Sometimes a content idea just hits you like a bolt of lightning from the sky.
This is one of those moments.
As the football world prepares for the first training camp in the COVID-19 Era, organizations are thinking of ways to excite fans, even though they might not be able to attend games in person. For example, the Miami Dolphins recently announced that they will turn Hard Rock Stadium into a drive-in movie theater. As the team stated, featured items would include “classic Miami Dolphins content from the team’s 54-year history, classic motion picture films, host commencement ceremonies and other events.”
Paving the way for games to be shown, perhaps.
Not to be outdone, the Cleveland Browns announced a fundraiser of their own last week. A chance to “script” the first 15 plays of a preseason game with new head coach Kevin Stefanski. As part of a fundraiser for COVID-19 relief, the Browns are auctioning off the opportunity to script plays with Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.
Consider this piece part of my formal bidding process.
You see, scripting plays is something that I take seriously. You’re reading someone who would never consider turning on a game of Madden or NCAA Football without having a script at the ready. Oh, and this is not just some “back in college when I had time on my hands thanks to ignoring schoolwork” thing (oh, hi mom!) but something that I was doing as recently as this holiday season.
Because when my wife and I decided that our oldest, Owen, could start playing Madden, I needed to be ready. So late at night I would fire up Madden 20, try out plays, and with a whiteboard at the ready start piecing together what worked, and what did not, for a game script.
And to think, this was pre-quarantine behavior…
But back to the issue at hand. Mr. Stefanski, please consider this my offer for a potential game script. A more formal bid will follow.
The way this will be constructed is as follows. As covered in this previous piece breaking down the play sheet from Tom Brady’s first NFL start, the scripted plays cover situations. The first part will cover first and second down passing plays, as well as shot plays where I want to attack down the field. The second part will cover both the run game and the play-action passing game, with some run/pass options built in, and finally we’ll get into more situations, with third and long as well as the screen game and the “gotta have it” play.
First and second down pass plays
We kick things off with the passing plays I’m willing to call on almost every situation, save for third and a country mile. Whether 1st and 10, 2nd and 7, or 3rd and 1, these routes have an answer for almost anything a defense can throw at us, hence the comfort level.
92 – Mesh
We start with a Mike Leach/Air Raid staple, the mesh play.
This route concept has an answer for everything. Before the play, if the quarterback identifies one-on-one coverage over the X receiver he can take a deep shot. If it’s a single-high look, he can work the Corner/Swing combination which sets up a high-low bracket over that cornerback, before coming to the crossers underneath. Same basic read structure for a Cover 2/4 look. If the QB gets man across the board, he can peek the route to X, then peek that wheel route to H, before looking to the mesh. Coach Leach gave a tremendous presentation on installing the mesh play a few years ago at a Nike Coach of the Year Clinic, and I highly recommend checking it out.
Building off mesh, you set up a nice little counter for when the defense starts to play more zone to take away the crossers underneath: Mesh return.
92 Out or 92 Return
Here is an example of a return concept from the New England Patriots’ playbook:
As you can see, both H and Z have options after showing the defense the standard mesh underneath. If they see zones underneath they can sit down in grass. If they get walled off from the underneath defenders on the inside, they can break back outside, away from them. In addition, this route concept has a Hoss element to it, with the hitch route on the outside and the seam route from the middle receiver in the trips. That seam will convert based on the coverage, so if you get a two-high look (middle of the field open or MOFO) that receiver will cross the face of the nearest safety to split the two safety look. If the defense is in single-high (middle of the field closed or MOFC) that receiver will stay vertical, forcing the single safety to rotate over. Then you have the hitch route on the outside, which will convert to a fade/go against press coverage.
Curl/Flat or Hank
This is from an old Jon Gruden playbook. But mirrored curl/flat, or Hank, is still a staple of offenses today. If you watch the Chicago Bears, for example, you will see a ton of this route concept. With good reason. First, it gives the quarterback a nice defined read structure and second, it is a mirrored passing concept, that basically divides the field in half and allows the quarterback to pick his “best side” if all things are equal coverage-wise, throwing to either the short side of the field, the best matchup, or however the coaching staff wants to define “best-side.”
