What You Need To Be Watching During A Football Game

Since you are here on this blog I know for a fact that you guys at least like football (most love it). And many of you want to take your Madden NFL; NCAA Football games as far as it can go. But what most people do not realize is that by looking at football
Thursdays (High School Junior Varsity Football)
Fridays (High School Varsity Football)
Saturday (College Football)
Sunday (NFL Football)
You can analyze those games to better your own game and this is what you need to be looking at

Offense

Formations
You can use the previous knowledge of the opposing defense to get a good take on how the offense has decided to attack them. Formations are probably the most interesting thing to look at
Do the New England Patriots want to spread the Pittsburgh Steelers out to attack the coverage deficiencies of the safeties?
Do the Atlanta Falcons come out in big formations to get the Philadelphia Eagles out of their strength nickel formations?
You can learn some information that can assist you in the most crucial times in a game. If the defense is doing something you do not like you can think back to how_____________ handled it when _____________ did ____________. Formations are very interesting and helpful


Protections
Analyze what the offense does to protect the quarterback.
How many guys are in blocking in a normal play?
How do they handle 3rd downs?
Do they use Wide receiver or Halfback screens?
Do they use the tight end to chip the defensive end before running a route? (that is a blue delay route)


How Do They Handle The Box?
The box is the area from tight end to tight end about eight yards deep. Defenses look to stack the box with defenders to stop the offenses running game. Offenses have to find ways to get defenders out of the box.
Do they use the uncovered theory?
Do they use play action passes?
DO they use horizontal passing concepts?


Weird Personnel
Does a team come out in a 5 wide receiver formation using two tight ends and a running back? Do you think it looks cool? If yes USE IT YOURSELF!!!!!

You guys would be so surprised how many of my crazy ideas spur from seeing a football game or doing research

Defense

How The Defense Lines Up To Offensive Formations
This is by far the most important thing to look at as far as the defense . Alignment is the first step to playing defense, and leverage is key. If you can pick up anything in this regard it can help you achieve better leverage to your defensive formations.


Defensive Play Calls On Down And Distance 
You should be paying attention to what coverage’s and formations the defense is calling on 1st down, 2nd down and 3rd down.
WHY?
You can learn a thing or two. If you know the Bears are normally pretty much a Tampa Two defense it can be interesting to see if they blitz from that coverage or go to another coverage. Are they going to a cover 4 to trick the offense?
Do they come out in heavy formations to match the offense’s formation or are they calling personnel by down and distance?
These are things that you can grab and plug into your madden nfl game with a little work.


Blitz ratio
I know that you probably won’t be sitting there with a pen and a pad writing down Blitz…coverage…coverage…blitz
I’m not expecting you to do so because god only knows that I do not. But you do need to get a loose estament of how much they blitz if you want to replicate that type of defense. Not only that, it could be any team on television. But you can see how the Colts play against the Packers (just a quick example)

Blitzes In General
Are the defense doing anything specific to get the pressure on the quarterback? If you see so write it down and try it out in the video game.

Personnel
What is the defensive personnel in regards to the offensive personnel?

DO the New Your Jets stay in their base 3-4 defense vs the Baltimore Ravens spread personnel? Does it work? If so find out why it is working, and if you can try to replicate it in video games if you can.

Conclusion 

There it is guys, What You Need To Be Watching During A Football Game. There is a lot to be learned by just paying attention to what you see on your TV screen, do not watch but PAY ATTENTION!!!!.
I know that it has assisted me a ton and spurred quite a bit of my crazy thoughts.

If you like this article could you tweet it out your your Bros on twitter (also follow me on twitter @WFColonel56), could you stumble it, and if you have a digg account could you digg it.

Also Subscribe to my Youtube Channel. To do so just search xWFColonel56x and you will see it

Thanks for reading guys WFColonel56 OUT!!!

The Passing Route Combo Database

The Passing Route Combo Database is the first database that holds every route combo that can be used in Madden NFL Football, Ncaa Football, as well as in real life. This database is not complete as is, it probably will never be complete. It will be updated regularly to account for more route combos.

