Three Jet Toledo

ROUTE IDEAS
This weeks Play of the Week is Drivers TD vs. the Browns. Zebra (three WRs, TE and one RB) 3 Jet "which is a term protection", trips left (formation).
S1 CB 85 N 80 M E1 87 O T O O O 30 W T O S O E C 89

Cleveland had shown a tendency to play a "two man coverage" on third down, meaning CB was "manning up" (covering) Terrence Murphy (85), N was "manning up" Donald Driver (80) and C was "manning up" Robert Ferguson (89). Also, M was "locked up on" David Martin (87) and W was 'locked up on" Ahman Green (30). In other words, the five receivers were all covered one-on-one by the CBs and the LBs. The two safeties "expanded" to play "half safeties", going deeper and toward their respective sidelines in order to play two deep zone. 87 ran a go route straight up the field. 80 ran a "square in", running about 4 yards beyond the line of scrimmage and made a sharp cut to his right. 85 ran a deeper square in - cutting to his right at about the level of where S1 lined up, about 14 yards beyond the LOS. 30 ran a "check wide" to his left, which drew W to the offenses left. 89 ran a go route. Sherman said if Brett sees a single safety defense instead of the 2-deep they anticipate, he can go to 89 who is single covered. Otherwise, they are working the combination on the left side of the formation. He referred to the routes as "levels" 80 runs a route at the first level and 85s route is at the second level. What happened, Sherman explained, is 87 actually ran a pick (Sherman said he "ran interference"). As N tried to cover 80, he was "rubbed off" and unable to cover 80. Against this defense, 80 is Brett's first read and 85 is his second read. Sherman made the point that something they did well during the game was coverting 3rd downs: They were 10 for 14 on 3rd down including, of course, this play. Green (30) didnt go directly to his left as the diagram showed but stepped forward, angling to his left a little and then came back to help Clifton as E1 got by Cliftons outside shoulder. The tape showed a big gap open between Clifton (LT) and Klemm (LG) which gave W a clear path to Favre. But he followed Green as he went to block E1. The threat of Green going to the left flat kept him from rushing Brett. The play took longer to develop than the diagram indicated. Brett took a 5-step drop. The ball was placed on the left hash mark and Driver lined up more than 10 yards to the left of that hash mark. He caught the ball about 5-yards to the right of the right hash mark. The tape did show that the two defenders almost ran into each other and M definitely got in Ns way. It also showed 87s route - he kind of worked his way up field but to the inside a little. It wasnt a "clean" route. The play worked because of the pick (which certainly was legal by the way) but it turned into a TD because Robert Ferguson (89) sustained his block downfield for a very long period of time.

Pass 96 Counter Gap Solid Z Runback

This weeks play is the TD pass to Ferguson (89) vs. the Saints, a play Sherman said was a key play in the game. It is run out of "Solo Left" formation using Tiger (2 TEs, 2 WRs, 1 RB) personnel. The Packers had the ball at the Saints 25 yard line.
S1 CB 80 E1 87 O B T O O O RB M T O O W E 86 S CB 89

Sherman made the point that they have run a lot out of Tiger and they changed it up by passing a lot out of Tiger vs. N.O. This play is a "play pass": It is a fake of the run "96 Counter Gap". The LG pulled to the right and blocked E. Donald Lee (86) ran an "over route". He ran around E to the outside (right) to run up the field and then cut left behind where the LBs lined up running parallel to the line of scrimmage (LOS). The play action (fake of the run) is designed to get the LBs to take a step toward the LOS and to the right of the offense. Favre faked to the RB who ran toward where E lined up. After the fake, Favre bootlegged to the left. "Solid" in the play call means David Martin (87) blocks E1. On many of the bootlegs to the left, the TE on that side releases into the left flat. But on this play, they want Favre to have time to look for Driver (80) who ran a "run back" route. His route is to run about 25 yards straight down the field and then cut back toward the left sideline at a sharp angle. The Saints were playing "quarters coverage" on this play - the four DBs each cover a quarter of the field. Fergusons (89) route had him run inside the CB, Mike McKenzie, and "over" S and then angle toward the back line along the back of the end zone. Sherman drew the route going up the field to the left of where CB lined up and then continuing to a spot behind where S lined up and then continuing to angle, going deeper, toward the left. CB had "over coverage" and S had "under coverage" on 89. (CB was behind 89 and S was in front of 89). S1 came up to cover 86 on the over route, and that created a void in the coverage and the ball was delivered right on the money. The tape showed that the LG, Klemm, missed his block on E. Martin (87) sustained his block pretty well but E1 did pressure Favre just as he released the ball. Driver (80) ran a step or two into the end zone and as he was cutting back, the ball was thrown. S had pretty good coverage - Ferguson was behind him but it took a great throw to complete the pass. Sherman didnt say it but from the name of the play, my guess is Driver was the primary read on the play as he was the "Z" receiver running the "run back".