As you can see, the read progression is as follows: The QB first checks that sit route over the middle (with an alert on a potential hot route as well) and then works either side of the field on the curl to the flat.
Curl routes, when they are run well against a cornerback who has to worry about getting beat deep (Cover 1, Cover 3) are very difficult to cover. If the defense starts to respond by dropping that overhang or slot defender under that curl route to help, then the flat route should start to open up for you. Cover 2 and Cover 4 are a bit trickier with this concept, as the defense can keep the corner in the flat to take that away and then have the LBs drop under the curls, but there are still options. That sit route over the middle could work to get under the MLB as the linebackers drop, and then you can work in the flat-wheel variation, where the inside receiver runs a wheel route and should find grass along the boundary.
Both Bench or Both Swirl
Finally, two more plays that are mirrored passing concepts, similar to Hank. There is first Both Bench, and then Both Swirl. These give the quarterback some simplified, half-field reads, as well as the opportunity to high-low a defender to one side of the formation or the other. On the first design, Both Bench, we pair a deep out route with a flat route to both sides of the field. The quarterback will work this concept high to low, starting with the out route and working to the flat route.
On the second design, Both Swirl, the quarterback again reads this from high to low. First he will check the swirl route, which starts out like a corner route but then cuts off, as a corner-stop route, and then the QB works down to the flat route.
Shot plays
I’ve always been a fan of taking a few designed shots downfield throughout the game based on situation: After turnovers, after a big run, near midfield, and on 2nd and short. Shot plays can be run with or without play-action, but I particularly love the idea of pairing a shot play and play-action on 2nd and short.
We can start with a switch verticals concept.
G Spread Left Utah Goalie/Peel/Whirl Flanker Right
There are a lot of elements to this design.
As you can see, the three receiver combination has three variations. Goalie is your basic switch verticals look, with the outside receiver running a go, the inside receiver running a wheel and the #3 receiver running a swing screen route. Peel has the outside receiver run a post, while the rest of the routes remain the same (a wheel route from Z and a swing route from H). Whirl has the outside receiver run a curl route, and again the other two routes (wheel/swing) remain the same. Backside the B has a deep dig/search route, as well as a shallow crosser.
The QB wants to hit the wheel route in an ideal world. But, he can work backside after that as well as peeking that swing route in a pinch. Against Cover 4 that wheel route is likely taken away, so the quarterback should be on alert to work backside to that dig/search route finding grass underneath the safeties.
G Spread Right 66 D-Sluggo Hoss Ringo
This is another design that I absolutely love.
First you have the Hoss element on the left side of the formation, with the hitch/seam combination. Both those routes will convert based on the coverage, with the hitch route converting to a go/fade against a press man look, and the seam actually sitting down here against a MOFO look. But what makes this play is the action on the right side. You show a simple slant/flat combination, but the slant is actually a slant-and-go, which will also convert to a slant-and-corner against a MOFO coverage, working away from the nearest safety. So with a single-high look you can bracket the safety in the middle of the field with the seam/sluggo, looking at one and throwing the other. But with two safeties you’ll the seam that converts to a deep curl checking up in front of one safety, and the slant-corner breaking away from the other safety.
Okay, now it’s time to work in some run game stuff, before we get back to the fun parts of the script.
Run game
I’m pretty sure that my pitch to script the plays with Kevin Stefanski will fall short if I fail to include some run game love – especially given what we have seen from Stefanski’s offenses over the years – so we need to include some foundational plays.
Outside Zone
We can start with the outside zone running play. So much of Stefanski’s offense is built off these designs, that we need to include it in the script. Here is a basic look at the outside zone from a Patriots playbook:
As you’ll notice, there is a notation for a possible “CWM,” or check with me. If that playside strong safety walks down into the box presnap, creating a situation where the offense is going to run into a loaded box, the Z receiver can run to grass against this look, creating a bit of an RPO element. Instead of handing the ball off, the QB can look to throw to Z and flip the numbers.
Inside Zone
If you’re gonna work outside, you need to work inside. Here is a look at a basic inside zone running play from an old Syracuse University playbook:
Now let’s be honest.
These are really eye candy for setting up play-action plays down the field.