This database is a tool for madden players to use to get the most out of their offensive formations

Enjoy


Check Back Regularly For More Route Combos

Follow me on twitter to get updates @WFColonel56

Mesh

Quick Outs

Post - Corner Route Combo (Fork)

Post - Wheel Route Combo

Slant - Flat Route Combo

Smash Route Combo

Spacing Route Combo

Seam Curl Route Combo

Seam - Deep Out Route Combo

Drive Route Combo

Follow Route Combo

Curl Flats Route Combo

Four Verticals Route Combo

Learning Defensive Coverage for QBs

There are a lot of people who are confused in how to read defensive coverage's. Real life football is always a very good tool to madden or ncaa football players because there are tons of similarities between them, and the games will just keep getting more real life. This is a very good video to help players read defensive coverage.

TCU Defense Explained: brophyfootball

brophyfootball provides a ton of great football info and i am glad to say that I have obtained a gem from them

TCU DEFENSE EXPLAINED

follow that link above and you will see over 3 hours of video talking about the TCU Defense. I have seen 20 mins of the video and i am very exited to view the rest of it. I am 10000% sure that you will be able to take at least 1 thing from the video and add it into your madden/ncaa game

enjoy

How Important Is A Balanced Attack In The Spread Offense

This is a write up from spread offense.com 
(and yes it is old, note the names used lol) but it is still valuable info

Think about how you can take what you are reading and insert that into madden nfl or ncaa football.
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How Important Is A Balanced Attack In The Spread Offense


When you think of the spread offense, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it running the ball using the zone read, triple option, and quarterback 'single wing' type plays like West Virginia and Oregon (with Dennis Dixon)? Is it throwing the ball all over the field both vertically and horizontally like Hawaii? OR...is it a balanced mix of rushing the football and passing the football like Florida?
 
I must admit, when I personally think of the spread offense today (at this moment), the first thing that comes to my mind is the use of the quarterback in the rushing game...the Coach Rodriguez style of the spread that has made West Virginia a national powerhouse over the last 3 years. But is this style of the spread offense the best style? Is this style the 'formula' for ultimate success?

Maybe the reason I think of the spread in this rushing form is because it is the newest, freshest, or the 'buzz' out there in college and high school - not necessarily the 'best' form or style.

I mean don't get me wrong, when Oregon, Appalachian State or West Virginia had teams scrambling to figure out how to defend their respective rushing dominant spread offenses, it was some of the funniest stuff to watch as both a fan and a coach. It was so good that you wondered 'how the heck are they doing that?'... gashing some pretty good defenses with these shot-gun spread running plays?

On the flip side, if you tuned into West Virginia's two defeats this year versus South Florida (who has beaten WVU two years in a row with great defense) and Pittsburgh, you would have shook your head saying "What's all the fuss about?"

As a former offensive coordinator myself, I must admit that one of the hardest things to do is get away from something that is so successful so often. Is it pride, ego, stubbornness, or the fear of not enough preparation or more importantly game exposure to 'Plan B' that prevents coaches from shifting gears when a defense hasn't stopped you all day?

Remember, there is only so much time in a day and more importantly so much 'game experience' for alternative measures to be confidently ran when the scoreboard is on.

So as a coach...what do you do? Your racking up tons of yardage and points using a lot of the same stuff simply because the defense can't stop you, do you stop calling what's working (going against the 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' motto) and try to 'balance' your attack? Risking a possible turnover or more importantly loss of offensive momentum and scoring to prepare for the future (just in case)?

Obviously the capabilities of your player's will have a lot of determination on how balanced you are willing to be.

It's a fact that Patrick White from WVU couldn't run Colt Brennan's offense at Hawaii (or vice versa) but how 'balanced' could these two guys really be?

Colt Brennan threw for 4,174 and rushed for 65 so far this year

Patrick White threw for 1,548 and rushed for 1,185 so far this year

If you looked at these two stats from two great college QB's, you would say that West Virginia is the more 'balanced' offensive team, but is either team really 'balanced'?

