In the “Xs and Os” video and podcast, Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, are spending the offseason discussing the trends, schemes, and concepts taking over the modern NFL.
The guys started two weeks ago with two-deep coverage and the run-pass option, and you can watch that entire episode right here:
Last week, it was all about pre-snap motion (run and pass), and the five-man front. You can watch that entire episode right here:
Finally, this week, it’s been all about aggressive press coverage and defensive stunts. You can watch the most recent “Xs and Os” right here:
You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…
…and on Apple Podcasts.
Now, onto the things Greg and Doug discussed this week!
Press coverage, and the Patriots' "Bull's Eye" game plan in Super Bowl XXXVI.
The origins of aggressive press coverage, where you’re not just mirror-matching receivers through the route, but you’re actively jamming them off their routes, go back a long way. You can start with the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders in the American Football League, transition it through the 1970’s Pittsburgh Steelers, and go from there. One of the most prominent examples of aggressive coverage came in Super Bowl XXXVI, when the underdog New England Patriots upset the St. Louis Rams, 20-17. In that game, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had a gutsy strategy to defeat Mike Martz’s “Greatest Show on Turf” offense — he was going to beat up the Rams’ receivers, and he was going to specifically target running back Marshall Faulk by taking his edge defenders and going after the epicenter of St. Louis’ offense with all kinds of nastiness.
What became known as the “Bull’s-eye” game plan worked magnificently.
In “The Games that Changed the Game,” the book he co-authored with Ron Jaworski and David Plaut, Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup got specifically into the details of that game plan, and why it worked. We discussed it in detail on this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell,” and then spun it forward to how teams are using “Bull’s-eyes” in today’s NFL to limit all kinds of explosive plays.
In the latest "Xs and Os" video/podcast, @gregcosell rolls back to his brilliant "Games that Changed the Game" book to detail the @Patriots' "Bull's-Eye" game plan for the @RamsNFL in Super Bowl XXXVI. pic.twitter.com/LT6rpW9H9y
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 15, 2023
How the Chiefs beat the Chargers with aggressive coverage in Week 11.
In the 2022 NFL season, per Sports Info Solutions, there were 4,801 dropbacks in which quarterbacks eventually threw a pass with a zero-step drop, or a one-step drop. Basically, the quickest quick game throws possible. On those dropbacks, quarterbacks completed 3,212 of 4,591 passes (70%) for 23,231 yards (6.15 YPA), 149 touchdowns, 55 interceptions (a lot of red zone there), and a passer rating of 87.3. Last season, six NFL teams – the Buccaneers, Dolphins, Bills, Broncos, 49ers, and Seahawks – had more than 200 dropbacks with those quick-throw snaps, so it’s a staple for a lot of teams.
The point here is that with so much quick game in today’s NFL, you’re not always going to be able to get to the quarterback before he releases the ball, no matter how great your pass rush is. It’s one reason that interior pressure has become so important, but it’s also why you’d better be able to disrupt receivers with press coverage. Not that any team plays off all the time, but if you play off too much, opposing offenses are likely to look at that, smile, and say, “Hey, thanks – we’ll take the easy gains all day long.”
That’s why aggressive press coverage, as opposed to mirror/match press coverage, is so important in today’s NFL. This is where defenders are directed to bump receivers off their prescribed routes to affect the timing of the play, and thus introduce pressure into those quick game concepts.
One play from last season typified this approach. In their 30-27 Week 11 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, the Kansas City Chiefs were dealing with a situation in which Justin Herbert had the ball at the Kansas City three-yard line with 23 seconds left in the first half. The Chargers were already up, 17-13, and a touchdown here would have created more problems. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s response was to go full Bull’s-eye, to great effect.
Herbert started his read to the front side of his 2×2 formation, made a 3×2 set with running back Austin Ekeler aligned to the right. At the snap, defensive end George Karlaftis bombed through to the backfield, and altered Ekeler’s angle route. This caused Herbert to pause, and it also gave the Chiefs time to pressure him, which might not have happened otherwise. Flushed out to his left, Herbert then tried to hit receiver Keenan Allen to the back side on a switch release, but cornerback L’Jarius Sneed had Allen on lock in press coverage, and the result was a deflection.
That play may have saved the game for the Chiefs.
