Breakdown Sports

We are going to continue our look at various passing concepts, this time with 2x2 and mirrored passing concepts. In this post we are going to trim out the concepts that are designed to attack the middle of the field and put those into a separate post. 2x2 concepts allow an offense to attack a defense based on post-snap looks and coverages via a simple read of the safety. Completely mirrored concepts, when the same concept is run on the both sides of the formation (such as all-hitches), is something of which I'm not a huge fan, but there are advantages to it. You look at something like all-hitches, which overloads underneath zones, and you see a viable option in the short passing game against zone heavy teams; similarly, completely mirrored concepts can allow you to pick on certain defenders or to a certain side of the field based on defensive look. We'll also look at "base" concepts, which see the outside receivers run the same route, and a third receiver work the mid...

With a true freshman QB, Penn State has really simplified their offense to help him adjust to the speed of defenses. With these adjustments he has looked like a very good QB for such a young player. PSU looks to rely more on the inside zone than they did a year ago , and they’ll throw a tunnel or bubble screen on almost any down and distance to keep the defense honest against them, but what I want to discuss today is how they attack the short zones, and then when they catch defenses peaking, how they attack with 4 vertical receivers to keep the defense on their heals. Hitches This is perhaps the easiest play schematically that there is. However, execution is key to its success. The key is for the receiver to run at the defender’s leverage point. This is to get into his body in an attempt to turn him or continue to maintain cushion on you. At about 6 yards the receiver plants on his outside foot and works back to the ball. The ball is placed away from the defender, so if the de...