AFTER MISSING A couple of weeks through injury, Coaches Film is back and, for the first time this season, we’re going to take a look at the Kansas City Chiefs and specifically their game-winning touchdown against the Buffalo Bills.
With just over nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Alex Smith took a low-scoring game by the scruff of the neck to execute the Zone Read perfectly and cross the goalline for the go-ahead score.
If you missed the play, here’s how it looked on TV:
At first glance it looks like it was all too easy for Smith to sneak in but, as we’ll see, a lot of went on prior to the snap to ensure the play worked.
Pre-snap read: Offence
For the third time this season, we’re looking at the Posse/11 personnel grouping from an offence. While it resulted in a touchdown for the Chargers in week two, the results were not so pretty for the Bills in week four.
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As you know by now, this grouping means there are three wide receivers (red, blue and orange), a tight end (purple) and a running back (green) on the field.
This particular formation looks, as you can see below, like a pass play, specifically a Bubble Screen pass to the slot receiver (orange).
A ‘screen pass’ is a short pass to a receiver who is then protected by a ‘screen’ of blockers. A Bubble Screen in particular sees the intended receiver take one step forward – as if he’s going downfield – before heading back toward the quarterback to receive the ball while his blockers get into place.
However, as we’ll see below, the Chiefs will only decide what play to run once quarterback Alex Smith counts the number of defenders in the box.
Pre-snap read – Defence
The Bills are in our old friend, Cover 1, with just Aaron Williams (white) covering the endzone while the other three defensive backs are in man-on-man coverage at the line of scrimmage.
This set-up, where the Bills only have five men playing the run and six playing the pass, means that any potential bubble screen is out and Smith has already switched to his other two options.
At the snap
With the Chiefs now committed to running the football on this play, the ‘read’ in this Read Zone is the defensive end Manny Lawson (yellow).
If Lawson tries to come outside Antony Fasano (80) on the red route, Smith (11) will hand the ball off to running back Jamaal Charles (green) to run up the middle of the offensive line.
If he tries to cut inside on the running back dive, Smith can keep the ball and try get to the outside using Fasano as a blocker.
Four things happen to allow this play to result in a touchdown.
Firstly, Lawson bites on the inside run allowing Smith to keep the ball.
Secondly, the free safety Aaron Williams (23) takes not just a half step to his left (to protect against the bubble screen pass) but also a step forward, just in case, to defend the inside run
Fasano does a brilliant job on opening a running lane for Smith by blocking Stephon Gilmore (24) to the outside which forces – as you can see above – Williams to adjust dramatically from his preferred tackle angle (yellow) to a much less favourable one (red).
Finally, Smith drops his shoulder into Williams to ensure the defender has no chance of making a clean tackle and uses the momentum he has built to drive toward the endzone.
Notes
There’s not really much more to say about this particular play other than the Bills still had nine minutes to retake the lead and failed. For a team with playoff aspirations, that’s poor.
It also highlights just how confusing a Zone Read offence can be for defenders to deal with.
Hail to the Chiefs for this Zone Read touchdown - Coaches Film
AFTER MISSING A couple of weeks through injury, Coaches Film is back and, for the first time this season, we’re going to take a look at the Kansas City Chiefs and specifically their game-winning touchdown against the Buffalo Bills.
With just over nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Alex Smith took a low-scoring game by the scruff of the neck to execute the Zone Read perfectly and cross the goalline for the go-ahead score.
If you missed the play, here’s how it looked on TV:
At first glance it looks like it was all too easy for Smith to sneak in but, as we’ll see, a lot of went on prior to the snap to ensure the play worked.
Pre-snap read: Offence
For the third time this season, we’re looking at the Posse/11 personnel grouping from an offence. While it resulted in a touchdown for the Chargers in week two, the results were not so pretty for the Bills in week four.
As you know by now, this grouping means there are three wide receivers (red, blue and orange), a tight end (purple) and a running back (green) on the field.
This particular formation looks, as you can see below, like a pass play, specifically a Bubble Screen pass to the slot receiver (orange).
A ‘screen pass’ is a short pass to a receiver who is then protected by a ‘screen’ of blockers. A Bubble Screen in particular sees the intended receiver take one step forward – as if he’s going downfield – before heading back toward the quarterback to receive the ball while his blockers get into place.
However, as we’ll see below, the Chiefs will only decide what play to run once quarterback Alex Smith counts the number of defenders in the box.
Pre-snap read – Defence
The Bills are in our old friend, Cover 1, with just Aaron Williams (white) covering the endzone while the other three defensive backs are in man-on-man coverage at the line of scrimmage.
This set-up, where the Bills only have five men playing the run and six playing the pass, means that any potential bubble screen is out and Smith has already switched to his other two options.
At the snap
With the Chiefs now committed to running the football on this play, the ‘read’ in this Read Zone is the defensive end Manny Lawson (yellow).
If Lawson tries to come outside Antony Fasano (80) on the red route, Smith (11) will hand the ball off to running back Jamaal Charles (green) to run up the middle of the offensive line.
If he tries to cut inside on the running back dive, Smith can keep the ball and try get to the outside using Fasano as a blocker.
What happens next?
Four things happen to allow this play to result in a touchdown.
Notes
There’s not really much more to say about this particular play other than the Bills still had nine minutes to retake the lead and failed. For a team with playoff aspirations, that’s poor.
It also highlights just how confusing a Zone Read offence can be for defenders to deal with.
Read more from our Coaches Film series
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