Then you have the Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow from Florida, his stats so far this year look like this:

Passing: 3,132
Rushing: 838

Not very balanced stats, but during my observation of this year, I would have to say that Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen of Florida do the best job of 'balancing' an attack and more importantly staying with that balanced attack game plan then any other spread offense in the nation.*

Is it because of Tim Tebow's skills? or a philosophy the Gator's have that staying balanced in the spread is the right formula to keep defenses honest and stressed?

The Gators did lose 3 games this year in the very tough SEC conference.


* (As a side note, Butch Jones from Central Michigan also did a great job of balancing his attack in the Motor City Bowl this year.)

Brief: Spread Offense Run Game

Another quick little video that is packed with some very good content. I will highlight a quick rundown about what you should be getting out of this video

1. He breaks down quickly the basics of the spread offense...pay attention!!! lol
2. He talks about the Corner back depth. He says if they are at a particular depth he automatically checks to a fade route...something to consider doing in madden nfl (but with a streak)

The Sail Route Combo

Long time no post but I found a very nice video today that I just had to drop everything and get my but here and post it. A few key points before you watch the video

1. if he sees cover 0 he attacks it, lol just like me
2. pay attention to the sail route combo, it is a very good combo in madden and had been for years
3. look and see what he does vs cover 2, not saying that you should look to do something similar but consider it, or lab it out and see how it works for you in madden 12
4. pay attention to the backside post, very good concept ****hint, hint****

Hot reads with a 5 step drop

Whats up guys, I cant really type much right now But I want to leave you with a great video that has helped me out a ton over the past two years.

Soon I will show you how to use what is talked about in this video in Madden 12 or Ncaa Football 12

But for now look at it once, look at it twice.....Look at it one more time, and understand the concept of what he is talking about. And just be ready when I break it down






WFColonel56 OUT!!!!

constraint plays? (smartfootball.com)

Here is a good read from smartfootball.com

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What kind of offense should you (or do you) run? A typical responses sounds something like: “I run a system with bubble screens, play action passes, screens, and draws.” This is a nonsensical answer. That’s not an offense; it’s a collection of plays. An offense consists of what are your base runs, base dropback passes, base options, or whatever else are your base, core plays. The other plays I mentioned are not your offense, they are constraints on the defense, or “constraint plays.”

The idea is that you have certain plays that always work on the whiteboard against the defense you hope to see — the pass play that always works against Cover 3, the run play that works against the 4-3 under with out the linebackers cheating inside. Yes, it is what works on paper. But we don’t live in a perfect world: the “constraint” plays are designed to make sure you live in one that is as close as possible to the world you want, the world on the whiteboard.

Constraint plays thus work on defenders who cheat. For example, the safety might get tired of watching you break big runs up the middle, so he begins to cheat up. Now you call play-action and make him pay for his impatience. The outside linebackers cheat in for the same reason; to stop the run. Now you throw the bubble screen, run the bootleg passes to the flat, and make them pay for their impatience. Now the defensive ends begin rushing hard upfield; you trap, draw, and screen them to make them pay for getting out of position. If that defensive end played honest your tackle could block him; if he flies upfield he cannot. Constraint plays make them get back to basics. Once they get back to playing honest football, you go back to the whiteboard and beat them with your bread and butter.

In a given game your offense might look like it is all “constraint” plays: all gimmicks, screens, traps, draws, fakes and the like. Maybe so, if that’s what the defense deserves. But you can’t lose sight of the structure of your offense. Just because the bubbles, the flares, the fakes, and other gimmicks are your best offense for a couple of weeks doesn’t mean that it will be there. Indeed, the best defense against that kind of stuff is simply a sound one. Thus great offenses must be structure around sound, time tested core ideas, but have the flexibility to go to the “constraint plays” whenever the opportunity exists. Too often, the constraint plays are alternatively given too much and not enough weight. But they nevertheless are what make an offense go.