More Xs and Os with @gregcosell: Here's how the @Chiefs used that "Bull's-Eye" game plan to stop the @chargers in Week 11. Knock the first read off his route, introduce pressure, force the QB out, and press to the other side. pic.twitter.com/MwAJRYSiB5
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 15, 2023
“There were a lot of things going on on that play,” Greg said. “First of all, you’re in the low red zone, and in the low red zone, you’re usually not asking your quarterback to take deep drops and scan the field. So, Herbert was reading to his right, which was the three-receiver side, because Ekeler was set to the right in the backfield. They ran kind of a smash concept with the wide receiver [DeAndre Carter] and the tight end [Stone Smartt]. The tight end was kind of open; we don’t know why Herbert didn’t throw it if that was indeed his read. But they had Ekeler on a ‘Texas’ or angle route, and Karlaftis ‘Bull’s-eyed’ him.
“[Herbert’s] not really coming back to the other side in s strict sense because you’re in the low red zone, but the Chiefs did a really good job in a press-man look with the slot and the outside receiver in switching, because it was a switch release off the line of scrimmage by the two receivers.”
Whether it’s quick game or downfield stuff, the ability of defenses to alter route concepts with aggressive physicality can make all the difference. It was true in the 1960s, it was true in Super Bowl XXXVI, and it’s true today.
How the 49ers use Fred Warner and Nick Bosa to perfect stunts and overloads.
San Francisco 49ers edge-rusher Nick Bosa is obviously one of the best players at his position in the NFL. Last season, he totaled 19 sacks, 31 quarterback hits, and 48 quarterback hurries. Only Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys had more total pressures (106) than Bosa’s 98, and there are more than enough examples of Bosa destroying opposing blockers in single- and double-teams.
However, 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans and defensive line coach Kris Kocurek did some things last season to help a guy who doesn’t generally need help. San Francisco’s defense was one of the NFL’s best at defeating opposing offensive lines with the use of loaded fronts, and stunts off those overloads in which Bosa was set free to create even more havoc.
In this week's "Xs and Os with @gregcosell" video/pod, we continue our look at the concepts that are overtaking the NFL with stunts and loaded fronts! In particular, how the @49ers set Nick Bosa up to be even more terrifying with them.
Article here: https://t.co/yOfWzTCyB3 pic.twitter.com/PLHPW06DM3
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 14, 2023
“One thing we see a lot in the NFL, which relates to a five-man front look, is loaded fronts, where you have three defensive linemen to one side of the center,” Greg said. “You almost always see a stunt concept from that front look. What the 49ers often did is that they would line up in a loaded front, and they’d have Fred Warner lined up on the opposite side as standup 3-technique. And what they would do is, they would take Nick Bosa, a pretty good pass-rusher in his own right one-on-one, on a long stunt. He would loop around the two other defensive linemen who were on the same side of the center, so he’d wind up rushing through the A-gap in a long loop.
“And the reason they had Fred Warner on the line of scrimmage is so he could occupy the guard opposite the loaded front. Because he’s the only player on the opposite side of the offensive line who could help with a long stunt from a loaded front.
“Defenses are becoming more creative in how they want to rush the passer in their use of stunts, and that loaded front has become prevalent in the league — pretty much every team in the league lines up in loaded fronts now. They’re very difficult, because very often, what teams do is they’ll put the middle guy in that loaded front — he’s their best pass-rusher. Not always, but let’s say that’s Aaron Donald. Now, there’s a lot of room between Aaron Donald and the guard who has to block him. A guard’s friend is not space, and now, there’s a lot of space between Donald and that guard, and if Donald just rushes right at that guard from a distance, that’s a really difficult thing to [handle].
“I had this discussion with an [NFL] offensive line coach, and he told me that loaded fronts are really difficult.”
Two of Bosa’s sacks in the 2022 season came off this same concept.
There was this one in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Rams…
…and this one in Week 11 against the Miami Dolphins.
In both instances, you can see that the 49ers have loaded the front to Bosa’s side with an extra rusher, and that Warner is playing 3-tech to the other side. We detailed the play against the Dolphins to get into the complications this created for a Miami offense that was in empty after motioning running back Raheem Mostert out wide, and with tight end Mike Gesicki running a flat route after chipping off the snap.
