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We are going grouping by grouping through the Missouri boot game to see how they dressed it up, how they used tight ends and motion to seal the edge and create runway, and how they built the void for the over route that shows up on nearly every one of these clips. Some of this is standard boot architecture. Some of it is worth putting on your own call sheet.

21 Personnel

This boot works off the same outside zone action we covered above, paired with a slice block look coming across the formation. The difference is what happens after the slice. Instead of climbing to the second level, that blocker releases into the flat, and the interior linebacker carries him. That pull creates the void, and the over route coming from the far side runs right through it. It is a clean piece of design. The backside defenders are put in conflict on the same snap, and there is no answer that covers both.

12 Personnel

Another well designed boot here, with a few unique wrinkles. Missouri aligns in an unbalanced formation with just the guard and both tight ends to the boundary. From there the Tigers run boot off jet sweep action, bringing one tight end underneath the formation while the other climbs on the over route we see so often in this boot game. The underneath tight end pulls two defenders with him, and once again that leaves the void behind for the over route. Eye candy from every direction on this one.

Pistol this time for the Tigers, paired with an outside zone look to the field. The beauty here is in the Y/Y set to the boundary. The wing inserts and pulls a lot of attention from the corner and the safety on the boot, while the in-line tight end blocks first and then releases wide open in the flat. Missouri uses tight ends to seal the boot side often in this package, and you will see those clips later in the article, but this one is a perfectly timed block and release.

Similar design here but out of a condensed formation.

Another great look off “boot action”, throw leak.

11 Personnel

We mentioned this above, but here is a clean example of the Tigers using short motion with the tight end to help seal the edge on the boot. That seal bought the quarterback runway, and the extra time let him work all the way to the deep over route again.

Here the Tigers shift the tight end from a bunch set over to the field and cover him up, which leaves a version of that unbalanced look again. From there they motion the outside receiver across the field and bring the remaining receiver underneath the formation into the opposite flat.

The routes matter on this one. Curl by the play side receiver, wheel by the motioning receiver, and the final receiver working into the flat. The defense is in cover 2. All of the interior linebackers react to the run fake, and that leaves a deep half safety and a flat corner to handle everything on that side.

The quarterback takes the easy throw to the flat, and it is the smart one, but the curl was open too and likely for a bigger gain. The layers are what make this work. Well designed boot concept, and one worth stealing.

Here’s the same concept without the tight end shift, but this time the Tigers hit the curl route.

This is another good one from the Tigers. They bring the tight end in this motion often as the slice block in their outside zone run game. This time he sells the block, slips the defender, and slides into the flat for a solid gain on second and long.

Final Thoughts

The through line across every one of these clips is the same. Missouri gets one player to occupy the underneath defenders, and then attacks the space that player vacates. Slice block turned flat route. Jet motion tight end running underneath. Wing insert holding the corner and the safety. The dressing changes, the math does not.

That is the piece worth taking, Coach. It is not the boot itself. Every staff in America has boot in the playbook. It is the discipline of building a defined conflict on the backside every single time, then layering the routes so the quarterback has a full read rather than a hope. Curl, wheel, flat on one snap. Flat, over, comeback on another. There is always a short answer and a shot answer on the same call.

The second lesson is what the tight ends do. Missouri did not just line them up and release them. They blocked, they sold, they slipped, they sealed. That short motion seal is what bought the runway to hit the deep over, and the timed block and release is what got a tight end wide open in the flat. Boot game lives or dies on the edge, and their tight ends were the reason the edge held.

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We got beat in the 2019 state semifinal after leading 21–0 at halftime.

Final score: 22–21

The play that got us?

Mesh.

As disappointing as that loss was—and honestly, still is—we simply got outcoached.

Their staff invested the time to truly study the Air Raid. Instead of becoming a spread team, they borrowed some of its most effective passing concepts and blended it into their traditional Pro-I offense. The result was an offense that became nearly impossible to stop.

With the game on the line, they elected to go for the two-point conversion and the win. They called Mesh from a condensed bunch formation, executed it to perfection, and hit the OTB (Over-the-Ball) route to their big receiver.

The rest is history.

They had talented players, but their coaching staff maximized every ounce of that talent. There’s a reason their head coach is a 3x New York State Coach of the Year.

Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap.

That loss also taught me something valuable: if one passing concept could completely change a game, I needed to understand it inside and out.

This article is that guide.

What Is 92 Mesh?

At its core, Mesh is nothing more than a basketball pick play disguised as a passing concept.

