Coordinator cat and mouse-the game within the game , playcalling at the NFL & College Level

This post looks at some of the strategies and thought process by coordinators at the NFL level.

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Coordinator Cat and Mouse, the game with in the game. 

This article looks at some of the strategies created by coaches and how coaches adjust during the game to some of the moves the opposition will make.

Packers vs Eagles

Packers motion to trips get cover 3 and complete it for 2o yards. 3 plays later they try to run the same concept and the Eagles stay in cover 2 and get the pick.

#1 Eagles win.

motion to 3x1 with 2 te

They run the 2 in breaking routes with the tight ends over the middle of the field. The LB jumps the rb opening up the dig window.

Easy completion.

#2 Eagles win

3 plays later they run the same play, they go trips the other way, and the Eagles respond. They stay 2 high and get a nice interception with a a great read by the safety.

49ers vs Packers 2021 NFC Playoffs

The packers are known to throw the fade route to Adams when they get 5/6 man pressure with cover 1 on the outside. The 49ers send 6 go cover 1 match and send the fs immediately to double cover Adams on the snap, essentially leaving everyone else 1x1. Great guts with the game on the line.

Later in the game on 2nd and 8 and 3rd and 8 they play cover 1 match, send 6 and double Adams with the safety, daring Rodgers to throw the ball to someone else. He actually had the tight end open but missed the read. 2 clips are below

2nd and 8

3rd and 8 and the next play, they run the same concept and get home. Forcing the punt which was blocked for the lead. Great defense!!

Rams vs 49ers week 18

The 49ers do everything in their power to neutralize Aaron Donald. They do it both in the run game and pass protection. The Rams like to run the load front to get Donald 1x1 with a guard but that allows the 49ers to help on him throughout the game by sliding to him or sending the center his way.

Later in the game, the Rams adjust and get smart. Well if you are going to slide to Donald lets, bring the LB opposite and drop Miller into coverage. The Rams get paid too. It is also a great call because the 49ers go empty so that's a problem and they basically ignore the LB until it's too late.

Center is fixated on Donald he forgets he has the mike in empty protection!!!

As you can see, the 49ers have a nice protection scheme.

49ers vs Rams NFC Championship!

The 49ers slid on the inside most of the game to Donald. The pivotal play was late in the game, when the Rams bring the Mike LB. It confuses the 49ers as the center takes the LB and doesn't slide to Donald. The RB has that man, the LB blitzing  and the center should have slid. But, because they are trying to catch the Rams, they catch themselves. Leads to the pressure, interception and key turnover for the win!!

Ravens Defense vs Browns Offense

3rd and 5 Browns line up Landry in the backfield. Well, he isn't staying in to block so the Ravens anticipate slide protection and bring the LB opposite him. It forces the 1x1 with a DE vs A TE. DE wins.

Bucs vs Saints

In the regular season game 2 matchup the Bucs ran the ball 5 times for 8 yards against the Saints. In their playoff matchup they changed that and decided to go with an extra tackle Joe Haeg as a tight end in numerous 12 personnel sets. They  used him 13 times in the run game for 55 yards. This helped neutralize some of the speed on the edge and get some double teams on Cam Jordan. 

This played a major role for 2 reasons:

#1 got the saints out of their base defense. Saints went 4-3 personnel and played their 4-3 with a 2i and 6i or base 4-3.

#2 allowed for some double teams on Jordan and their fast defensive ends and it helped create some running lanes. It played a major difference in the game. They really used a lot of straight man/power schemes just without any pullers. They went right at the Saints defense between the tackles. 

The first 2 times they run it they get 8 yards and 5 yards respectfully.

The Saints who love to be in nickel go 4-3 on both occasions.

1st play the saints go true 4-3 base personnel.The 1st  time they are in 12 with Haeg as the other TE. The Bucs run it they go under except with a 2i and 6i rather than a shade and a 5. 

The 2nd time they go base which allows the double team on 94 on Jordan. RB Fournette makes a nice cut and gets 8 yards as they seal the edge. Wr does a good job on his find block on the SS and it a nice design.

A few plays later on 1st and 10, they get another 7 yard gain that sets up a 2nd and 3 on another inside run play.

