Sgt Largent
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http://seahawks.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=115190
First .gif of Laloosh’s fantastic post. I started to reply in this already great post but got so carried away I wanted to remove the wall of text in case fellow forum members would like to avoid this mess. Laloosh if you have any issue with me linking to your crazy good .gif let me know and I will remove it.
Q1 10:45 - 1st and 10
1) Am I playside or backside?
2) Am I covered or uncovered?
3) Is my teammate to my inside covered or uncovered?
Ok, it is clear to me just from this play that we don't as a unit understand the concept of the zone blocking scheme well enough to make the instinctual decisions necessary at this level to execute it properly. That may seem like a harsh statement to some, but there are too many inexplicable things happening here to make me believe we get it at a primal level.
Whether it is inside zone, outside zone, upside down zone...doesn't matter....there are a set of rules established to execute a concept. That's all it is. A CONCEPT, that being, make the defense move, usually laterally, rarely vertically, but make them move and they will lose gap integrity somewhere in the process of flowing to the ball.
When you block it traditionally, man on man, not only do you have to win physically, but you have to win the battle at a specific point of attack or it's DOA. In zone, all blocks are equal playside while the backside blocks eliminate or interrupt pursuit just long enough to allow for a decisive cutback opportunity. You create severe angles that basically use the defender’s strength and quickness against him. With regard to the run game only (I'm way too irritated to even look at the pass blocking at this point), for those of you who think our players don't have the physical tools to play the game, my opinion is that we are actually over quick or over aggressive at times.
Think about the line, especially playside, as a wave or wall of water moving in the direction the ball carrier is going, not downfield but severely angled towards the sideline. Think about being at the beach on the ocean. If you fight against the incoming wave you get swallowed up, if you are moving with the wave it just sweeps you away. The runner rides along with the wave either continuing wide if the edge collapses, or cutting underneath the first playside blocker, usually the center. RB- Flow….read…cut AND GO. Top speed, one cut that’s it. Keep in mind, even if the runner cuts underneath the center, because of the severe lateral movement, he’s really running off tackle even with this sharp upfield cut. In other words, you don’t have to be Barry Sanders with insane cutback ability, just decide and accelerate.
The play:
Our strength is Ringo from a defensive perspective. They shade accordingly but run a weakside stunt (the timing was brilliant by the way, give them credit). Because of this they bring down a safety to support the run but he is still 8 yards off at the snap. Russ could have checked to a throw with the primary being Kearse (the defense does not fear this ISO opportunity, Lockett may have made them reconsider), because it is very clearly one on one out there. Jimmy running a quick post/drag just beyond the second level but over the top of the shallow safety would have killed them in this alignment as well. It's ok he didn't check out because it's still basically 3 on 3 in the short zone for the playside blockers, with Kearse either eliminating the Safety or the Corner, Rawls would only have a DB to beat. To be an NFL back you have to beat DBs one on one so no problem.
Gilliam: Completely destroys any hope of success. He makes his initial assessment, Detroit is in a Wide 9 type set, meaning that while the end is not inside his frame to indicate Gilliam is covered vs uncovered, there is nobody outside of Gilliam and he must take him. Presnap assessment dictates this. Then the wheels come off. As soon as the end moved laterally inside, the defender took himself out of the play. Running against the wave, remember, will swallow him up, lost in a pile of bodies. Awesome, now it is 3 on 2 in the short zone and we can block the unaccounted for DB. Except we can’t……Gilliam has to remember above all else he is blocking an area, a ZONE, and his zone is not the A gap, where he ends up by chasing his initial read. He singlehandedly collapsed the edge by breaking formation. All Detroit did to make it happen was just confuse him. I could have put on a uniform and ruined that play if that’s the kind of decisions he is going to make. 9 out of 10 times Gilliam takes that end. This is that 1 time.
Sweezy: Comes out of his stance ok. A little too much of a bucket step, which opens his hips a little too early, he needs to stay square and combo with Center until Nowak can fully engage (he’s so damn new am I spelling it right?) . He ends up looking like a fool though trying to cover for Gilliam’s fatal mistake.