One receiver becomes the “setter”, creating natural traffic in the middle of the field, while the faster receiver crosses underneath him. The two receivers “mesh” together approximately 4–6 yards beyond the line of scrimmage before separating.

Against man coverage, the crossing routes naturally create rubs that force defenders to fight through traffic.

Against zone coverage, the receivers simply settle in the open windows once they identify soft spots.

It’s an incredibly simple concept, yet one of the hardest to defend.

Why Mesh Is So Effective

The beauty of Mesh is its versatility.

It works against both man and zone coverage and can be installed from almost any formation:

• 2x2

• 3x1

• Empty

• Deuce Gun

• Bunch

• Stack

• Condensed formations

If a defense doesn’t have an answer, an offense can continue calling Mesh until the defense proves it can stop it.

Few passing concepts have that kind of staying power.

The Coaching Point That Changed Everything

One reason Mesh can be confusing to teach is figuring out which receiver goes underneath on the crossing routes.

This is where Air Raid legend Mike Leach made it simple. The Y is always the setter. The Y receiver always runs the 6-yard mesh route, serving as the “pick” in the concept. The opposite receiver always works underneath the Y.

That single coaching point removes the confusion. Regardless of the formation, every receiver knows exactly where they fit in the concept.

Once you understand the rule “Y is the setter”, Mesh becomes much easier to teach, install, and execute.

The Double Pick Mesh Variation

Now for the variation of Mesh I wanted to highlight in this article, “The Double Pick.”

It’s hard enough to cover the base mesh play. This double pick variation makes it essentially impossible. Here’s the concept.

The double pick variation adds another setter above the Y WR. The Y will set up the pick for the linebackers while the X WR sets the corner trying to chase across the formation to stay with the Z WR.

It ends up being a double rub with full intention of hitting the underneath route, running through man or settling right in front of the double pick.

The RB wheel is another very dangerous aspect of this play. If the outside linebacker carries the wheel route, the flat window for the underneath WR is wide open. If the outside linebacker doesn’t cover the wheel, he is uncovered up the sideline for a TD.

Mesh From a 2x2 Formation

Mesh From a 3x1 Formation

Mesh From Empty

Final Thought

Mesh is important regardless of the offense you run. It’s a simple concept that gets WR open regardless of coverage and formation. Remember, regardless of formation “Y is the setter” this will allow you to establish the base rules for your players and make it easier as formations change. The “Double Pick” with the RB wheel is my favorite variation and I hope I never have to defend it.

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So how does one design a great fake punt? Is it a normal play adapted to a punt formation, or is it a trick play the defense could not have possibly seen coming? The honest answer is both.

Kick

We define a kick as any fake punt scheme where the entire offensive line down blocks and one or two players kick out the remaining defenders.

Arizona State runs kick to their unbalanced side and the math just is not there for the punt return team. The return team cannot adjust quickly enough to the extra blockers to one side, and the Sun Devils snap the ball and pick up a huge gain and a new set of downs.

We have got to show the punters some love too, right? Here we have a similar blocking scheme, but this time it is delivered for the kicker. If you watch the end zone shot, #21 does a great job coming back to get a block on a defender with perfect technique.

Here is one by Mississippi State, but unlike Arizona State they run it to the short side of the line of scrimmage. Pre-snap they realize Tennessee only has three defenders for four blockers, and the Bulldogs get an easy first down.

Many punt block designs are built to overwhelm the front by overloading a side. Here Ohio just runs kick the other way, and the advantage is so great that one blocker ends up sprinting downfield with the runner because he has no one to block. That is how badly they out leveraged Buffalo.

Shoot

Make it look like rugby, draw in the defenders, then dump it behind them. Easy toss and catch for the punter and the upback.

Here is another funky formation, but the idea is the same. Let the defenders rush what they think is a rugby kick and create an easy throw in the flat for your punter.

Tricky formation here with both gunners on the line of scrimmage. After motion we get a variation of that slider shoot concept, bringing a player behind the line of scrimmage into the opposite flat. Great design here, hard to track, and legal because he catches it behind the line of scrimmage.

Reverse

This almost feels like the G/H Counter Bluff Reverse we have seen so much lately, but in punt form. It is not, but the idea is still there. Create the flow one direction, get the defense panicked about a fake, then flip it the other way on a reverse for a first down.

Shield punt variation on a reverse. Great example here of making sure you hand it to an athletic guy who can make someone miss.