On 3rd and 1, the Saints go to a pro look and they run straight at them again. The nose guard loses his gap and the Bucs make them pay for a 44 yard gain. The play was called back on a very questionable holding call.

The nose guard loses his gap and Jones hits it for a 44 yard gain.

All in all, the Bucs adjusted from their last meeting  and ran the ball very effectively on the day.Their running backs were 30 for 125. yards and over 4.0 yards per carry. 

Bengals vs Giants. 2 play sequence. Giants win the 1st play, the Bengals the 2nd. 

play #1 The Bengals go man free on the first 3rd down vs the Bengals. The Giants isolate Engram vs the safety on the weak side of 3x1 and get a favorable matchup and throw the fade route. 53 yard gain and good execution. Leads to their first touchdown.

On the next 3rd down the Bengals play it different. they put a cb on Engram vs 3x1 on the weak side and bring a overload press. The coverage is combo with the cb locked on #1 and the rest of the defense playing a cover 3 roll type look. Great change up and they get the sack and free rusher.

Eagles vs Steelers.

Steelers go to their swarm front and are in 3-4 personnel, playing cover 1.  I call it swarm because they take their 3-4/5-2 personnel and make it a 4-2 with a blitzing lb. They play 3-4 snaps of it per game. 

The Eagles are in 12 but try to go empty and throw the ball thinking they can get  a mismatch with 1 of their te vs a lb. The Steelers play it well and pressure Wentz and force him to throw the ball away. Nice job by the Steelers after a good adjustment and thought process by the Eagles.

New Packers  offense vs Rams defense (playoffs)

In the 2nd half, the Rams were content on staying 4 over 3 on the perimeter and taking away the Packers RPO and screen game but got gashed in the run game as the Packers ran the ball 3 times for 72 yards and scored easily on their first drive. This made the game 25-10.

1st and 10, the  Packers motion adams and the Rams displace their mike lb and try to fill with the safety. The Packers gash them for 60 yards.

2 plays later they motion the rb out and are known to run an rpo with the rb. So the Rams go 4 over 3 which means Rodgers is handing the ball off. They have 4 defenders outside the box to the 3x1 side which tells Rodgers its a give!

Then again they use motion and the Rams look very confused on 3rd and 2. They basically play a 4 man box and this is an easy decision for  Rodgers as they walk 5 players outside the box to the 3x1 side

They get an easy first running duo vs the light box and get a touchdown 2 plays later  to go up 25-10. As you can see, the Packers dictated what they wanted to do with motions and got the looks they wanted to run the ball

 Example #1

The Rams vs WFT

Rams use 12 personnel but align the tight end Everett as a fullback. The first time the Rams run the ball against the 4-3 and get 1 yard.

1st example they go cover 3 but the lb is to the twins side. SS rolled down to Higbie the other te. The rams stick Everett in backfield as a fb. 

Interesting enough is the next time the  Rams go 12 the WFT goes nickel vs 12, on 1st and 10, the Rams come out in I and put Everett as a fb. They run the same action as above but go play action.

You would assume with the SS and nickel, the WFT would be better against pass but it turns out not to help them.

They run play action and hit Everett in the flat for a 40 yard gain. The WFT changed and actually had better pass personnel on the field. 

The call was right but the execution was poor.   Either the cb or 31the SS is wrong. 

But you can see the nickel look, either c2/4 but it looks like 4.

Example #2 

Steelers vs Browns

2nd and 10 Cleveland driving.

The Browns go empty vs the Steelers out of 12 personnel. The Steelers go to a soft zone look and are in  their base 3-4 defense. This limits them coverage wise and they check to a soft zone look. They hit the tight end for a nice 6 yard gain.  TE is #3 wr and they have the other tight end to the right lined up outside. They throw the stick route. Good call and easy completion out of 12.

On the next possession, the Browns come out in 12, the Steelers go to their nickel look instead of their 3-4. As a result,  the Browns run the ball and pick up  a nice 12 yard gain running outside zone to the weak side.  Easy block for the Left guard on the nickel. But the Steelers try to be in a better pass situation but it turns out hurting their run defense.

Browns see the Steelers adjustment and take advantage in the run game on 1st and 10. Nice design. 