Nowak: Does a really nice job getting across the D tackles face quickly, though I’d like to see him step with his playside foot first out of his stance to keep him fairly square to the line of scrimmage. Also, once he establishes position and gets the tackle flowing, he flips his hips and turns perpendicular to the line of scrimmage. Why?!? Traditional blocking technique, but in zone, you just eliminated the cutback for Rawls. Remember, Nowak’s backside in the C gap area is that lane. If Rawls would have cutback just before the hip flip, he would run smack into Nowak’s man who is virtually unblocked at that angle.
Britt: This is tricky. Because they teach a backside cut from Okung, Britt cannot engage the tackle over him purposely or it becomes a penalty. Here’s an example of what I mean by saying sometimes we are overusing our athleticism. Britt needs to come out just a bit slower to attack the second level and force some traffic to allow Okung to get to a hard slanting tackle inside while not willfully engaging him. He also comes out so hot he overruns the linebacker by a smidge allowing him to come underneath.
Okung: Not much to say, pretty tough with the defenders hard inside angle to get there coupled with the speed at which Britt vacated the area. And he didn’t. Stepping with the wrong foot doesn’t help.
Graham: Does nothing useful on this play, half hearted attempt on backside linebacker who was already blocked by Britt.
Finally, courtesy Fieldgulls, a fine example of it all coming together.
http://www.sbnation.com/2014/7/25/59288 ... e-blocking
1) Notice the patience of the right guard moving to the second level. Lets the linebacker come to him while helping his tackle initially.
2) Notice the centers angle and the runningbacks read. Nosetackle loses gap integrity by flowing a little too quickly with a gentle assist from the center. RB recognizes and decisively cuts right off the centers rump.
3) The backside blocks aren’t even that good. Eliminate pursuit, or even slightly hinder it (left guard whiffs), and one easy cut by a runningback accelerating to the hole turns it into a nice gain.
4) Notice that OL downfield movement is so minor they could have passed without changing a thing with no flag, minus the left guard moving to the second level to stop backside pursuit.
I apologize in advance….
First .gif of Laloosh’s fantastic post. I started to reply in this already great post but got so carried away I wanted to remove the wall of text in case fellow forum members would like to avoid this mess. Laloosh if you have any issue with me linking to your crazy good .gif let me know and I will remove it.
Q1 10:45 - 1st and 10
1) Am I playside or backside?
2) Am I covered or uncovered?
3) Is my teammate to my inside covered or uncovered?
Ok, it is clear to me just from this play that we don't as a unit understand the concept of the zone blocking scheme well enough to make the instinctual decisions necessary at this level to execute it properly. That may seem like a harsh statement to some, but there are too many inexplicable things happening here to make me believe we get it at a primal level.
Whether it is inside zone, outside zone, upside down zone...doesn't matter....there are a set of rules established to execute a concept. That's all it is. A CONCEPT, that being, make the defense move, usually laterally, rarely vertically, but make them move and they will lose gap integrity somewhere in the process of flowing to the ball.
When you block it traditionally, man on man, not only do you have to win physically, but you have to win the battle at a specific point of attack or it's DOA. In zone, all blocks are equal playside while the backside blocks eliminate or interrupt pursuit just long enough to allow for a decisive cutback opportunity. You create severe angles that basically use the defender’s strength and quickness against him. With regard to the run game only (I'm way too irritated to even look at the pass blocking at this point), for those of you who think our players don't have the physical tools to play the game, my opinion is that we are actually over quick or over aggressive at times.
Think about the line, especially playside, as a wave or wall of water moving in the direction the ball carrier is going, not downfield but severely angled towards the sideline. Think about being at the beach on the ocean. If you fight against the incoming wave you get swallowed up, if you are moving with the wave it just sweeps you away. The runner rides along with the wave either continuing wide if the edge collapses, or cutting underneath the first playside blocker, usually the center. RB- Flow….read…cut AND GO. Top speed, one cut that’s it. Keep in mind, even if the runner cuts underneath the center, because of the severe lateral movement, he’s really running off tackle even with this sharp upfield cut. In other words, you don’t have to be Barry Sanders with insane cutback ability, just decide and accelerate.