Wham
If we are going to include a power running play, we’re including a Wham play. Good friend and noted historian Michael Kist loves him some wham blocks, and his Philadelphia Eagles did too in their run to Super Bowl 52. Mr. Kist outlines that in this meaty piece that even contains quotes from legendary military strategist Sun Tzu.
One way I’ve seen teams incorporate wham blocks is in their inside zone package, which can be one of the variants of the inside zone running play that we alluded to earlier. Here’s a play that dates back to the Joe Gibbs/Dan Henning days of the early 1990s Washington Redskins: 40/50 Lead Nose:
Basically you get zone blocking rules up front but either a tight end, a fullback, or the H-back can execute that wham block on either a nose or a defensive tackle, based on the defensive front shown by the opposition.
Now let’s put the football back where it belongs: In the air.
Play-action/RPO
First we will cheat a bit, and incorporate a run/pass option element. This is a pretty standard RPO, USC called it the “hitch” tag or the “slant” tag:
Hitch Tag
Now here is the slant variety:
Basically, this is a standard inside zone running play with a passing element. The quarterback is reading the keyed linebacker, and if that defender crashes down in response to the run action, the quarterback is going to pull the football and throw either the hitch or the slant. On the hitch tag it might be more of a pre-snap read. If that linebacker walks out to cover the hitch receiver before the play, the QB knows prior to the snap he is handing the football off.
Next we can get into some of the elements working off the outside zone running play.
Double Right Hug Fake 18 Sift Keep Left Z Throwback
This is the first of the boot action plays we can install, and this can obviously be run to either side of the formation. Working off an outside zone look, the quarterback boots back to the left and has a three-level flood to work from. his first option is the tight end working across the field at a dept of 12-14 yards. Then he can look to the X receiver on that deep out, working from 15 to 25 yards downfield. Then finally his third option is the slam, or the down/flat route from the slot receiver. That player is going to show a block to the inside before breaking late to the flat. Of course, there is the throwback element to the Z receiver, should that somehow break open deep downfield.
Then there is everyone’s favorite, Leak or Y-Throwback.
Z Fly to Flank Right Fake 19 Wanda Keep Right Y Leak
Watch any San Francisco 49ers game and odds are you are going to see this play. On this example the quarterback fakes an outside zone running play to the left and boots back to the right. It shows the defense the same basic elements of the previous play, with a deep crossing route and the slam/down-flat route breaking late to the flat. But the main element here – the leak – from the tight end works against the flow of the play, with the tight end dragging across the formation and then breaking up the opposite seam.
Play-action Mills
Pairing a multi-level high-low with run-action? Now you’re cooking with gas. There are a few ways to do this, but I love the Mills concept, with its post/dig combination to stretch the second-level and high-low a middle of the field safety
This is a design that you can pair with either an inside zone or a gap/power look. Either way, these designs use play-action and multi-level routes to truly test a defense from the line of scrimmage down the field, and they stress the eye discipline of defenders on the second- and third-levels. To truly spice things up, use this with some duo-inspired protection up front. As the wise Bobby Peters argues in this piece, “teams that use [Duo] recognize the need to have play-action off it because defenses that crowd the line with their linebackers could disrupt the timing of the double-teams. The run action lends well to the use of play action.”
Okay, we can close things out by looking at three more situations: Screens, third and long, and the gotta have it play.
The screen game
A goal for any effective offense is to get the football to your playmakers quickly with space to operate after the catch and with blockers in front of them. The screen game is a perfect way to achieve this goal. On this playsheet we’re going to add some screens from a Clemson playbook that are perfect for the modern era.
Stack Right Opp Brown Ohio
This is taken from Clemson’s 2013 offensive playbook, and I love this design. The play is set to go to the left, where the X receiver starts upfield for a step or two but then “works into the tunnel,” picking up blocks from the receiver on the wing, the playside guard, and the center. But this play has multiple options for the quarterback, something I believe is critical for today’s offenses. The QB also has a vertical route along the right side from the outside receiver, as well as a potential screen to the running back to that side as well. Layers to this design.
Here is a similar look that again gives the quarterback some options.
