Category: Offense
PASSING THROUGH THE ALPHABET
What we try to do when designing a passing attack is to identify the defensive situations we are likely to face in general and in specific game situations. If we're going to see eight men in the box, we better be prepared to give the line help from the backs. We're going to see a lot of 3-deep coverages, so we want to have some patterns that flood zones. We're going to see a lot of man, and a lot of cornerbacks and safeties in very close proximity to cover our compressed formations, so we're going to run a lot of crossing patterns to take advantage of picks and rubs. We are going to see a lot of linebackers being forced into coverage, so we want something to create confusion and indecision in the secondary. For this reason most of our pattern breaks - that point at which the receiver breaks out of his straight-line start into a turn or hook, to be at eight yards - the point at which Linebackers begin to look to hand off a receiver to the secondary, but the secondary is not looking to take him.
Operationally, we are looking to limit the choices given to our receivers (placing the decision in the coaches' hands). We're also looking for a way that the players can immediately understand the execution of our play so there will be no mistakes and routes will be run in a crisp and unhesitating fashion.
This is where the term "passing through the alphabet" comes into play. We name most of our pass plays by the letter they most resemble when drawn out on paper. We have an X Pass, where the Tight End and Wingback slant and cross patterns at eight yards. We have an H pass, where the Wingback runs a fly and the Tight End a soft out pattern at eight yards, resembling a lower case h when run o the left. The list goes on, and some will be drawn at the end.
We also tailor our backfield mechanics to support the pass attack. Most of the time I, and I'm sure most of you, run out of a two-back set. We need to do three things with the backs: support the blocking; act as outlet receivers; and set up designed pass plays. Ideally, all of these should look about the same. What works well is an inside/outside/release technique combined with a base five-step drop from the Quarterback. The backs set for blocking, one on the front side and one on the backside. I generally use the near back on the blind side of the QB and farther back one to the front side unless the near back's there already. (To an "I" coach this usually means the Fullback is protecting the blind side of a right-handed QB, but out of the "T" sets it would be a halfback.) By using a five-step drop the QB naturally flows between the two backs. The backs from there check the inside rush. If none is coming they check the perimeter rush. If they see nothing there, they "run through their check" on the outside and into a swing-pass pattern.
By using this technique, the defense also gets to see the QB pass fairly closely by both backs. This is a good setup for Draw plays.
So we've assisted the pass blocking - even if the Defense rushes eight men we have seven in protection and should be able to make a quick dump-off in time. We've set up for outlet receivers in case all the primaries are covered (They're also in position to be outlet blockers along the most likely routes of scramble for the Quarterback). The backs are in good position to hit with play action fakes, since we really haven't varied from our base sets into an obviously passing set. The last thing is to put in designed passes to the backs.
The most obvious is the screen pass. By allowing the backs to get "overrun" by the line when he steps up to do his outside check, he can slip down along the line with a guard for an outside screen, or simply hook and wait with a guard for an inside screen (or both if you want to get fancy). There's also an "out pass" where the Fullback takes the play action fake and continues through the line and out into the flat (this would be called in combination with another pattern designed to occupy the secondary with the three main receivers).
Submitted by: Coach Moscato
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