The play:
Our strength is Ringo from a defensive perspective. They shade accordingly but run a weakside stunt (the timing was brilliant by the way, give them credit). Because of this they bring down a safety to support the run but he is still 8 yards off at the snap. Russ could have checked to a throw with the primary being Kearse (the defense does not fear this ISO opportunity, Lockett may have made them reconsider), because it is very clearly one on one out there. Jimmy running a quick post/drag just beyond the second level but over the top of the shallow safety would have killed them in this alignment as well. It's ok he didn't check out because it's still basically 3 on 3 in the short zone for the playside blockers, with Kearse either eliminating the Safety or the Corner, Rawls would only have a DB to beat. To be an NFL back you have to beat DBs one on one so no problem.
Gilliam: Completely destroys any hope of success. He makes his initial assessment, Detroit is in a Wide 9 type set, meaning that while the end is not inside his frame to indicate Gilliam is covered vs uncovered, there is nobody outside of Gilliam and he must take him. Presnap assessment dictates this. Then the wheels come off. As soon as the end moved laterally inside, the defender took himself out of the play. Running against the wave, remember, will swallow him up, lost in a pile of bodies. Awesome, now it is 3 on 2 in the short zone and we can block the unaccounted for DB. Except we can’t……Gilliam has to remember above all else he is blocking an area, a ZONE, and his zone is not the A gap, where he ends up by chasing his initial read. He singlehandedly collapsed the edge by breaking formation. All Detroit did to make it happen was just confuse him. I could have put on a uniform and ruined that play if that’s the kind of decisions he is going to make. 9 out of 10 times Gilliam takes that end. This is that 1 time.
Sweezy: Comes out of his stance ok. A little too much of a bucket step, which opens his hips a little too early, he needs to stay square and combo with Center until Nowak can fully engage (he’s so damn new am I spelling it right?) . He ends up looking like a fool though trying to cover for Gilliam’s fatal mistake.
Nowak: Does a really nice job getting across the D tackles face quickly, though I’d like to see him step with his playside foot first out of his stance to keep him fairly square to the line of scrimmage. Also, once he establishes position and gets the tackle flowing, he flips his hips and turns perpendicular to the line of scrimmage. Why?!? Traditional blocking technique, but in zone, you just eliminated the cutback for Rawls. Remember, Nowak’s backside in the C gap area is that lane. If Rawls would have cutback just before the hip flip, he would run smack into Nowak’s man who is virtually unblocked at that angle.
Britt: This is tricky. Because they teach a backside cut from Okung, Britt cannot engage the tackle over him purposely or it becomes a penalty. Here’s an example of what I mean by saying sometimes we are overusing our athleticism. Britt needs to come out just a bit slower to attack the second level and force some traffic to allow Okung to get to a hard slanting tackle inside while not willfully engaging him. He also comes out so hot he overruns the linebacker by a smidge allowing him to come underneath.
Okung: Not much to say, pretty tough with the defenders hard inside angle to get there coupled with the speed at which Britt vacated the area. And he didn’t. Stepping with the wrong foot doesn’t help.
Graham: Does nothing useful on this play, half hearted attempt on backside linebacker who was already blocked by Britt.
Finally, courtesy Fieldgulls, a fine example of it all coming together.
http://www.sbnation.com/2014/7/25/59288 ... e-blocking
1) Notice the patience of the right guard moving to the second level. Lets the linebacker come to him while helping his tackle initially.
2) Notice the centers angle and the runningbacks read. Nosetackle loses gap integrity by flowing a little too quickly with a gentle assist from the center. RB recognizes and decisively cuts right off the centers rump.
3) The backside blocks aren’t even that good. Eliminate pursuit, or even slightly hinder it (left guard whiffs), and one easy cut by a runningback accelerating to the hole turns it into a nice gain.
4) Notice that OL downfield movement is so minor they could have passed without changing a thing with no flag, minus the left guard moving to the second level to stop backside pursuit.
I apologize in advance….