If you’re a dropback pass team — think of the Airraid guy— you need constraint plays that counteract defenses that cheat for the passes. If you’re a great run team, you need constraints that attack safeties and linebackers who all cheat by formation and post-snap effort to stop your run game. You must have the counters, the screens, the bootlegs, and the quick passes, which work best when the defense gives you the structure. All this comports well with a game theory approach to football. Indeed, these constraint plays are most important against the best teams because those teams put the biggest premium on taking away what you hang your hat on. (But be wary of constraint plays against very talented teams — they may be stuffing your core offense not because they are cheating, but instead because they are better than you; the constraint plays then play into their hands.)

The upshot is that a good offense must: (a) find those one or two things on which it will hang its hat on to beat any “honest” defense — think of core pass plays, options, and so on, but also (b) get good at all those little “constraint” plays which keep the defense playing honest. You won’t win any championships simply throwing the bubble screen, but the bubble will help keep you from losing games when the defense wants to crush your run game. Same goes for draws and screens if you’re a passing team. You find ways to do what you want and put your players in position to win and score.

Designing an offense is all about structure. Constraint plays, like the bubble, work when the defense gives you the play by their structure; same for play-action passes over the top. When I say these are defensive cheats, I mean they aren’t the base, whiteboard defenses you expect, because defenses — both players and coaches — adjust to take away what you do well. But you want to go to your core stuff, so you build your offense off of that, and each constraint play forces the defense back in line, right where you want them. That’s the beauty of football: punch, counterpunch.

The Quick Passing Game in the Spread Offense

This article comes directly from spreadoffense.com. You get to take a look at some of the quick passes from the spread offense, enjoy!!!!!

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The Quick Passing Game in the Spread Offense:

One of the big advantages of the spread offense is to use the quick passing game (i.e., slants, stops, speed ins, sticks) as well as other routes and combinations to exploit the defense.  At the most basic level, the quick passing game works well because it is high percentage passing, beats blitzes, minimizes an aggressive pass rush, and allows your best athletes – usually your slot receivers - to make moves on linebackers in space.  The plays that I will discuss are good for all down and distances – even a 3^rd and long scenario - if your opponent has a high blitz tendency in that situation.  With that foundation, let’s learn how to properly execute the quick game from the very beginning.

First, the quarterback should be in a shotgun stance, with heels 5 to 5 ½ yards from the LOS.  I will walk through the progression of the play assuming we have a right handed QB.  The QB must pick which side he is going to go to pre-snap, and can not change his decision regardless of what happens.  Using daily drills, the QB must get used to catching the ball while using his peripheral vision downfield.  Assuming the QB is throwing to the right, he must plant his right foot in the ground as he would usually, rotate his hips and throw all in one motion, as his feet are already in position to release the ball.  When throwing to the left, the same rules apply; the QB’s hips are already open to that side, so plant the right foot in the ground, step and throw.  (I use a rapid fire drill where I get 5 footballs and set up 5 receivers across the field, with our routes at designated positions and shotgun snap the ball to the QB, so he understands to just catch and throw.)

Second, the role of the Offensive Line in the quick passing game is crucial.  Obviously, they do not need to hold their protection for a long period of time, but do need to open passing lanes and prevent balls from being batted down.  We still use our basic slide protection for these plays.  However, unlike our vertical passing game, we allow the linemen to cut the DL, helping to prevent them from getting their hands up and in passing lanes.  Should a DL deliberately choose to not rush the passer and is only worried about getting his hands up, we will work on legally striking him in the midsection so as to avoid having balls batted down.

The third and perhaps most neglected aspect of the quick game is the role on the running back (s) – whether there is one or two in the backfield, you can use them to your advantage.  In my opinion, you do not need either of them as a checkdown option in the quick passing game because the ball should be out of the QB’s hands.  Therefore, when not using the RB to checkdown, we use him in protection.  We line him up on one side of the QB and call the slide to the side he is on, meaning that he must cross in front of the QB to pick up backside pressure.  The cross action freezes LB’s who must respect our zone running attack.  By making the LB’s go flat footed for a second, larger windows are opened to execute a slant, drag, speed in, or even a stop route.  The QB does not need to fake to the RB, as the cross action does enough to hold the LB’s without disrupting our timing.  There are also situations where we use the RB to be part of the routes.  In these cases, the RB is not used as a checkdown or as an extra blocker in pass protection; rather, he is part of the primary read, meaning the back will be hot to his route – usually an arrow flat route.  The arrow flat route works best with the stick play which I will diagram at the end.