Reverse Pass

This is where things get fun. We get the reverse, but the down blocker releases after selling the block and is wide open because of the chaos of the fake punt plus a reverse.

Different variation, but the same result. The blocker may have sold the block a little too well, but it works out for the Flashes.

Tricks

This is similar to that slider concept, but a little more like the Y-Under Screen that offenses run. Regardless, it is a great concept for a fake punt. Everything about this looks like a punt until the punter stops and throws the ball back across the field.

A swinging gate variation was not on my bucket list, but here it is. Funky formations are always a high risk, high reward endeavor, but it works out here. I absolutely love the old school nature of this fake.

Another wild formation that, if you look closely enough, leaves the snapper eligible. And this feeds right into how punt return is structured. We do not block the long snapper, ever. It is the punt returner’s job to make that guy miss, but what happens when he becomes a receiver? A first down.

Direct snap with a pop pass? Sign me up. Great design, great execution, and somehow they get the defense to fly to the ball on a direct snap dive look on 4th and 8. First down.

How about that kick look, but we release the nub tight end? Again this feels like the Q Counter Rail we have seen a lot lately. It is certainly different, but it gives that same flow. Not sure how you defend this. If the defender fits, they throw. If he drops, they run for an easy first down. Great job putting the return team in a lot of conflict.

Final Thoughts

The best fakes in here all share one thing, and it is not the trick. It is the alignment. Punt return pulls the gunners wide, strands the returner, and rushes what it thinks it recognizes. Every one of these designs wins the numbers before the ball is snapped. The formation does the work. The athlete just finishes it.

That is the answer to the question we opened with. A great fake is both a normal play in disguise and a wild trick at once. The kick schemes are just base blocking dressed up in punt formation. The rugby fakes, sliders, reverses, and eligible snapper looks attack the exact rules a return team lives by. We do not block the snapper, so make him a receiver. We fly to the direct snap dive, so throw it behind us. Every one puts a defender in conflict and dares him to be wrong.

Want a fake in your package? Start with your own punt return rules and ask what happens when you break each one. That is where these live. Steal the ones that fit your personnel, rep the sell until it is clean, and pick your spot.

But ultimately, if you have a punter with an absolute laser just let him throw an out route.

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Full Cutup

In this episode, the Head Football Coach and Athletic Director at Centennial High School in Tennessee walks through his Cover 7 film and the single question that drives every call in it: how do we double the two guys we are worried about on Friday night? Everything else is built backward from that answer.

Broadrick lays out the four buckets he lives in out of Cover 7, which are cones, brackets, triangle concepts, and box concepts, and shows how each one is really just a different tool for getting a double team on the right player. The star and the money carry outside leverage, the safety plays the aggressor on any in-breaking route, and the Mac takes the back. From there it becomes a language: ink and orc to set the corners’ press, Seahawk to wall and midpoint a vertical, Connie to keep from getting picked on the rail route, stump and smash rules to the field, cut and buster to trips. For coaches who want a cleaner way to organize their quarters answers instead of memorizing a hundred unrelated checks, this is someone who has done that work.

He is also honest about where the coverage lives and dies. Cover 7 can look rough in seven-on-seven, where isolation routes get exposed and there is no rush to bother the quarterback. In a game, with a four-man rush and a plan for who you want doubled, it is a different picture. That is where Broadrick gets animated, because the real value shows up when you build pressure out of the structure. He shows how the same bracket calls turn into simulated pressures and creepers, tracing the back, VTeching the center, and getting a hit on the quarterback while still doubling the vertical routes behind it.

The conversation closes in the red area, where cut becomes a two-man concept with trap rules and the corners play as waterfall defenders protecting the goal line, then moves into Turkey and Clifford and when it actually makes sense to dial them up. Matt jumps in from the offensive side to compare it all to Palms, and makes the case that Cover 7 gives a coach more pre-snap structure and control over exactly who gets doubled, without the practice cost that Palms demands.

The film gremlins were out in full force during this one, so a few clips fought back, but the ideas came through clearly. If you run any form of quarters and want a smarter way to take a team’s best player out of the game, this one is worth your time.

This episode is presented by Sideline HQ.

Sideline HQ is the equipment and operations management platform built for football programs. Keep your gear, inventory, and operations organized in one place so you can spend your time coaching. Learn more at sidelinehq.co and let them know Board Drill sent you.

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Crossing routes are everywhere.