Patriots  vs Chiefs

The Chiefs were jumping the crosser Hill on many of the #3 vertical routes during their game. See below:

So Reid and the Chiefs change Hills route concept and bring him across at a much shallow depth. The Free safety can't help and they hit Hill for a nice 17 yard gain on 3rd and 8.

You can see the angle of Hills route makes it an easy completion

Bears vs Packers

Packers Hackett vs Bears Pagano

Packers played Devonte Adams in the slot alot vs the Bears  because it avoided Johnson or Fuller covering Adams. The Bears were forced to play their nickel or dime cb on Adams and that was a matchup the Packers preferred. The Packers don't match with Pagano so the cb were always on the outside.👀

All game 1 below, Here's Buster getting beat on an easy td that Rodgers misses him on. This is the match up they want. Was no different in game 2

You can see #17 wide open on the slant. Should be an easy touchdown.

Here is  a 3rd and 2 and they hit Adams on the Skrine match up. Easy completion. 17 Adams is #2 wr on the bottom.  He beats Skrine on an easy slant. Again, the Packers look at the matchup and take it.

The College Game

Houston Offense  vs SMU 

Houston goes jet motion early in the game and SMU rolls the safety hard to it. They leave the middle of the field open. Later in the game they run the jet motion and hit the tight end on the vertical for a nice 35 yard gain. 

So the coaching staff sees the rotation and runs the same motion but hits the tight end vertical in the seem for a 35 yard gain. Nice job by the Houston coaching staff and making the adjustment as they take advantage of the overaggressive rotation to the jet motion. 

You can see the safety flying up but the other safety doesnt rotate leaving the vertical route wide open. 

These are just a few examples more to come!

Dave Aranda Ron Roberts Baylor Football Defense Pressure Package

 Dave Aranda-The innovator of 4 man simulated pressures

Dave Aranda is well known throughout the college ranks for his simulated pressure package. This is a package that involves bringing a LB as a 4th rusher and dropping a defensive lineman into coverage. It's a term used to bring a 2nd level defender yet drop a defensive lineman to replace him at the next level. The nice thing about it is you can bring the defender and still have all your coverage responsibilities taken care of with 7 players playing zone concepts on the back end.

They run a ton of split field concepts with the pressures and have various coverage checks, which I don't have all the answers to but if you study them you will see several variations and concepts in which they check coverages with what looks like different tags depending on formation. 

Coach Aranda will utilize simulated pressure concepts both when playing zone and also in man free situations. In man situations he will use the DE to cover a running back or play a zone underneath while everyone else is in man.

He will also run some what is called creeper pressures. A creeper or what I call a show pressure is basically a mug look with either 2 or 1 LB showing pressure. From here, you will get some type of pressure with a LB or Safety that isn't aligned on the line of scrimmage. 

That is really the major difference between a creeper and simulated pressure. Coach Hoover gives a good breakdown here. 

Let's look at some of the concepts as he runs them from both his tite front and 4-2 package:

Tite Front:

Baylor plays it a few ways:
One is standard with 2 4i's with Pitre to the field.

Adjustment #1

They can adjust either side and play an eagle look as demonstrated below on the right hand side.

Adjustment #2 

Bear  Adjustment

vs. Oklahoma State, Baylor played some snaps of Bear front.

 Also, they can play a base 4-2-5 and run their pressures out of this look. Often they play it with  3 technique and a shade NG.

4-2 front

4-2

Part 1 Zone Coverage Concepts

Coach Aranda will play a ton of zone coverages with simulated pressures. They will bring 4 rushers drop a defensive end into coverage quite often. Coach Aranda wants to be solid on the back end so this system has been effective. You will rarely see a flat out cover 0 pressure from Coach Aranda.

Zone 4 man Simulated Pressures with zone coverage:

Front:4-2

The first one we will look at is a cover 2, 4 man pressure.  

The DE to the boundary drops and plays the curl as the will LB plays the middle hook.

The Mike is on the pressure to the field.

Mike blitzes de usually drops opposite. 

De drops to the weakside opposite the pressure.

Here are 2 clips of the coverage below:

They run the same coverage vs Kansas. 
Front 4-2. Bring the sam and play the de to the boundary as a curl defender. The LB's play it with mike pushing to the curl and will pushing to the hook.