The final component of the quick passing game is the receivers.  Our best quick game formations are a 2x2, 3x1, or empty set.  We are able to run all quick routes in all formations, making us more difficult to defend.  It is best to view the plays from the diagram at the bottom, but I will discuss the execution of each of the routes.  In general, when running the slant, we want the outside receiver to make his break after the 3^rd step.  He must punch and break at a 45 degree angle.

The inside slant will take one step and punch, so that each slant is on a different plane, creating a clearer read for the QB.  When running double slants in a 2x2 set, each side will mirror each other and the QB should pick the side he likes most (softest coverage, nearest alley defender).  The QB will read the guy covering the #2 receiver; if that defender covers #2, we throw the outside slant now.  Should he expand out and #2 can beat him inside, we throw to #2 now.  The same read progression applies for running double speed ins.

Slant Routes

Again, we want the routes to be on different planes, so we run the inside speed in at 5 yards and the outside one at 6; since our slot receiver is lined up one a yard off the ball, they should both be turning their heads at the same time.  When running both of those plays in a 3x1 or empty set, we have the #3 receiver on the strong side run a seam route.  He must create a wall on the first LB either head up or inside of him, to prevent the LB from covering.  In all of those scenarios, we will cross the RB in front of the QB to freeze the LB’s.  Another staple of the quick passing game is all stops – which are run out of all three formations and are self-explanatory.  Every receiver runs through 6 yards, turns around and should expect the ball to be on them.

Stop Routes

For the QB, we choose a side by identifying either softest coverage or if coverage is balanced, the shortest throw or best leverage against defenders.  The stops need to be completed as close to 100% of the time as possible - in essence, we view the stop pattern as an extended handoff.  We utilize the RB in the same way we do on double slants and speed ins with the cross action.  The last play I will discuss is the stick route.  We can run this out of all 3 formations as well.  In a 2x2 set, we run stick on one side and any of the route combinations I previously discussed on the other side.  The stick route is for the slot receiver - he will run through 6 yards, plant off the first LB to his inside (the Mike) and stick out.  The outside receiver to the stick side will run a fade to occupy the corner.  This is the situation where we use the RB to run and arrow flat.  What we want to do is occupy the flat defender – whether the corner in cover 2, the OLB in man, cover 4 or 3, we want him to be occupied.

Speed In Routes

This will open up the window to throw the stick route.  When there is no immediate flat defender, we will throw the arrow flat to the back now.  Should the Mike LB blitz, the man running the stick should just turn around at 4 yards and expect the ball, and should not run the complete stick route.  When running the stick route out of empty or a 3x1 set, we call it double stick.  We want the #1 receiver on the 3 receiver side to still run his fade, #2 to run a roll over speed out (start to roll at 2 yards and gain depth to 5), with the #3 receiver running the traditional stick route.  The read for the QB is the same on each - if the flat defender commits immediately, throw the stick, if there is no flat defender, throw the flat now.

I did not include bubble or a stay route because I consider them to be more of a screen package than the quick game.  The plays that I discussed are great in all down and distance situations and are designed to advance the ball downfield in an attacking mode.  The most important thing is timing, since these routes are shorter.  The QB’s and WR’s must practice each of these routes daily, without too much stress on the QB’s arm or the WR’s legs.

Controlling the Ball With the Pass

Now we will take a step into the mind of the late great Bill Walsh. Coach Walsh will tell us how we can control the ball with the pass

This post comes from westcoastoffense.com


(if you cant see the imagines than right click the picture and open it in a new window/tab...that should fix the issue)

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Controlling the Ball With the Pass BILL WALSH former San Francisco 49ers and Stanford Cardinal

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My philosophy has been to control the ball with the forward pass. To do that we have to have versatility-versatility in the action and types of passes thrown by the quarterback.