Ace Right Over Black Ohio
I really like this design, because by pairing the tunnel with the vertical route, there is always the chance you catch the defense with their eyes on the tunnel, opening them up for a big play on the vertical route.
The final part of the screen section combines play-action with a tunnel look along the boundary.
It is important to note that as of the 2013 season, Clemson coached this design by instruction the quarterback NOT to carry out a play-action fake. In my offense, however, I’m trying to cut down on potential pursuit from the linebackers, so the QB is carrying out this run fake. To help the timing of this the receiver really needs to sell that vertical release at the start of the play before working back to the football.
Third-and-long
Hopefully with crisp execution the Browns will not see a third-and-long situation during the course of the plays, but failing to prepare is preparing to fail. At least that’s what my old law partners told me. Or my mom. Maybe both. So while we don’t want to see a situation like this arise, we need to be ready.
Here are two plays, similar in nature, that will be on the call sheet if we need to throw it deep.
Four Verticals (Train Right Jill H-Seattle)
This is “Seattle,” from Alabama’s playbook and posted recently by Chris Brown on Twitter. This is basically just everyone’s favorite play, four verticals, run out of a 3×1 formation. I love pairing four verticals with a 3×1 formation because of the stress it puts on the safeties and how it changes their eye angles a bit. Running this design out of a 2×2 formation just calls for a defense to counter with Cover 4, which they might be doing on a third and long situation anyway. Then you are relying on a receiver winning a one on one matchup. Here, as you can see, the adjustments and conversions for the receivers allow you to attack both single high and two-high looks.
We can also dip into the Coryell school for a personal favorite of mine:
585 H Fake Cross
This play is near and dear to my heart because during my sophomore year in college I actually played some wide receiver, and my first reception came on a preseason game against Middlebury, running the comeback or 5 route on this play.
It would end up being my only reception.
I was an awful college football player. I’ve often said this.
But I love the 585 design because like many well-designed plays it has an answer for multiple looks from the defense. There the boundary receivers run comeback routes, but have potential conversions built in to attack hard corners or Cover 2 looks, where they can convert the comebacks to corner routes. Against Cover 2, the QB always has the option to work the post route in the middle of the field to split the safeties, and against Cover 3 or Cover 4, you can expect those comeback routes to find some space working against the corners on the outside. Answers for everything. The conversions, and the ability to attack multiple schemes, make these plays similar and effective for an offense regardless of situation, but also on third and long instances.
The “Gotta-have-it” play
Finally, the “gotta have it” play. This is the play that regardless of situation, time in the game, etc, if the offense needs a big play whether on a third down or in the red zone, this is the design that I will turn to. It comes from an old Jon Gruden West Coast playbook, but I’m looking to use this from a number of different personnel packages, either with 21 offensive personnel with two different running backs in the game, or 12 offensive personnel, where a tight end actually starts in the backfield, or even with 11 offensive personnel, starting a wide receiver in the backfield.
When our backs are up against the wall, Coach Stefanski, we’re calling Flanker Drive.
Brown Right A Right 2 Jet Flanker Drive
What I love about the basic design is that again, we have answers for anything a defense shows us, from the backside go route that the QB can peek against man coverage looks or when we see an advantageous matchup, to the inclusion of the flanker drive routes, where the tight end helps to create traffic for the Z receiver underneath. This route helped put Jerry Rice in the Hall of Fame (along with his famous hill workouts, but if you think I’m gonna try and duplicate that at the age of 43, you’ve got another thing coming).
My favorite part of this route design, though, is the corner route to the concept side of the field, with the receiver starting in the backfield, motioning to the right, and then running the corner route. You can imagine that as a key opportunity to get another advantageous matchup for the offense, or forcing the defense to pick its poison. This is something teams like the San Francisco 49ers do often with players like George Kittle. Imagine starting Kittle in the backfield and then motioning him outside, forcing the defense to adjust or keep a linebacker on him, where he can then work his corner route against a player who might struggle to cover him in space.
Again, answers for anything.
So there you have it, Coach — my informal bid to work with you and Coach Van Pelt on the offensive script. A more formal bid will follow, but I think I’ve made a strong case here to pitch in. I’ll wait to hear from you.
