With the announcement that head coach Hue Jackson will call his own plays, All-22 film provides a wealth of knowledge and insight into what to expect from the 2016 Cleveland Browns’ offense. Several base concepts that Jackson leans on in the pass and run game jump out of the game tape immediately. A popular run-game concept executed at all levels of football (and Hue Jackson favorite) that we can expect to see next season is good old-fashioned ‘Power’.
Before getting into the details of the play, let’s look at the world famous ‘Power’ concept. The play falls under the ‘power’ run game umbrella, as it is gap-blocked, requiring offensive linemen to both down block and pull.
The running back will take a hard step away from the play’s direction to allow the pulling guard to cross his face, with the added bonus of often causing hesitation by pulling linebackers away from the ball as they read the tailback for run flow.
The game situation is late third quarter, with the Bengals leading 24-0. The offense is 9 plays into a 12-play drive that ultimately resulted in an Andy Dalton touchdown pass to A.J. Green. The entire playbook is open here as the down and distance is first and ten from Oakland’s 37-yard line. Jackson has called a mix of run and pass plays; the Raiders’ defense is clearly on their heels. Many offensive coordinators will take a shot at the end zone due to field position and down/distance in this situation. The two-time head coach elects to dial up Power.
The Bengals come out in an I-left formation (left signifies to which side the tight end is aligned) utilizing ‘21’ personnel (the first number counts the running backs on the field; the second number counts the tight ends on the field). The offense sets the strength of the formation to the ‘field’ or wide-side of the field.
The blocking assignments for Power will vary based on the defense’s front. The Raiders are aligned in an odd front (three down linemen with five players on the line of scrimmage), with eight box defenders to the Bengal’s seven blockers. Based on the math, the defense should have an advantage on run plays as they outnumber the offense in the box, although as we will soon see Jackson alters the math at the POA (point of attack).
When scheming and diagramming running plays, coaches will often draw a line the middle of the page, splitting the center in two. The purpose is the count the number of defenders on each side of the center, looking to run at whichever side has fewer defenders to bring to the POA. They will also look for ‘run bubbles’, or areas on the line of scrimmage that are uncovered by defensive linemen. Offenses often run towards these holes are they are natural creases in the defense’s run fits (gap responsibility).
As you can see from the image above, although the defense maintains a numbers advantage in the box, they do not have enough defenders to create a free hitter on anything run to the left. The Bengals can use the tight end, left tackle, left guard, fullback, and pulling right guard to create a five verse four situation. The extra blocker will be used to pick up any scrapping linebackers coming from the right side of the formation.
We’ll look at the blocks moving from right-to-left:
-The right tackle will ‘hinge’ block, or take a lateral play-side step, then pivot to wall off any defender chasing the play from behind.
-The right guard will pull, aiming for the D-gap outside the tight end’s shoulder. As drawn up, the pulling guard will look to block the SAM (strong-side linebacker). If the puller can’t get to the SAM he will block the first threat to his inside shoulder, or “First threat to cross your face”.
-The center and left guard will down block, or angle block the player to their inside, in this case the 1-technique (aligned over the center’s shoulder) and 3-technique (aligned over the outside shoulder of the left guard). The angles allow the blockers the create leverage and force on the linemen, sealing off the backside of the play.
-The fullback will kick out the end man on the line of scrimmage (EMLOS), the stand-up rusher. The fullback will attack his man inside-to-out, with his aiming point being the inside number of the defender. If the fullback executes this block correctly, the defender will be sealed outside the play.
-The left tackle and tight end will execute the most important block, a double team on the 6i-technique defensive end. This block MUST be secured, as the offense wants to win the D-gap by driving the defender off the line of scrimmage into the linebackers. Once the double-team on the defensive end is secured, one of the two blockers will climb the linebackers, aiming for the MIKE (middle linebacker).
-The tailback will take a hard jab step away from the play to both false key linebackers reading his flow for play direction, and to give the pulling guard time to cross the center. After receiving the handoff the running back will press the D-gap, looking to hit the hole and get vertical QUICKLY. He must read the pulling guard’s block as he enters the hole. It is his responsibility to choose his path based on the guard’s block correctly.
If the offensive line executes the play as drawn up, it will hit for good yardage.
The tight end and left tackle have done an outstanding job double-teaming the defensive end. Notice how they block hip-to-hip, increasing the force and power applied to the defender. Both will use a ‘four hand, four eye’ technique, meaning that they will maintain four hands on the defensive linemen while concurrently looking to the second level to see which will climb to the linebacker. This responsibility can change based on the linebacker’s path to the ball.
Look at the numbers at the point of attack. The tight end and left tackle have clearly won the D-gap, driving the defensive end off the line of scrimmage and away from the play’s direction. The tight end has just moved off the double-team to block the MIKE, while the fullback prepares to kick-out the Jack (OLB) and the pulling guard prepares to fit up the SAM. Every defender is accounted for with a blocker.
The running back has a wide hole to hit due to outstanding up-front blocking. Notice how decisive the cut to the hole is, known as ‘pressing’ the hole. Plant one foot in the ground, push, and GO. The running back does a good job squaring his pads in the hole and reading the guard and tight end’s blocks.
The play resulted in a 28-yard gain, something we haven’t seen much of the previous two seasons. The Browns have offensive minds in the building to scheme up explosive plays. The question remains; Do they have the Jimmies and Joes on the line to block them?
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