Dropback Passes We like the dropback pass. We use a three-step drop pattern, but more often we will use a five-step drop pattern of timed patterns down the field. From there we go to a seven-step drop. When our quarterback takes a seven-step drop, he's allowing the receivers time to maneuver down the field. Therefore, we will use a three-step drop pattern when we are throwing a quickout or hitch or slant which, by and large, the defense is allowing you to complete by their alignment or by their coverage.


The five-step drop pattern for the quarterback calls for a disciplined pattern by the receiver. He runs that pattern the same way every time. He doesn't maneuver to beat the defensive back.
Too often in college football, either the quarterback is standing there waiting for the receiver, or the receiver has broken before the quarterback can throw the ball. These are the biggest flaws you will see in the forward pass. Now when the receiver breaks before the ball can be thrown, the defensive back can adjust to the receiver. Any time the quarterback holds the ball waiting for the receiver to break, the defensive back sees it and breaks on the receiver. So the time pattern is vital.


Play-Action Passes You can't just dropback pass. You have to be able to keep the defense from zeroing in on your approach. That's why the play pass is vital. By and large, the play-action pass will score the touchdown. The dropback pass will control the ball.
For play-action passing, we have certain blocking fundamentals that we use. We will show different backfield actions with basically the same offensive line blocking. We will go to the play pass as often as we can, especially as we get to the opponent's 25-yard line.


Action Pass The third category of pass that most people use is what we call the action pass, where your quarterback moves outside. There are a couple of reasons for moving outside. One certainly is to avoid the inside pass rush. For a dropback passing team we'll sprint-out "waggle" as we call it-outside to avoid blitzers who approach straight up the field on us. The other advantage is to bring yourself closer to the potential receiver.
 
We'll get outside to throw the ball and get ourselves closer to the man we want to throw to. When you can get outside, the trajectory of the ball can be flatter because normally there isn't a man between you and the receiver.


The versatility also includes changing your formations. We continuously change receiver width and spacing. We seldom will line up our receiver with the same spacing on two or three plays in a row. If we want to throw the ball to the outside, we will reduce the split of the receiver. We need running room to the outside. We don't want the ball in the air very long. If we want to throw inside, we will extend the split of our receivers, so that there is more maneuvering room to the inside, and spread the defense.


 Our backs, as many teams know will cheat to get where they have to be. We know that if we throw to backs, the first thing on their mind is how to release out of the backfield. We are quite willing to move the man to get the release and sometimes telegraph what we are doing. We are quite willing to do that with the idea that when we want to break a given tendency, we simply line them up there and run something else.


We will vary the split of the receivers according to the pattern and the coverage and, of course, to add versatility. The biggest problem you will have in the forward pass is when you have to throw the ball a number of times and, with a very limited inventory, you begin to throw the same pattern over and over. You get into trouble. The argument that you will throw the interception has to be qualified with how much you know about the forward passing game versus the running game. In our last game, our opponent fumbled five times, and we threw no interceptions. That might have been the difference in the game.
Play Selection One of the factors involved with our success years ago with the Cincinnati Bengals was that we would begin to set a game plan for the opening of the game. We continued that at Stanford. In a given game, say, for instance, against Southern California, we ran the first 12 plays we had decided on in order. Of course, we ran out of lists because the first 12 worked and none worked after that. But the point is we went 12 plays in order, right down the line. We went eight straight games scoring the first time we had the ball. By the time we have completed 8 to 10 plays, we've forced the opponent to adjust to a number of things. We've kept him off balance with the type of thing we were doing, and we pretty much established in a given series what we would come to next.


That's a good approach to offensive football. It forces you to go into that game with a certain calmness. You know where you're going, rather than having to say, "What in the hell do we do now?" Occasionally planned plays don't work, but we keep going. We don't change; we don't worry about it. We try to create an effect on our opponent. The effect is that he feels he has to adjust. We present different looks and dilemmas. We run the ball right at him. We throw the ball over his head. Meanwhile, because we know what the play is, we readily see what their adjustments are. We try to get a line on their first down defenses, but we take it from there.


In Scoring Territory I have seen many teams march the ball beautifully, but right around the 15-yard line, they are already warming up their placekicker, because right at that point defenses change, the field they can operate in changes, and suddenly their basic offense goes all to pieces.


