minute to go and Pitt up 23-20 vs. Louisville ., Pitt plays cover 2  to the boundary and traditional quarters to the field. This catches Louisville off guard as they were trying to hit the #2 wr to the flat. A great change up and the change up in coverage secures the win .

Problem # 2- #2 WR to the Boundary

2 to the boundary is an issue. Whether it's an RPO like Notre Dame runs or simple out cut by NC State, #2 to the flat is an issue. 

#2 You are going to get a ton of fade routes and your CB are going to be challenged on the outside. The good thing is the fade route isn't necessarily a high percentage throw but you do get some flags from time to time and with single coverage they are going to win some of those battles from time to time. Going cover 2 can give you a new look and get that safety over the top and may surprise a few teams from time to time. The cb may be able to jump #2 to the flat if they run the standard #1 on the fade #2 to the flat concept. 

Here is NC State running the fade vs press quarters

Later they run another fade after going formation to the boundary. They motion back to 2x2 and the #2 wr runs the out and #1 runs the fade. He cuts his split down to the # which allows him more room on the sideline. 

In the above Notre Dame hits it for a big play. It's tough because your CB are 1x1 on an island at times which makes it difficult to consistently win vs the 1x1 fade route.

Here Notre Dame hits it for a 70 yard gain. Although they go 2 under 3 deep but the press quarters look pre snap allowed Notre Dame to audible and they threw the fade on 3rd and 14.

Problem #3 Condensed and Stack Sets

The last thing you are starting to see is the post corner by #1 in condensed sets and this is a tough route to cover. More and more teams are starting to run condensed routes like mesh, shallow cross and the smash concept and cover 2 is a good answer to all those concepts and also an excellent coverage vs condensed formations. It helps you with the pick and gives you a flat defender with leverage. 

 Notre Dame runs an RPO off stack route. The Sam triggers quickly allowing the WR to get out on #1 and he's late getting out to help on the screen. 

Ends up being a 12 yard gain.

I hope you enjoyed this analysis of how Press quarters and cover 2 could be the perfect marriage.  Below are some other articles you may enjoy about press quarters.

Other press quarter articles:

https://fnfcoaches.com/challenge-the-spread-with-press-quarters/

Match quarters article

https://matchquarters.com/tag/press-quarters/