Scat Detroit X Shallow

S1 CB1 89 E1 86 W O T O O O T O M O E 87 S B 80 CB WR

Because this show occurred after the bye week, this is another TD play vs. the Saints. The Packers had the ball 2nd and 20 at the Saints 26 yard line after the phantom holding call on Mark Tauscher. The play is called out of Tiger personnel (2 TEs). "Scat" means "free release by everyone". The five down linemen have to block the 5 "most dangerous" rushers, none of the receivers have blitz pickup responsibility and this is the first "empty backfield" formation in the plays of the week so far, so no back is available to help the pass blocking. "Detroit" is a term theyve used to describe a certain

concept. Sherman guesses theyve used it for 5 years and it was probably first used against Detroit, so they called it Detroit. "X Shallow" describes what the X receiver is going to do on the play. N.O. was in quarters coverage - each DB had zone responsibility for one-quarter of the field. That was the predominate coverage by the Saints in the game. Robert Ferguson (89) is the X receiver and he ran a shallow "over the middle" route. He ran to about where CB1 lined up and then cut toward where W lined up. He was the #1 read on the play. Sherman, "Ferguson pushed it up (he drew the beginning of 89s route to the point in front of CB1 before he cut inside) which allowed Donald Lee (86) to get an outside release on a high angle corner route." Sherman then drew 86s route which looped outside (to the left) of E1 and then angled directly toward the corner of the end zone at about the midpoint between where CB1 and S1 lined up. Sherman then finished drawing 87s route toward W. On the other side, David Martin (87) ran a vertical route trying to beat M on a post route. Donald Driver (80) ran a corner route toward the right corner of the end zone and WR ran a "smash" route. Sherman, "A smash route is an angle route run to about 4 to 5 yards from the sideline and it just stops there". It sounds like what we used to call a "button hook" (run straight ahead a certain distance and stop and turn toward the QB) only run on an angle. 89 was the primary receiver but Favre recognized what the D was doing. CB1 "squatted a little before he got depth" meaning that CB1 hesitated before he went back to cover the deep quarter of the field he was responsible for. S1 took a step to the offenses right because Favre was looking right at the snap. As a result, CB1 was late getting back and S1 took a step to the right. That left the deep left corner of the field vulnerable and thats where 86s route was going. The tape showed CB1 hesitated as 89 cut to his inside. 86 had him beat the entire route and CB1 never got closer than about 2 yards to him. S1 backed up a few steps and then took a step to his left ( the offense's right). He ended up not covering anyone on the play. WR was wide open on the smash route - the nearest defender was more than 5 yards away when the ball was thrown. 87 just ran a straight route right down the field. Mark Tausher (RT) was beaten on a pass rush to the inside. His man did not hit Favre but was right in his face as the ball was released. Chad Clifton (LT) was beaten to the outside but his man also arrived just late enough for Favre to get the pass off. The pass hit 86 in stride.

Quick Scat Dino U Angle

This week's play of the week is the TD pass to Chatman during the game at Minnesota. The Packers had the ball at the MIN 4 yard line after gaining a couple of yards on a draw play. "Formationally its called spread right B right" (Im not certain he said "B" but it sounded like it). This play was called using Tiger personnel - 2 TDs, 2 WRs and one back. MIN was playing a 3-4 defense with "quarters" coverage (zone coverage with each DB covering a quarter of the field), which "really equals about 7 across down there in their zone" (Since they are so close to the end zone.)
CB1 80 S1 W 86 P E1 O O T O O 40 M O E O B 87 83 S CB

Tony Fisher (40) was the FB on the play. He went in motion by taking a couple of steps forward and then running to the right parallel to the line of scrimmage. That motion caused P and M to move toward 40s motion to the right. The Plugger, P, blitzed up the middle and the rest of the LBs stayed back in coverage. "Scat" is the protection the Packers were in. It means that the OGs "use inside to

outside reads". The LG blocks P if he is coming on a blitz. If not, he "peeks" or looks outside for W coming on a blitz. The RG does the same thing: He looks to M and blocks him if hes blitzing. If not, he looks to B to see if hes coming. On this play, only P blitzed and he was blocked. "Dino" means double post. Sherman drew a line from David Martin (87) to the post (the goal post) and said this route is designed to "drive hard inside on the middle post" route. 87 was the primary read on this play. Antonio Chatmans (83) route involves a "shake and bake" move (he draw a route toward CB with some squiggles to show the "shake and bake" and then drew a straight line on an angle from just in front of where CB lined up going slightly behind where S lined up, parallel to 87s route. 83 was the second read on this play. 40, "we call him the FB on this play", continues his route (he was in motion) into the right flat, trying to "displace" or draw B to cover the right flat. On the left side of the formation, "we have three over two" - the Packers have two receivers but there are 3 defenders, "so its not a good combination to win with" (it isnt a favorable match up). 86s route is a toward S1 and then towards the left corner of the end zone and 80s route goes toward where P lined up. Sherman, "Brett stayed on the strong side where we had three on three. Because P blitzed and B went to the flat, we were able to get over the top of the S." The tape showed how spread out the formation was. Donald Driver (80) was about three yards outside (to the left) of the numbers and 83 was about that far to the right of the numbers on the other side. There was a good five yards between the OTs and the TEs. 87s route was not as Sherman described it. He went straight to the goal line and once he was in the end zone he just went to the left. S seemed to be really fooled by 40s route to the right flat. Even as Brett is releasing the ball, S took a false step toward 40. Even so, there was very little room to squeeze the ball between S and B because CB covered 40 and after B took a step or two toward the right flat he then went back into his spot in the zone. It took a great throw to complete the pass.