Whether the Bears are running play-action from boot, attacking from the pocket, or changing launch points with movement passes, Johnson constantly finds ways to bring receivers across the formation. Each variation looks a little different, but they all accomplish the same goal. They force linebackers to make impossible decisions, create natural voids in coverage, and give Caleb Williams simple, high percentage throws.

The beauty is not the crossing route itself. It is how Johnson builds different presentations around the same core idea. Defenses recognize the run action. They react to the quarterback movement. They match vertical routes. By the time they recover, the crosser is running free across the field.

Let’s take a look at several of Johnson’s favorite variations and why they consistently create explosive opportunities.

Play Action Boot Game

Johnson understands that if you want to stretch a defense horizontally with the passing game, you first have to force them to defend the run vertically. His commitment to Outside Zone, Counter, and Toss forces second level defenders to trigger downhill with confidence.

That aggressive reaction becomes the offense’s advantage.

Once linebackers begin fitting the run, Johnson attacks with complementary play action. The offensive line sells the run. The backfield action mirrors the run game. Linebackers step forward, creating space behind them for crossing routes to attack.

Outside Zone Boot

One of Chicago’s staples is running outside zone into the boundary. That action forces linebackers and safeties to flow aggressively toward the sideline while Caleb Williams boots back into the open field.

The route structure is simple but effective. A backside crossing route works across the formation while another receiver attacks the flat and a third releases inside before breaking to the corner. As the linebackers chase the Outside Zone action, the crossing route naturally appears in the window behind them.

Johnson also dresses up the concept with motion. Pre snap movement forces the safeties to rotate, leaving the corner responsible for both the vertical route and the flat. That conflict creates another easy completion off the same play-action look.

Toss Boot

Johnson makes a subtle adjustment when building the concept off Toss. Instead of sending a receiver directly to the flat, he replaces that route with a shallow crossing route underneath the linebackers.

The Toss action creates an even faster downhill reaction from second level defenders, opening space immediately behind them.

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In his third visit to the Board Drill, the East Ridge offensive coordinator makes the case that you do not need a thick call sheet to be multiple. You need one play your kids believe in and a hundred ways to show it. For Cooley, that play is counter, and over the course of the episode he takes GH counter from its plainest form all the way out to the edges of what a defense will let you get away with.

Along the way he gets into GT and split-flow counter, a first-level slice RPO he calls emo, counter quick borrowed off the college game, and a long-trap ISO wrinkle he is half convinced should have gotten him fired. From there it turns into a quarterback run clinic: a center-turned-quarterback lowering his shoulder between the tackles, jet and empty-formation keeps, a guard-tailback counter, and a shovel pass he simply calls Tebow. The thread running through all of it is the part most offenses skip. The offensive line barely changes a rule, and the defense never gets to tee off on your base.

If you run gap scheme, this is an hour well spent with the whiteboard open.

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That was on full display during the Bears’ Week 17 matchup with the 49ers. While most people remember the offensive fireworks, the clinic was happening before the snap. Ben Johnson consistently manipulated one of the NFL’s fastest and most disciplined defenses through motion.

San Francisco thrives on speed. Their linebackers trigger downhill. Their safeties rotate quickly. Their defensive front flows aggressively to the football. Johnson’s answer was making them hesitate.

Chicago used motion on more than 65% of its offensive snaps, forcing the second level to constantly adjust alignments, communicate responsibilities, and process new information. Those fractions of a second created cleaner blocking angles, easier throwing windows, and explosive opportunities throughout the game.

Rather than viewing motion as window dressing, Johnson treated it as another blocker, another route, and another form of deception.

Creating Leverage in the Run Game

The Bears’ run game is built around familiar concepts: Duo, Inside Zone, and Outside Zone. What makes the offense difficult to defend isn’t the schemes themselves, but the variety of motions that change how defenses fit those schemes.

Duo

The Bears begin by shifting the tight end before sending the receiver in fast motion. The motioned receiver becomes the insert blocker on the linebacker.

The receiver ultimately misses his block, forcing the back to adjust his path, but the design is still excellent. Notice the movement created by the tackle and guard on the defensive tackle. That double team creates vertical displacement and gives the back room to operate despite the missed assignment.

The lesson isn’t that the receiver has to make a perfect block every time. It’s that motion allows the offense to insert an extra gap player without changing personnel.

Zone Insert

This initially looks like split zone.

Instead of slicing the fullback across the formation, Johnson motions the receiver to handle the edge defender while allowing the fullback to insert inside as an additional blocker.

The defense is expecting one picture and receives another.

Those small tendency breakers matter. Even when the blocking isn’t perfect (notice the large split by the right guard) the altered presentation gives the offense enough leverage to create a successful run.