Sam blitzes de drops opposite to the flat. 

You can see the mike pushing to the curl and the will pushing to the hook.

Another 4 man pressure with a safe cover 2 behind it. 

Front:Tite Front

Blitz #2 is brining the sam linebacker and dropping the defensive end to the boundary.

The coverage is a cover 3. If they run the ball, then the DE will play the run. 

They run this from their tight front as that's what Aranda likes to run vs 12 personnel formations.

Sam comes the OLB drops opposite. 

The OLB forces the give and then comes underneath.

Nice job of forcing the give as the c gap player then ripping underneath to make the play.

Here is a 2nd version of the blitz vs Iowa State. They guess right and the DE is there to make the play in the flat.

Front:4-2 show

Vs. Kansas State-they bring the same Sam pressure concept and play cover 3 on a few occasions.

2nd and 15, Mike showing so technically a mug/creeper pressure. But the 2nd example they bring the sam from depth without showing. 

Here comes the sam off the edge and they drop the De opposite. 

Front:4-2

scenario #2 

They bring the sam from depth and play cover 3. 

The same blitz in the diagram below. Bring the sam and drop a de. 

They play cover 3 and run the sim pressure. 

Nice design and safe blitz concept.

creeper/mug pressure concepts

Front:4-2 nickel

CB Sim Pressure

Creeper and mug pressures are when the defense shows pressure and brings some type of blitz with the show look. Baylor is excellent at this concept.

One of their favorite pressures is bringing the boundary CB.

3rd and 9 Vs Iowa State, they brought the boundary cb and play cover 2..They bring the cb to the b gap and play cover 2 with the defensive end to the field dropping into coverage.

The same concept but with a game. 4 man sim edge pressure but again 7 guys in coverage.

They get a 3 man snag concept

In the next situation, they bring the boundary CB but play cover 3 on 2nd and 10. They have 2 curl defenders and the DE drops to the flat. The De is in good position but misses the tackle on what should have been a short gain. 

Another 4 man concept with the CB. Still a 4 man pressure.

CB comes off the hash ad gets decent pressure.

Both clips are in the videos below:

One last blitz with the CB.

They get 12 personnel with an Ace formation. 2 tight ends on the ball. They bring the CB to the boundary and would be cover 3 if they throw the ball. The cb comes unblocked and makes a nice play on the handoff.

Another blitz to the boundary with the CB

CB makes the tackle on the play.

Nice design and concept.

Man to Man coverage concepts:

Sim pressures with man coverage:

Baylor will also run some of these presssure concepts with man coverage.

Here is an interception vs Kansas State.

They bring the mike LB and play man free with the DE as a rat defender. He disrupts the crossing route here which leads to the interception.

They send the mike and drop both DE into rat coverage. 

good rat principle on the te. The DE is a rat defender with 2 safeties free.

RB stays in to block.

Good defense by Aranda. 

These are just some of the simulated and mug pressure concepts you will see from Dave Aranda at Baylor that has been a huge part of his success.

LSU vs Miami 2018

While at LSU he ran some of the same concepts 

Vs Empty 

He’s in a tite front and brings the mike. 

They play man free with the de/olb as rat defenders.Mike comes clean on the pressure. 

They go tite front and bring the cb to the boundary. They go 3 under 3 deep and get the interception. Miami anticipates man coverage and gets baited into the throw. 

Other Resources about Coach Aranda' Defense:

blitzology notes-tite front, split coverages and more.

http://www.blitzology.com/search/label/Dave%20Aranda

Aranda 2 read  https://throwdeeppublishing.com/blogs/news/one-coverage-that-solves-a-ton-of-problems

https://throwdeeppublishing.com/blogs/news/the-bay-and-the-bayou-justin-wilcox-and-dave-aranda-s-defenses

https://www.andthevalleyshook.com/2018/3/21/17134160/lsu-football-2018-film-room-dave-aranda-defense

https://www.crimsonandcreammachine.com/2021/11/11/22771405/oklahoma-sooners-football-baylor-bears-defense-dave-aranda-jalen-pitre-siaki-ika-matt-rhule

Aranda Youtube video on defending the spread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sWXmFi430o

Aranda vs Oklahoma Offense Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ_okR73kzA