My contention is that if we are on their 25, we're going for the end zone. Failing at that, we will kick a field goal. In an evenly matched game, I don't want to try to take the ball from their 25 to the goal line by trying to smash it through people, because three out of four times, you won't make it. Unless you are superior. Of course, if you are vastly superior it makes very little difference how you do it.


Why? First, every defensive coach in the country is going to his blitzes about right there. The pass coverage, by and large, will be man-to-man coverage. We know that if they don't blitz one down, they're going to blitz the next down. Automatically. They'll seldom blitz twice in a row but they'll blitz every other down. If we go a series where there haven't been blitzes on the first two downs, here comes the safety blitz on the third down. So we are looking, at that point, to get into the end zone.


By the style of our football, we'll have somebody to get the ball to a little bit late-just as an outlet to get 4 or 5 yards, to try to keep it. But from the 25 to the 10, we're going for the end zone.


Midfield Between our own 10-yard line and the opponent's 25, we operate our field offense. We know that on first down our ball-control passing is vital. By and large, on first-and-10 you'll get a 2-deep zone - zone-type defense. We can drop the ball off to a back late and still make 4 to 5 yards. Those 4 or 5 yards are as important to us as some other team making the same on an option play.


You often will see us run with the ball on second-and-lO, because we want 5 yards. If you run a basic running play, you can get your 5.
At third-and-5, we are right back with a ball-control pass, dumping to a back, and we're making it. If we can make 30 first downs a game, we'll win.


Short Yardage We have standard passes to throw against a goalline defense. Too often people try to go in there and butt heads with good linebackers on the goal line. Too often they don't make it. If we get inside that 5-yard line, half the time we are going to throw the ball. Now, if you're marching through somebody, you can just close your eyes and hand the ball off But when it's very competitive, that goal-line pass is vital. So we have a series of those. We never call them anywhere else on the field.


When we are around their 35-yard line in a short-yardage situation, if we don't see somebody standing deep down the middle, we're probably going to go for the six points. To make it on third-and-1 we will often throw to a back out of the backfield. Third-and-3 is the toughest of all to make. We have a certain list of runs and a certain list of passes. When we have a third-and-3, we don't grope. We go to it.


Ball-Control Passing Don't isolate throwing the forward pass to a given down and distance. If you are going to throw the ball, you must be willing to throw on first down, not a token pass hoping for the best, but a pass that is designed to get you a certain amount of yardage.

In our ball-control passing, we will use the five-step drop pattern on first down, because we know through the drilling of our quarterback, that we can get 4 or 5 dropping the ball off to a back, who is an outlet, or to a tight end. So we are quite willing to throw a ball-control pass on first down, and then go to our seven-step drop maneuvering pattern on third down. As you can see, most of our offense is based on ball-control passes, no matter what the situation. Figure 1 shows you a ball-control pass that Sid Gilman may have developed some time ago. It's one of the most effective forward passes we've used.

FIGURE 1 Red Right - 22 Z-In

22 Z-In This is a five-step drop pattern. The quarterback takes five big steps and a hitch step and throws on time. The receiver splits 12 to 14 yards. The flanker releases inside for 5 to 6 yards and then bursts hard to the outside foot of the cornerback. What he wants to do is to get that cornerback on his heels. Then he'll turn in about three steps and catch the pass 12 yards deep.
The fullback runs what we call a scat pattern. He doesn't have any pickup, and he releases to the outside. He never catches the ball more than 2 yards past the line of scrimmage, most often right at the line of scrimmage. If the backer blitzes, he looks for the ball early. 


Our tight end picks off the near end backer. He'll put his head past that man's shoulder, slow down, and make contact. He bounces off it and goes to the far guard position, turns and faces the quarterback, and watches his eyes because he's the last outlet.


The quarterback throws the ball related to the sky safety. If the safety gives ground, he'll throw to the fullback. If the safety flattens out, we'll throw in behind him, in this case to the flanker. If it's man-to-man, the flanker runs a man-to-man pattern trying to beat the corner. If it's man-to-man, the safety will often chase the tight end, and there will be a good throwing lane with the backer coming out on the fullback.