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What separates the Rams is the detail. The motions are not eye candy, the splits are not random, and the play-action is not a guess. Each piece is built to move a specific defender out of a specific spot, threatening the run until linebackers and safeties declare, then attacking the grass they just vacated. In this breakdown, we are going to get into exactly how Los Angeles strings those pieces together, and why their version of the insert passing game has become one of the tougher things in football to defend.

Insert Wave

We are going to call this one Wave because it is close enough. Maybe it is Y Cross, but let us call it Wave. Puka motions inside, then inserts between the Tackle and the Tight End before climbing into an over route. That inside insert is the whole point. It lets Puka cross the formation a lot cleaner because he only has to climb over one linebacker instead of two. Against a Cover 1 look, the defensive back is left chasing from a trail position, and that leverage turns into an easy completion for the Rams offense.

Insert Sail

Here Ferguson comes across the formation in motion before inserting between the Guard and Tackle and running a sail route. Even though this is another version of Cover 1, the defensive backs and linebackers struggle to pass off the tight end as he inserts and breaks into the sail. On top of that, they have trouble picking up the running back releasing late out of the backfield. The play ends in an incompletion, but not for lack of scheme.

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On tape it looks like the NCAA pressure everybody runs. It is not. It is a single five-man zone pressure built on reading offensive linemen instead of assigning gaps, and that one distinction is what makes it hold up against every run scheme and every protection a coordinator can dial up. Coach K teaches it the way you wish every clinic taught it, all the way down to the footwork: the flat step, the pound-step head fake, the lean off the snap so you never tip the pressure, and the term the Tommies use instead of box or force, splatter.

From there it builds. How the front cuts the field in half and turns pulls into tackles for loss. Why a bunch of single teams gets extra hats to the ball. How the pattern beats outside zone, power, and RPOs, and the three-man loop that asks a center to do something he simply cannot do. Coach K also shows how the whole thing travels from a 3-4 into a 2-4-5 nickel, so the 4-2-5 crowd can run it too.

It is a heavy install with a ton of drill tape, and it closes with Coach K on what 19 years with the program has taught him about teaching defense, plus the story behind the Tommies’ jump from Division III to FCS Division I.

If you coach the odd front, or you have ever written NCAA pressure on a call sheet and wondered if there was a better way to read it, this one is worth the notebook.

This episode is brought to you by Sideline HQ. Rosters in one spreadsheet, equipment in another, helmet reconditioning tracked on a napkin. Sideline HQ puts all of it in one place: rosters, inventory, gear assignments, and the stuff that eats up your Sundays. Built by football people for football people. Spend less time on paperwork and more time coaching ball. Check it out at sidelinehq.co and tell them Board Drill sent you.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro and tonight’s topic, the king of all blitz patterns

01:11 Sponsor, Sideline HQ

01:59 The 3-4 front and kicking into a 2-4-5 nickel

05:00 Non-pressure run fits, scrape, spill, and splatter

08:40 The scoop technique and the arrow-to-contain player

11:00 Drilling the line, flat step, point the toe, pound-step head fake

12:30 The trace technique on the tight end and the five-minute install

16:00 Force and scrape in space

18:50 Why this beats the NCAA pattern, cutting the field in half

23:02 Defending outside zone and mid zone from the pistol

26:00 Run-throughs that turn pulls into tackles for loss

29:56 Splatter and why phone-booth tackles win

35:50 Denting the tight end and the second-step climb

40:49 Falling back across the formation versus zone

42:01 The C gap power counter

44:00 The no-tight-end catch-all and attacking RPOs

47:02 The power of simplicity

50:00 Protection beaters, the half slide and the hot throw

52:35 Three-man loops and the center who cannot pass it off

57:00 Running the same pattern from 11 personnel in a 2-4-5

59:55 The closing question and the jump from D3 to FCS

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We are an 80% under center football team, and everything we do is built around a Pro-I series system. That is where our offense has always made the most sense. When we are under center, our play calling has a clear purpose. If a defense is stopping Iso and Trap inside, we can attack the perimeter with Sweep and Option. Once the safeties start fitting the run aggressively, we can come back with play-action and throw over the top.

That is what makes a true offensive system valuable. The plays are not random. They are connected. One play sets up the next. Every defensive adjustment creates an answer for the offense.

Our staff understands our under center system. Our players understand it. We can call plays with confidence because we know how each piece fits.

But for a long time, our shotgun offense never felt that way.