“The thing is, when you line up in that five-man front look, whether it’s five defensive linemen, or five true pass-rushers, like the Philadelphia Eagles often do, or whether it’s what the 49ers do with Fred Warner… and by the way, sometimes, Fred Warner would take two steps forward and then back out and drop into coverage,” Greg continued. “But he’s still occupying the guard. The kay is to make it a five-on-five, one-on-one situation for the offensive line, so no offensive lineman can help with somebody else.
“Those two plays where Bosa took the long stunt, or the ‘long stick,’ as they call it, came from outside in a wide-9 alignment into the A-gap, looping behind two other defensive linemen. Nobody in the backfield is going to be helping on that, even if it’s not empty. That’s what you’re trying to get accomplished — you’re trying to make sure that nobody on the offensive line can react to that long stunt through the A-gap.
Ryans is now the Texans’ head coach, but you can bet that new 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, along with Kocurek (one of the best defensive line coaches in the NFL) will be charged with making sure that those five-on-fives, and the one-on-ones, keep happening.
Anything to make Nick Bosa even more terrifying than he already is!
The Eagles using stunts to create necessary pressure without blitzing.
In today’s NFL, when you’re dealing with quick game concepts, 3×1 receiver sets that test the horizontal and vertical limits of your defense, and devious offensive coordinators who use pre-snap motion to set your defense up in ways you’d rather they didn’t, it may be more important than it ever has been to excel at getting pressure with just four pass-rushers.
Last season, per Sports Info Solutions, no team had more solo sacks (49) and combined sacks (56) with four pass-rushers than the Philadelphia Eagles. The defending NFC champs also ranked sixth in four-man quarterback hurries with 129, third in quarterback hits with 124, and third in total four-man pressures with 238, behind only the Dallas Cowboys and the Kansas City Chiefs.
So, whether the Eagles were taking the quarterback down, or just affecting his performance, they were doing it more and more effectively than just about any other team.
What makes that especially interesting is that in 2022, the Eagles were a base five-man rush team a lot of the time, especially on passing downs. Philly, under former defensive coordinator and new Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, loaded their fronts with a nose tackle, two ends, and two edge-rushers. This forced single-team blocks inside, because when you put your nose tackle head over or to the side of the center, and you put your ends on the outside shoulders of the guards, and you’re occupying the tackles with your edge-rushers, anyone trying to double anybody at the line is in for a nasty surprise — someone’s going to come through cleanly.
Whether in four- or five-man fronts, the Eagles were also very creative with the use of stunts to further affect opposing offensive lines. A particular favorite was a long stunt in which Haason Reddick, who led the NFL with 21 sacks last season, would loop around two defenders, getting a free release to the quarterback from an unexpected gap.
One play personified and perfected this approach — Reddick’s sack of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett in Week 8 of the 2022 season. With 13:51 left in the first quarter, Reddick looped around nose tackle Javon Hargrave and end Brandon Graham, and instead of doing so from his usual edge position, he did so from a stand-up 3-tech end role.
Last season, the @Eagles had the NFL's most sacks and the third-most pressures with four rushers. In this week's "Xs and OS with @gregcosell," Greg and I get into how they use stunts (at times) to make things tough for offensive lines.
Article here: https://t.co/v2p7BybPCR pic.twitter.com/EKS3bUsbYr
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 15, 2023
“The Eagles are a five-man front team,” Greg said. “Now, the Eagles were not a big stunt team, by the way — they were at the lower end of the NFL in terms of stunts. So when they did it, it wasn’t something where offenses went into their game pan expecting that approach.
“On the play you mentioned, Reddick — who’s normally on the left side of the defense as an edge rusher — was on the right side of the defense as a standup 3-technique. And they did what is called a ‘long stunt,’ which means that he was going to loop around two defensive linemen, not one. So, those two defensive linemen, they crashed hard inside, bringing the offensive line down inside with them, so that Reddick could loop around.
“Now, the key part of that with a five-man defensive line is that the running back in the backfield [Jaylen Warren], he is not looking at the defensive line. There are five defensive linemen and five offensive linemen, so it’s man-to-man. He’s looking for blitzers.”
Just one more reason to use stunts, or any other device you can manage, to get pressure on the quarterback without blitzing.