When we throw to the fullback the ball should arrive to him a foot in front of his number. If the fullback has to reach, he will take his eyes off the ball, slow down or break stride, and probably get nothing out of it.


Out Pattern The out pattern is a timed pattern thrown from a five-step drop. On a timed pattern, a quarterback does not take a hitch step.


The receiver goes straight up the field as close to full speed as he can. At 10 yards he crosses over and breaks out. He catches the ball at 12 (see Figure 2). The SP doesn't care about the coverage, other than if they roll up, he runs a seam. He doesn't care where the defensive back is located, and he doesn't change his angle of release. He just runs the pattern.


When he catches it, he goes up the sideline. We tell our backs, 'you want the sideline." The reason is that only one man can tackle you at a time, and he often underestimates a ball-carrier along the sideline. What we are after on 22 Z-In is a 7- to 9-yard gain to the fullback, or a 12-yard gain to the flanker. The fullback gets it about two out of three times. 


If the two primary receivers are covered, our quarterback will come back and look at the tight end. As soon as the tight end sees the quarterback's eyes, he slides laterally for the pass (see Figure 1).


We have several other options off our 22 action, depending on the defense. We have a Z-in with fullback motion, a circle-out with our flanker, and a Y-out with the tight end. The key to the pass is the fullback. He should average 7 to 8 yards a catch. That's what we mean by ball-control passing.

FIGURE 2 Red Right - 24 Double Square Out (OKIE)

The quarterback decides prior to the snap and just after the snap whether he's going to throw him the ball or not. The quarterback takes five quick steps. Notice I said five big steps in the Z in. Now that we're throwing out, the QB takes five quick steps. He can't lead the receiver with the pass because any time you lead a receiver who is running parallel to the ball, he'll never catch up to the ball.


Throw right at the man's hip. If you throw into his body, the defensive back doesn't have any way to get to it. What we are trying to get here is the defensive back giving ground this way and then losing lateral ground this way. That's on single coverage.


On this particular pattern both receivers do the same thing, but I would say most often the flanker gets it. The tight end takes an inside release, goes straight up the field, and runs a full speed crossing pattern, but never crosses the ball. The tight end on his basic crossing pattern is the one you go to on man-under defense. If a team is running man-under, that kind of an out is suicide. So if our quarterback sees inside-out coverage on wide receivers, reasonably close, his drop now goes right to the tight end; he's looking for the tight end to beat a man-under linebacker.


M Pattern The backs play a key role. They check the backers on a blitz. After reading for the blitz, the back runs what we call an M pattern.


In the M pattern, the back moves 1 1/2 to 2 yards back from his blocking position. When he is 6 yards deep and 3 yards outside the offensive tackle, he turns upfield looking for the M pattern.
On the M pattern, the weak linebacker-some call him a defensive end-takes away the square out, we hold the ball, and pop it right off to the halfback (see Figure 2).


There's also a tight end option off the double square-out pattern. As you can see in Figure 2, when both middle linebackers cover backs to the outside, and blitz one man, this isolates our tight end on a backer. He has a good chance of beating the backer.


Hook Pattern Now let's look at the seven-step drop pattern. This is one play that we've almost worn out. On a seven-step drop pattern, our receivers will maneuver. We're going to run a blue left for us, a right, which is motion, and we're going to run a 79, which is weak flow pass protection. Now X is going to run a pattern on the weak side (see Figure 3).
 

FIGURE 3 Blue Right - 79 X-Hook

You vary the width of the receiver. He may be 1 yard split or he may be 12 yards split, depending on which linebacker we are trying to beat. X works up the field, gets past the man who has short coverage, and turns in. We tell him to get past the W and beat the M.


On this pattern we tell our receiver that he must go at least 12 yards and never more than 18 yards on the hook. Not because he can't get open, but because the quarterback can't wait that long to throw. A lot of it is predicated on pass rush. We say never less than 12, because we can't have a hook develop at 12 when our quarterback takes seven steps.


-1979 Proceedings. Coach Walsh was head coach at Stanford University.