When we went to the gun, it felt like we were just calling a collection of plays that we thought were cool. Maybe it was a QB run. Maybe it was a Jet Sweep. Maybe it was a screen or a shot play. But it did not always feel like a true system. The players could feel it too.

Every time we lined up in shotgun, it almost felt like we were running a trick play instead of simply executing our offense.

That changed when we were introduced to the Gun Wing offense at a coaching clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The biggest takeaway was simple:

Your shotgun offense can be built with the same series philosophy as your under center offense.

That idea changed the way we looked at our gun package. Instead of just having a menu of plays, we started thinking in terms of answers. What happens if the defense loads the box? What happens if they set the edge hard? What happens if the safeties start flying downhill?

That is where the Power Read Series became such an important part of our offense.

The series gives us a shotgun package that has rhythm, structure, and answers. Let’s break it down.

Play #1: Jet Power Read

The first piece of the series is Jet Power Read.

This is the play that forces the defense to defend the width of the field immediately. The Jet motion puts stress on the edge before the ball is even snapped. Linebackers have to communicate. Safeties have to adjust. The defense has to decide how much attention it wants to give to the motion.

If the defense chases the Jet motion too hard or widens to protect the edge, the quarterback can keep the ball and run behind Power blocking. If the defense squeezes inside or tries to take away the quarterback run, the Jet motion has space on the perimeter.

Play #2: Power Read

The next piece is the traditional Power Read concept.

For us, this fits because it gives the shotgun offense the same physical identity we want under center. We are still running Power. We are still creating angles. We are still forcing the defense to fit the run. Not having the Jet motion to start the play eliminates the timing required to run Jet Read. If it’s cold, raining, your center’s snaps are off, etc. You might want to just run the play, instead of the jet motion, you simply run a wide zone path to hit the perimeter.

Play #3: Play-Action Toward the Jet Motion

Once the defense starts reacting aggressively to the run game, the next answer is play-action.

The first play-action concept works toward the Jet motion.

This is a natural complement because the defense has already been trained to react to the Jet. When they see that motion, they start thinking about the perimeter run. Safeties rotate and come down hill creating wide open throwing windows.

Play #4: Play-Action Away from the Jet Motion

The second staple play-action concept works away from the Jet motion.

This is an important answer because defenses will often start over-adjusting to the motion side. Once the Jet motion becomes a threat, the defense may rotate coverage, bump linebackers, or push the secondary toward the motion.

That opens up space away from the motion to the weak side.

Why the Series Works

The reason this series is so valuable is because it gives the shotgun offense a real identity.

It is not a random group of plays. It is not a trick play package. It is a system.

The defense has to defend:

• Jet motion to the perimeter

• Quarterback Power inside

• Play-action toward the motion

• Play-action away from the motion

It is the same philosophy we already believe in under center, just translated into a shotgun system.

Final Thought

For high school football, the best offensive systems are usually not the most complicated ones.

The best systems are the ones players understand and give your coaches a play calling sequence.

That is why the Power Read Series has become such an important part of our shotgun offense. It allows us to stay physical, use motion, create conflict, and build every call off the same core idea.

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The Rams get to the dig on several pattern combinations: Y Cross, Dagger, and the single-receiver dig, because that is what they do.

Q2 | 3rd & 8 | -32 | 2:00 | 21-7 Rams

The Rams come out of the two minute drill in empty, ready to move the football. The 49ers present a 7-up look but will bail to a Cover 8 shell, Cover 2 to the trips and Cover 4 to the twins.

Stafford decides to work toward the boundary and makes a simple Quarters read. The defensive end, who is the flat player, expands with the out route, so Stafford stays patient and rips the dig as it comes open in the void between the flat defender and the safety. The Rams also throw a lot of Curl/Flat, and this is a similar read off of the flat defender.

Q2 | 2nd & 7 | -38 | 4:27 | 21-7 Rams

Dagger is nearly impossible to defend when the protection and the execution are both there. This variation stresses the coverage in several different ways. Tampa Bay is in Cover 6, Cover 4 to the strength and Cover 2 to the weak side. Start with the trips routes. The seam by the tight end attracts the backside safety in a poach technique. The corner route from #2 takes the safety, and they rarely pass off routes at this depth, so the dig portion belongs to the corner who is coming outside-in trying to make a play. What protects the corner? The hook defenders usually do. But now they have eye candy in front of them with the drag from the backside, which holds them just enough to create that void we will be talking about for this entire article.

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